by Wolf » Tue Oct 13, 2015 7:25 am
I keep hearing about how these little huts for birds trigger mating behaviors and territorial aggression. I believe that in this regard that they are receiving a bum rap. Here is why I think this. Parrots are photoperiodic with light being one of the primary triggers for their breeding cycles, so I keep my birds to a strict solar light schedule just like the free birds outside my windows. Diet and the abundance of food are the next trigger of any consequence, in my opinion as it is the proteins in the food that are used to produce the sexual hormones and the abundance assures the mated pair of enough food to raise their young. Then there is the matter of a nesting place, which actually is their cage, with or without a cozy hut that provides this and most of our parrots are territorial about this space. A mate is provided either by another suitable bird or by the presence of the birds chosen human and since we keep our homes within certain parameters of warmth their temperature requirements are also well met.
I have 7 birds of 5 different species and they everyone of them go into breeding condition right on schedule every year and I do not have any cozy huts or nest boxes in any of their cages. The presence of the cozy hut seems to me to be pretty much a negligible item and I think is being blamed for that which it does, in fact, not do. This is not to say that I think that they are good as many of them can, indeed, be rather dangerous for the bird if not kept up properly.
Just thought that I would share my thoughts on this.