Getting married - is my bird gonna change?

[greatgriffin]

My bird Crackie is a lone bird for now. I am considering getting a pair for her but I am a bit reserved on this matter.
Crackie is a hand-raised bird and is attached to people. Whenever she encounters her reflection in an object she will start to peck at it looking increasingly annoyed, she will even get fierce - good example is my cell phone. She knows already that she can find another bird in the screen, so she will spot the cell phone anywhere in the room and fly there, then she will bite, roll it and flip it until finally the phone drops to the floor.
These behavior patterns raise a red flag for me - hold on, if you get another bird in my empire, there is gonna be war!

Do I have the correct impression? is my bird likely to refuse and fight off a would-be pair?

Or, if she does accept the pair, is she likely to change her affection towards people? Is she likely to lose her tricks and her affinity to learning new tricks with people?

Alternatively, should I try getting another bird from a different species as a "playmate"? Would she accept / bother about another type of bird?

I would appreciate any advice and especially experience in this respect.

Tom , Crackie

[Michael]

I think that really depends. It depends on species, territory, temperament, etc. What I do know for sure is that I read a long rant from a woman who ruined two birds doing this. She had a parrot (really forget what kind) that she spoiled rotten and gave too much attention like keeping it out all day. Then after a few years she got bored of it and wanted it to bug off so she decided to buy it a mate. And the one she originally had was female. Well she introduced the male and the female damn near killed it. The existing parrot had such a territorial and hormonal attachment to the lady that it would not accept any other bird. She had to return the new parrot or it surely would have been killed.

I'm not saying that this will happen to you but I just want you to really really think twice before getting an extra bird, particularly if you want it to be a "friend" to your parrot rather than to you. You also have to have a plan B about what you will be doing if they don't like each other. Second cage, alternate out times, etc.

[Kathleen]

I think your bird will definitely change. You would absolutely have to get a second new cage for both birds if you caged them together, and it would probably have to be huge, in order to prevent some territorial aggression.

If you want to get a different species, I would do a lot of research and make sure it's compatible if you want them to spend time together. Make sure the temperament and size of the birds is about even so that the new bird will be able to hold its own ground. If you'd only have the birds out separately, then it probably doesn't matter.