sydney peaches

Thanks so much everyone for the information! I'm glad I didn't go running and buy a male. ha ha ha Good thing the creepy cable guy left and didn't try to kidnap my birdie. I wonder if he was just trying to freak me out. Thanks Shelly for the picture compliments!

So much for sleeping in this Saturday morning! This Comcast guy shows up at my house at 8am and starts talking to me about my Congo. He told me that since she is a female (she's 3 years old now) that if I don't mate her or get a male, she'll pluck all her feathers out and become mean. I was like, "huh?" I wanted to ask if anyone knows if that has any validity. When do female Congos reach sexual maturity? I thought in this breed of bird, females tend to not show any behavior issues during that time.

My Congo, Sydney, loves to be out and gets lots of lovin'. She even goes to work with me, but every time I try to put her back in her cage, she puts her head down and dashes back up my arm as fast as she can! Then she wants to be petted and scratched. Most of the time I end up tipping her so she loses her balance and gets on the perch. It gets tedious and I try 15-20 times before she successfully gets in. Any suggestions for how to get her back in her cage without her trying to escape Alcatraz?! Thx, Maria

How about shaking their tails back and forth? Sydney does this often. I think it's part of her grooming but sometimes she does it around my other pets. Any thoughts?

I take my bird to work with me a lot. Sydney goes to nursing homes and the residents love her. The staff goes bonkers and they always want to touch her or make her step up. It drives me nuts!! No matter how many times I tell them she doesn't want to be touched, the still go for it. I think they think it's a Jack Hanna show and can't resist. Makes for a fun day for me always looking out for her. I feel like a mother hawk protecting her young.

Thanks Marcus for the info. I agree with you. I added a different vitamin several days back. It's a powder. Perhaps I did add too much. It didn't say how much to add so I did what I thought was a little bit. I'm going to dilute it down a bit.

I haven't taken her to vet yet. Today she plucked another 40 or so downy feathers. I take her out daily for sun. She likes to go out and about. The feather pulling is starting to stress me out. Any ideas why she is just pulling those feathers out? It's not her developed feathers. When birds pluck due to stress does it start with the downy feathers?

Thanks for replying! I just moved Sydney by a large window so she can get more sun and look outside. Do I just spray red palm oil on her or mix it with some water? How often do you use it? Thanks again.

Hello! I'm a new parrot owner of a 2.5 year female African Grey Congo. She is the sweetest thing. I noticed the last two days, she's been pulling out random downy feathers from various locations around her body. She pulled about 25 -30 out during an evening. She doesn't seem agitated. I changed up her toys and give her showers 2-3 times a week. She has vitamins in her diet and I mix about 4 different things in her food. She's very socialized so I'm very worried she's starting to pluck. Is this molting, plucking, or just random behavior? Any suggestions on how I can help her? Should I be worried? Thx, Maria