8 Reasons Why Cockatiels Can Attack Each Other

Cockatiels are known for being very sociable birds and therefore it is always recommended that to be kept as a pet they should be accompanied by another of their own species, but it might surprise you that they also fight, like us humans.

I had the wrong thought, that we humans were the living beings with the worst problems of coexistence, it turns out that the cockatoos have problems too, serious problems, but who would not have problems after being locked up for years in a cage?

That two cockatiels in one place fight should be seen as normal, but sometimes things get a little out of control when one of the cockatiels shows much more aggressive behavior than normal, such as a constant attack by a male cockatiel on a female.

If the cockatiels live together in a flock, they regulate their coexistence through their dominant behavior and various gestures that determine the hierarchy. It can happen that the other bird is hacked and attacked to show who is the strongest and who is in charge of the swarm.

In pet breeding, this behavior is just as important and should be seen as completely normal.

If dominance behavior increases to such an extent that a cockatoo behaves very aggressively towards another inferior bird and harasses it, this can quickly lead to agitation and discomfort.

Why do cockatiels attack each other? 8 Reasons

All of us, at some point in our lives, have lost our temper for some reason, which at that precise moment, seemed important to us, and not because we considered ourselves aggressive.

It is also true that the character of each individual and the different situations in which we can find ourselves, make our reactions can be totally different according to the circumstances.

In the animal kingdom of birds, something similar to what happens to us “humans” occurs, the character and different factors of each situation, make them behave in one way or another.

The environmental factors are determinant in this sense, having enough water and food, not having enough space, overcrowding, are of great importance in determining the “mood” rather than the character of a cockatiel, although this predisposed to be one way or another.

In the cockatiels that live accompanied or in a group, many of the problems and fights that arise, usually come caused by the handling that is had among them.

1-Accidental aggression caused by a fight with another individual, this type of fight is usually temporary and normal among cockatiels.

2-Aggressiveness due to overcrowding of a cage that causes a greater increase in the interactions between the different individuals that inhabit it and the imposition of a hierarchy.

3-Aggressiveness due to the presence of a single feeder when there are several cockatiels is what is called competition for food.

4-Inadequate cage size or what should really be called their territory. As there are several birds in the same enclosure you must know what their space needs are, because if you don’t know, you could be causing a state of innate aggression in the cockatiels by defending their living space.

These last three could be included in an epigraph called mismanagement.

5-The Cockatiels are very territorial birds in spite of being very social, and they mark their territory in a fierce way, although this aggressive behavior usually occurs in very specific times of the year.

While many other Cockatiels accept the coexistence with other individuals of their own and other species.

As a territorial bird, the cockatiels mark the area or space they inhabit in a very clear and persistent way through different means, to defend themselves from their congeners or other species.

This defense of the territory only adopts violence in exceptional cases. The most commonly used are visual displays (intense colors), auditory (calls, twitts) and olfactory (urine, feces and other secretions of odoriferous glands)

6-The aggressiveness in the hand-raised cockatiels, usually comes given by several reasons, the first and most common is the defense of its territory and this fact happens at the beginning of the relationship between the owner and its pet.

If on some occasion your cockatiel has had to be manipulated and its experience has not been pleasant, it is very probable that before the possibility of being caught again, they become a little irascible and aggressive.

In the case of the cockatiel that is paired with a human, they can get to defend this one as if it was the best guard dog, putting its life in danger in order to protect its owner.

7-Dominance is a fact that is present in any society, whether animal or not, and this gives rise to a hierarchical order that greatly simplifies any process in society.

But what happens when there are individuals who are very dominant or who interact excessively with the other individuals with whom they live?

This is also influenced by keeping two male cockatiels in the same cage, it is recommended to always have a couple of male and female cockatiels or two females.

Clearly, problems and aggressiveness arise. These problems of aggressiveness when they occur between individuals of the same species are called intra-species aggressiveness and when they occur between individuals of different species they are called inter-species aggressiveness.

8-Aggressiveness during the reproduction period, in the cockatiels, the reproduction period is announced by sudden changes in behavior, especially in terms of aggressiveness.

Some cockatiels that are well understood up to now can become very aggressive with their cage mates. It is in that moment when it is necessary to intervene taking some precautions to avoid the situation to exceed the limits.

To avoid the appearance of violent fights between the cockatiels you must have more nests than couples, in the market you can find classrooms specially created for reproduction, but you can isolate the couples with separation of grids.

Can cockatiels kill each other?

This is something a bit shocking, some male cockatiels, even after living for years with the same female, suddenly become aggressive and can kill their partner with a peck.

The origin of this aggressiveness is still not explained in detail today. But when the cockatiel has killed once, it can do so again. Therefore, before acquiring cockatiels, one should investigate the male, who has not committed this action.

Male killer cockatiels must be separated from the females, even though they can be good companion animals.