I don't understand the behaviors

[HereWeR]

Hi my fellow bird lovers! I joined this forum to try to glean some perspective on the unfolding drama of my two little American parakeets. Both of them are males, the oldest being about 3 (no older) and the other is about a year old.
Get your hanky now...
I bought the older one from my neighbor. I was going to buy just the very large cage, but she ended up including the lone parakeet, to my delight. He was very cranky and cantankerous, and on the brink of being cage bound, but after a week, he started to crack and we enjoy him so much. He pinched us a lot, and was scared.
We later learned from my neighbors son that he was originally purchased with 3 other keets, and a grim situation happened where the family left town for a week and did not make provision, resulting in all the birds dying but him😩
We aquired another keet who was being rehomed, and that's when I noticed very bad behavior from our original keet, involving food aggression, water bottle aggression, standing on his tail, and beak kissing so aggressively it looked like it was damaging the edges of his beak. He just couldn't stand this other bird, but was also constantly trying to get into his little cage!? He would step on his tail, and trick him at any and every opportunity, and really didn't like that he couldn't fly. He came with clipped wings, unfortunately. Which ended up being a huge downfall and he sadly died accidently.
So, it was single bird life after that. Honestly, even though he was a bit pinchy, he's by far the funnest parakeet I've ever met. We just let him boss us around mostly, and he loves playing with balls and bells.
One day I read on the www that in Norway, they won't let you buy a single parakeet, and all about how they need another bird, so when we were relocating across the country and I was buying a travel cage, I also bought another parakeet🫣 I thought it's now or never, with the "precious" cage disassembled, toys packed and the upcoming days of travel....

Fortunately, my plan worked, and we've been happily living for a year together ( I've had my oldest bird for two years now)
He tried to be nice to the baby bird at first ( I think he was hoping he was a hen😆) but the day came he started singing and dancing, and there was a couple days of grumpiness, but they got through it. The oldest bird tried all the same mean-spirited tricks, but the baby just beat him at his own game everytime. The baby is so sweet and adorable and tamed up on his own because he saw my oldest bird was so friendly with us, but here we are a year later, and now the baby seems to be the boss bird!?
They have this wierd routine where they take turns sitting at the highest point of the room singing, and the baby always eats first. There are multiple food stations and water bottles in the cage, but of course they want the specific one. Anytime a treat is offered, the baby eats first and won't even let the oldest have a bite of chip! I know that the oldest bird tought the baby to do all of this, but I kind of feel bad. They refuse to be separated, with the oldest jail breaking the baby when we put him in time out one time, and they are always preening each other, doing synchronized flying and what not....I just noticed today that the oldest is sitting on lower perches to nap pretty regular and the baby is like the king of the cage now. The only time the oldest "gets it all" is when it's bath time. He doesn't fight over the bath.
Why would my control freak oldest give up his position to this charming baby?
I'm not complaining, I just don't understand it. I know birds are pretty militant. Any insights on this behavior? Is it just normal and boring stuff? I just wonder what the competition is and why it's illegal to treat them at the same time. The oldest taught him everything about how to food guard and tail stomp.
They squabble occasionally, but very gently I found when my hand was in the way. Also, my oldest bird is so incredibly happy. He's a different bird now! The baby seems very happy too, bossing him around and getting the better of him and stealing all the humans attentions and food.
These are by far the most affectionate and tricky parakeets I've ever personally met and me and the fam wholly enjoy them.
I had a dream last week that I was petting them with my finger, and I hope to actualize this one day. The oldest never pinches us or bites us anymore, and absolutely never runs out of food or water. He knows we love him. The youngest never had pinched or bitten and is super laid back and relaxed, just bosses around our little OG Boss

I left out their names because it's just too embarrassing and cheesy! Plus we constantly modify nick names and babytalk😳. So embarrassing!

 

[HeatherG]

“Standing on his tail”? Makes me wonder if your first bossy bird was trying to mate with his first cage mate? And this younger bird that you have now is more dominant and a young adult and gets to rule the roost.

Either way it sound like things are working out better.

When I have multiple birds in the same cage I always have extra food and water stations so everyone gets to eat and drink regardless of dominance. (Kind of like when you have cats having more than one litter box.)

Photos?

 

[HereWeR]

 

[HeatherG]

I see the bird on the left of photo is definitely a boy. I’m not sure what else to say. Did my post help you at all?

I’m glad you’re enjoying your parakeets and I just repeat that with multiple birds in a cage you need multiple food and water stations to make sure everyone gets to eat and drink.

 

[HereWeR]

Yes we have 3 gravity feeders and 2 water bottles. One specific feeder is the favorite though. It's an old ferret cage, and they enjoy hanging out in there. The pied parakeet is definitely a boy, but he's got one of those blue and pink Ceres so we didn't know until he started popping off with his song and dance routine.
I'm just a little confused with the dynamic of the dominate alpha bird suddenly becoming the beta. He's totally punked!
He's not tortured though. I've never seen him so happy.
What I'd really like is for them to both have equality. I'm saving up for a big double flight cage, so pretty much twice the size of my current cage, but with a removable grate. I wonder if they'd actually like to have separate cages though.
My daughter want us to get a cockatiel or a parotlet, but I'm thinking it's better to just keep these guys alone.
Is it normal behavior? Will one bird always dominate the other?
It's better with the baby being the boss then if he was, that much is true, but if a different bird ever came I worry they would double up on them, or this bad behavior could resurrect. We were horrified everyday with the poor deceased bird, who seemed like a sweet gentle soul.

 

[HereWeR]

Here's the young pied and the dismantled fatuous ruler

 

[HeatherG]

The deceased bird may have been very old or sub clinically sick which would explain why it was sweet and gentle.

Your previously dominant bird has been supplanted by a young buff bird. Like a young football player vs the old guys who are ready to retire.

 

[HeatherG]

I’ve had pairs of small birds who got along great until one of the pair became elderly or sick. Then the other bird started harassing it, keeping it from eating, etc. They were the same pair but a change in condition of one bird altered the dynamic.

 

[GaleriaGila]

I don't know much about budgies, except that they are the greatest little parrots in the world, BUTTT...
here is a link I saved that you might like to read.
I'm so glad you're here!

Taming and bonding with budgerigars: tips for beginners

I have seen a lot of questions on the forums about taming budgies. Some users have suggested that I create a single post with some helpful information. There's a lot of myths about budgies. Firstly, many people do not regard them as parrots. Budgies ARE parrots: they can bond with their owner...

www.parrotforums.com

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