Did I... Did I do it? Do I have a bonded pair???
Context for anyone interested on how I managed to get my male -who was a single bird for years and bonded with me- to actually accept a female:
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The pumpkin-headed little sh*t is Oli. He is my 3 year old lovebird whom I had since he was around 2-3 months old.
He spent the first 2.5 years of his life as the only bird of the household. We slept in the same room for 2 years of that time since I was in a dorm situation. So he was really bonded to me and he is very well socialised with humans. He understands human emotions and behaviour shockingly well.
As I have been focusing on finishing my degree, I havent been able to pay as much attention to him. That, combined with the fact that he now had is own room stressed him out and resulted in him starting to overpreen himself. Since I am a helicopter bird-parent, I realised it very early under his wings and upon talking to an egzotic vet about it, decided to get him an adult female.
Thats how our very own interrior-decorator and demolishing expert with very striking blue feathers came in the picture.
Her name is Sora. I got her last november as an adult from the same guy I got Oli. Do not know how old she is but the fact that she did not seem to have a partner before or laid eggs (the breeder wouldnt sell a 'proven female' I imagine) suggests she is young. I would guess around a year old?
I quarantined her for a month, during which time they were communicating by making my ears bleed all day. The next 2 months went as you would expect: standart introducing-your-birds process.
At this point I am about the explain, I was taking them out at the same time but they were still in seperate cages.
Oli was EXTREMELY jealous of me. For insight: He hates my boyfriend with a passion because he sees him as a rival to his bond with me. So, when another bird came in the picture, you can only imagine his distress.
Sora on the other hand, having been raised among a lot of birds, was very social... With birds. Unlike Oli, who is very social with humans.
She was literally chasing Oli around in the house to socialise with him, which Oli replied by flying away like his life depended on it. For months.
They jousted A LOT (fighting without actually intending to harm). He would literally give me the cold shoulder for showing any kind of attention to her. And when she gave attention to him he would either hid in my hair, run away OR physically bully her. Which honestly, to Sora's credit, she tolerated for a very long time. Until she didnt...
After months of being bullied, I would imagine she has had enough of his antics and actually bullied him back. And well... She is considerably heftier than him so that did not end well for poor Oli's self-esteem. Needless to say, his bullying became a lot less intense and less often after that day.
At some point Sora figured out that Oli was not going to let her near him so she started to use me for her social needs. Preening my lips and hair, using me as her personal heated perch etc. Still a big no to my hands though.
When that happened, Oli actually started to show positive interest in her. Started to not run away as mucj when she came near him. Letting her perch on the same toy as him. Observing her with actual curiosity.
And a while after that, I cought him preening Sora on my shoulder! Sora being the more socially confident one (with birds anyway) has been lowering her neck under his beak to try to get him to preen her for months. And she finally suceeded!
They remained in seperate cages because this physical affection was still very much an occasional thing. But about 2 weeks ago, Oli started screaming his lungs out after they went back into their cages. I was confued because he has never been the kind of bird to just scream for minutes on end. And that was when I realised, he was screaming because he was away from Sora. He wanted to be with her. So, I put him in her cage and then observed them. Both went quiet and started silently preening each other.
I let them be together for a few days, since I knew Sora did not really care about Oli being in her cage. She liked the company more than her personal space. And they did not fight during those days. Not once.
And that is when I knew it was finally time move them into the same cage. And they were the ones that told me that. Literally.
Well, after 2 weeks of being in the same cage, I cought them doing this today! Something that until today he only ever tried to do to me (I interrupt him every time ofc).
I have literally nothing in their cage that would trigger nesting behaviour. Just wooden toys and perches. So, I fricking hope she doesnt start laying eggs 😭. That is the last thing I need.
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Anyways. That is how I went about getting my human-bonded male to bond with a female. If you read the entire thing, you are awesome!
Wishing the best to you and your birds!