Eclectus Parrots are one of the few species parrot that go through a short hormonal stage. For majority of this species can be short and tolerable. But there are some that become very aggressive and intolerable.
The female, when coming into adulthood can sometimes become moody and over bearing, over protective of her surroundings.
The males can become stubborn during these times and both can be dealt with by using positive reinforcement, though there are some Eclectus that just want or need to breed.
Both male and female can display territorial behaviours during this stage at any of their favourite place in the home.
You cannot stop hormonal behaviour, but you can lessen the severity of it.
Hormonal aggression is a natural part of life for parrots and occurs through maturity and breeding times. In the wild if an Eclectus has found the perfect hollow tree and a good supply of food and water close by she will naturally want to protect this area and this is where the aggression plays a roll. A pet Eclectus is no different. You have supplied them with a cage, toys and endless supply of food and water, so when breeding times comes around why wouldn’t they want to protect their space from unwanted intruders?
This sort of aggression can be eased or sometimes even prevented by taking a few simple measures. Spreading their toys, food and water throughout the house, rather than having it all in one small space. By setting up more than one place for your ekkie with food, water, toys, swings and stands throughout the house and having your ekkie active equally in these spots you’re giving your parrot less opportunity for the need to protect the one 'perfect' spot. You can also block off small dark areas and corners if you see your ekkie is starting to favour them and spend a great deal of time in these areas.
My Eclectus will favour being under our coffee table during hormonal periods. If we allow this for a long enough period he would start lunging at our feet if we got too close. He would also drag all his favourite toys under there. His aggression was very mild, he wouldn’t go further than lunging and growling but it can start to become quite frequent. To prevent things going any further and getting out of hand we wrapped a t-towel around the bar under the coffee table where he liked to sit with his worldly possessions. With the t-towel in place he was unable to sit there so he stopped going under the coffee table and his would aggression stop.
When Eclectus parrots reach maturity they can sometimes lash out for no apparent reason and it happens in both sexes. If the aggression is hormonal or maturity they not usually aware of their own actions. Hormones can cause undesirable behaviours and there is very little we can do about this except ride it out and try and have some understanding of this and not attempt to discipline a bird for their behaviours through these time. This will eventually ease and go. If you attempt to discipline this sort of behaviour your parrot will not understand why it’s being disciplined and you may make things much worse. You can’t force your parrot to stop being hormonal. It’s a natural course of life.
At the age of approx. 1 year old, Eclectus start to 'play roll' in nesting even though they're not yet mature. Between the age of 1.5 years & 4 years the Eclectus will mature. The age can differ individually as well as in sub species. The average noted maturing age is 3 years old however, most are not mature enough to breed until a few years after this.
Causes for unwanted hormonal behaviour are foods high in carbohydrates, foods high in sugars, hidden dark corners or spots, being given boxes or happy huts to play in, being given news paper to shred, being fed mushy foods, being fed cooked foods, light for too long, not going to bed at appropriate times suitable to parrots, snuggling, patting, rubbing the beak. Eliminate all of these and it will make it a great deal easier to have some control over the hormones. It is also a lot easier for them. And when you think about it, all of the above is not natural for the Eclectus to have unless they are in breeding mode as they would be in the wild.
