monk parakeets

Question
have 2 monk parakeets one which we think is male (Choco) and one which we think is female (Yoca) . Choco use to be a nice friendly parrot until we got Yoca and he started biting and yelling and attacking us every time we got near Yoca ! Choco only bites when he is in the cage or near Yoca (he does not bite when he does not see Yoca and is out of his cage ). Yoca also gets out of her cage just to get away from Coco (we think she does it because Choco annoys her ) , she knows how to get out because Choco taught her . Because Choco is so defensive of Yoca we believe she is pregnant .

Answer
Hi, Carlos.  Thanks for posting!

Parrots don't get "pregnant"...they lay eggs.  Choco's behavior changed when you got Yoca because birds prefer other birds to humans.  Choco found a bird-buddy, which probably is female by your description of their behavior, so Choco didn't need to be friendly toward you any more.  Also, Choco is "defending" his relationship with Yoca...he doesn't want you near his mate for fear you may take her from him and/or harm her, etc.  He's protecting her from you!  When Yoca isn't around, he has nothing to protect.  Same for the inside of his cage...the inside of the cage is their territory, their personal space, the only place in the world they have to themselves.  Therefore, Choco bites at you to tell you to stay out of his cage.

Parrots have to pair-bond before they will mate.  Pair-bonding is when you see the male feeding the female beak-to-beak.  When you start seeing this behavior, mating is likely to occur soon/eventually.

Allowing your birds to mate and produce offspring brings on a whole new set of circumstances and potential problems.  Don't allow your birds to mate until you learn all you can about parrots and the breeding process.

Chrys