Puberty problems?

[kikidee]

Hey guys. So lately Navi has been acting hormonal I think. He has frequently tried to breed my hair, and every time he sees himself in the mirror he suddenly starts getting aggressive. He makes annoyed chirps and flies at my face (and other family members faces) and tries to bite us hard. Eventually I'll pick him up in step up form (while he's biting my hand hard) and put him away. This doesn't happen if I take him to a room with no mirrors. Is this due to puberty? He will be a year old next month.

[Wolf]

I won't say that it is particularly caused by puberty, as I think there may be other factors at work in conjunction with puberty, but it is most definitely a part of what causes this behavior.
It would appear to me that he sees another bird in the mirror, but does not recognize that it is himself, so he thinks it is a different bird, and in trying to protect his flock he is trying to drive or herd you into a place where this other bird is not at. Perhaps the simplest solution would be to temporarily cover the mirrors.

[liz]

Or you could take him to the mirror so he can see both of you. That worked for Myrtle. I don't know how Rambo learned to identify himself.
Fancy cat and my dog Lucy identified themselves because they were sitting together looking in the mirror.

[Pajarita]

Yes, it is puberty and, in my personal opinion, it's not that he is protecting you from it but that he's annoyed/frustrated because he cannot reach the bird in the mirror and he really wants to (thus aggression). Sexual maturity is often the turning point for birds that are classified as 'aviary' because a baby loves everybody but adults want a bird mate badly. People use mirrors with birds because the bird reflected on it keeps a lonely bird company but some of them fall in love with that bird and it can backfire so you could try covering all the mirrors until, say, late June and see if that helps with his aggression.

[kikidee]

Thanks for your answers guys. Keeping him from reflections is definitely helping, but this morning the second I let him out he started attacking us again. I put him away and later went into a room with him alone and he was all lovey dovey with me the entire time. I guess all I can do is be wary while he is going through this and keep him away from mirrors.

[Wolf]

You need to pay attention to his body language, it could save you from getting attacked while he is hormonal. Look at his eyes and pay attention to what is happening with them. Are his eyes flashing, or are they pinning? Pinning is when the pupil of his eye is smaller than normal and flashing is when he makes the iris ( colored part) to expand and contract. While the pinning can just mean that he is focusing on something it can also mean that he is irritable and may bite. Look at the eye overall, my Grey gets a far off or sly look when she is thinking of biting this is from the general shape of the eye as caused by the skin around the eye itself. What about the feathers? Are they relaxed and sort of fluffy or are they being held tightly against the body. When the feathers are held tightly against the body you are at risk of attack. What about his bodily position? If his body is held low and level from front to rear He is probably irritated, if his beak is opening and closing while in this horizontal position with feathers close to the body he will bite, If in addition to these signs his wings are slightly lifted and quivering go away or you will be attacked.
These are general descriptions and they may vary with your particular bird as each species of parrot has their own body language but they will for the most part just be a variation of these.
It is better for both you and the bird that you learn this body language of your birds and avoid bites, if you get bit and put the bird back in the cage, the bird will come to resent this and biting may increase. It is much better to see that the bird may bite and just leave him be other than maybe talking to him while maintaining your hands off. The bird doesn't bite which means fewer biter, the bird is not being put back in the cage and so does not resent the punishment this also translates into fewer bites.
I hope that this will help you.

[Pajarita]

Actually, pinning and flashing are both caused by the pupil dilating and contracting but pinning is a sustained state of a very small pupil (some species do this when they are paying a lot of attention to something -like senegals, for example- so it's not always related to aggression) and flashing is the repeated action of contracting and dilating (and this one is never any good ).

I tried to do some research on Princess parakeets body language but, because these are considered aviary birds, the only references are to courtship behavior where the male sings a single note repeatedly while raising his head with every call and the female will crouch on the perch and bob her body up and down (I've never seen it myself so I am just repeating what I read0. Flashing eyes is also a male courtship behavior, apparently.