Peachface Lovebirds

Question
I have 2 lovebirds. I know for sure one is a female. The other has me bewildered. It mounts its cage mate, several times I saw this happen. It also tucks paper into its rump feathers. It's aggressive towards me during nesting time. There have been 6 and 7 eggs in the nestbox both times. Infertile. The male? was 10 or 11 months old those times.  It seems that the one in question sits outside the nestbox and inside too. The female never sits outside the box. Only this one. I think I'll dna the bird, I handfed it and it was tame and never bit me. I always assumed it was a  male. Confused. Have you ever heard of this?

Answer
Hi, Lona.

Yes, this is a familiar story with lovebirds.  Yes, you need to DNA sex the one bird.  You could have 2 females laying infertile eggs.  Both males and females carry paper in their feathers.  With lovebirds, both sexes are usually aggressive during nesting times.  If these lovies are less than 2 years old, you shouldn't allow them to breed...they aren't sexually mature yet.  Females particularly should be 2 years old before breeding.

If one bird is mounting the other, chances are it's a male.  However, homosexuality does exist in the bird world.  I've seen some female lovies exhibit male mating behavior.

I'd recommend DNA sexing to be sure of sex.  Try Zoogen or Avian Biotech on the web.  

Chrys