Parrots can be very unpredictable under the influence of hormones!

I feel very fortunate. So far, the breeding season has been kind to my birds and, in turn, to me. There hasn’t been nearly as much drama as is customary during this time of year. Each season is different, and there is no way to be certain how intensely our birds will be affected by the dreaded hormones. I hope ...

Mating ringnecks form my.opera.com

Q: I only have one bird, a green cheeked conure. I woke up this morning and there was an egg in the cage. How is this possible? When will the egg hatch?

-Gary M., Ann Arbor, MI

A: The appearance of an egg can shock the owner of a single bird. And why wouldn’t it? We understand that babies are the result of male and female relations. They do not just appear. The confusion seems to come from the idea that an egg contains a baby bird. It ...

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Yellow collared macaw

I think it might be fallout from a particularly hormonal spring season, but recently I have read an abundance of comments from people who feel at their wits ends with their birds. It’s not uncommon to be reading complaints following breeding season, but they are usually tempered with a sense of relief. Not so much this year.

I was absolutely floored to hear that a long time bird-pal was thinking about giving up her flock because she just didn’t think she had another spring season in her. Even ...

blue throated macaws

I think this spring season has been the hardest one I have dealt with in a very long time. My two formerly egg-less female birds have both produced their first eggs this year – in the case of my goffins cockatoo, the only one in 28 years. It is an ongoing battle that calls for constant changes to the environment to keep her and Libby, my quaker, from any further laying.

The male cockatiels spend every second of their out of cage time in the search for someplace dark ...

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Blue fronted amazon

Q: June is almost over and my bird is still being nippy and trying to build nests. Is it normal for a parrot to still be thinking about breeding season ?
–Jacob C., Davenport, IA

A: Your cockatiel’s behaviors are the result of hormones that begin flooding the body at the onset of spring. Hormones are chemicals which are released into the blood stream causing reactions in other parts of the body. It’s like a communication system. In the springtime, chemicals are released telling a bird that it is ...

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Are you noticing lately that your sweet, happy cockatiel is a little nippy? Has your quiet-as-a-mouse African grey become loud and opinionated? Is your cockatoo cuddling in ways that make you blush?

It’s the onset of the spring season here in the northern hemisphere of the world. Although in most places it is still very cold, our birds are able to perceive the subtle signs of spring, even when all we see is the harshness of winter.

Parrots see things we do not. Their amped up eyesight ...

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