From the very start since I adopted them last October, my hen routinely snips/hisses/honks/pecks at the male each night as they are preparing to roost. This aggression also happened during the daytime when I first introduced the pair, but seemed to pretty much subside after a few weeks.
For the past 3-4 months, this aggression has been mostly confined to roosting time only. It happens whether he's trying to roost next to her (which he almost always tries to do), or whether he's given up and is roosting by himself -- at which point she'll decide that SHE wants whatever perch he is on and chases him away. This typically goes on for as long as I have the cage uncovered, and the ONLY way I've found to stop it is by covering the cage. Even though they have a moonlight and can see slightly when covered, they both typically freeze in place for the night the moment I cover them.
This evening however I noticed the hen took things a step farther. A couple of hours before roosting time, I noticed the hen very viciously peck several times at the male when he tried to sit next to her -- not just pecking in his direction as she usually does, but literally pecking him. He flew off before she could do any damage, but I noticed a short while later that she did the same thing again -- and this time she also attacked him -- flying onto his back. He flew away again, seemingly unharmed but rather startled by her attack.
Oddly, within minutes, he would always approach her again. And each time, she snapped/honked at him -- once even chasing him away by flying after him. Of course then at roosting time, when the timed cage light turned off for the night....the usual chase.
Don't laugh, but I swear it really did appear that she had a very mean, almost devilish look in her eyes as this aggression was occurring.
Is this any cause for concern, or is this typical of Gouldians? Could it be caused by frustration over inability to nest (since I haven't yet provided them a nest)? They seem very closely bonded for the most part. He seems very happy and is quite the romantic crooner. He sings to her almost non-stop every afternoon -- for hours. He does the courtship dance for her several times each day, she often joins in, and she even did so this afternoon. They often sit side by side during the day, they eat together, and appear as the perfect lil couple. Until night. Then she turns into a little monster.
I'm not too concerned about the roosting-time behavior -- that's fairly easily handled by covering them. But I don't know what to do if the extra-aggressive behavior I saw today continues to occur during the daytime. Maybe she was just in a bad mood today? Has anyone else seen such behavior, and how did you handle it?