Babies, need help please

Hello, I have a female that has a baby or two. We can't see inside of the nest and we don't handle our lovebirds. The mother seems to be taking care of them, they sound healthy. Not sure if there's only one or if there's two. I gave them hay last summer and they built nests in the boxes I made them. I don't want to disturb the nest and we do not want to handle them, I'd like to let nature take it's course. I'm not sure if this is the correct way, but it's how I feel. We are not experienced bird owners, but I have read and read and read. I just hope everything will be ok. The weird thing is, is that the female doesn't have a mate. I have a coupled pair of lovebirds in there with her and for some reason the male got the single female pregnant. Seems pretty weird, I thought that once they pair, that was it?! Need some help please if you can. Thank you!

Many parrots are actually polygamous, meaning that they will accept more than one mate. What you are seeing isn't unusual at all.



I believe that it's an old wives tale that parrots "mate for life" since it's been seen that parrots do indeed take multiple partners and they do go through "divorces" and get new mates. It's not to say that they can't mate for life, but if one bird ends up losing it's mate, they will find a new mate. Besides eclectus (which are polygamous), I don't know much about the mating habits of the large parrot species in the wild.

I had a budgie who tended 3 nests at once. We had a rather large group of budgies in a huge cage, and they were tame. His name was Cloudy, and he had a very specific mate, Sapphire (my very first bird!) but he also was tending Tweety and Pearl, and none of the other males seemed to play any part. It was interesting to watch the dynamic, because he was obsessed with Sapphire, and only went to feed the other two (and most likely mated with them). He never preened them, or did that signature budgie "flirty dance" he just fed them and their chicks. Sapphire always had healthy clutches, and the other two never managed to raise more than one at a time, I am not sure what cause that.

Anyway, the internet doesn't seem to say a lot about it, but I saw it years ago with my budgies, so I would say as long as there is no violence because of it, let it be. if the other hen gets violent, perhaps consider removing her for a time. if you are not concerned with handling them (I assume they are in an aviary?) just be aware that letting 3 birds reproduce among themselves and their offspring will result in a serious case of inbreeding.

I of all people understand the joy of watching them grow their families, so I am not judging! But if you want to continue to grow the flock, I suggest trading or selling and then buying new blood so that you avoid genetic break down. If you are done after this clutch, simply remove the nest box and any "nesty" places.

Congrats on your new babies! Keep us updated as they grow?

I would advice that unless you know more about breeding, do not attempt!!!! There may be times where you have to remove the chicks to hand feed, thus you NEED to check the nest boxes. I would advice you to remove the nest box after this batch is finished, understand the meaning of breeding before proceeding any further.

Thank you for taking the time and helping me with my question. First I want to say that it was not my intention to breed them. I didn't want this because I don't know enough about lovebirds to do so, with that being said, I want to explain a bit. Last summer, nearing fall I put hay in their cage because winter was nearing and they live out side. My husband built a cage for them it's about 4 1/2 ft tall and about 3 ft wide and deep. In the winter when it gets below 50 degrees we use a heat lamp on them (it's not inside of the cage with them, it's on the outside) and we cover the sides to keep drafts out. I read that lovebirds love to build nests and it helps keep them healthy. I did not want babies, it wasn't my intentions, but it happened. You are right, I shouldn't breed them if I don't know what I'm doing. That's why I'm looking for help, because I truly care for their well being. And I really don't understand why I have to check the box, no one checks the box in the wild. Once they come out of the nest I will move them or it to another cage or give it to a good home, not sure yet. I don't want them to inbreed as I read that's not good. They made such elaborate nests I hate to disturb it, but they are getting dirty and I feel I will have to clean them out. I need advice on that also. In the wild, do they keep the same nests year after year or do they change them out. I've been searching and searching on how wild lovebirds live in the wild, but there's no good info or I'm just not looking in the right place?

There's not much long term study on parrots out in the wild, and what ones you can find are typically geared towards the larger parrots anyways.

It's a good idea to keep an eye on the chicks as the parents could be over-feeding them, under-feeding them, plucking/mutilating the chicks, killing the chicks, trampling over them, covering them up with nesting material, etc.


Once they leave the nest, they still require at least one parent as they are not quite yet weaned. They would be weaned when both parents stop feeding the chicks and the chicks are reliably eating on their own for two or more weeks.

Thank you all for replying. My female had three babies and they all look very healthy. They came out of their nest box 4 days ago. They are still a little nervous to be out and about, but I'm sure that will change soon.

That's when you need to observe closely! Watch the babies, the moment they can eat on their own they may need to be removed. The male can kill them in order to mate and have babies again.

Thank you MikeyTN, we are working on finding them good homes. It's scary giving them away to people you don't know :/ Do you have any suggestions on finding homes for them? I don't like the idea of selling them to a pet store.

Unless you have people that you know whom you trust....people are sneaky, they can act all friendly and kind, but the moment they leave, everything changes....

Yes, I'm sure they do. I need to find them good homes and fast.