Suddenly hes in love with me!

Question
Dear Maggie,
My family has had 2 cockatiels, a boy and girl, for the last 10ish years. Recently, our female died from respirtory illness. Soon after her death, the male has become very much attatched to me. Although he won't let me hold him, as soon as I enter the room, he begins to sing and talk to me and blow me kisses. And if I leave the room, he squawks at the top of his lungs until I return. The strange thing is, I am not even his feeder. My mom and sister usually fed them, not me, so I figured if he were to fall in love with anyone, it would be someone who fed him, right? He will not talk to or sing for anyone else in the family, and even tries to bite them when they come near, especially if I am near the cage. If I am in the room but not paying him any attention, he continues to squawk and paces rapidly back and forth at the bottom of the cage. He lets me pet his beak and sometimes belly for a few seconds, then quickly crawls away but continues singing to me. We aren't sure if we should get him another mate, but I am scared if we do he will reject her and become abusive. I am going away to college next year and he cannot come with me, so we aren't exactly sure how to handle this situation. Please help!

Sincerely,
Emily

Answer
Hi Emily,

It does sound like he really likes you! :)And it is not uncommon for a bird to fall "in love" with someone who doesn't feed him. In fact, sometimes it is the people that ignore them that birds seem most attracted to! (Because the person is very non-threatening). Normally if a bird is not getting daily attention (and at least a coule of hours out of their cage), I recommend getting them a birdie-friend. They are flock animals and need companionship (they crave it!) And, as you have found out... even "untame" birds will overcome their fear of people in order to feel part of a flock if kept by themselves.

Since your cockatiel is middle age now though (you said you've had them for the last 10 years).... I would recommend adopting an older cockatiel to keep him companionship. However, if you decide to get a new cockatiel, you will want to make sure you make the right decision and quarantine the new bird properly. Here are some articles that should help:

http://www.parrothouse.com/quarantine.html

and

http://www.cockatiels.org/articles/behavior/secondbird.html

I hope this helps.

-Maggie