Lovebird Nesting?

Question
We adopted a single lovebird from a breeder in 2003 - she will be three years old in July of this year.  I have decided from observing her behavior that she is indeed female and probably nesting.  Usually she loves being out of her cage with us, but lately she nips when we try to let her out and if we do get her out she flies back to her cage as soon as she can.  She has always enjoyed shredding paper but lately she's been carrying whatever she can to her cage and trying to build a nest in the corner where she's been spending a lot of time.  My question is, how long does the nesting process usually take, and will she lay eggs?  I'm not concerned about her health as she doesn't appear to be sick, I just want my playful friendly bird back.  Is there anything special I should be doing for her doing this process?

Thanks so much for your help.

Answer
Hi, Jennifer.  Thanks for posting.

The nesting process (building a nest) will continue until your lovebird is satisfied that she has built a nest suitable for her babies!  The amount of time this takes is variable, depending on the individual bird.  I don't know if she will lay eggs or not, but chances are good that she will.  However, they will not be fertile.  

Your playful, friendly parrot will return after breeding season.  I would recommend you discourage her from building a nest and laying eggs by keeping paper or anything else she might use to build a nest away from her.  Also, keep the amount of light she has available to 10-12 hours per day...this will help discourage laying of eggs.  Although egg laying is a natural process, if a single female lays continually (one clutch after another), it could be detrimental to her health in that necessary vitamins and minerals (particularly calcium) could be depleted from her body during the egg laying process.  Also, the fact that your lovebird would be tending to infertile eggs, she won't get the proper nourishment, exercise, etc., as a result of the incubation process (she'll be sitting on her clutch of eggs instead of eating properly, exercising, interacting with you, etc.).  

If your lovebird lays eggs, be sure to keep a cuttlebone in her cage so she can get any calcium she might need.  Don't disturb any eggs laid...let her go through the process until she abandons her eggs herself.  Once she abandons any eggs laid, you can throw the infertile eggs away.

She will not be very friendly during this process.  This is also natural.  Just let her go through the process by herself and things will be fine.

Chrys