Parakeet found in nesting box

[swagheichou]

I have an aviary setting, and several nesting boxes. One of the budgies has been going in and out and very oddly behaving, and I found inside, the budgie's mate, attacked and mutilated, the live mate still trying to go in and "wake it up"
Why could this happen? Suggestions to prevent this in the future?

 

[Mekaisto]

I'm sorry for your loss

How many pairs of birds do you have in that aviary, what species are they, and how many nest boxes do you have?

 

[swagheichou]

I'm sorry for your loss

How many pairs of birds do you have in that aviary, what species are they, and how many nest boxes do you have?

Only budgies. I have small nesting boxes, and had 2. I had 12 budgies, and only 6 of them were clearly bonded and paired.
It is a large room, about 6 by 6 feet, and standard ceiling height.

 

[Mekaisto]

From the sounds of it, you don't have enough nest boxes for that number of budgies. My general rule is one nest box per pair, plus 1 - so I'd recommend having 4 nest boxes for 3 pairs of budgies. Maybe even a couple of spares just in case the other budgies decide they want to pair up.

Breeding birds can get extremely territorial over nesting sites, and can attack each other for them.

 

[SilverSage]

My thoughts exactly. At least one more box than pairs is necessary, and more is wise. However, unless you have a specific breeding plan, I would highly recommend removing all the boxes.