I put up the nestboxes on Wednesday and the birds have been rejoicing ever since.

Aww! You and your birds bring so much happiness to everyone! Your babies are worth SO MUCH. Thank you Carolyn, Coco felt like a gift. You really do get to establish a connection with them.

Let's hope for another successful year of breeding!

Love it!

There's also some competition going on but they'll get it sorted out after a while. I want Vlad and his girlfriends to be in a specific cage and Pip and Ladybug to be in a specific cage. They seem happy with their assignments.

I don't particularly care which cage Teela/Azazel and Shodu/Buster take. They both prefer the same one but would be content enough with the other one. It remains to be seen who gets what. Teela is surprisingly fierce in defending her choice. For a while she wouldn't even let her mate in her preferred box, but seems to have gotten over it enough to share with him.

Looks like they will get things going soon

Do you put up more nestboxes than you've got pairs? I've read somewhere it gives them more choice and thus less fighting amongst themselves to pick one.

My birds are indoors and each nestbox is attached to a different cage. I'd like to add an extra nestbox but I don't really have the space for another cage. They'd probably fight over the same one anyway, because it's in the most desirable cage. I think they'll settle down once the egg laying starts.

Last year was Teela and Azazel's first year as a breeding pair, and he was so slow to start doing his duty that the first egg was infertile - Teela's hormones reached the right level before his did. But this year he's more on top of things (literally) and it looks like every egg will have the opportunity to be fertile.

That's good because I want more pearl chicks. They gave me a pearl girl last year who was the first pearl chick I've ever had.

Busy times ahead

Any luck trying to pair the birds in your other bird room? I wonder if Elvis and Priscilla would get together if you gave them a nest box.