When you start the hormone control do it to both of them. If he's in the mood he'll keep stimulating her and vice versa. I don't know much about budgie mating habits, but cockatiels usually stop mating when the egg laying starts.

Wow. Georgie does the same to Marshmallow, he preens her back feathers. Marshmallow gets so annoyed

Budgie cocks have a very high sex drive. When mine get overly excited they either hump something or masturbate. I don't know what makes them do it, but for some reason the boys have a hard time containing themselves.

Ah! I thought Piper was just unusually highly sexed.
They clearly love each other (most of the time).

Budgie boys are in hyperdrive most of the time anyway. I'd be surprised if they WEREN'T oversexed.

I came home today to the second egg from Emma. This one wasn't broken, so I put it in a dish for her with some white tissue paper in it.

Meanwhile, Silver has started flying out to the kitchen and hiding on top of a 6' high bookcase. Normally, I don't allow the birds in the kitchen. It used to be that he ended up out there by accident and was very willing for me to retrieve him. Last couple of days though, he doesn't want to be retrieved, and backs up to the wall where I cannot get to him.

I've been paying careful attention to what's going on. My conclusion is that Piper is bullying Silver. He chases him all over and gets in his face. He's done that before, but not to the degree that he is doing it now. I wonder whether, with Emma laying, he feels Silver is competition. It seems like he is chasing Silver away, not just chattering in his face.

I decided to set up a separate cage for Piper. I put it next to the tiels' cage, with lots of toys in it. For the time being, I'm not going to let the out at the same time. I will be interested to see if Silver's hiding in the kitchen will stop.

Very strange. Beck's been more aggressive to the tiels lately. He flies at them in mid-flight and knocks them off course. I have no idea why but I think they may be hormonal. Beck is normally reserved and Poppy is now VERY interested in my companionship.

It's nice to know I'm not alone.

I had certainly read that budgies can bully cockatiels. However, I hadn't seen evidence of it for a year of having them altogether. So, I thought it might be a myth. I guess not.

Piper is probably defending his nest area. This is natural when a bird is breeding.

And I wouldn't be surprised if Emma starts chasing Silver away as well. This behavior is temporary. Even Marshmallow thought I was a predictor when I opened the best while she was there.