Now I know budgies have recreational sex, but what I came across in the aviary this afternoon was a little disturbing. My fallow Sebby was engaging in some recreational sex with a bird named Romeo Jr. He has been flirting with all the girls in the aviary, as his name would suggest. I have seen him "having relations" with a few, but the problem is that Sebby is his MOTHER.

 

I know that sometimes fathers have got confused when a young hen just emerged from the nestbox is looking for her Dad to feed her, and he mixes up the signals, but do budgies remember parents? And if they do, what the *** were these two thinking?

 

Anyone?

bahahahhahah

that is funny and disgusting i dont know if they remeber there parents but i think u may have a little problem on ur hand

:ygbudgie: I know that Comet remembered his daughter and son when they stayed here for two months but to them he was just another budgie. The only way I could tell this is he consistently acted different and gentle whenever he went over to their cage to visit and would coo away, NOT the way he is visiting the cockatiels and other budgies RIGHT now!!!! :hap:

(Laughing out loud) I have found that brother/sister are very attracted to each other- even after they have been apart for sometime and from different litters...umm clutches.

Haha I have a very similar problem. One of my males has formed a bond with his daughter who, also reciprocates his love and advances.

I will be selling her sometime and hope that he will form a "healthier" bond with a female he is not related to. Silly things, I thought animals were generally attracted to others that weren't very closely related to themselves. :budgiedance:

Birds seem to have a memory of others, as I have had pairs that return to earlier partners if later placed in the same aviary. I also notice that many siblings seem to remain together for months after leaving their nest & are great friends, which leads me to think that this must happen also in nature, so I would think that more inbreeding must happen than we would think. What you are talking about is human moral codes & animals in nature don't have such things, once animals or birds reach maturity they are just male & females & do what comes naturally. If it worries you or is not what you want it's up to you to remove them from each other.

In nature many herd or pack animals allow females to remain in the group, where as the dominant male, [their father in most cases] drives off males at maturity, so they must be mated by their fathers until he is later replaced by another stronger male. This happens in animals such as Gorillas, Elephants, Lions & even Kangaroos.

Edited January 1, 200817 yr by Norm

It doesn't worry me too much, annd i do understand that whole nature thing. The pride of lions is a great example.

 

Let me say this though, if Sebby and Romeo Jr. think i am hooking them up with a nest box, they are kidding themselves - (Laughing out loud)!!!

Mmm, but animals are generally attracted to others that aren't related to them (generally by pheromones (although birds have a bad sense of smell, this could explain it)) as the further they are apart in relation the larger the difference in their genetic makeup, meaning that if they were to mate, their babies would have a higher chance of survival, due to larger differences in their genes.

Animals that are closely related to each other will produce offspring that are not very diverse in their genetic make up and may produce offspring that carry two genes that are identical by descent. This is often how new mutations appear. And can result in an immunity that is not as strong as it would be if the animal had parents that were not related at all.

 

Generally the main drive behind breeding for animals is to provide offspring that stand the greatest chance of survival. This is why I wonder why they are so attracted to ones that are related.

 

Food for thought

Edited January 2, 200817 yr by Sailorwolf

The only thing I can think of is that Sebby was not the best mother. She seemed to raise the young, all 5, then when she was ready to breed again, she wanted them out of the way. I removed her from the cage and left Dad Romeo to finish raising the young. Maybe this seperation, along with Romeo Jr.'s loverly active libido, has affected his perceptions of Sebby - (Laughing out loud).