cocatiel and conure

Question
Hi, I have a cocatiel and conure as pets.  Both are very nice birds that get a lot of attention from my family.  I have an issue with my cocatiel (female) presenting herself to the conure for mating.  Once this happends the conure will go beside the cocatiel and pull the featuers from her head.  Is this normal?  How can I stop this?

Thanks for your help!

Answer
Hi, Kevin.  Thanks for posting.

The only way to stop this is to separate the birds into individual cages.  This is normal behavior in pair-bonded birds and often in birds who've become good pals as a result of living in the same cage (such as 2 males/2 females/other parrot species).  This behavior might pass after breeding season is over (in the fall), depends on the birds.  Perhaps when the female stops presenting herself to the other bird, s/he'll stop overpreening/plucking her head feathers.  

Chrys