my loverbird has become terrified of me

Question
Sorry, i forgot to mention, yes, my centrasl heating in now on constant, even though a very low temp, my house is openplan but she is situation quite near to a radiator. Also next to a large window ,, is that a could idea for a bird to be near a window, as someone told me it may be that?
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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
Hi, I dont know where to turn. We purchased Flori from a lovedird breeder, she (maybe a he? no DNA) was a hand reared baby and she came to us aged 8 weeks old, i continued with the weaning and she is now 8 months old, well she is adorable, she worshipped me, the bond was unreal (my husband works away 2 weeks at a time and she spent at least 3-4 hours with me out of cage per day) Now, she is a changed bird, it is so sad, i cant tell you, i am distraught. first of all,i have spoken with an avian vet who after i told him of the predicament,does not think that she is physically ill, she is eating and drinking well as she always has, as no visible changes in her coat, face, eyes ect.

About 2 weeks ago she started scrtaching and chewing the back of her neck, i bought some anti mite spray and a cream that i applied, a fews days before this i noticed she wasnt her normal self, not playing or chirping as much as she always had, when she was out of her cage she only spent a small amount of time on me preffering to look out of the window instead. the behaviour got worse to now she is at the point where she is terrified of me, it breaks my heart,so god knows what the poor little thing must be feeling like! she refuses to come out of her cage and retreats to her bed(smal wicker nest box, where she has slept since the day we got her) she does however allow me to scratch her head through the bars in the morning. as i said, she is feeding well. but she used to be constantly playing with her toys when in the cage and toys from her toybox when out of her cage, now she just sits. A bit of background ... i have on 2 occasions looked after my cousin single lovebrid when they holidayed, although they have flown together once they didnt seem to really take to each other, she just furiously chased her till they were out of breath. he was with us approx 1 week beford i noticed the change in her behaviour.

Also the same week she flew from my bedroom to her favourite place in the bathroom to find there was no lights on and i heard her flapping and screaching, i dont know exactly where she ended up as by the time i got there she was on the light, but obviuosly a frightening incident,,,, no injury, however the changed behaviour was not immediatly after that incident. Can you shed any light on this? will she ever go back to the confident fun loving baby girl she was? does she need a mate?
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Hi, Donna.  Thanks for posting!

It might take a couple back and forth messages to get all the details on this.  Thanks for the detailed information...it helps!

Stop using the mite spray.  Parrots don't normally get mites or fleas, etc.  Some parrots can get scaly mites, but your bird doesn't have these based on your post.  Mite spray won't help these anyhow.  

The scratching and chewing could mean she's bored.  If there's no medical reason for this behavior, then it's psychological.  However, if your home is dry this time of year, it might be that you just need to add some humidity...birds get dry skin just like humans do, which might explain any excess itching/scratching/chewing.  Finding the psychological reason for a behavior change can be quite difficult, unless the behavior change is the result of dry air, etc.    

The fact that this bird is 8 months old AND she has a small wicker nest/nestbox in her cage, coupled with the change in behavior, COULD mean she's about ready to go to nest.  Any type of nest or nesting box provided for a parrot is a que for them to go to nest.  I recommend removal of this nest.  You could replace it with some type of Cozy Hut or similar (visit www.drsfostersmith.com).  Have you looked in the nest to see if any eggs are present or if she's tried building a nest?  Her behavior sounds to me like this is a good possibility or soon to come.  

What type of daily diet is your lovie on?  This is very important.

Also, the fact that there was another bird in the home, even for a short period of time, could be the reason for the change in behavior...her hormones could be raging!  Birds prefer other birds to humans.  Perhaps she likes/misses the other bird, however, this DOES NOT mean you should get your lovie a mate!  A mate or any other bird will ensure your Flori will never be tame again.  Also opens up the chance of babies being produced.  

Single female birds can lay infertile eggs without a male.  If Flori is, in fact, starting to nest, she might be a mess, i.e., not very friendly, until the process is over.  This is perfectly normal.  You'll just need to let her be her mean old self for this period of time.

Does any of this fit the scenario you have?  Get back to me on the diet and any other information you might have that could be valuable.

Chrys

Answer
It's fine for a bird to be near a window as long as the window isn't producing any cold drafts that might affect your bird.  With your furnace on, your air is likely dry, so you might want to think about adding a humidifier or running a vaporizer (without the Vicks) near your bird or putting containers of water in/near your registers, etc., to supply added moisture (or on top of the register near her cage).

Chrys