Male rosella chasing the female

[demeries]

Hi
I have a pair of Rosellas in an aviary on their own. When the female goes up near the male he stars going after her untill she goes down. This is done at a cetain time only at night they stey near each other without any problems. What could this be? and what i can do for it?
Thanks for any advise.

[patdbunny]

What kind of rosellas do you have? I have the eastern rosellas. Males can be aggressive to the females in the breeding season (now). If he's too aggressive he may even kill her. With one of my pairs, the male's very aggressive towards the female. I clip his wings and leave her flighted so she can get away from him. But I have mine in a large flight cage, not an actual aviary. In an aviary it might not be fair to clip him as he won't be able to easily get around.

Maybe you can do a mild clip of just a couple of primaries so he's hobbled, but still can get around the aviary.

This just may be what you have to deal with if you're going to keep a M/F pair. If the aggression is really upsetting you, you need to house them separately.

[demeries]

Thanks for that advise.They eastern rossella.But is it normal that they eat togheter,sleep beside each other with no problems. The only time he chase her when she is in the lower perch and trys to go up near him.Could it be that the female is resisting to mate?

[patdbunny]

Hard to say why at those instances. Could be he feels she's not safe at the lower perch and he's trying to shoo her off to safety. It sounds strange, but sometimes the aggression is to protect the female. For instance when I first brought my pair home, they were in a new environment, temporarily in a smaller cage. The male went nuts and started seriously chasing and beating up the female. He actually even bloodied her head. I separated him and put him in a cage next to her for about two weeks. After they settled into their new surroundings I clipped him and put him back with her. He's for the most part fine now. They are definitely a bonded loving pair. They allopreen and allofeed and are inseparable. I believe my male was concerned for the safety of the female in this new uncertain environment and he was trying to chase her away to safety. He doesn't understand that she can't fly away out of the cage. His concern for her could have actually killed her. He still gets periodically aggressive and chases her around even though they are a loving pair.

I don't really worry about the why since the aggression is not uncommon in the rosellas (indian ringnecks too) during breeding season. I'm more concerned with managing it (clipping the male). I don't separate anyone unless I see actual harm being caused - loss of feathers (differential between loss of feathers due to mating or self plucking), blood or other actual injury. If he's just chasing her away/around, I watch and don't intervene unless he actually is hurting her.

You can also try putting him in a small cage by himself within the aviary for a few weeks and see if that tones him down. If you want them to breed, this may be his/their normal behavior for your pair.

[demeries]

Thanks alot for this advise.

[liz]

I don't know a lot about what triggers them. When I took Rainbow in I also took a pair of Cockatiels who had been together for many years but the male became very aggressive and plucked her. She had the emotions of a battered wife and accepted it as his way. When I separated them she constantly called him and he ignored her. It was really bad. She kept going back to him and being plucked. I was so lucky that one of Momma's nurses had two males who were buddies. She took Sunny home with her and one of her males had love at first sight. The other male did not mind being a brother in law.
I had pairs so I rescued another female to be with Curley. He accepted her and treated her like a trophy wife.
I can't even imagine what was going on with them. I guess it was like a man turning 50 who was no longer interested in his loyal wife and treating her like part of the furniture while looking for a younger model.