Linnie mating behavior??

[SkyBlu13]

My little Nym is about six months old now and she has begun to display a new behavior: she will raise her head, beak pointed up, with the little feathers right above her nares fluffed (the rest of her head feathers are flat) and turn her head really slowly side to side, giving little click noises intermittently . Sometimes she leans to the side a bit with her foot half raised, her wings sticking out a tiny bit at the shoulder, and usually her pupils get a bit smaller while she's doing this. Is this some sort of mating behavior, a sign she is about to go through puberty? I'm still new to linnies and don't know their body language. Nym has also begun to regurgitate food for her favorite toy. She will do the head swaying thing sometimes with the toy, but most often to me in the mornings when I uncover her, as well as when she finds herself on the ground after fluttering off her playgym. She'll come running to me when I call, then as soon as she steps onto my hand up goes her head and she sways side to side, clicking very softly.
I'm not sure how to respond to this behavior. Usually I wait for her to stop, fluff, and return to "normal" then just bring her back to her playgym. I'm nervous about her starting to lay eggs, though, because she's the first female bird I've ever had. Any insight would be appreciated, thanks!

 

[Ocean]

Birds will only lay eggs if conditions are right, which normally means surplus of food, warm food, more hours of light, nesting material or a place to nest, The only thing that would
suggest mating behavior is bringing up food.

 

[karen256]

I have a male linnie and he will do this behavior to my GCC or to his reflection, if I hold him up to the mirror. With my GCC, he will sit next to her, stretch up so he's eye to eye with her, and sway slightly like you described while looking her in the eyes. And he has his wings out slightly, presumably to show off the small neon-green patch on his wing (it looks irridescent to me and probably appears colorful to other birds since they can see UV light).
He will do this for a minute or two and then just seem to lose interest and fly off. I don't know if it is a mating behavior or simply a friendly greeting. He's a little scared of my GCC even though he likes her, and I think it's as close as he dares get to her.

 

[Lady Jane]

Could it be a dominance behavior?

 

[SkyBlu13]

Birds will only lay eggs if conditions are right, which normally means surplus of food, warm food, more hours of light, nesting material or a place to nest, The only thing that would
suggest mating behavior is bringing up food.

Do you think I might be feeding her too much, then? She doesn't have any huts/tents to go into, and I try to control my birds' light exposure and sleep schedule. She's definitely begun bringing up food for her favorite toy, and sometimes her water trough... which I clean every day.

 

[SkyBlu13]

Could it be a dominance behavior?

Well, of my two birds Nym is definitely the assertive one...

 

[SkyBlu13]

I have a male linnie and he will do this behavior to my GCC or to his reflection, if I hold him up to the mirror. With my GCC, he will sit next to her, stretch up so he's eye to eye with her, and sway slightly like you described while looking her in the eyes. And he has his wings out slightly, presumably to show off the small neon-green patch on his wing (it looks irridescent to me and probably appears colorful to other birds since they can see UV light).
He will do this for a minute or two and then just seem to lose interest and fly off. I don't know if it is a mating behavior or simply a friendly greeting. He's a little scared of my GCC even though he likes her, and I think it's as close as he dares get to her.
View attachment 199468

Interesting. I've never seen Nym do this to Asa, my cockatiel, and she's not really interested in her reflection so far (she'll look at it for a second, then start chewing on the rim instead). Though Asa doesn't really like her so he tends to keep his distance.