undesirable behaviour in male budgie

Question
Dear Maggie,
I am writing on behalf of my aged parents who are in their mid to late 70's. My father has advanced dementia and an interactive budgie was chosen specifically with this in mind. They have had their blue male budgie Merlin from six  weeks of age and he is now 1 year old.
He has been an extremely entertaining addition to their household with a huge repertoire of words and phrases , and many playful "out of cage" budgie antics which help keep my father amused ( and make my mother's life more bearable as his full time carer ).
Of late Merlin has become a regurgitator : he eats his feed in a frenzy , rushes up to his cluster of 3 bells as soon as he has finished eating and regurgitates all over them.
If the bells are removed then he regurgitates to a lesser extent on his swing.
Removing the bells would seem a simple solution but according to my mother she is loathe to do this as he loves them and the cage would be empty without them ! Plus she thinks he would simply shift his affections to another object.
The most distressing behaviour for them is that he seems continuously oversexed ( her words )and tries to mount ( among other things )the plastic balls which he chases around the floor.My mother is convinced that he thinks he is having sex with them - if he only did this intermittently this could be overlooked but he does it all the time.
Each plastic ball has a bell inside.

Any suggestions as to how to eradicate or minimise what would seem to be signs of sexual frustration in an extremely active young male bird would be gratefully received by my parents.
Getting a companion bird is not an option.
Thanking you in anticipation
Signed
Merlin's half-sister !


Answer
Hi,

Unfortunately this is not uncommon in birds (especially males). Regurgitation is a sign of affection for birds- a sign that they view the person/object as their "mate."

Here are some tips for discouraging breeding behavior (it is written with females in mind, but most of the tips work for males too):

http://www.forthebirdsdvm.com/breedingbehavior.htm

I would recommend getting him some different toys too. Budgies are extremely active and playful and need several toys to keep them entertained. I usually recommend at least three toys in the cage at any time, and rotating those toys every two to three weeks with different ones. I have a bin of toys outside of the cage, and so that I have several to choose from. Even if it is a toy the bird has had in the past, if s/he hasn't had it in awhile it will feel "new." If you have several toys in there for him, he might pick one as his favorite, but when that happens... you can take it out and replace it with a different one.

Also, it is spring/summer time, so this is the height of sexual tension for birds- because it is natural breeding season for them (if they were in the wild).

Also keep him away from paper that he can shred up- this can remind him of gathering materials to line his nest with. Dark hiding places like "happy huts" and such can also incourage breeding behavior.

I hope this helps.

You can get more information on bird care here:

http://www.forthebirdsdvm.com/birdcare.htm

-Maggie