Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
I have three lovebirds that were born in my apt. about 10 months ago. Two
are peach faced like their parents and the third one came out yellow. The
father is passive and the mother flew out the window about three months
ago. So I was left with four altogether. Two days ago I noticed one of the baby
lovebirds fighting with the yellow lovebird very aggressively. My wife saw the
same thing as she was going to work. Yesterday as I was going to work, I
noticed that the same two were fighting aggressively again. The peach faced
started attacking the yellow one right after I put their food in. Normally I have
two trays filled with food and I put a bowl full of water to drink. The lovebirds
usually pair up and go to one side and start eating. As the yellow one went to
his usual tray to eat, he was being aggressively chased by the peachfaced.
Each time he did this, I would tap the cage so that they would stop and they
did. I had to stop this aggressive behavior at least 4 times because he didn't
want the yellow one to eat. I went to work thinking nothing. When I returned
home, I turned on the light and saw that my yellow lovebird was laying dead
on the bottom of the cage. I looked at his head and his head was covered all
in blood. It was obvious that he was attacked. As I approached the cage, I
opened up the cage and the same bird that was attacking him earlier went
and landed right on top of his dead body and looked at me without moving,
almost as if claiming he did it. Then he started preening his dead head which
was covered in blood and so his beak had blood when he jumped off. What I
don't understand is why he would do this. I feed my birds everyday, I've had
lovebirds for 4 years now, I give them love, I put them on my shoulder, I buy
them toys, clean their trays everyday, and then this happens. Can you tell me
why you think they acted in this manner? I thought they were lovebirds not
killbirds.

There can be several reasons for this behavior. usually it results from one word though, territory. In some birds as they get closer to reaching maturity the females (in other birds it is the males) will begin staking claim to territory. They will fight and possibly even kill birds of the same sex in their cage. I have heard of this happening in lovebirds and in budgies both. Most generally on these species of birds it is the females that fight, it doesn't really matter the coloration etc in the peachfaced lovebirds (whether they are lutino "yellow" or normal colors.) Sometimes the males will do the same but in this type of bird it is usually the females. I usually recommend separating them soon after weaning and only introducing them in neutral spaces not housing females together unless they have an extremely large flight type cage with many food bowls, water bowls and perching or nesting areas, and then only after lots of supervision to make sure there is no fighting.

I am sure you did nothing wrong but at the first sign of aggression they need to be separated.

I have also heard of this happening in instances where the cage space is too small. When several birds are housed in an area that is not large and roomy enough they feel the need to stake claims on territory again resulting in injury or death. Usually it has nothing to do with improper care or amount of food and water etc just territory.

The only other time I have heard of this happening is in larger birds usually cockatoos. A male that wants a female as its mate will sometimes overpreen her actually biting holes into her skin and may even starve her. It is not necessarily an act of aggression but his misguided attempt to mate with her.

I just wanted to thank you for your quick reply. My wife thought the same thing. The two siblings always stuck together and I guess the third sibling, the yellow one was a female probably and always hung with her father. I guess they are maturing because my wife saw the two siblings trying to mate and perhaps wanted to claim her territory even though the cage is big enough for four. Either way thank you so much as now it puts a bit more of a closure and allows me to understand my birds a bit more.