Unusual behaviour

[neoow]

Alfie is displaying some strange behaviour this evening which I haven't seen before. He was happily shredding some boxes and then noticed a ball with a bell in it on his shelf. Normally he would just fling toys off the shelf but instead he picked it up with his foot and is almost smothering it with his body and wings whilst beaking it and biting it.

Anyone else seen this kind of behaviour with your birds? What could it mean?

[judygram]

I'd say it is nesting behavior, he is trying to get it under him to sit on it, this is the time of year that hormones are raging or he could be trying to mate with it, in any case I'd take it away for now and maybe let him have it later on this year. You don't want him getting all hot and bothered and then he might take out his frustrations on you, it is cute to watch.

[neoow]

Thank you. That's what I wondered, especially as he had been shredding cardboard before hand. I did wonder if he got a little confused and thought it was an egg!

I will hide it away for now as I don't want him to get confused or frustrated. He 'played' with it for about ten minutes or so, holding it in his foot and beaking it/biting it. Then he dropped it off the shelf. His wings were still drooping for another minute or so then he went back to exploring and pushing everything off the shelf.

Of course I don't actually know for sure that Alfie is a he at all. I've never had him DNA tested and whilst the place I bought him from told me that he was male, I don't think they ever had him tested either.

It was just really unusual behaviour for Alfie and I've not witnessed it before. Like I say, he normally runs around his shelf throwing everything off it and expecting me to fetch it all!! 😂 I'll keep an eye on him and won't leave egg or ball shaped foot toys out for a little while. Hopefully I haven't encouraged any nesting behaviour (or egg laying if it turns out he is a she!).

[Greywings]

Alfette?😁

[neoow]

On 7/20/2018 at 11:19 PM, Greywings said:

Alfette?😁

Haha or Alfina?!

He gets called Alfred as well... So maybe Alfreda?!

[neoow]

Alfie got a little flustered today. He had been out for a while, flying around the room and playing. I rolled a bottle across the sofa for him and he chased it pushed it around for a while. Then he started drooping his wings and making clucky noises. (See the video)

I immediately removed the bottle and hid it. I didn't want to encourage the behaviour. I was also a bit worried as he picked at his wings as he was doing it. He's not typically a plucker.

He nailed me pretty good on the arm soon after, so I'm guessing he was feeling pretty frustrated.

Is there anything I can do to help him and prevent him from getting frisky? I never touch his back or wings, he only gets head scritches. I'm not letting him play with any small round toys in case he treats them like an egg again. I also won't try bottles again!

[Timbersmom]

I have nothing to offer. Timber gets a bit amorous at times too. I ignore the behavior and keep hands off until it passes. Have to feel for them though!

[SRSeedBurners]

You may just have to roll with the punches for now.   It's the start of the 2nd hormonal season right now in the northern hemisphere and we're noticing Huey is all of a sudden trying to wine & dine my wife like there's no tomorrow.   Of course this means that I must be chased out of the household.   But who will pay the bills Huey - huh?

[neoow]

Yeah I did feel really sorry for him. I just calmly removed the bottle and hid it from sight and sat back down. He stopped clucking and wandered round for a bit and then came to sit with me. He was a little restless and kept wandering across my lap and back again and then eventually he bit me on the arm. I hadn't moved or anything, I was just letting him calm down on his own. I didn't react to the bite (other than a slight flinch because he caught me on a fleshy bit!) I didn't say or do anything for a few moments.

You're probably right and I just need to ride it out. I just didn't know if there was anything I was doing wrong or anything I could do better to stop him from getting like this (other than avoiding the toys that seem to instigate the behaviour).

I did wonder whether allowing him to continue shredding cardboard boxes was a bad idea but it's one of his favourite things to do (plus it stops him destorying shelves and walls) so I'm hesitant to take them away too. He doesn't normally get frisky with things after shredding cardboard boxes so I'm hoping this is a just a passing phase.

[Timbersmom]

I tried taking Timber's boxes away (because some said that encouraged nesting and amorous behavior) and I didn't think it made any difference at all.  He loves his boxes so much that I gave them back and never looked back on that one.