Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a pair of cockatiels, one a yellow/grey male and the other a white female. We thought she was albino at first but she has very faint bands across her tail feathers, plus her eyes aren't pink. She's completely white but not albino.

For the past few weeks she's been giving this warbling chirp. My husband and I first thought it was a cute way of saying goodmorning, but for the past week she's been saying at random times--morning, afternoon, and evening. Last night I caught her trying to make a nest out of her food dish. She was sitting in it and warbling away.

While she's doing this, the male ignores her. He looks at her as if to say, "What do you expect me to do?" He was a rescue project, came from a family who had no clue how to take care of a bird, so even though he's been with us since September or so, he is still learning how to be a bird.

I want to know, is she really giving out a mating call? And if so, what do I need to do to calm her down? She loves being out of her cage, and doesn't warble when she's flying loose in the house. But about 20 min after she goes back in, she starts her warble again. I'm worried she's going to stress herself out if she keeps at it too long.

My cockatiel does that strange noise too. I'm not sure of the sex and he was weaned the day I got him so he isn't of breeding age. He is also alone in the cage.

I would also really like to find out what he is trying to tell me. Could it be he is bonded with me? or does he want to be fed, taken out of his cage, or held?

She sounds like she wants to mate. If she's building a nest, she may want to lay an egg.

At this stage if you don't want them breeding, remove the female. They could breed & you not know about it.

Discourage the female by not giving her any oportunity to have nesting material etc..distract her with playing, taking her out of her cage etc.

If she lays an egg, let her sit on it for the normal duration. She may lay 1 or 2 more. Once she realises the eggs won't hatch, she'll become tired of it & get off the eggs & ignore them. If you try & remove eggs while they're laying or before the duration (28 days I think????) she will continue to lay & become tired, stressed & ill, so it's important to let her sit on ther eggs until she's had enough.

If the eggs happen to hatch, well, then the male has done his job after all & you have some chicks. In future it's always best to seperate a male & female. Even if you think they have no interest in each other or they haven't mated for a few years. Doesn't mean they won't eventually. The right conditions, having the time to bond to each other may eventually cause them to want to mate.

Thanks for the advice. I did separate them last night, and she's been doing better. I haven't heard her warbling at all since the move, and she hasn't tried to sit in the food & water dishes (though they are smaller than the ones she was trying to use before).

One other thing I had noticed but didn't mention in my previous post, she had stopped pooping while in the cage. When I took her out, she would go 2 or 3 times in a row...her usual is once every 15 min or so. But since the move to the separate cage, she's been going more regularly. Any idea what that might have been about?

she does sound like she wants to mate. If you are not ready for that, then I would seperate them. And cut her daily time down to only 10 hours a day, that will discourage her from wanting to mate...It's spring time love is in the birdie air lol