Chris, I've never spoken about this online before because it was never really relevant, but our galah, Dominic, used to masturbate merrily. He usually only did it in the spring and moving into summer, but one thing the whole family noticed was that he became *far* less 'tetchy' once he had - um - assisted himself. My husband always wanted me to do a correlative analysis on the number of times Dom attacked our daughter against the number of times he - ah - relieved himself. All I can say is that when Dom was 'satisfied' he never once bit Ellie or flew after her to savage her ponytail.
The cockatoos appear to be governed by a seasonal cycle, as are the Alexandrines. Not so much the Lovies, though. Two of our four will masturbate on their perches from time to time, no matter what season it is. They'll carry on incessantly until something distracts them, but like Dommie they seem to settle down to a calmer demeanour afterwards.
Which is why I don't have a problem with it.
We had one massively hormonal lovebird for whom we could find no remedy. She seemed to be literally on fire from the inside out and she began to attack her mate as well as all members of the family. The vet recommended various strategies, but none worked, not even the dezzy-wotsit implant. I often wonder what happens to birds like these in the wild. Do they succumb to their hormones, or do they find a way to 'work it out'? Also, does captivity exacerbate hormonal overload? Does the provision of an opposite-gender companion improve things?
I've observed among my own flock that the happiest birds are those with regular access to normal sex. It's only the singletons who suffer problems. I would never tell anyone else what to do, I only offer my own experience as a basis for what I do with my own flock.
(Something deep inside makes me believe that if a bird comes to see an object like a bell as something akin to an inflatable doll, it had a problem *before* the bell appeared, not because of it.)
Scintillating dinnertime conversation, isn't it?
