# Is my bird hormonal?



## MicoleS (Feb 11, 2011)

We got Ferris in January this year. The store told us he was male but now we're thinking that the behaviour below is more like a female? Some of the behaviour is sort of annoying... does anyone know if this could be hormones??? 

First: He does this motion with my fiance where he bends down so his back is level to the ground, tucks his head and makes a quiet cooing noise. I read another thread on this site where people were saying that their female tiels were doing this. He only does it with my fiance (who is male) and he's been doing it a bit more in the last week (whenever my fiance is alone near him), so we started wondering if *he *is actually a *she* which is fine and would maybe explain things...

Second: In the last two days, he/she has been chirping constantly when my fiance and I are in the kitchen where he/she can see us but we aren't paying attention because we are tied up. It's not loud but it's constant and it's annoying. He/she gets out every day and has a good rotation of toys so I can't explain the chirping. Could our bird be hormonal? When do cockatiels start maturing? Ferris was born in Oct, 2010.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Yes, it sounds like he/she could be hormonal. Cockatiels mature fast. It's not a good idea to let them breed until they're at least a year old (and preferably older than that), but the birds might want to start breeding as young as 2 or 3 months old.


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## spike09 (Dec 31, 2009)

Sounds like female behaviour for sure. Our pet shop insisted our new cockatiel was a male, but then she starting doing that exact thing. We had her DNA'd and she is definately female. If you do some searching on you tube you might be able to find a video. I just did a quick search but could not find anything sorry. We call it her "booty call" lol.

She also does the contant chirping thing. It can drive you crazy. Originally it was just for attention and she would stop when we brought her over to us. Now she goes through phases where she will just chirp consistently for hours at a time. Even if I put her on my shoulder she does it in my ear. I think it's a hormonal thing, maybe calling out for a mate?


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## MicoleS (Feb 11, 2011)

hm, thanks! We won't be breeding Ferris and right now, he/she is our only bird at least until we understand his/her behaviour better. How long can these hormonal phases last? 

I've had budgies before with no attitude but tiels seem to be a whole other story! Ferris is even starting to rival my parents' poodle in the diva department haha!


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## MicoleS (Feb 11, 2011)

ooo, Spike09, you replied as I was responding to tielfan  Thanks for the info! I don't think we'll get Ferris DNA'd but the more I read, the more I think he is really a she! We did find a video on youtube where a female was doing some similar stuff. We don't mind the "booty call" thing but the chirping is sort of crazy. How long are your tiel's chirping phases? I was about ready to flip this morning when Ferris started at 530 am when my fiance started gettng ready for work!


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## spike09 (Dec 31, 2009)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFfaYua1MI8

I just found the video. This is how we found out Spike was a girl. She was doing this same thing, making her back flat and making sounds just like this bird on youtube.

It's not too bad, and seems to come and go so we just deal with it.

The consistent chirping however makes me crazy. It's not overly loud, like a flock call, but it's CONSTANT, over and over. We didn't know what it was at first but after hearing about this from several other posters I'm almost positive it's hormonal and she is calling out for a mate. It started in September, after we had her for 9 months, she was a year and a half old so I don't understand why it happened to start then. Then it stopped after about 2 months and it has just now started up again. We are going to try the 12 hour method next. When you cover the cage for 12 hours at night, I have heard this helps with the hormonal behaviour. Some days it's so bad I have brought her upstairs to a bedroom on her playground (with plenty of water and food of course) and she stops for an little bit anyway.


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## MicoleS (Feb 11, 2011)

I haven't had a chance to check the video out but I'm sure it will be like Ferris. I'll have to check it out later this evening.

This morning was a nightmare. Ferris was out of control with screaming while I was out of the room which she hasn't done in weeks (we've only had her for 3 months). She was a bit of a screamer in the beginning because we spoiled her unknowingly but she was doing so much better recently 

We are going to try a longer sleep starting on the weekend. We have a second cage that we used for her at the beginning and we're going to try putting her in there in a separate room at night. Right now, her larger cage is in our living room and I don't think she get's a good sleep, being in the middle of all the action. Hopefully she responds well to a different room at night. Unfortunately, this other room is right next to our bathroom so I hope we don't scare her with noise in the bathroom when we get up to shower early in the morning.

We've thought about getting her a friend but we want to get her under control first so she doesn't teach bad habbits to another bird. We'll wait until the summer and reevaluate the situation. We also don't want babies so we're scared to get a male but she'd probably prefer a male....

oh well  the soap opera continues!

Have you tried the long sleeps yet?


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## spike09 (Dec 31, 2009)

We just started the long nights, i'm covering the cage at 7pm and not uncovering it until 7 am. They are still asleep, or at least not moving around at that hour in the morning. It's only been a day or so, and she is chirping away right now, that consistent chirp, sounds like a metronome! She never did the screaming though.

We did get another cockatiel, a male, a year after we got Spike. I would wait a while before getting another one. I felt like we had a good bond with Spike after a year and I also had learned so much more about these little guys so I thought it was a good time to add the male that we always wanted. I'm also concerned about breeding, which we do not want, which is another reason for implementing the 12 hour treatment. We do have seperate cages for them, but it's fairly useless since we let them out most of the time when we are home.

Good luck with the screaming, I hope it stops soon.


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## MicoleS (Feb 11, 2011)

So we moved Ferris into the laundry room a few days ago just to sleep so she's away from the noise. She doesn't like going in another room but I know she'll get used to it. Unfortunately, the laundry room is next to the bathroom so I think we wake her up with our showers. When I go get her after I'm ready for work, she's wide awake and she's shaking a bit. Poor girl. Hopefully she gets used to it. I know she sleeps in there and she looks calm when I put her to bed so hopefully it's just the bathroom noise that freakes her out since she should hopefully be able to get used to it. She's been pretty adaptable so far so my fingers are crossed!

The screaming ranges from day to day. Really, it's just a constant chirp that's a bit ear piercing when we leave the room. Since her cage is in the corner of the room, I'm sure there's a bit of an echo too. We've noticed a distinct change on Mondays and Saturdays (the first day of the weekend when we're home more and the first day back to work when she's alone more). Mid week, she's better. I did notice she wasn't as vocal yesterday which was nice. Maybe the longer sleeps are working!

Thanks for the advice on getting another bird. If we get another one down the road, they would be housed together so I'm not sure how that would work. Some people seem to say that if you don't give them a place to nest, they won't lay eggs but that seems like a bit of a risk too. We have a ways to go until that happens anyways.

My next feat is to figure out how to clip her nails. I've been trying to get her used to being grabbed in a towel but it's still a work in progress. I think she just tolerates me sometimes!! heehee

Hope the chirping with Spike is getting better!


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

If you get two girls then you wouldn't have to worry about it. The long nights should prevent any egg laying anyways. Sounds like progress, you could get her a cockatiel cd (just a cd of tiel noises) and play that for her while you're at work. She'll think she's talking to other tiels.


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## MicoleS (Feb 11, 2011)

Oh, so they don't mind living with the same sex? My fiance would love that! Three divas at home hahaha. We were joking yesterday that we could change her name from Ferris to Paris (as in Paris Hilton) and she wouldn't know the difference but the name would fit wonderfully! 

It is going well. I play her the radio while I'm at work and on the weekends, unless we're watching TV, if we aren't playing with her, I turn the TV to an easy listening Jazz station. She really seems to like it and it really sooths her actually.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

That's great! O yea they don't mind living with the same sex...my father-in-law has his birds separated into two cages, boys in one girls in the other. They get along just fine!


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## MicoleS (Feb 11, 2011)

sounds great! 
With my luck, I'd try to get another girl and end up with a boy. Just like Ferris was supposed to be a boy and now I think differently. :wacko:


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