newspaper shredding

Question
My male lovebird is 7 yrs old. It has bonded to humans, never having been caged with another lovebird. Can you tell me why he is now shredding the newspaper in the bottom of his cage? He's been doing this for some time now, but never did it when I first obtained him at 4 months old. thanks

Answer
Hi Ruth,

Your lovebird is sexually mature now (which he wasn't at 4 months of age.) Shredding of newspaper is nesting behavior. He does not need another lovebird to to go into breeding mode. In the wild animals go into breeding mode because conditions are favorable for raising young. One of the biggest triggers is more daylight.

Birds that are nesting and trying to breed may become aggressive. This is a natural behavior in the wild, meant to protect the nest site, mate, and young. If it is causing a problem do not allow your bird access to nest sites (dark, secure holes) or nesting materials. You would also want to increase his dark sleep time to 12- 14 hours every night.

Hope this helps.

Jennifer
www.feathersandscales.com