Is this female mating behavior or what?

[MrsDutchy]

So I had Sushi and Miso out today for the first time in a long while. Sushi has been agressive lately toward me and the other birds so she hasnt been out. Today I opened her door to let her come while Miso was out on top of the cage next door. Keep in mind here that I dont know for sure the sex of any o my 4 birdies and they are all in seperate cages. Well almost immediately Sushi came out to see Miso. They were hanging out on top of the cage when I saw Sushi obsessively scratching at her head and doing this behavior... Is this a mating behavior or a female to do or what? She/he has been doing it toward Miso now for an hour. Miso is much younger and is just happy to have company and isnt paying much attention BUT this is the first time they have been out together that they are completely getting along fine. Any input? Here are the pics of the behavior:

wing spread pic1 (http://gina.xtcfm.com/wp-gallery2.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=2289)
face scratching (http://gina.xtcfm.com/wp-gallery2.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=2286)
another of wing spread (http://gina.xtcfm.com/wp-gallery2.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=2282)

[butterfly1061]

Oh Yes! That's a female mating stance. Wing spread and tail up :lol My Olivia did this the moment I got her and I told her "We don't do that in this house - yet!" She was only 7 months old >o She's doing it more now and I contribute that to spring. Since Miso is so young, like you siad, he doesn't pay any attention and probably won't until he gets a little older. :p

[MrsDutchy]

Thanks for the quick reply and confirming my thoughts! It also explains why sushi has been acting so "off" and straight mean for the past few months, going through puberty I guess hahaha!

I wonder though, since she was doing this toward miso.. does that mean he is a HE and she knows it? I have no idea yet about Miso yet hehehehe but he sure wants to hang out on top of Sushis cage and has no interest in me or the other birdies at all and never has.

[graushill]

Hi Gina,

I only have one hen, but I would say that Sushi's wingspread is most definitely the usual female mating behaviour. She's basically inviting Miso to ahem do the deed. As for the head scratching, both males and females do that when in the throes of passion, to put it politely :). Sushi's becoming an adult :). I'm afraid that would also explain her being more aggressive towards everyone lately. Hens do tend to get more aggressive as their nesting instinct increases, and they may even lay eggs in the end. You could try to delay the egg laying by moving the things in her cage around, moving the cage to a different place every now and then, limiting her access to possible shredding material, making her go to bed a bit earlier than usual, well there's many things you can try, but there's no guarantees.

Good luck!
Gloria

ETA: Miso could be a male, but it can also be that Sushi sees no other potential mate, and therefore doesn't really care what sex Miso is :).

[butterfly1061]

I wonder though, since she was doing this toward miso.. does that mean he is a HE and she knows it? I have no idea yet about Miso yet hehehehe but he sure wants to hang out on top of Sushis cage and has no interest in me or the other birdies at all and never has.

Not neccessarily. My Olivia does this and she is bonded to my other female, Daisy. You should see them being clicky-clicky :lol They really are a clown act cause they don't really know what they're doing. They both scratch and dance around, but Olivia is the one who puts her tail up in the air. In fact Daisy has fallen off the sofa a few times :rofl: It's hilarious. I bought Daisy at 5 wks old and so she hasn't been around another female to know what to do until I bought Olivia and by that time Daisy was about a year old. So she takes the role of male. My two males, Molly & Piper, won't go near the girls.

[Phoebe]

>o If I could compare with budgies, I would say yes, beautiful lovies in any event!:happy: