Help!?!! Charlie may be a GIRL!!

Charlie has lost his/her? mind! He has built a nest in the bottom of his cage and he keeps trying to hide in a corner of the living room and he bit me when I tried to remove him. I had to towel him to get him back into his cage. I have only had Charlie for two/ three years and he has never done any of this. When I was given Charlie (from a bad and abusive home) they told me he was a male and nothing has contradicted that so far, until now. Am I the mommy to a girl birdie? or do males nest too? I am taking steps to curtail all this hormonal behavior (covering earlier, removing bowls, keeping him out of the corner and lots of distractions) but I am not sure what else to do. If it comes down to it should he/she be allowed to lay an egg? I have read that sitting on an egg helps calm the behavior and I have read that not being allowed to lay an egg has made birds crazy! I do not want Charlie to wreck his/her health by laying a clutch of eggs but I don't want to make him/her crazy by keeping him from it either. HELP!! What do I do? I need advice quickly. I also need to know if Charlie is a girl what difference does it make in our day to day lives. I know human girls are very different moodwise from boys (I raised both) but are birdies different? Is my birdie boy a girl?

Someone with more experience will pop in, but there's no way to keep them from laying eggs. Your doing the right thing with the steps to cut down on hormonal behavior. Should Charlie lay an egg you'll want to make sure she has enough calcium/nutrition.

Boys have nesting behaviors as well. You may want to get a DNA test done to see exactly what you're up against. That way if he's a girl you can be a little more prepared.

Male birds will make nests, too!


Sounds like a DNA test is in order!


Here's some links you might want to read!

Site Name - Articles - Behavioral - Sex And The Psittacine

https://companionparrotonline.com/sex_csaky.html



And when birdy is hormonal.... it helps to know where it's ok to touch and where it's not!

http://www.ballancebehavior.com/Por...ng the Pet Parrot updated version 10.3.13.pdf

The first hormonal season you experience with your bird is going to be a difficult time for both of you. Amazons are a whole different beast with hormones than other parrots. Especially the hot 3 males (which YNAs are). This bunch have one of the *worst* reputations for hormonal aggression in the parrot world. The most important thing you need to do is be hyper aware of body language to try and avoid a episode of hormonal aggression to begin with (pinning eyes, flared tail, slightly raised wings or ay kind of aggresion-based display). I personally find when dealing with a hormonal zon, it is best to keep a firm and authoritative voice and carry a big stick. I'm dead serious about the stick too. It's a great tool for avoiding bites from a zon in a foul mood, and IMO, all parrots should be trained to step on a stick as easily/willingly as they would a hand. It's a lot less traumatic for them than being toweled and better for you to avoid a bite. With males especially, when they are expressing defiant and/or aggressive behavior, you cannot show them 'weakness' or they will take advantage and assert their dominance. They may even take that as a sign they can bully you long after the hormones have subsided. You need to maintain a confident stance, look him in the eye and be firm (not mean) when you give him a command, such as to "step up". I have a male blue front who is a little on the upper end of the aggression spectrum when he's hormonal. He likes to do all kinds of fancy displays to show how vicious he could be. During that time of year, it can take more than once telling him he needs to step up or come here for him to listen and obey. He rides the stick a lot more too. Normally, he's a gentle and quiet sweetheart of a bird, but when his hormones start surging, it's like someone swapped out my sweet boy with a feral monster for a couple weeks.

Both male and female zons display nesting behavior, as they mate for life and build nests/raise chicks as a pair. It is no indication of gender. A DNA test (or the bird laying an egg) is about your only option to know for sure. Not all females lay infertile eggs, but with the ones who do, theres nothing you can do to "stop it". Most people replace infertile eggs with 'dummy eggs' so the real ones don't rot but the bird still has something to sit on for a while. Laying a clutch of infertile eggs does not damage a female birds health, so long as they are eating an appropriate diet and are provided additional calcium/vitamins after. What does become a problem is chronic layers, who lay clutch after clutch. From my understanding though, that behavior is prompted by removing eggs without replacement by faux eggs and not giving the bird the chance to fulfill it's natural need to sit on them.

IT'S BREEDING SEASON, AND YOUR BIRD IS MATURING...

Males establish and protect the nests in the wild. That's all this is. If he doesn't protect the nest site, he doesn't have a home, he doesn't get laid, and he doesn't have a family... so this is just a male hormonally driven behavior. It will pass.

I have hen amazons named,Kong,jake,Pedro,Reel,Blinkie,etc, LOL. I'm the world's worst at guessing sex of amazons.Hormones ? i find the less of a big deal it is the quickier it passes. "Nip it in the bud" is the best policy. Avoid the triggers and beware. Changing things around on them will sometimes help distract them from hormonal behaviors. Amazons don't want to breed unless everything is perfect. Good mate,good diet,safe,etc. Shake things up, move their cage, change the routine. It doesn't always work ,but many times it will.