Two Birds are Friendly, One is Left Out

User Question
I really enjoy your website on the 'keets and have found very helpful info. We were recently given 3 parakeets by a friend after she bought the birds on impulse from the mall and suddenly found she did not have the time or the patience to properly take care or train the birds. They have been very poorly socialized and have had no training what so ever. But on to my question, two of the birds are apparently best friends and the third is left completely out. This causes a lot of fighting and I feel sorry for the left out bird. I have been thinking that I should buy this bird a new cage and then get another bird to keep it company, but I don't know if such a drastic change would upset any of the three birds. Please let me know what you think, I really want to the best thing for all the birds involved.

Lisa's Answer
Well, if they're all male or all female, part of life in bird-land is that there is a pecking order. Some birds are naturally dominant and want to have power. Other birds are naturally submissive. Over time they work out a system that they all enjoy and go with it. You can't really make birds 'get along'. They're naturally trained to jockey for position within the flock. With my birds, Pinto (who is the middle in age) is the flock leader, but Nazo (the oldest) is the smartest and the most willing to try new foods. Santo (the youngest) is the shy one and usually hangs back while the other two do things, but when she feels ready, she'll go to join them. I can't make Santo be the leader or make Pinto be more adventureous. Each bird just has his or her own personality.

But if you have a "couple" and then a spare keet, that could be difficult. If the pair that are lovey-dovey are indeed male-female, they might see the third bird as an intruder and even a potential threat to their family. And the third bird would always feel like the lonely outsider. If that is what happened then I might consider getting a fourth bird (and another cage). It doesn't have to be an opposite-sex friend ... just a regular friend will do fine. The parakeet needs companionship, not anything more intimate :)

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