Hormonal Behaviour or Something Else?

Hello, I am a fairly new member of the Parrot Forum looking for some advice.

I have a 5-year-old male rainbow lorikeet and starting in August 2019, I noticed that his eyes change colour. One week, his eyes would be deep, vibrant orange and then the next, his eyes would change to a pale, desaturated white-orange. Usually accompanying this phenomenon is the change in his stool colour and smell. He also starts eating at a ridiculous rate, finishing half a bowl of nectar in one sitting. And he'd still look for something to eat. After this eating, however, he'll either vomit or regurgitate (I still can't tell the two apart all that well); it smells putrid. This all happens within the span of a week. When all returns to normal, he'd go at it again after a few weeks of rest.
From the research I've done, I've found that the times his eyes change coincide with the general parrot mating seasons (fall and spring), but nothing I've read so far describes everything else that I'm witnessing.

I've attached two pictures of him. The first one is his normal eye colour while the second one is from August.

I have no experience with your species.

With Amazon's it is not unusual for their eye color to transition and that transition can occur rapidly. With Amazon's it is tied to their emotional state, an insight that they have become very excited when their eyes are mostly orange... Amazons are fully capable of becoming highly excited at any time, but most commonly during hormonal season.

With your Parrot's transition over a much longer time period, I'm unsure where that is typical or hormonal, or is there a connection to diet or an underlining illness.

With hope, a member that has experience with your specifics will become available and address your question.

Welcome to Parrot Forums!
Your Parrot is truly beautiful!

Hello and welcome to you! Your Spectra is a beautiful birdie!

I know it's a crazy time out there right now and a visit to your nearest avian health specialist isn't as simple as it used to be, but when was the last time Spectra had a check up? Regurgitation and vomiting are distinguishable by the head movements that accompany them. Generally regurgitating is accompanied by bobbing the head straight up and down and other attention seeking behaviours like perhaps quivering wings or that exotic mating dance that male lories do. The regurgitated food should not be foul smelling. With vomiting the head will usually move from side to side and the vomit will be flung around and perhaps end up landing on the bird's body and/or be flung about by the slinging motion of the bird's head. Lorikeets metabolise their food extremely quickly so the stool will change colour in accordance with their last meal (first time I fed my lorikeet strawberries he pooped pink and I freaked out!), but it should not be foul smelling. Mind you I have only had little purple crowned lorikeets so I am not totally familiar with the bigger guys!

I think the putrid smell that you have observed would be enough of a concern to have Spectra checked out if you possibly can. My bird vet is still seeing patients although they have had to enforce strict in-clinic infection controls for the safety of their staff and their human clients. I wish you the very best of luck!

Thank you, both of you, for the welcome!
Regarding your question about Spectra being checked up: I've never brought him to a vet or had him checked up by an avian doctor in all the five years I've had him. It's mostly because I am a minor and my parents aren't so keen on spending all that much money on a bird, should there be something wrong, despite all the confusing and possibly alarming things he's showcasing.
For his diet, he's only had nectar/powder for the past few weeks since going out and buying fresh produce is not really an option now. And it's the same nectar and powder mix he's been eating for the past five years.
With his regurgitation/vomiting, I'm not quite sure what's going on. I've seen him display both of the behaviours you, LaManuka, described (the erratic head shaking and the up-and-down head pumping) just this week. The food he's spewing up doesn't appear to have changed in consistency or colour, just smell. So, it doesn't seem that he's digesting his food properly.
What do you all think is causing his ravenous eating, though? Could it be a mating behaviour where he's looking for someone to woo and regurgitate food to?
Aside from all of this, he's vocalizing normally and behaving fairly regular as well (with the occasional mating dance every once in a while), but he's been tired, too.
I think I should call a vet. This is starting to concern me.

I'm sorry your parents don't seem to share your enthusiasm! Perhaps you could do some extra chores around the house to work off some of the cost of a vet visit?

The foul smells you are reporting would be enough for me to consult my vet, as it could be an indicator of a fungal/yeast/bacterial infection. I don't know where you are located, if you happen to be in Brisbane I can recommend a very good one! Otherwise if you are having trouble finding one you can try the link below ...

https://www.aav.org/

I think it would be at least worth a phone call where you can describe to them the behaviours you are observing with Spectra to see what their professional opinion is. You are wise to be concerned because of the smell. Unfortunately visits to the bird vet are rarely cheap, as with any thorough animal health care practitioner, so I hope you are able to come to some agreement with your parents.

Thank you for your advice, LaManuka.
I have a couple of contacts for avian vets from the breeders in my area (Sacramento) that I haven't yet utilized, so now may be the time. Hopefully sometime this week, I can convince my parents to at least call the vet, since the whole COVID-19 craziness will most likely prevent a home or clinic visit. If not, I'll just do it myself whenever I can and when I'm not inundated with online school assignments.
Again, thank you for your time in addressing my concerns and questions. I greatly appreciate it!