Hormonal behavior?

[psitticine]

Hi! I hope I can get some insight into a relatively new behavior from my Quaker.

Rainy will be 9 months old in a couple days, and I know she’s due to start puberty soon if she hasn’t already. A month or two ago, she started exhibiting this new behavior that I’ve been wondering about. It looks like a dance—she’ll poof out all the way, step side to side, open her beak really wide, and do this sort of rhythmic breathing. I wouldn’t say it seems like heavy or labored breathing, but it does look to me like she might be about to regurgitate, although I’ve never seen her do that, or smelled/seen vomit in her cage. This almost exclusively happens when she’s on my arm or shoulder, which is one reason I think it might be a hormonal thing.

I haven’t seen any nesting behavior but she has been a bit more temperamental lately. She’s eating like normal and doesn’t show any signs of illness as far as I can tell.

Side note- this week I started making my shoulder an off-limits spot (hopefully temporary), suggested by her breeder because she always starts biting immediately when she’s up there and other attempts to curb this behavior have not been successful.

I haven’t been able to catch the “dance” on camera because she gets distracted and snaps out of it when she sees my phone! I know it would be easier if there was a visual but hopefully I provided enough detail.

 

[wrench13]

Look up 'shunning' on here, its how parrots in the wild chastise unruly youngsters. If done correctly and EVERYTIME the parrot bites (and you are certain its not your fault), it works well.

 

[psitticine]

Look up 'shunning' on here, its how parrots in the wild chastise unruly youngsters. If done correctly and EVERYTIME the parrot bites (and you are certain its not your fault), it works well.

It got to the point that she was biting me every time I picked her up, and when I put her down she would fly back and start the same thing. Even after I left the room… so we’re trying the full force shoulder suspension lol. I’ve only been doing this for a few days and she’s already been much more affectionate, and she’s also surprisingly accepting of this new change!