Hormones?!? Or just excited... So confused! [Video Included]

[eselimos817]

Hello! My little lovebug Sam is about 19 weeks old.. not entirely sure. Anyways, I left town for one day and had my brother keep her company for the day. The next afternoon when I got back, I went to greet her, and she was SO excited. She even jumped into my hair, which was a first for her. She stayed in my hair for a solid 30 minutes, just hanging out! Anyways so I've been trying to get her going on clicker training for a few days, and she had been picking it up really really fast. It was astounding. Until the day I got back...

I had only been gone maybe 24 hours, and she did this the first time I presented her targeting stick to her. She's been doing it consistently every time I present her the stick.. I don't know what this means. Any idea what's going on?

https://youtu.be/Xwa3caPjLh0

[akki]

She doesn't want to step up on the stick :D

[akki]

To me, the hormonal behavior is the following: for girls - shredding and tucking, playing the "i am a plane" game (spreading wings wide open, and tail up), regurgitation for boys (although girls might regurgitate too), vigorous head scratching paired with peculiar clacking sound, increasingly territorial, paired with vicious bites (usually females, males might do that too. Vicious biting = blood), usually when you touch the cage or food bowl, increased interest in any small enclosed spaces (boxes, holes, cabinets, although this is part of natural curiosity too). Other things are not hormonal as in related to sexuality.

What you showed here, could be a sign of being territorial, as she is on the top of the cage. But remember that - lovebirds are clowns, are really hyperactive and engaging birds. This looks like a game to me, lovebird having fun and making some noise (they love that).

[Maxie]

Lol! I call this flappercise! Max does this when he's really excited and happy :). It always cracks me up when he does it.
Your bird is a happy little camper! Very cute!

[eselimos817]

Akki, she's supposed to touch the stick lol

But anyways, ahhhh I see now. She's just playing! Okay :) I'm still pretty new to owning a lovie, so how should I respond to that behavior? I want to play with her and interact, but we aren't quite at the level of trust where I can give scritches or pick her up yet.. so what should I do to play back?

[Maxie]

When Max does that, I give him positive reinforcement. Anyone seeing me would think I'm crazy but I clap my hands and say "yippeeee Maxieeeee" and then that gets him even more excited and he does it again! Lol