Hormones and Jealousy

I know in most of our videos I show the sweet, funny and cute side of their life (not that they aren t here) but even we go through some challenging times too. Almost all bird owners deal with hormonal issues at some time or another but especially during the mating season or what some of us call breeding season however if you re unaware not all species of birds mate all year long. Our birds go through this between late December and can last for months. This happens when you have only one bird or multiple birds. Some people may think: My bird was so sweet and out of nowhere it became nippy/attacks, becomes territorial or even displays odd movements. Don t worry it passes and it s natural, so we can t let our feelings get hurt but need to find ways to help them and protect ourselves. Punishment for natural behavior should not happen. Some things that may help would be more sleep time hours at night, change in diet; less fruit, no warm mushy foods, avoid foods with high calorie/fats/high starch, no dark spaces to nest. Encourage more flight time and foraging toys to take up extra energy. Maintain distance but don t completely ignore them. Only touch the head and feet. Males will sometimes masterbate and best thing is to ignore it. Keep rewarding their positive behavior. As far as jealousy, I personally take the time to socialize with them individually on a one on one basis as if they are getting special treatment. I find jealousy issues arise when adding a new flock member to the home or during breeding months but others may experience this more often and perhaps not at all. Clicker training is something I always recommend in almost any situation because you are also showing positive reinforcement. Although a clicker is not always necessary, words of positive phrases and/or a very tiny treat as reward works too.