Birdy Hormones
Many of us have heard that a parrot can be hormonal. This seems to be a catchall explanation for everything from biting and screaming to the parrot suddenly becoming Velcro when it was independent before. What are parrot hormones really, and what can we do about them?
Spring is in the air, and suddenly a parrot instinct kicks in, its time to mate. It might not be spring outside your home, but you could be copying the conditions of spring right inside your home. Longer hours of sunlight, warmer temperatures, these things signal to your parrot that it is time to breed. Breeding parrots behave differently than those who are not in this cycle.
These changes can catch a person off guard, especially when you have raised your beloved parrot from a baby; suddenly you have Mr. Hyde on your hands instead of Fluffums. This is part of natures plan for the parrot species, and living with other animals cannot really prepare you for what it's like to live with a parrot who feels the need to breed. Although each different kind of parrot displays a different level of hormonal behavior, they do each experience it to some point. Even the small Budgie might be a bit moody at this time of the year. For example Amazons and Cockatoos might become extremely aggressive during the mating season, while an African Grey might show very little in the way of hormonal behavior. What people need to understand the most is, while some parrots may breed only in spring, many parrots will breed all year round thus behavior may change randomly throughout the year and become unpredictable at any time due to breeding hormones. An African Grey parrot is one of those known to breed year round, and many who share their lives with these beautiful birds understand that they can go through moody cycles more often but of far less intensity than their Cockatoo cousins.
So what can we do while our parrots are in hormonal flux? The easiest thing for us is to limit sugars and starch while our birds are exhibiting breeding behavior. Feeding a parrot a lot of grapes or corn on the cob while it is hormonal is a bad idea because those foods help to increase the hormones rampaging through your birds body by tenfold. We also need to be aware of the effect our touch has on our parrots. While we enjoy stroking and petting our companion birds, sometimes our touch can over-stimulate an excited bird who is looking to breed, causing biting and screaming as a reaction from the bird. Remember that birds have been known to cuddle each other in the wild while courting, and our cuddling our birds is easily interpreted as mating behavior by the parrots. This does not mean that we should all stop touching and loving on our parrots, only that we should be aware that during hormonal cycles it is best to limit our stroking to safe non-sexual areas of the parrots body, like the top of the wings.
We also need to take into account that parrots will protect their nest and mates from all intruders, and in a companion parrot situation the mate usually becomes one of us. Often times the nest becomes the cage, or playstand, or other area that the bird spends a good deal of time. Be aware that a hormonal parrot may very well attack any intruder who dares near its nest or mate, meaning your wife or husband, children or pets. This is not an aggressive behavior in the parrots mind, but simple protection of its future children. Even though it is impossible for our parrots to mate with us their instinct says that we must be protected in order to protect possible offspring. The easiest way to avoid these attacks is not to let others touch you (if you're the chosen mate) in the parrot's sight, and not to let anyone other than the chosen mate clean or do anything else near the chosen nest area. Remember, you being the chosen mate does not mean you will not be bitten, the parrot may very well bite you as a warning that another "potential mate" is close, and these bites can be devastating. Never allow a hormonal parrot on your shoulder, the facial bites reported when this happens are often horrific and devastating.
Any parrot can become hormonal, and many behaviors that seem to have no other reasoning can often be attributed to hormones. Its is important to do the research on your parrots species and find as much information as possible to protect yourself and your parrot during this time of their life. Keep in mind that while some Amazons are known for extreme aggression during mating season that lovebirds too have been known to cause huge amounts of damage during the hormonal cycle. Each bird species has its own hormonal personality and should be treated properly. With love, respect, and understanding you and your parrot can come through mating season with your relationship intact.
Info given by birdyhelp