Horny Lovebird?

Question
I have two questions I would appreciate you help with.  I have what I believe is a female peach-faced lovebird, approximately 1.5 years old.  She was on her own in the pet shop but was approximately 9 months old so I'm not sure of her past.  She is a very loving bird, always showing lots of affection but at the moment she is constantly chewing up everything from paper and magazines to my wooden furniture and scraping the carpet to bits with her feet, then placing them under her wings.  Also when she lands on my head she tends to pad in my hair and tries to rub her bum on my head also.  Is this normal behaviour?  Secondly, I could do with some advise on how to train her a bit better.  Currently she lives in my bedroom, has a big cage but is allowed free flight in the room until she goes to bed at around 9pm.  She has lots of toys and particularly likes shells so have an abundance of them.  The only problem I have is that she is constantly chewing things and is damaging everything unless I pack them securely away, but this is not always convenient.  I wonder if you could please help?

Answer
Hi, Kelly.  Thanks for posting your questions.

It's breeding season so yes, your lovebird is exhibiting normal behavior.  Lovebirds chew things up and tuck them under their wings in order to carry the stuff to their box to build a nest.  Lovebirds are one of a few parrot species that build deep nests in their nestboxes (4-6 inches deep).  It's natural also for parrots to chew.  They will chew/destroy anything they can find that they want to chew.  You either need to keep her in an area that you don't care what she crews on, keep her confined to her cage, keep her cage/area full of birdie things she's allowed to chew/destroy, or hide the items in your room you don't want her to destroy (like you've done).  Parrots will destroy furniture, woodwork, chew through walls and ceilings, etc.  Have you tried clipping her wings to keep her from traveling too far away from her cage, but yet still give her some freedom?  If not, this is another option.  She won't be able to gain altitude or fly (but she still could climb around to get where she wants).  Also, perhaps you might want to consider keeping her caged when you are not at home (since she has a large cage) and only allow her full freedom when you are home and can supervise her.  And as soon as you see her into something she shouldn't be, put her back in her cage.  She should soon learn that being out and chewing is a no-no, and that if she wants to be out, she can't chew certain things.  Depending on the particular parrot's personality, the bird will be so happy to be out of the cage once you are home that she won't consider chewing stuff she shouldn't be chewing.  

Whatever you do, do not get her a mate unless you want to have baby lovebirds!  Birds prefer birds to humans so adding a mate will result in loss of tameness in the lovebird you now own.  A lot of people believe that lovebirds should be in pairs....not true!  The best pet bird is a single bird in the home.

Visit my website if you'd like for more info on birds:
http://www.angelfire.com/falcon/birdinfo/index.html

If you have additional questions or need clarification, please come back.

Chrys