Finnally preening has occured

Question
Today i saw the female preening the male for the first time. Earlier this morning the male was singing i think. He had his crest down and wings a little high. While he was doing that the female was hissing. They didnt mate. Are they true bonded?

Answer
Hi, Birdlover.  Thanks for posting!

Not necessarily.  The behavior you state in your post means the 2 birds like each other, but doesn't necessarily mean they are pair-bonded.  Two females, 2 males, 2 siblings, or just 2 birds living in the same cage together might preen each other.  Lots of birds sing, but this doesn't mean they are bonded to another bird.  I'm assuming these are cockatiels because you mention the bird having his crest down...male tiels do this when they sing, but doesn't mean he's bonded to another bird.  The female was hissing because she evidently didn't particularly like what the male was doing at the time.

When you see the male feeding the female beak-to-beak, then that's a true sign of the 2 being pair-bonded to each other.

Chrys