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The look of love
My 5-year-old sun conure, a female, often goes into a trancelike state when we talk to her. She fluffs and revolves her head in a figure eight motion. We’ve had this bird, a rescue, for six months. Should we be concerned?
Another question: I also have a 10-month-old sun conure whose voice seems to have changed in the past two to three weeks. He’s eating, bathing and playing as usual. Could he be mimicking the older bird's voice?
--Sherry Parsons, Shrpr305@cs.com
The trancelike state you describe is fairly common. Like a peacock fanning its beautiful tail feathers, your bird is exhibiting her personal version of a courtship display. These displays vary among parrot species and even among individuals.
Macaws, for instance, may fix their stare, contract their pupils and lean forward, usually with a vocal utterance they have learned such as, "Hi!"
Amazons may fix their pupils, fan their tail and spin in slow, tight circles with their heads cocked slightly to one side while making a rattling noise like a wind-up toy.
Cockatoos might erect their crest and swing upside down on the perch while flapping their wings and shrieking.
The list goes on. With many non-psittacine species, such as pigeons, only males engage in courtship behaviors. Parrot owners are fortunate to be able to witness courtship displays by both the male and female of most species.
Unfortunately, this is a case of good news-bad news. The good news is that your bird feels comfortable with you. The bad news is that courtship behavior may be a precursor to bonding with one member of the family. That in turn may eventually lead to aggressiveness toward other family members.
As for your younger bird’s voice change, yes, it’s very possible he is imitating the other bird's voice. It’s natural for parrots to mimic other parrots, especially ones they live with. In fact, parrots learn how to speak by listening to other parrots faster than they do when we try to teach them. I’ve taught several of mine to talk by putting them next to other birds with good vocabularies.
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