# Cockatiel Masturbation?



## Brooke Leanne (Feb 5, 2012)

I have looked around on the net about this happening with cockatiels. & Most answers have told me that she is masturbating. & That she must be a girl cause thats how the girls do it, The boys rub their vent on things. But Marli seems to arch her back under things & bend her tail down & make little chirping noises. Has anyone else experienced this? Or have any answers?


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## DaveZ (May 4, 2012)

Yep, that's pretty much on the money. That's the female mating position.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Marli's technique is a little unusual - it looks like the bent angle of the tail must be providing the fun instead of pressing up against something. But otherwise the position is classic female. Here is a picture of Mims, a world-champion masturbating hen doing her thing. It's the same position except for the straight tail.


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## PC9850 (Feb 22, 2012)

I finally got Petey on camera doing the same thing. For 10 years we thought she was a boy. Now I'm just waiting for the DNA test to say for sure...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d-2V9mPlgY

Same thing. Arched back, little chirps, tail bent against something.


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## Annie (Nov 20, 2009)

Sunny likes to walk back and forth a door stopper because it is just the perfect height. It brushes against her back and she makes these little chirping sounds. Last night I kissed her wing, thinking "it's just the wing, it won't do anything" but I was wrong because she still made a few of those chirping sounds.


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## Fweet (Apr 9, 2012)

Is this enthusiastic bum-rubbing just a cockatiel thing or do all parrots do it? I'm sure they do but 'tiels seem to err...be keener than most.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Cockatiels are more determined to breed than a lot of species, so it makes sense that they would also be more enthusiastic about masturbation.


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## Dreamcatchers (Apr 17, 2011)

Cockatiels have often been referred to as the rabbits or rats of the parrot world. Not a flattering title but an accurate one. The only time they don't seem eager to breed is if you are a breeder trying to get a specific bird to produce. LOL.


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## Fweet (Apr 9, 2012)

Hahaha, yah, that would explain it 
Elwood was a fiend for it, no hand was safe but having learned a lot from this site I now realise what we could have done to reduce such tail-based enthusiasm. However, having seen Marli's display I'm seriously having to re-think Otway's gender. He/she hasn't had a first moult yet but showed the underside of both wings today & there was definite yellow bars so combined with that & his/her fondness for sticking his/her bum up in the air just like Marli I think Otty is now a girlybird. Never a dull moment with a cockatiel, ay.


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## Seven11 (Feb 25, 2012)

So if Buddie clutches a toy with her foot and "swishes" her tail side to side on a perch is the male or female way to do it?


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## Athyx (Jan 7, 2012)

Punk does the position and chirps, except her tail is always straight and she doesn't rub on anything. It's always funny to see my boyfriends face when she hops on his knee and presents to him.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

> So if Buddie clutches a toy with her foot and "swishes" her tail side to side on a perch is the male or female way to do it?


That depends. Mims likes to stand on the floor of the cage and back up against a low perch with her tail pointing upward, and "swishes" like she's trying to wear it out. That's female. Standing on a perch and swishing downward is male. Like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KFEeiYl3UQ

Maui (the bird in the video) is using his foot to hold a toy on top of the perch, and using the toy for his "activities" rather than the perch itself.


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## Seven11 (Feb 25, 2012)

That's what Buddie does except she uses the perch. I wonder if she's a he then...


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## smays810 (Dec 27, 2011)

tielfan said:


> Maui (the bird in the video) is using his foot to hold a toy on top of the perch, and using the toy for his "activities" rather than the perch itself.


Thats a funny video I wonder if the owner realizes what the bird is doing because it said the bird was dancing thats the part thats funny.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

I know the owner and she is very aware of what the bird is really doing. Which is part of what makes the video so funny. The energetic hula music contributes a lot to the humor too, and I laugh every time I watch it.


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## tricia5759 (Feb 8, 2011)

My male Gray just passed about a couple of months ago 20 years old. when I first brought him home as a baby i setup his cage and inside i put this pink bell, well that bell and my Sporty bird were a pair for the 20 years he lived. The week before he passed away don't you know that little old man was still rockin on that bell a bit slower but he just love that pink bell.... i miss him, he was a great character.


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