It is early spring, and already it has
begun. The phone rings and it is my client Mary. She has a two year old domestic-bred
African grey parrot that she purchased eight months ago. He is her first parrot and she
adores him. Mary's voice is shaking and she is obviously barely under control as she says,
"Liz, something is terribly wrong with Alfred and I'm really upset! He's gone crazy
or something!"
Thanking fate for my previous experience as a crisis counselor, I
manage to get her quieted down enough to get a somewhat coherent story. Alfred, normally a
gentle and loving bird, had suddenly lashed out at her that morning and had actually drawn
blood. I question her carefully about his physical health and find he had just been to her
avian veterinarian last week for a routine check-up and everything was fine.
So I ask her a number of questions regarding Alfred's recent noise
level (louder than usual?), his play behaviors (rougher than usual with his beak?), and
his attitude towards Mary (more possessive?) As I suspected, all the answers are
affirmatives. Sweet little Alfred is growing up, and the spring nesting season has begun.
A Lover's Triangle
In the twenty-three years that I have cohabited with Sam, my female blue and gold
macaw, I do not remember really noticing spring behavior until my future husband David
appeared in our lives -- and he was also the one who identified her behavior for what it
was. After having me to herself for many years, Sam was now having to share me with
another, and the adjustment had not been fun for any of us. However, David had kept his
temper with her bluffs and displays, and life had gradually settled down.
Then one morning in late winter, she was playing on the kitchen floor
when he came in for breakfast. Without a second's hesitation, she viciously
attacked his feet. Fortunately for him (and her), he was wearing steel-toed boots at the
time, so he was uninjured. However, his comment was illuminating: "She is normally
more intelligent than that -- her behavior must be hormonal."
Nonverbal Insults
As it turned out, he was quite correct about the cause for her lack of control -- once
a year she gets wretched for a month or two. I generally first focus on her behavior
change when she suddenly is attached to my body whenever she is out of her cage.
Normally an affectionate friend, Sam is also quite capable of amusing herself for hours at
a time, playing and talking to herself on her "tree" (fancy name for a 2x4 with
a perch attached and hanging toys) in front of the living room window. But when hormones
begin raging, she appears to be partially composed of velcro and I have great difficulty
separating her from my person. She also cannot seem to stay out of trouble for more than,
say, 15-20 seconds at a time -- I turn my back and she's gotten into the clean laundry and
shredded a couple of David's shirts and my new skirt.
However, by far the worst part of her nesting seasons has been manifest
in her behavior towards David. In normal times, she dislikes him intensely but confines
her animosity to saying extremely rude things with her body language. (Trust me on this --
you live with a parrot for long, and you know very well when they are insulting someone
nonverbally) But during nesting season, she can be much more actively aggressive, so her
times out of the cage when he is home must be CLOSELY supervised.
Normal Cycles
Generally speaking, spring behavior happens once a year in the life of a sexually
mature parrot. Also called nesting or hormonal behavior, it is a normal rhythm of nature,
and there is nothing you or your parrot can do about it except wait it out. But you
can be aware and understanding, and alert to the possible changes - in hopes of minimizing
the negative side effects wherever possible.
As a rule, any abrupt and dramatic behavior change in a mature parrot
that is NOT evidence of a medical problem developing, can safely be classed as
nesting behavior. (NOTE: If you are not sure about your parrot's behavior, make an
appointment with your avian vet.) Parrots cannot control this hormonal stuff, any more
than I can control my own moods during times of raging PMS (other than to keep my mouth
shut).
Bad and Good Changes and "Characteristic" Behaviors
Other possible behaviors or behavior changes include one or more (or none) of the
following (and this list is far from complete):
Flat backing -- aviculturist term for the
submissive posture of some female parrots, with or without accompanying wing shivering
and/or clucking. Some birds may also revert to baby-like behaviors, begging to be hand fed
by their favorite person.
Strutting with tail feathers fanned, neck feathers up and
eyes flashing wildly -- This is often (but not always accurately) defined as
male behavior and is seen other times of the year as well -- especially when meeting new
people. This is probably normal territorial behavior that becomes more frequent and
dramatic during nesting time. Don't reach for this bird unless your really want to check
your normal healing time.
Nest-making -- manifests in minor ways, such
as burrowing in fabric or sofa pillows, or major ways -- in the absolute destruction of
anything and everything the bird touches. The latter is (of course) what Sam does. This is
not necessarily a female trait, since in many species (i.e. many larger cockatoos) the
male is the primary nest builder. This behavior goes above and beyond the
"normal" destructiveness of parrots.
Some years, I have given Sam with a large cardboard box to shred in her
cage, which seems to ease the biological pressures on her -- after all, she simply wants
to make a nest. However, being allowed a nest box of a sort also encourages Sam to lay
eggs. These eggs are infertile, of course -- she's my only bird and it takes two,
as they say. But there isn’t any point to her egg laying so I don't give her a box,
anymore. I especially would not recommend giving nest-like boxes to birds like
cockatiels, whose hens can be prone to obsessive egg laying cycles that can become life
threatening.
Feather picking -- some individuals do a
little feather chewing or picking, usually in small, localized areas of their bodies like
their breast or the tops of their wings. From my experience, hormone-induced feather
chewing or picking is ONLY seen during spring behavior. It should not be confused with the
more dramatic and extensive plucking seen as a manifestation of physical problems such as
infections in the feather follicles, or in allergies.... or as a behavior problem.
Regurgitation of food -- Ah, Birdie Barf!
Parrots will regurgitate food to feed their mate and their young, so if your parrot
upchucks on you, don't get grossed out -- take it in the spirit it's offered. It is, after
all, a tremendous compliment. This can happen whenever your parrot is feeling loving
during the year, but it definitely happens more often in nesting season. By the way,
sexual regurgitation is associated with a favorite person, toy, etc.. When it occurs
without any obvious stimulus, it may be evidence of a medical problem. If the human is
unsure as to what is happening, one’s avian vet should be consulted.
Masturbation – Notwithstanding whatever
feelings their pet humans might have about this subject, parrots have no moral hang ups
about it at all -- they just enjoy it! If you're lucky, your visiting minister or maiden
great aunt will not catch on to what is happening.
And as previously mentioned, making more noise than usual and biting
harder than usual.
Not All Bad….
But not all of these seasonal behavior changes are negative -- a client of mine has an
Amazon who becomes a real snugglebug when in nesting behavior, at which time he LOVES to
be cuddled -- which is the only time all year that he will accept any human touching at
all!
Dealing With Your Feather Duster's Sexuality
So what is the human to do with all this unwanted loving behavior? Well, you can't
eliminate it, but there are certain things one can do to help everyone muddle through this
uncomfortable period.
As they say, forewarned is forearmed, so mark on your calendar when
spring behavior starts and stops. In this way, you will be aware BEFORE nesting behavior
starts next year and, you are less likely to be caught off guard. If your parrot becomes
aggressive towards other humans, then do everyone a favor and leave it in its cage when
other people are around. And NEVER leave it out unsupervised (but then, you are not
supposed to do that, anyway).
By no means should the human encourage sexual behaviors, because that
only leads to confusion and frustration for the parrot. After all, you are NOT going to
make babies together, are you? So avoid doing things like petting the bird's back, wings
or tail feathers. Restrict your petting to the bird's head so you don't further stimulate
them. If your parrot becomes obsessed with a particular object or toy, remove it from the
bird's area. If you feel that masturbation is a problem (and it certainly isn’t for
the bird), simply remove the love object (toy, particular perch, food bowl, mirror, etc.)
and don't return it to the bird until spring behavior has passed. If the little monster
happens to be masturbating on a part of your anatomy, don't make a fuss (remember the
Drama Reward?). Simply rearrange him (or you) so it is no longer happening. On the subject
of regurgitation, I'm sure you would just LOVE to share your loving little bird's food so
sweetly offered (oh, YUCK).... but don't encourage that either.
If the bird's wings are not clipped, it would probably be a good idea
to do it now -- after all, you can always let the wings regrow when the bird settles down,
if you like. But since there is often a direct correlation between full flight and
increased aggression, it makes sense to remove this additional problem when the parrot is
already awash with hormones.
Above all, don't try to punish the birds for totally natural
behaviors -- you don't want to encourage them, but what they are doing is not wrong.
Birdie Abuse (of Humans)
One thing is virtually guaranteed – increased hormone levels often lead to
increased aggressiveness -- this is documented in many/ most animal species and parrots
are no exception. And it follows that if your parrot is established as dominant in its
relationship with you, you can expect it to try to tell you how to behave -- and you can
expect yourself and other humans around you to be the recipient of violence if your
behaviors don't measure up to your bird's exacting standards (following orders is tough
when you don't speak the language). As head of the flock, your parrot is only doing
his/her job. On the other hand, if you are well established as head of the flock (thanks
to having established a relationship of loving controls with your feathered friend), then
your parrot (being in a submissive position) will generally wait for you to show it how to
act towards others. In a nutshell, increased aggression is to be expected -- but a parrot
in a submissive role can be expected to display less aggression than one that
perceives itself to be head of the flock.
Yearly Fun & Games
So every year in the Wilson household, the three of us (four, counting the cat) suffer
through this period and it feels like it lasts forever. In reality, it lasts one to two
months and we all survive. We all dislike it -- Sam's no happier than the rest of us --
but we get through it. Small price, if you ask me, for the remaining ten or eleven months
of the year, when Sam's company is a constant source of pleasure.
Well..., most of the time!
This article was first published in CAGED BIRD HOBBYIST Jan/Feb 1995
issue.