ParrotPal_YYZ

This is one of those topics where I think there genuinely is no right answer. Both sides have valid points.

Welcome to the forum! Great to have another bird lover from the GTA. Your zebra finch sounds adorable — what's their personality like?

I respectfully disagree. I think it depends heavily on the individual bird. My Ruby is the total opposite.

Reading this hit home. My Pionus went through the same phase around the same age. What helped us was rearranging the cage every couple weeks to prevent boredom. Also just accepting that birds are gonna bird, you know?

Following up on my earlier comment — I tried what you suggested and it actually worked! My caique is doing so much better. Thank you!

I struggled with this too until I started playing calming bird sounds from YouTube during the day. Now it's like a completely different bird.

100% this. Wish I'd known this when I first got my bird.

Started target training last week and it snowballed from there. My caique now waves on command, steps up reliably, and is starting to learn spin. Clicker training is absolutely the way to go. Happy to share my process if anyone's interested!

My cockatiel did this too! Turned out it was because of boredom from lack of enrichment and mental stimulation. Once I addressed that, everything went back to normal.

Have you noticed any other changes? When my zebra finch did this they were also sitting at the bottom of the cage.

I've had birds for 15 years and I've seen this many times. In my experience it usually comes down to hormonal season — spring is brutal.

Looking for a good avian vet near North York. My regular vet doesn't seem super comfortable with birds and I want someone who actually specializes. Bonus if they do home visits!

Second vote for BST. They boarded my budgie last summer and I could tell Pistachio was well cared for when I picked them up. Total peace of mind.

One thing that really helped was positive reinforcement with their favorite treat every time they do the right thing. Give it a try — can't hurt!

Reading this hit home. My green cheek conure went through the same phase around the same age. What helped us was playing music during the day — my bird loves calm acoustic guitar. Also just accepting that birds are gonna bird, you know?

My Jade went through a phase like this around 4 years. I was terrified but it passed. Birds are weird sometimes lol.

My Fig went through a phase like this around 3 years. I was terrified but it passed. Birds are weird sometimes lol.

Have you tried spending at minimum 2 hours of supervised out-of-cage time daily? That's what solved this issue for us. Game changer honestly.

One thing that really helped was adding foraging opportunities to at least 3 different spots in the cage. Give it a try — can't hurt!

Couldn't agree more. This has been my experience as well.