Cockatiel Sexual Maturity

Question
I notice in another post that you say cockatiels reach sexual maturity at 2-3 years.  I've researched this issue, and they reach sexual maturity anywhere from 6-12 months.

This would make sense because our female cockatiel, who is 7 months, has been getting aggressive lately with my husband.  She loves me, and will squeal for me and loves being near me, but she will bite at him, and sometimes just doesn't want him touching her.  She wasn't always like that with him.  She will also rub her top feathers on the toys in her cage and whimper (or that's the only word equation I can think of for what it sounds like). Plus, if you pet her and it hits her just right, she does the same thing.  It's weird, but I was told it was because she's reaching her sexual maturity.  The literature agrees.  

Thanks.

Answer
What I should have said in my response that you read (if I didn't) was that cockatiels reach sexual maturity around a year of age, but I don't recommend breeding them until they are slightly older (2 years or so).  Other species of parrots take longer to mature. For example the larger parrots (cockatoos and macaws) don't start to reach their sexual maturity until they are 4 to 6 years of age. Conures, Quakers, etc... usually reach sexual maturity at 2 to 4 years.

And, just as with people, each bird is an individual and they will mature at different rates. Some birds will reach sexual maturity sooner than others. It can be effected by nutrition, genetics, etc...

I hope this helps clarify. Let me know if you have any other questions. And here are some really great websites to check out too (if you haven't seen them already):

www.mickaboo.org
www.fortheBirdsDVM.com
www.wingedwisdom.com
www.parrotchronicles.com

-Maggie