Head Pecking

Judith McGregor · Post by **Judith McGregor** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 12:36 pm

Is head pecking a part of mating? While we were out of town for 3 days...my male Peter Twin Spot pecked his mate to death!! Another of the males seems to be pecking his mate. What should I do??

Post by **Sally** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 2:10 pm

So sorry for the loss of your Twinspot. They are supposed to be aggressive birds. What little information I found on them said they become more aggressive with breeding. Did you have two pairs in the same aviary? Or in adjacent aviaries or cages? It is suggested that they shouldn't even be in adjacent cages.

Often you have little notice of aggression, though since you were gone, it could have started several days ago. I have a very aggressive Green Singing male, he has killed mates, and there was no notice--all seemed to be fine, and then I would find the hen dead in the bottom of the cage, obviously pecked to death.

If the other male is starting to peck at his mate, I would separate them for now, till you can get more information. Not as many people keep the Twinspots, so it is harder to find out something on them. I hope someone with experience with these birds will be able to help you.

L in Ontario · Post by **L in Ontario** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 9:18 pm

Wow I never knew Twinspots could get that agressive. I presumed when they say they can get agressive that it's towards other species of birds - not their own mates. That's terrible. I don't want this type of finch anymore.

gomer · Post by **gomer** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 9:31 pm

I would not breed from an over aggressive bird.I keep Crimson finches .some say they should be kept as a single pair in an aviary.I keep one pair with other finches including red headed gouldians with no problem.And another pair in a mixed collection.one hen with three cocks,Also with no problem. I do it in that aviary because I have extra cock birds and the cock she had was lazy.Now he has put his act together and is busy, keeping an eye on the other cocks.The hen has no problem with any of the cocks.I would not do this however with blue face parrot finches.
I guess it depends on the individual bird how aggressive they can be.
the male you have sounds over aggressive.

toof · Post by **toof** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 1:27 am

I'm very sorry to hear about your Twinspot hen. I've had a pair for only about a month and haven't seen any problems. Though, they are in a cage that doesn't give them reason to breed. Within another month I will try to introduce them to a breeding situation, and perhaps their behavior will change.
I do have a similar situation to yours with a pair of Magpie Mannikins. As far as I could determine, I have a pair, as only one of the birds will sing. These 2 birds would always be together, including roosting together, building a nest. They never did produce any eggs, though the male would maintain and defend the nest. One day I found the hen knocked to the ground and hiding under a plant. I brought her away from the plant and left her in the open. The male flew down and started to attack her. From this point I separated the 2 birds for several weeks before returning them into a new cage. The 2 birds haven't shown any signs of aggression, and once again spend all their time together. So, why did the male try killing the female? I've made the assumption that the male was ready to breed and the female wasn't. Killing the female might be nature's way of eliminating birds that won't breed. ??
I hope you enjoy your Twinspots as much as I do. I think they are beautiful birds, and I feel very fortunate to have them.

Best regards, Stefan