Post by ekkiemum on Dec 21, 2005 12:59:29 GMT 8
FEMALE HORMONAL BEHAVIOR
This response provided to the Zoo is an excerpted post from an Eclectus internet club list. We posted it in response to a question from person whose female Eclectus was exhibiting biting, feather chewing and calling behaviors that we interpreted as being related to hormones. Please refer to the post about Papa Bird to review trustbuilding techniques. More about trustbuilding techniques can be learned from parrot behaviorists such as Sally Blanchard and her Nurturing Guidance behavior techniques. To learn more about Sally Blanchard, please visit her website at
www.companionparrot.com
We hope this information is of help to you.
***********************
Kind of featherpicking Poppy is doing
The "V" cuts you describe sound like what is called feather barbering. In this kind of feather mutilation behavior, the parrot snips off part of the feather. In some birds, the entire colored part is snipped off, with only the base of the feather with grey down left intact. This can leave the Eclectus with a fluffy grey appearance on the body. In addition, the primaries, secondaries and tail feathers can be chewed and frayed. Primaries can actually be chewed to "chewed up looking toothpicks". Other parrots just snip the body feathers (contour feathers) and leave the primaries, secondaries and tail feathers pretty much alone (maybe a little overpreening
and fraying, but not too bad).
It sounds to me like Poppy is barbering...is she also chewing her primaries, etc? If so, are they frayed or are they chewed to splinters? Is she PULLING OUT any feathers (other than those she gets out during molting).
When Poppy started chewing
As Poppy is SI, it is not surprising that she started this behavior at 18 months of age. This is a common age for SI hens to start to go through adolescence. We feel we narrowly escaped our SI hen, Cabby, becoming a feather chewer. IMHO the only reason we did was one line in one article out
of many articles and books we read when researching Eclectus parrots before we decided on Eclectus as our companions. The article said something like if an Eclectus hen is not provided with chewing materials, she could chew on her
feathers or toenails instead.
Hormonal cycles in Eclectus parrots
There are four subspecies of Eclectus parrots commonly found in aviculture:
Vos (largest), Grand, Red-sided and Solomon Island smallest). Among other differences, including size, each of these subspecies matures at a different rate. Some of them have different hormonal cycles as well. Vos tend to have three cycles per year, and SIs tend to have four.
Our SI pair has its most intense hormonal cycle this time of year....November and December. Cabby usually lays eggs a week or two before Christmas...whether she has a nestbox or not. During her first egglaying cycle, we had a nestbox built for her as she laid egg after egg from her perch. The second year, it happened again...same time of year. This will be the third year for Christmas eggies. Cabby and Chardy are not breeders...they are companions...but they are in love. They are five and a half years old.
The season may be why some of our listmembers are experiencing strong hormonal behavior in their male and in their female Eclectus right now.
OK...great...she is hormonal....what does that mean and what do we do?
Natural history of hormonal/nesting/courtship behavior
IMHO, before a discussion of managing hormonal hens can begin, a little background in the natural behavior of Eclectus hens is helpful. Apologies if you already know all of this....
First, there is not alot known about Eclectus in the wild. Right now, there is a study of wild Eclectus (E.r. macgillivrayi...the largest of all the Eclectus subspecies) being conducted in the Iron Range of Queensland, Australia. Very interesting information is coming out of this study. Maybe you have had a chance to read the article by Heinsohn and Legge in the Winter 2001 issue of Nature Australia called "Seeing Red: A Parrot's Perspective" describing some of the early findings from this study. If not, IMHO it is a very interesting article, and if you can locate a copy, you may enjoy reading it.
In the wild, Eclectus hens seem to begin defending nest sites or potential sites at a very early age. They have even been observed guarding dark spots on trees, and tiny holes that could not possibly be potential nest sites (even if the hen were to wait for years!). Nest sites, then, are probably at a premium...hard to find. Eclectus nest in cavities in trees and palms. They probably do not actually make the nest entry hole itself, especially in tree sites...Eclectus are not woodpeckers! But they do take advantage of holes started by other creatures, areas where limbs have been broken off or
damaged, soft or decaying spots where they can get started in softer tree wood or palm pith. Finding a nest cavity involves inspecting things that are dark....holes in trees, limbs, under bark, (places where pillows come together on the sofa, under desks, in laundry baskets, drawers or cabinets).
Once the hen has found a suitable nest hole, she begins to excavate the hole....tearing at the soft wood or pith with her beak, scratching the bits out with her feet or carrying out bits. She tunnels down, with the help of her mate, into the soft wood or palm for many feet....a long way for such a small parrot! If she is lucky, Nature or another creature will have done at least some of this work for her... She gets down "far enough" and modifies the bottom of the cavity into a nest chamber, and chews the sides of the chamber using the chewed pieces as a soft bedding in which she will scoop a
little hollow for her eggs. She rootles around in the darkness, scratching and chewing, preparing her nest.
She has a strong instinct to chew and alot of energy to keep her going - important for a nest excavating hen!
Since sites are hard to find they are probably also hard to keep....other birds, like thingyatoos, hornbills, and other Eclectus are probably very interested in these same nest holes. She has a great deal invested in her nest cavity...alot of effort to make it, and not easy to find another one...so she
had better stay with her nest and defend it. During this time, her mate/s (Eclectus are polyandrous) have been helping her at least somewhat, and they have been feeding her, so that she hardly ever even has to leave her nest. Until eggs/chicks arrive, she sits in the entry hole of her nest, showing her
beautiful, glowing red face and head feathers...she has a nest (hey you male Eclectus...over here! You girls...this hole is OCCUPIED!)
In addition to defending her nest from those who would usurp it, she must also defend it from predators. Wild predators of hens, eggs and chicks in the nest in the Eclectus home range are probably tree dwelling giant rats (weighing up to a kilo), lizards and snakes. Snakes from PNG and the Solomon
Islands include Tree Boas that have prehensile tails (they can hang from them). Also, there is the Brown Tree Snake, that is such an efficient predator of birds that it has nearly destroyed the endemic wild bird population of Guam
(where the Brown Tree Snake was accidentally introduced by Man). The wise bird has to be very vigilant, and cannot hesitate in her duty to protect herself, her nest, eggs and chicks.
An Eclectus hen in her nest is virtually invisible, despite the brilliance of her coloring in daylight. The reds and blues of her feathers, and the black of her beak disappear into darkness. Well known aviculturist EB Cravens describes a trance-like state that hens enter while in their nests (Original Flying Machine issue #3). Their eyes are open, yet they are very still - almost as if they are waiting (a trance helps to pass the time in the nest, too, I bet!). But if anything moves that doesn't look like a male or baby Eclectus...WHAM! the bite is fast and furious. Those of us who have been bitten by hen Eclectus know about that terrier-like bite...bite and chew and shake all at the same time. It's as if their wild instincts have "told" them to KILL THE SNAKE! KILLIT! KILLIT! DON'T LET IT GO!
There are a combination of signals that tell birds' bodies when to "do things" - like become hormonal, make nests, have babies, molt, etc. I am trying to learn more about these signals. Some of these seem to be within the cells themselves, and others seem to come from outside...particularly from light. There is a theory that breeding and nesting behaviors become more intense in some cavity nesting birds (like Eclectus) when the eyes begin to receive less and less light. In this theory, as the hen tunnels her nest cavity, her eyes receive less and less daylight. A hen with a nest is in the dimness/dark. A girl in the dark has a nest, and so she can have babies. OK body! Get a move-on with those hormones!
Additionally, a hen in a small space or a long, narrow space may also be sending her body signals that she has a nest. And a girl with a nest has to have something to put in it. Some people have thwarted aggressive behavior in their hens just by getting them a bigger cage (when the cage was too small in the first place).
Dim/Dark/Small space...these possibly stimulate or intensify hormonal behavior.
That's all interesting, but what does it mean for Poppy?
SI hens commonly go into adolescence at about 18 months of age. As with humans, this varies depending on the individual parrot. Some hens are even making eggs at 18 months! It is not common, but it happens. In the wild, females might not become adolescent so young...there are factors that might
limit that..such as availability of nest sites, food resources, predator stress etc. But in the environment of our homes, where the birds are well cared for, adolescence can come early.
As with humans, adolescence is a trying time...a confused jumble of behaviors as the body changes. In the home, the bird might be a compliant baby one minute, and the next strutting, screaming, growling, eye pinning and even biting...and back again...for seemingly no reason at all (those of you with teenagers know this well....I don't have kids, but I was one of those teenagers once...poor Mom!). As with humans, this teenage stage takes a little time...with Cabby, it was a couple of years...from 18 months of age until her first eggs at three and a half years old. BUT as the bird becomes
more mature, her body begins to settle into her new stage of life (this is my interpretation and observation with Cabby), and her hormonal surges and behaviors become more predictable and "even". Some of this may be Cabby - and some might be us...we are now used to the signs and behaviors associated with her hormones, and handling them is almost second nature.
Feather chewing
I thank the author who included that little line about Eclectus hens who don't have chewing materials might take their needs out on their feathers and toenails. Up until that time, and since! the only thing I had read about Eclectus and chewing was that they are not big chewers and making comments
like your furniture and moldings are pretty safe if you have an
Eclectus...giving the impression that that they really don't chew at all.
They may not chew like thingyatoos or Macaws do, but chew they do - especially the hens.
When Cabby was about 18 months old, I was holding her in my hand (she likes to sit in my hand with her feet dangling down). But this day, something was different. She was perched on my fingers, and started chewing on her toenails. Not preening them (we are familiar with toenail preening)...she was chewing them almost desperately. That little line about the toenail chewing popped into my head. Al handed me a slim softwood stick for her. She was chewing and chewing her toes...I gently pushed the stick between her
beak and her toenails. She started chewing the stick in preference to her toenails. She chewed that stick to splinters, and started on another, then another. She chewed several sticks before she was satisfied, then she stopped and was happy. This was the beginning of adolescence for Cabby.
Toys and chewing materials for hormonal hens are not the same as regular bird toys, IMHO. The purpose of regular toys is entertainment and mental stimulation. Toys for the hormonal hen have to be easily destructable...to chew and tear and pull apart. Regular toys can swing, roll, and challenge. Toys for the hormonal hen should be easy for her to get stationary...and keep stationary while she tears them up. After all, the palm or tree trunk does not swing away from her as she excavates her nest - it stays put. She can get a good hold on it and chew it up.
Hormonal hen toys should be things like: clean, safe natural twigs with bark on them (examples are cottonwood aka black poplar, willow, vine maple, hazelnut, ash and alder), softwood sticks that are slim - in slim wafer shapes or slim rectangles (Bongo Bay is one brand...there are others that are good, too), willow rings, grapevine rings (always be sure they are
untreated), dry cholla cactus chunks, a toy called Kabobs (chunks of pithy bamboo strung on safe string), Shredders pinata toys, compressed paper rings.
Some of these toys can be found in the rodent section of pet stores, so look in the bird section and the rodent section for ideas. Crafts stores can also be fun to browse, but be sure the items DO NOT have any kind of preservatives, stain, shellac, etc on them. Be especially careful with reed baskets, as reeds are often treated with insecticides prior to weaving. The toys should be hung against the side of the cage or in a corner, near a comfy perch so she can get a good hold on them with feet and beak.
IMHO it is a good idea to have several of these items around the areas she is in when out of her cage, to offer her to chew while she is in your hand. Cabby loves willow rings, compressed paper rings, and natural twigs with bark while she is sitting on my hand. On top of her cage, we have a thick (about wrist thick or a little thinner) piece of cottonwood (black poplar, I believe it is called in Canada). Cabby loves to chew and strip the bark, especially if I mist it with a little water first. It is secure on the top of the cage...we don't want it to roll over on her toes or anything.
Re the toys for the hand...
IMHO, this is a very good way to introduce Poppy to the purpose of her chew toys. Hold her in your hand, and hold a toy up to her beak, encouraging her to chew on it. It may help to pull a little bit off of one edge or peel a little bark and leave it loose to give the toy that tantalizing chewed
feeling. It may take a few tries to get her to get the idea that the toy is for her to chew up. Also, it may take a few tries to find the toy that suits her chewing fancy. Some patience will be necessary during this learning curve. If she is not interested one time, try again later...she may be more
in the mood to chew. Once she knows what to do with the toy, you can place a similar one in her cage. She should start to chew on it within a few days.
If you actually see her chewing her feathers (i.e. she chews them when she is with you), you can take that opportunity to gently place the chew toy between her feathers and her beak, encouraging her to chew the toy. When Cabby is out, she chews best when I am holding her.
When she so much as touches the toy with her beak, praise her gently and lavishly. As she chews, praise her.
But won't this encourage her hormonal behavior?
IMHO, it will only help her to express her hormones in a way that is not destructive to her body (feathers). She is already chewing...chewing her feathers. The goal is to direct her attention to a healthier outlet for her needs.
Not wanting to come out of her cage
With many hen Eclectus, it seems like the cage is her castle. The reasons for that are probably rooted in her instinct to protect her nest from usurpers and predators. There are ways to get a parrot to come out of her cage, but the easiest is to make her WANT to.
Sometimes when Cabby is hormonal, she is reluctant to come out, so we just tell her we'll be back in a minute and go to the livingroom where her playtree is and call her and make all kinds of happy play sounds. Then we go back to her cage, and she is usually dancing from foot to foot wanting to come out and play. Sometimes we leave her cage door open and do the same thing....of course, not for long - maybe only 30 seconds or so...usually by the time we come back, Cabby is on top of her cage dancing.
Biting when you place your hands in her cage
Cabby loves us and is very affectionate with us, but woe to me if I put my hands in her cage when she is in it. Again, probably the nest defense instinct. She does tolerate some "messing around" from us, but not much...maybe just enough to change her water bowl. Once Cabby is out of her
cage, I can do anything I want in there...change toys, clean, replenish dishes, change perches around...anything at all. Even if she is on top of her cage while I do these things, that is OK...just not when she is IN the cage.
Screaming/ calling
When hormonal, Cabby does this whenever Al, her favorite person, leaves her line of sight. This can be as simple as going from the kitchen to the livingroom. When she does this, Al calls back to her "It's OK Cabby! I'll be right back!" She usually calls another time or two, he responds, and she
pretty much quiets down until he returns. She also calls him from time to time while he is at work, and she calls him right after he leaves for work for a few minutes. At those times, I call back to her to reassure her. Since he is actually gone, she quiets down after a few calls from me.
The calling that Poppy is doing now ….this is kind of hard to do in writing so I need your help...is it a repetitive call like this...CALL ...wait a few seconds....CALL....wait a few seconds....CALL (maybe two calls together, then the wait - but a pattern of calling and waiting). Or is it a literally
constant screamscreamscreamscreamscreamscream.
The calls are different...the calling and waiting is probably associated with hormones. A constant screaming is probably associated with security issues. There is also a "calling stage" that some Eclectus seem to go through...but usually that is at a younger age than three years...but every bird is different.
Since you have many parrots, you are probably familiar with locate calling and how to handle that. You may need to do some locate responses with Poppy to reassure her and get her to quiet down.
Is her cage close to those of the other parrots? If so, try moving her cage away a little. She may be trying to make the "other parrots" move away from her "space".
WHAM biting
The WHAM biting you described in your post sounds alot like hormonal biting. We call it "the glassy eyed stare", and it sounds like it might be related somehow to that trancelike state that EB Cravens describes in nesting hens. In "the glassy eyed stare", the hen seems to be seeing you perfectly...knows you are there and can see everything...but as soon as you make a move near her, she jumps as though startled - like she had never seen you before - and bites HARD. Close observation of your hen might show she was flat-backing (horizontal position with eyes large and dark, maybe wings slightly out or quivering just a bit), or maybe she was in a normal position...but the eyes tell you...they are large and dark and sort of staring.
She may also be "jittery" or startled easily by sudden sounds or sudden or fast movements, especially near her body or head.
When Cabby is hormonal, we move a little more slowly and deliberately when near her. We try to make very sure she actually sees us moving to touch her...or moving our hands near her...we don't assume that just because her eyes are pointed in our direction that she is actually perceiving us. We also speak to her more quietly and gently...not alot of loudness or “enthusiasm" - just happy, calm and gentle.
When we move as described above, Cabby may still lunge or hack at our fingers (especially my rings), but she seems to have more time to "cognitively" see that we are her friends and her defensive mode then rarely results in a bite...maybe just a pressure from the beak or a good tap on the hand from her beak...as though the instinct to protect HAD to be responded to, but her BITE was pulled back by her on purpose. Sometimes she resists biting us, but just has to bite SOMETHING...so I quickly and smoothly get a chew toy, and she usually starts chewing on that. Having a little stack of chew toys handy on a coffee table or end table when she is out and with you can be very handy.
Excercise
If you can, try to get her interested in some flapping exercises. Flapping will help her stay physically fit, and help to expend some of her energy.
This is alot of work...
Not really...it seems like it at first...but it becomes just part of the routine after you get the hang of it. The patience is getting Poppy to see the chew toys and to chew them. She will probably need to learn that. More patience will be needed while you see her body language and what it means so you can avoid bites. What we have observed with Cabby may not be exactly the same for Poppy...every parrot is an individual....but the idea should be similar.
This response provided to the Zoo is an excerpted post from an Eclectus internet club list. We posted it in response to a question from person whose female Eclectus was exhibiting biting, feather chewing and calling behaviors that we interpreted as being related to hormones. Please refer to the post about Papa Bird to review trustbuilding techniques. More about trustbuilding techniques can be learned from parrot behaviorists such as Sally Blanchard and her Nurturing Guidance behavior techniques. To learn more about Sally Blanchard, please visit her website at
www.companionparrot.com
We hope this information is of help to you.
***********************
Kind of featherpicking Poppy is doing
The "V" cuts you describe sound like what is called feather barbering. In this kind of feather mutilation behavior, the parrot snips off part of the feather. In some birds, the entire colored part is snipped off, with only the base of the feather with grey down left intact. This can leave the Eclectus with a fluffy grey appearance on the body. In addition, the primaries, secondaries and tail feathers can be chewed and frayed. Primaries can actually be chewed to "chewed up looking toothpicks". Other parrots just snip the body feathers (contour feathers) and leave the primaries, secondaries and tail feathers pretty much alone (maybe a little overpreening
and fraying, but not too bad).
It sounds to me like Poppy is barbering...is she also chewing her primaries, etc? If so, are they frayed or are they chewed to splinters? Is she PULLING OUT any feathers (other than those she gets out during molting).
When Poppy started chewing
As Poppy is SI, it is not surprising that she started this behavior at 18 months of age. This is a common age for SI hens to start to go through adolescence. We feel we narrowly escaped our SI hen, Cabby, becoming a feather chewer. IMHO the only reason we did was one line in one article out
of many articles and books we read when researching Eclectus parrots before we decided on Eclectus as our companions. The article said something like if an Eclectus hen is not provided with chewing materials, she could chew on her
feathers or toenails instead.
Hormonal cycles in Eclectus parrots
There are four subspecies of Eclectus parrots commonly found in aviculture:
Vos (largest), Grand, Red-sided and Solomon Island smallest). Among other differences, including size, each of these subspecies matures at a different rate. Some of them have different hormonal cycles as well. Vos tend to have three cycles per year, and SIs tend to have four.
Our SI pair has its most intense hormonal cycle this time of year....November and December. Cabby usually lays eggs a week or two before Christmas...whether she has a nestbox or not. During her first egglaying cycle, we had a nestbox built for her as she laid egg after egg from her perch. The second year, it happened again...same time of year. This will be the third year for Christmas eggies. Cabby and Chardy are not breeders...they are companions...but they are in love. They are five and a half years old.
The season may be why some of our listmembers are experiencing strong hormonal behavior in their male and in their female Eclectus right now.
OK...great...she is hormonal....what does that mean and what do we do?
Natural history of hormonal/nesting/courtship behavior
IMHO, before a discussion of managing hormonal hens can begin, a little background in the natural behavior of Eclectus hens is helpful. Apologies if you already know all of this....
First, there is not alot known about Eclectus in the wild. Right now, there is a study of wild Eclectus (E.r. macgillivrayi...the largest of all the Eclectus subspecies) being conducted in the Iron Range of Queensland, Australia. Very interesting information is coming out of this study. Maybe you have had a chance to read the article by Heinsohn and Legge in the Winter 2001 issue of Nature Australia called "Seeing Red: A Parrot's Perspective" describing some of the early findings from this study. If not, IMHO it is a very interesting article, and if you can locate a copy, you may enjoy reading it.
In the wild, Eclectus hens seem to begin defending nest sites or potential sites at a very early age. They have even been observed guarding dark spots on trees, and tiny holes that could not possibly be potential nest sites (even if the hen were to wait for years!). Nest sites, then, are probably at a premium...hard to find. Eclectus nest in cavities in trees and palms. They probably do not actually make the nest entry hole itself, especially in tree sites...Eclectus are not woodpeckers! But they do take advantage of holes started by other creatures, areas where limbs have been broken off or
damaged, soft or decaying spots where they can get started in softer tree wood or palm pith. Finding a nest cavity involves inspecting things that are dark....holes in trees, limbs, under bark, (places where pillows come together on the sofa, under desks, in laundry baskets, drawers or cabinets).
Once the hen has found a suitable nest hole, she begins to excavate the hole....tearing at the soft wood or pith with her beak, scratching the bits out with her feet or carrying out bits. She tunnels down, with the help of her mate, into the soft wood or palm for many feet....a long way for such a small parrot! If she is lucky, Nature or another creature will have done at least some of this work for her... She gets down "far enough" and modifies the bottom of the cavity into a nest chamber, and chews the sides of the chamber using the chewed pieces as a soft bedding in which she will scoop a
little hollow for her eggs. She rootles around in the darkness, scratching and chewing, preparing her nest.
She has a strong instinct to chew and alot of energy to keep her going - important for a nest excavating hen!
Since sites are hard to find they are probably also hard to keep....other birds, like thingyatoos, hornbills, and other Eclectus are probably very interested in these same nest holes. She has a great deal invested in her nest cavity...alot of effort to make it, and not easy to find another one...so she
had better stay with her nest and defend it. During this time, her mate/s (Eclectus are polyandrous) have been helping her at least somewhat, and they have been feeding her, so that she hardly ever even has to leave her nest. Until eggs/chicks arrive, she sits in the entry hole of her nest, showing her
beautiful, glowing red face and head feathers...she has a nest (hey you male Eclectus...over here! You girls...this hole is OCCUPIED!)
In addition to defending her nest from those who would usurp it, she must also defend it from predators. Wild predators of hens, eggs and chicks in the nest in the Eclectus home range are probably tree dwelling giant rats (weighing up to a kilo), lizards and snakes. Snakes from PNG and the Solomon
Islands include Tree Boas that have prehensile tails (they can hang from them). Also, there is the Brown Tree Snake, that is such an efficient predator of birds that it has nearly destroyed the endemic wild bird population of Guam
(where the Brown Tree Snake was accidentally introduced by Man). The wise bird has to be very vigilant, and cannot hesitate in her duty to protect herself, her nest, eggs and chicks.
An Eclectus hen in her nest is virtually invisible, despite the brilliance of her coloring in daylight. The reds and blues of her feathers, and the black of her beak disappear into darkness. Well known aviculturist EB Cravens describes a trance-like state that hens enter while in their nests (Original Flying Machine issue #3). Their eyes are open, yet they are very still - almost as if they are waiting (a trance helps to pass the time in the nest, too, I bet!). But if anything moves that doesn't look like a male or baby Eclectus...WHAM! the bite is fast and furious. Those of us who have been bitten by hen Eclectus know about that terrier-like bite...bite and chew and shake all at the same time. It's as if their wild instincts have "told" them to KILL THE SNAKE! KILLIT! KILLIT! DON'T LET IT GO!
There are a combination of signals that tell birds' bodies when to "do things" - like become hormonal, make nests, have babies, molt, etc. I am trying to learn more about these signals. Some of these seem to be within the cells themselves, and others seem to come from outside...particularly from light. There is a theory that breeding and nesting behaviors become more intense in some cavity nesting birds (like Eclectus) when the eyes begin to receive less and less light. In this theory, as the hen tunnels her nest cavity, her eyes receive less and less daylight. A hen with a nest is in the dimness/dark. A girl in the dark has a nest, and so she can have babies. OK body! Get a move-on with those hormones!
Additionally, a hen in a small space or a long, narrow space may also be sending her body signals that she has a nest. And a girl with a nest has to have something to put in it. Some people have thwarted aggressive behavior in their hens just by getting them a bigger cage (when the cage was too small in the first place).
Dim/Dark/Small space...these possibly stimulate or intensify hormonal behavior.
That's all interesting, but what does it mean for Poppy?
SI hens commonly go into adolescence at about 18 months of age. As with humans, this varies depending on the individual parrot. Some hens are even making eggs at 18 months! It is not common, but it happens. In the wild, females might not become adolescent so young...there are factors that might
limit that..such as availability of nest sites, food resources, predator stress etc. But in the environment of our homes, where the birds are well cared for, adolescence can come early.
As with humans, adolescence is a trying time...a confused jumble of behaviors as the body changes. In the home, the bird might be a compliant baby one minute, and the next strutting, screaming, growling, eye pinning and even biting...and back again...for seemingly no reason at all (those of you with teenagers know this well....I don't have kids, but I was one of those teenagers once...poor Mom!). As with humans, this teenage stage takes a little time...with Cabby, it was a couple of years...from 18 months of age until her first eggs at three and a half years old. BUT as the bird becomes
more mature, her body begins to settle into her new stage of life (this is my interpretation and observation with Cabby), and her hormonal surges and behaviors become more predictable and "even". Some of this may be Cabby - and some might be us...we are now used to the signs and behaviors associated with her hormones, and handling them is almost second nature.
Feather chewing
I thank the author who included that little line about Eclectus hens who don't have chewing materials might take their needs out on their feathers and toenails. Up until that time, and since! the only thing I had read about Eclectus and chewing was that they are not big chewers and making comments
like your furniture and moldings are pretty safe if you have an
Eclectus...giving the impression that that they really don't chew at all.
They may not chew like thingyatoos or Macaws do, but chew they do - especially the hens.
When Cabby was about 18 months old, I was holding her in my hand (she likes to sit in my hand with her feet dangling down). But this day, something was different. She was perched on my fingers, and started chewing on her toenails. Not preening them (we are familiar with toenail preening)...she was chewing them almost desperately. That little line about the toenail chewing popped into my head. Al handed me a slim softwood stick for her. She was chewing and chewing her toes...I gently pushed the stick between her
beak and her toenails. She started chewing the stick in preference to her toenails. She chewed that stick to splinters, and started on another, then another. She chewed several sticks before she was satisfied, then she stopped and was happy. This was the beginning of adolescence for Cabby.
Toys and chewing materials for hormonal hens are not the same as regular bird toys, IMHO. The purpose of regular toys is entertainment and mental stimulation. Toys for the hormonal hen have to be easily destructable...to chew and tear and pull apart. Regular toys can swing, roll, and challenge. Toys for the hormonal hen should be easy for her to get stationary...and keep stationary while she tears them up. After all, the palm or tree trunk does not swing away from her as she excavates her nest - it stays put. She can get a good hold on it and chew it up.
Hormonal hen toys should be things like: clean, safe natural twigs with bark on them (examples are cottonwood aka black poplar, willow, vine maple, hazelnut, ash and alder), softwood sticks that are slim - in slim wafer shapes or slim rectangles (Bongo Bay is one brand...there are others that are good, too), willow rings, grapevine rings (always be sure they are
untreated), dry cholla cactus chunks, a toy called Kabobs (chunks of pithy bamboo strung on safe string), Shredders pinata toys, compressed paper rings.
Some of these toys can be found in the rodent section of pet stores, so look in the bird section and the rodent section for ideas. Crafts stores can also be fun to browse, but be sure the items DO NOT have any kind of preservatives, stain, shellac, etc on them. Be especially careful with reed baskets, as reeds are often treated with insecticides prior to weaving. The toys should be hung against the side of the cage or in a corner, near a comfy perch so she can get a good hold on them with feet and beak.
IMHO it is a good idea to have several of these items around the areas she is in when out of her cage, to offer her to chew while she is in your hand. Cabby loves willow rings, compressed paper rings, and natural twigs with bark while she is sitting on my hand. On top of her cage, we have a thick (about wrist thick or a little thinner) piece of cottonwood (black poplar, I believe it is called in Canada). Cabby loves to chew and strip the bark, especially if I mist it with a little water first. It is secure on the top of the cage...we don't want it to roll over on her toes or anything.
Re the toys for the hand...
IMHO, this is a very good way to introduce Poppy to the purpose of her chew toys. Hold her in your hand, and hold a toy up to her beak, encouraging her to chew on it. It may help to pull a little bit off of one edge or peel a little bark and leave it loose to give the toy that tantalizing chewed
feeling. It may take a few tries to get her to get the idea that the toy is for her to chew up. Also, it may take a few tries to find the toy that suits her chewing fancy. Some patience will be necessary during this learning curve. If she is not interested one time, try again later...she may be more
in the mood to chew. Once she knows what to do with the toy, you can place a similar one in her cage. She should start to chew on it within a few days.
If you actually see her chewing her feathers (i.e. she chews them when she is with you), you can take that opportunity to gently place the chew toy between her feathers and her beak, encouraging her to chew the toy. When Cabby is out, she chews best when I am holding her.
When she so much as touches the toy with her beak, praise her gently and lavishly. As she chews, praise her.
But won't this encourage her hormonal behavior?
IMHO, it will only help her to express her hormones in a way that is not destructive to her body (feathers). She is already chewing...chewing her feathers. The goal is to direct her attention to a healthier outlet for her needs.
Not wanting to come out of her cage
With many hen Eclectus, it seems like the cage is her castle. The reasons for that are probably rooted in her instinct to protect her nest from usurpers and predators. There are ways to get a parrot to come out of her cage, but the easiest is to make her WANT to.
Sometimes when Cabby is hormonal, she is reluctant to come out, so we just tell her we'll be back in a minute and go to the livingroom where her playtree is and call her and make all kinds of happy play sounds. Then we go back to her cage, and she is usually dancing from foot to foot wanting to come out and play. Sometimes we leave her cage door open and do the same thing....of course, not for long - maybe only 30 seconds or so...usually by the time we come back, Cabby is on top of her cage dancing.
Biting when you place your hands in her cage
Cabby loves us and is very affectionate with us, but woe to me if I put my hands in her cage when she is in it. Again, probably the nest defense instinct. She does tolerate some "messing around" from us, but not much...maybe just enough to change her water bowl. Once Cabby is out of her
cage, I can do anything I want in there...change toys, clean, replenish dishes, change perches around...anything at all. Even if she is on top of her cage while I do these things, that is OK...just not when she is IN the cage.
Screaming/ calling
When hormonal, Cabby does this whenever Al, her favorite person, leaves her line of sight. This can be as simple as going from the kitchen to the livingroom. When she does this, Al calls back to her "It's OK Cabby! I'll be right back!" She usually calls another time or two, he responds, and she
pretty much quiets down until he returns. She also calls him from time to time while he is at work, and she calls him right after he leaves for work for a few minutes. At those times, I call back to her to reassure her. Since he is actually gone, she quiets down after a few calls from me.
The calling that Poppy is doing now ….this is kind of hard to do in writing so I need your help...is it a repetitive call like this...CALL ...wait a few seconds....CALL....wait a few seconds....CALL (maybe two calls together, then the wait - but a pattern of calling and waiting). Or is it a literally
constant screamscreamscreamscreamscreamscream.
The calls are different...the calling and waiting is probably associated with hormones. A constant screaming is probably associated with security issues. There is also a "calling stage" that some Eclectus seem to go through...but usually that is at a younger age than three years...but every bird is different.
Since you have many parrots, you are probably familiar with locate calling and how to handle that. You may need to do some locate responses with Poppy to reassure her and get her to quiet down.
Is her cage close to those of the other parrots? If so, try moving her cage away a little. She may be trying to make the "other parrots" move away from her "space".
WHAM biting
The WHAM biting you described in your post sounds alot like hormonal biting. We call it "the glassy eyed stare", and it sounds like it might be related somehow to that trancelike state that EB Cravens describes in nesting hens. In "the glassy eyed stare", the hen seems to be seeing you perfectly...knows you are there and can see everything...but as soon as you make a move near her, she jumps as though startled - like she had never seen you before - and bites HARD. Close observation of your hen might show she was flat-backing (horizontal position with eyes large and dark, maybe wings slightly out or quivering just a bit), or maybe she was in a normal position...but the eyes tell you...they are large and dark and sort of staring.
She may also be "jittery" or startled easily by sudden sounds or sudden or fast movements, especially near her body or head.
When Cabby is hormonal, we move a little more slowly and deliberately when near her. We try to make very sure she actually sees us moving to touch her...or moving our hands near her...we don't assume that just because her eyes are pointed in our direction that she is actually perceiving us. We also speak to her more quietly and gently...not alot of loudness or “enthusiasm" - just happy, calm and gentle.
When we move as described above, Cabby may still lunge or hack at our fingers (especially my rings), but she seems to have more time to "cognitively" see that we are her friends and her defensive mode then rarely results in a bite...maybe just a pressure from the beak or a good tap on the hand from her beak...as though the instinct to protect HAD to be responded to, but her BITE was pulled back by her on purpose. Sometimes she resists biting us, but just has to bite SOMETHING...so I quickly and smoothly get a chew toy, and she usually starts chewing on that. Having a little stack of chew toys handy on a coffee table or end table when she is out and with you can be very handy.
Excercise
If you can, try to get her interested in some flapping exercises. Flapping will help her stay physically fit, and help to expend some of her energy.
This is alot of work...
Not really...it seems like it at first...but it becomes just part of the routine after you get the hang of it. The patience is getting Poppy to see the chew toys and to chew them. She will probably need to learn that. More patience will be needed while you see her body language and what it means so you can avoid bites. What we have observed with Cabby may not be exactly the same for Poppy...every parrot is an individual....but the idea should be similar.