lovebird mating behavior

Question
Hello,
I have two lovebirds, living in the same cage.  One is a whiteface lovebird who just reached sexual maturity.  When I got this bird, it had no black left on its beak, but absolutely no peach on it's forehead yet.  that was almost exactly one year ago.  The other is a masked lovebird i got from a lady who didn't know what she was talking about so I honestly have no idea how old it is.  She also told me it was the male, because the "female" had lost a toenail that wouldn't grow back, so they used that to tell them apart. I konw that two birds of different speicies should not breed, but they share a cage and seperating them at this point just causes screaming. If they did lay eggs, I would probably freeze them one at a time and return them, so hopefully they lose interest if the eggs don't hatch.  My question is, however that both birds show both male mating behavior, shuch as the "chatterdance" and trying to mount each other, but both also shred paper.  Would two males attempt to mate with each other? I can't tell who is what, but I would think that they would know if they were going to be successful or not. I honestly dont know, but my whiteface is extremely "hormonal" and is constantly chattering.  All day and every night at the same time when I put them to bed it starts.  I got them a nest box, but it is too big and hard for the birds to get into.  I need to make them a smaller one.  What do you think is going on with these two? Thanks.

Answer
Hello

Your plan for dealing with any unwanted eggs is good, especially returning them, as removal without replacing only stimulates more laying.

However, homosexual mating when a more appropriate partner is not available is well recognised behaviour in lovebirds, with female pairs as well as males pairs.

You can find a nest box design at www.lovebirdsuk.org

I hope this helps

Chris