Socialize birds in an Aviary

[BirdView]

Is there a way to socialize birds together? I have a female GCC who is bullying a male DYH amazon. It is getting worse after I moved all my birds to an outdoor aviary. She basically flies to his perch and squabbles with him until he flies away. Then she flies again to his new location and repeats the same thing again. When I see her misbehaving I put her in her cage as a punishment, but after I get her out she takes her revenge on him.

Lilly weighs only 55g while Echo is bigger and stronger with a weight of 430g. Still for some reason she is able to bully him and he is scared of her. I don't want them to be friends. I just want them to tolerate each other. Anything I can do to make this happen?

 

[Destiny]

Are the birds in the aviary together full time or only during part of the day? Do they spend any time in the house?

If they are together all day and this is happening often enough to be a problem, I think it might be necessary to remove one of them from the aviary. Maybe keep Lilly in the house and only move her out into the aviary when Echo is in the house OR when you are present to monitor their interactions. If Echo gets tired of being bullied, he could easily hurt Lilly, so leaving them together in the aviary unsupervised is asking for trouble.

Also, I would not think of separating them as punishing Lilly for bad behavior. That is not the point of separating them and the wrong way to look at problem behaviors. You don't want to punish your parrots when they do something "bad". It doesn't work very well and it damages trust. Instead, aim to identify triggers, redirect them to new behaviors and reward them for better interactions. This positive approach re-shapes behavior naturally and works with your bird's desires, instead of against them.

If being in the aviary with Echo is triggering bad interactions, the simplest solution is NOT let them be in the aviary together. Problem solved.

Training Lilly to leave Echo alone while they are together, when she really wants to boss him around, would be a much harder goal to achieve. Not impossible, but probably not easy or fast. And more likely to result in a bad outcome if something goes wrong. You would need to be present and directly monitoring them to identify triggers for Lilly's bossy behavior and figure out ways to redirect her away from Echo. It will take a lot of time and patience, especially if there is a hormonal component to the behavior.

Aviary flock dynamics can be quite tricky.

 

[BirdView]

Are the birds in the aviary together full time or only during part of the day? Do they spend any time in the house?

If they are together all day and this is happening often enough to be a problem, I think it might be necessary to remove one of them from the aviary. Maybe keep Lilly in the house and only move her out into the aviary when Echo is in the house OR when you are present to monitor their interactions. If Echo gets tired of being bullied, he could easily hurt Lilly, so leaving them together in the aviary unsupervised is asking for trouble.

Also, I would not think of separating them as punishing Lilly for bad behavior. That is not the point of separating them and the wrong way to look at problem behaviors. You don't want to punish your parrots when they do something "bad". It doesn't work very well and it damages trust. Instead, aim to identify triggers, redirect them to new behaviors and reward them for better interactions. This positive approach re-shapes behavior naturally and works with your bird's desires, instead of against them.

If being in the aviary with Echo is triggering bad interactions, the simplest solution is NOT let them be in the aviary together. Problem solved.

Training Lilly to leave Echo alone while they are together, when she really wants to boss him around, would be a much harder goal to achieve. Not impossible, but probably not easy or fast. And more likely to result in a bad outcome if something goes wrong. You would need to be present and directly monitoring them to identify triggers for Lilly's bossy behavior and figure out ways to redirect her away from Echo. It will take a lot of time and patience, especially if there is a hormonal component to the behavior.

Aviary flock dynamics can be quite tricky.

Thank you for your insight. I still can not let them out together without supervision. If I need to leave I put them in their cages first. I don't know what is the deal with the bossy behavior. I am suspecting she might be jealous because he is getting attention from me. I love all my birds the same and I try to be fair but Echo is very needy. He always flies to me and wants to stay on my hand or shoulder.

Lilly is bonded with a quaker parrot. Coconut (a male cocktail) is bonded with 2 budgies (long story). Echo is the only bird by himself. I feel he is lonely and does not have friends. That is why I try to give him a little bit more attention.

Today I tried to put Lilly next to Echo and reward them for calm behavior. However things got out of control quickly when Yoda (quaker parrot) jumped in. When I have treats in my hand, my bird becomes competitive and I lose control. I don't know if I should try again with Lilly and Echo away from the rest of the flock.

One of the reasons I built this aviary is to let my birds out on the days I am working long hours so they don't spend the whole day in their cages. Tomorrow I have to go to work in the morning and won't come back before sunset. At the moment all birds are in their cages indoors. Do you think it is a bad idea to let out part of my flock: Amazon, Cockatiel, budgies in the aviary and leave GCC and quaker in their cage? They will probably be able to see the other birds behind the window or at least hear them. I think they won't be happy and they will scream the whole day. For now I am just going to keep them inside when I am gone.

 

[sheryl1954]

I would be afraid to leave my birds in the aviary and go to work. There are many dangers outside. Hawks, rats, cats, thieves, teenagers off-leash.