Playfighting?

[mcuellar2413]

Question for all you multiple bird owners. My sun conure and CAG really seem to get along, always preening each other, falling asleep together, feeding each other, etc. My question is do birds play fight each other? They seem to have little disagreements and kind of bite beaks every once in a while it seems like my sun conure is putting her little sister in her place. It is always resolved after a second and they go on like normal, but how do I know if this is bird agression or normal behavior. I always supervise them but they like to go into each others cages and I don't know when I should jump in and when I should leave them alone to work out there differences. My sun conure loves to play fight with me but I am not sure if it is normal bird play? Do clutch mates play fight? They are only about 1 month apart in age and both babies but I would hate for this to go wrong and my CAG to seriously injure my sun.

Edited May 6, 2011 by mcuellar2413

[Ray P]

My birds seam to get along also but when they are out they are always supervised because you never know. We have a CAG ,a BFA and cockstiels and the big birds could hurt the tiels and each other. You know your birds better than I do but I would always supervise IMHO.

[Talon]

My birds will do the same, beaking etc. MY amazon can be a bully and thinks it's fun to chase the other birds off their spots! They all go in each others cages when they are open, but never when there is another bird in it. I agree with Ray, I always supervise...just in case...

[Birdnut]

We have eight parrots of various species, and we are able to have most of them out together in the same room. I have never noticed my birds play fighting, the way puppies might, but they do occasionally have little spats when they beak at each other, as you described. No one has ever been injured by this.

 

I have two 3-yr-old blue crowned conures who were clutch mates. They are bonded to each other and are caged together and snuggle up together to sleep. But they still have noisy, quarrelsome interactions at times, without making any attempt to really hurt each other.

 

I have a sun conure also, and she is best buddies with our small (umbrella/goffin hybrid) cockatoo. They like to hang out together, and the sun conure will sometimes snuggle up under the cockatoo's wing. So far, there have been no problems with this, other than a sometimes dusty sun conure.

 

Our birds seem to have worked out their own little social order for themselves that seems to work for them. They go in and out of each other's cages. I will occasionally find them all in the cockatoo's cage, which is a very large, macaw cage. (Party at Gwyn's cage!!) I think it has helped that they are all fully flighted and free in a large room, where they are able to fly away from a situation where they might encounter any aggression. If they were not flighted, I would feel much less comfortable about leaving them out together without constant monitoring.

 

So far we have only had a couple of problems between birds.

 

We have a lovebird who will nip the other birds' toes. They have all learned to give her a wide berth. The only bird who stands up to her is the parrotlet. Those two have become friends. We did have to move the lovebird's cage out of the bird room, because she is so cage defensive and her beak was once bruised when she was biting at one of the other birds through the cage bars, and the other bird caught her by the beak. She is still released to the bird room regularly to exercise and play, just not with her cage there to become a defense point.

 

Also, we cannot have our African grey loose in the same area with the conures, as the male conure will attack the grey. I would point out that this very real attack is nothing like the occasional beak-to-beak bickering that is common with the birds. Once we saw this happen, we have kept the two birds strictly separated at all times and do not allow them access to each other, even with supervision.

 

So that has been our experience with different birds together. With few exceptions, we have not had problems. My guess is your sun and your grey will continue the friendship they have developed so early and will get along well. It would probably be wise to supervise them, as the grey's beak is so much stronger and capable of inflicting damage. Also, as your grey matures, it might change its preferences as to how it is willing to interact with your sun conure. But these birds have a great deal of sensitivity and control over their beaks and the amount of pressure they exert, so they are not likely to accidentally injure another bird.

 

Those are my humble opinions on the subject. I would be interested in the experiences of other multiple-bird households.

[mcuellar2413]

Great information! They must just be having little spats, it is always over quick as it starts and everything goes back to normal. At this point they act like siblings the CAG is 3 months old and the Sun is about 4 1/2 months, so like you said it could change over time. It is adorable that they all hang out in Gwyn's cage, you should really get a picture of that. Your insights have given me hope that they will continue to get along, up until now I have been thinking more along the lines of a disaster waiting to happen. Thank you.