Several months ago, my wife and I adopted a feisty male Meyers named Watson (he is now about 10 months old.) Watson was hand raised by a lone male human and has not been socialized with other people or parrots. Watson loves me, hates my wife. Two weeks ago, we adopted a five-month-old female Senegal named Lilly, who is highly socialized and has a sweet disposition. Long story short, our attempts to put the two of them together have not gone well. Watson becomes violently aggressive and clearly is looking to severely injure Lilly. We have been keeping their two cages side by side in the hopes of getting them used to each other, but while she seems very happy to get along, he wants nothing more than to rule the roost. Any advice? We would love to be able to keep them both in Watson's huge macaw-size cage, rather than maintain two separate cages.

-- John Nolan, New York, N.Y.

JOHN, I HAVE FOUND that most of the smaller poicephalus, such as your Meyer's and Senegal, to be very territorial when mature. Over the next several months I think you will find that your new Senegal will develop a personality very similar to that of your Meyer's. I have seen Senegals charge off across the floor after large dogs to chase them out of "their" territory.

Most captive parrots have a natural tendency to bond with one individual, as do parrots in the wild. Most often this bond is with a human caregiver but may be with another bird given the opportunity. This bonding may often cause aggression toward other humans, birds, or even other animals in the household. This is likely the situation that you are experiencing. The immature Lilly is naturally friendly, as she would be with clutch mates or other young birds she would encounter soon after fledging. The older Watson, on the other hand, is acting aggressive toward Lilly and your wife because he is bonded with you.

I do strongly believe that given the choice, birds would rather be with other birds similar to themselves than with humans. So will you be left out in the cold if you successfully get the two birds to bond in the future? Only time will tell. In the meantime, I recommend leaving the two birds caged close together but separately. Once the Senegal has matured, allow her to interact with Watson only with close supervision. Both birds may be somewhat aggressive toward the other until they figure things out.

-- Glenn Reynolds, trainer

ParrotChronicles.com

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