Female losing feathers

Hi, I have 2 quakers:
1st female 1.5 years old
2nd male 2.5 years old
I believe that both are hormonal.

He started off nice back in January 2020, now he is very aggressive towards me, and wife, mainly my wife, she has been bitten several times with blood, he will fly out of the cage and expect to land on a head or shoulder, we don't allow this, so we put our arm out for him to land on, but just before he lands he bites the arm, very territorial in the cage over everything, food, water, toys, he poops in the food bowl when he sees me.

However, my question is this they both sit beside each other in the cage and preen one another, everyday, but the female on her neck is losing feathers.

I do have a breading box in the cage, he is always in it, and sleeps in there as well, I have caught her once in it, last week.

Here is an image of her neck, this really is my only concern at this stage.

The female is great, and loves me heaps, I've hand raised her, she always been very attentive towards me.

Should I been concerned about her feathers.

Any and all advise is welcome.

Regards Ric

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Quakers are prone to plucking. It could be any number of things from dry skin, to parasites, to stress, to lack of bathing. One it starts, it's hard to stop and can progress to being quite destructive. You should seek out a competent avian vet.

Our bird had all of these (Giardia infection, never out of the cage, never bathed, hadn't been to the vet in years).

Definitely get them to a vet.
When were they at the vet last?
Do you have other birds besides these 2?

Are you trying to breed them?
If you are not, get those boxes out of there...that is going to encourage hormones and mating. Yes, anytime you house a male and a female together, you risk mating, but by providing nest boxes, you are basically buying a newlywed couple a house in the suburbs with a white picket fence and saying, come on now guys, we need some grandchildren pronto!
They DO NOT need a box to sleep in.
They can sleep on a perch. Not going to lie.. they probably will be mad when you take it out because they like it (all birds like nesting cavities because they all have similar goals--but they don't NEED them).
If the female has eggs that need to be laid inside of her, lack of a nest box will not prevent her from laying them, but keeping the box in will increase the odds of egg production, mating etc, which poses risks for the female bird and complications for your life---so unless you have experience with breeding and have a plan for what to do with potential babies (like separate cages to prevent siblings from mating eventually), hand feeding supplies in the event that you have to step in, special parrot formula, brooders etc, I would not try to breed them...It isn't as straightforward as it seems if you have never done it before.
The behavior in the male is likely related to hormones and the fact that he has chosen his mate and anyone else is interfering...plus, with a nest box etc, he is likely even more hormonal...could be defending his mate and their "nest".

The bald spots could be from mating..if he is grabbing on and scuffling around (especially because it's on her and they have nest boxes)....they could be over-preening mutually or on an individual level due to stress, hormones, humidity, irritation etc...they could be from disease...(fungus, mites, viruses, yeast etc).

This is more of an FYI/public service announcement lol-- because I am not saying your birds have a disease (it could be anything at this point), but I am mentioning this because you have multiple birds and many people are unaware of the fact that even healthy looking birds can spread all sorts of stuff..SO..Until you know what is up with your birds, you need to be super careful about contaminating other birds (don't bring new birds into your home and try to keep the ones you do have away). If it turns out this is contagious, don't assume your other bird(s) is/are fine just because they look fine.
Birds can spread and carry very serious viruses without ever showing symptoms, while still infecting other birds who can then either develop symptoms, or continue the spread without showing any signs of infection. Transmission of some of the most serious (such as ABV/PDD and PBFD) occurs mother-to-egg/chick, and through contact with mucous, oral secretions, fecal matter and feather dust (in the air or on objects)..Again-- not saying your birds have this (but lots of people's birds have these diseases without them ever even knowing it- which is why I mention those).

Humans can inadvertently aid in spreading many avian diseases through the air ducts in a home or on their clothing, or when handling birds without washing in between, by unknowingly boarding their asymptomatic birds at a vet or shop...or by bringing a bird home without proper quarantine or testing.

If this is something contagious, odds are, your other bird/birds(?) have been exposed to whatever this is at this point, but at the same time, you want to do your best to prevent further exposure just in case *if you have other birds besides these guys-- I would try to keep them away from the quakers* (not sure if you have others besides the quakers) . be it a virus, mites, fungus etc etc. That is why you really need to figure out if this is a disease, because you have more than 1 bird.

Again-- it is probably nothing SUPER serious, but you need a good avian vet to determine that so that you know how to proceed.

Whenever you put 2 sexually mature birds of the opposite sex together, you will likely see behaviors (could be aggressive, could be sexual, whatever) and you risk decreasing your ability to bond with the birds (it definitely makes it much harder in many instances- even though it is not impossible)..Most species are programmed to find 1 mate and stay with that mate...any outside interference can be viewed with hostility (post bonding), especially if you didn't have a super-strong, long-term bond with the bird before it began to attach itself to the bird mate. You haven't had this male for long at all, so you couldn't have been that close with him when you housed them together...and they clearly bonded (although sometimes that doesn't happen and they fight instead)..Clearly these 2 get along well....very well....cough

In terms of "aggression" it does sound like the male is protecting the female and their "nest". Any person could interfere, and anything in his home is HIS, so this is like an instinctual thing...

He started off nice when you first got him because
1. new to your home,
2. He was unbonded with the female initially, and
3. It is quite possible that she wasn't sexually mature in January (because they mature between 1-2 years of age roughly) and if she wasn't that could have also changed things in terms of their dynamic then vs now.


Now, I am not saying you cannot have 2 birds of the opposite sex who still like people, but with the setup you have, and given how briefly you knew the male, coupled with the fact that they are housed together with nest boxes etc...I don't see this improving much without serious changes to the environment. That doesn't mean it is hopeless or that he is bad, but he has kind of been set up for failure in the aggression department.