Are female GCCs more aggressive when they lay eggs?

I have a 3 yr old male tiel and REALLY would love to get a GCC early next year. A GCC breeder told me it doens't matter if I get a male or female GCC and just incase it does matter... that I might be better off getting a female GCC since it "might" has less chance of it being aggressive towards my tiel but then I keep reading that female birds (tiels, GCCs etc) can turn very aggressive when they are laying eggs?

... I don't want to have to deal with birds laying eggs... so now I'm thinking a male GCC is a better option if this is really the case. I also keep reading about female GCCs that are laying eggs for no reason... I think I'm leaning towards getting a male GCC!

Pretty much all female birds are protective of their eggs and if you have a pair then most likely both would be trying to kill you for messing with their eggs. My female gcc has laid eggs once so far and she was protective of them. Both of my tiels have laid eggs and they were even more protective of them than my gcc. My tiels would come charging straight out with wings spread and mouth wide open. My gcc would just curse at me and ruffle her feathers before moving away when she realized it wasn't scaring me off. My male gcc acted like he was sparing coming in then deflecting and trying to bite me from a different angle. Ah the good old hormonal time...I've been lucky my gcc pair have only laid once and they really weren't that aggressive about it.

Just so you know even if you got a female gcc and she laid. It isn't likely she will leave the eggs to go kill your tiel. She is going to stay near them and only if you let your tiel get near her nest area will she attack. My pair of gcc never had a problem with the other birds unless they got too close and same goes for the tiels. They generally seem to know not to mess with the crazy hormonal ones with the eggs....

I would definitely agree on getting the male if you don't want to deal with eggs and the health issues that could go with it.

riddick07 said:

Pretty much all female birds are protective of their eggs and if you have a pair then most likely both would be trying to kill you for messing with their eggs. My female gcc has laid eggs once so far and she was protective of them. Both of my tiels have laid eggs and they were even more protective of them than my gcc. My tiels would come charging straight out with wings spread and mouth wide open. My gcc would just curse at me and ruffle her feathers before moving away when she realized it wasn't scaring me off. My male gcc acted like he was sparing coming in then deflecting and trying to bite me from a different angle. Ah the good old hormonal time...I've been lucky my gcc pair have only laid once and they really weren't that aggressive about it.

Just so you know even if you got a female gcc and she laid. It isn't likely she will leave the eggs to go kill your tiel. She is going to stay near them and only if you let your tiel get near her nest area will she attack. My pair of gcc never had a problem with the other birds unless they got too close and same goes for the tiels. They generally seem to know not to mess with the crazy hormonal ones with the eggs....

I would definitely agree on getting the male if you don't want to deal with eggs and the health issues that could go with it.

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Thanks, I see. I definitely am now leaning towards getting a male GCC Especially since from what I've been told thus far there really isn't a big difference between male/female GCCs and the gender does not matter much in regards to which sex will possibly be more aggressive towards my tiel since all birds are unique with their own personalities. Strange how the GCC breeder told me I should get a female... I don't want the possible headaches an egg laying female GCC might be like because who knows what it might do to my tiel who would be "foolish" enough to walk in her path to inspect her eggs when my back it turned for a minute, I can only imagine that would not be his lucky day, yikes.

I personally find female GCCs to have a more even temperament....

All birds are going to be aggressive when nesting, and birds actually dont nest for no reason. They nest in response to certain stimuli that tell them they are in the right time and place to do so. Here is an article on keeping the hormones under control

Handling Hormones ? Silver Sage Aviaries

SilverSage said:

I personally find female GCCs to have a more even temperament....

All birds are going to be aggressive when nesting, and birds actually dont nest for no reason. They nest in response to certain stimuli that tell them they are in the right time and place to do so. Here is an article on keeping the hormones under control

Handling Hormones ? Silver Sage Aviaries

Click to expand...

So in your opinion, considering I am trying to lessen possible aggression towards my tiel, you would recommend I get a female GCC rather than a male?
I also read on google many people are saying their female GCC is laying eggs for no reason.... as they didn't have a nesting box etc and seemed to not be provoking nesting etc....

Oh hey! I know you from the cockatiel forum I believe you recently accused me of living in a mansion

People say that their birds do things "for no reason" because they do not UNDERSTAND the reason and haven't bothered to figure it out. I assure you, the bird has a reason. The article I wrote and linked above talks about a lot of those reasons that many people don't understand.

If the point is to get a bird to get along with your existing bird, you are worrying about the wrong detail. Instead of searching for either a male or female, look for a breeder who socializes their birds with birds of different species. Then pick a baby who has been socialized with cockatiels already. Introduce your birds (after a reasonable quarantine) in a neutral location (such as a new play stand neither has ever seen before), and monitor closely. I also suggest having meals together. get out your plate, and TWO plates of birdy food, and sit at the table and eat (yes, birds on the table). Start with the two birds across the table, and each meal move the plates closer together.

The question is socialization and introduction, not gender.

SilverSage said:

Oh hey! I know you from the cockatiel forum I believe you recently accused me of living in a mansion

People say that their birds do things "for no reason" because they do not UNDERSTAND the reason and haven't bothered to figure it out. I assure you, the bird has a reason. The article I wrote and linked above talks about a lot of those reasons that many people don't understand.

If the point is to get a bird to get along with your existing bird, you are worrying about the wrong detail. Instead of searching for either a male or female, look for a breeder who socializes their birds with birds of different species. Then pick a baby who has been socialized with cockatiels already. Introduce your birds (after a reasonable quarantine) in a neutral location (such as a new play stand neither has ever seen before), and monitor closely. I also suggest having meals together. get out your plate, and TWO plates of birdy food, and sit at the table and eat (yes, birds on the table). Start with the two birds across the table, and each meal move the plates closer together.

The question is socialization and introduction, not gender.

Click to expand...

Ah yes, you must be that the one from the cockatiel forum who has 21 birds?
You made a good point, I actually didn't even think of that... I wonder if I could find a GCC breeder who socialized their GCC baby with a tiel. I have a feeling that is going to be difficult to find though...

It shouldnt be any harder than finding a good breeder to begin with. As a breeder myself I consider proper socialization key to insuring a good fit with the new family.

SilverSage said:

It shouldnt be any harder than finding a good breeder to begin with. As a breeder myself I consider proper socialization key to insuring a good fit with the new family.

Click to expand...

I'm going to search around to see if I can find any GCC breeders in south Florida who can socialize my baby GCC with a tiel. I will keep fingers crossed. I found one big breeder of GCCs in Georgia but she doesn't have any tiels. You don't happen to breed GCCs do you?

Tricky question, lol. I don't at this moment. Your best bet is simply to find someone who breeds both. However, don't stress too much about it being a cockatiel specifically; find a breeder who socializes the babies with other species IN GENERAL, and you should be ok. Also remember that even if your new baby initially is aggressive toward your teil, you can set boundaries and train him that he is not allowed to eat the cockatiel lol. Keeping your cockatiel flighted will also be helpful.

As a heads up, any bird, regardless of sex, could potentially become more aggressive during hormone season.... or they could become the opposite and become more cuddly and demanding of attention. There's no telling how a bird will act during hormonal times.


And as SilverSage mentioned, there are reasons why birds do things. Even if it's not apparent to us, or even if we can't understand it, doesn't mean the bird doesn't have their own reason.

I mean, I took a female cockatiel out of a bad situation. She was becoming a chronic egg layer in this house.... and she was literally starving to death, house full of cigarette smoke, ceiling stained with nicotine, house overrun with cats and kittens, many of which had respiratory issues.... she was kept in a small bedroom with the window covered with a tan blanket so she got no natural lighting, the light in the room turned on for hours throughout the day or night, or not turned on at all.... the cage ended up being covered 24/7 because she was "too noisy".... and all they fed her was seeds. Not to mention she was in a cage far too small for her own species.

Why would a hen be laying eggs in a situation like that??? People usually use more sleep as a way to get a hen to stop laying eggs, yet she continued laying eggs despite that. She was starving and malnourished, and yet she still laid eggs.


It doesn't seem like an ideal situation to lay eggs in to any of us, but she had her reasons, I guess....

Poor little bird, thank goodness you rescued her!

... my tiel is fully flighted and always will be... so at least he can flay away from the GCC if feeling threatened.

Yes, I have found that having fully flighted birds USUALLY helps things. Sometimes a bully needs a clipping while TRAINING takes place to permenantly deal with a behavior, but it always helps if the target can escape.

Okay, I just LOVE my female GCC and wouldn't change her for anything temper tantrums and all, I have a feeling that puberty with a female may not be a difficult as with a male, but it all comes down to the bird as an individual.

I had lovebirds before Kyo. There was one female who was amazing and super sweet, and another who would rip your face off. I don't think their genders actually mattered at all. Just like there are sometimes GCC's who are super calm and easy going, while others are hyper and act like they have adhd like Kyo does

I think the best advice is to find one that is established in it's personality (aka past puberty) and who has lived with tiels already. I think this could be the best solution for your situation. You would have to quanatine (which you should anyways) but longterm it might be your best bet.