Humans see budgies are sweet adorable birds that wouldn’t hurt a fly, however, these birds can be dangerous to each other if provoked.
This article looks into why a budgie may be bullying another budgie
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Budgie bullying another budgie:
Fighting and bullying in the animal kingdom always happens for a reason, fighting can happen for a number of reasons in fact, here are reasons why a budgie may be bullying another budgie:
Limited space:
Budgies may have been domesticated but this doesn’t mean that they don’t still have the traits that would have kept them safe and kept them alive in the wild.
It’s a dog-eat-dog world in the wild and these birds would fight and bully other birds if other birds came into their space and invaded their territory.
If you introduce a new budgie into your home, without having enough space for it, then your current budgie may bully the new budgie over space.
What to do:
If you think that one of your dominant budgies is bullying another because there is a lack of space then you should consider either getting a bigger cage for the two, one that can accommodate all of the birds.
You could also consider getting another cage for the other budgie and separating the two. Doing this will give each bird its own space and no bird will be trespassing in the other bird’s space.
Limited food:
This is another reason why budgies may bully each other, if you add a new budgie to the mix then the current budgie may become threatened because the new budgie is taking some of its food.
This may cause the older budgie to start bullying the new budgie keeping it away from food sources as a way to protect its food source and keep itself from potentially starving.
What to do:
You would need to take a long look at how much you’re really feeding these birds, calculate how much feed one bird needs, and multiply this by the number of birds that you’re taking care of.
If this isn’t enough for the birds then give them more food.
You may also have to give the birds different feeders and different waterers to ensure that both of the birds can feed at the same time and that the bigger birds don’t bully the smaller bird away while feeding.
Or, you may have to separate the birds into different cages and feed them separately if need be.
Hormonal changes:
Animals in the animal kingdom, birds included, go through hormonal changes. These hormonal changes can cause birds to become aggressive and cause birds to start fighting with each other.
When a budgie starts going through hormonal changes the bird’s hormones cause birds to notice and become attracted to members of the opposite gender.
These birds will then protect themselves and their partners from anything that could hurt them causing them to fight and even bully their birds who come close to them or their partner.
Not only will the males fight other males over their mates, but the female budgies, which are more aggressive than males of the same species, will fight other female budgies to keep their mates to themselves
What to do:
If you notice this happening with the birds then you may want to let nature take its course.
The bird that is being bullied and attacked for coming close to a budgie pair will usually learn its lesson and leave the budgie pair alone.
If the other budgie does not leave the budgie pair alone then you may have to remove this bird yourself and place it in a separate cage.
Fighting over nest boxes:
Female budgies will not only bully other female budgies over mates, they will also fight other female budgies over nest boxes.
All female budgies want the best nest. The best nest is the nest that is the highest and the one that has a good-sized hole.
The stronger female birds will fight and bully the weaker birds to get the best nest box.
What to do:
You can’t force birds to prefer one nest box over another nest box but you can add more nest boxes that the birds would like, this will incentivize the birds to pursue other nest boxes.
Make sure that these nest boxes that you’re adding are high, just as the favorite one is, and make sure that they have good-sized holes similar to the nest boxes that are being fought for
Illness:
Budgies can tell when other budgies are ill, if a budgie thinks that another budgie is ill, and that the ill bird can’t recover from said illness, then the bird may bully and even kill the sick budgie.
The healthy bird does this as it knows that it can become infected and die if infected by the sick bird, so, it would rather kill the sick budgie before it is eventually killed by the sick budgies illness.
What to do:
Treating the sick budgie will stop the bullying and the other birds will welcome it back into the flock.
You’d need to diagnose the bird yourself, or have a vet, better yet an avian vet, diagnose the bird. After diagnosis, the bird needs to be treated and after this, it can be brought back into the flock.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other bird related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Letting An Untamed Bird Out Of The Cage, How To Stop Cage Aggression In Birds, Parakeet At The Bottom Of The Cage Fluffed Up, Budgie Flying Around Cage At Night,