mating or friendly behaviour

[seven of nine]

hi!i just adopted 1+ years old senegal,she tame,nice and sweet but everytime i put her on the T stand to teach her "step up" ,her wing slightly down and her head moving up and down (it was look like she was trying to feed my hand).
It is mating behaviour or she just like me?and if this is mating behaviour how long it will be last and what should i do?
thanks

[Sabauda]

This can be mating behavior, friendly behavior, or self comfort (my You-You sometimes does this when he is by himself and feeling insecure). Most likely since she is not sexually mature and in a new home, she is assuring herself that she is safe and sound with you, and making sure you will stay in her "flock" by "feeding" you. Although endearing, from what I have read on these forums, it's best to discourage this by distracting her with something else - a treat, a toy; then continuing with step up practice. Or you might try giving her a cuddle, then going on with step up time.

[Grillis]

My one year old meyer did the same thing, but she was just about 7 months old then. But she did it to my foot. Interesting to know that it does not have to do with mating, cuz i thought it was little too earlie

[Pepper's Pa]

What you're describing sounds more like a friendly display, but could move into mating behavior, which you don't want to reinforce. Even if it is only friendly, the head bobbing you describe is her attempt to regurgitate food for you, which you probably don't want to reinforce either. Distraction works great to stop this behavior.
The way I tell the difference with Pepper, between a friendly display and a mating behavior, is in two behaviors. First, when in a mating display (often referred to as a "Skirt Dance" with Sennies), his wings are held slightly lower than in a friendly display and will actually drag on the ground. Second, during mating behavior a different, low-volume chirping is made that is not produced during any other behaviors.
This is how I know if Pepper is simply being friendly or in a more amorous mood. I hope this is of some help.

[birdsnreps]

lol, since she is so young, i would say its just friendly. we raise pio's, and usually even a 3 month old baby will try to feed us. pio's are just very loving birds!! we try to not encourage it, but whatever you do, do NOT react negatively to it, shes just doing it to show you that she really likes you, try to think of it as a compliment :) however, if shes doing it to you now, it will very most likely turn into breeding behavior when she does mature, usually between 2-3 years of age, so just be careful to not encourage her.

[seven of nine]

Originally Posted by birdsnreps

lol, since she is so young, i would say its just friendly. we raise pio's, and usually even a 3 month old baby will try to feed us. pio's are just very loving birds!! we try to not encourage it, but whatever you do, do NOT react negatively to it, shes just doing it to show you that she really likes you, try to think of it as a compliment :) however, if shes doing it to you now, it will very most likely turn into breeding behavior when she does mature, usually between 2-3 years of age, so just be careful to not encourage her.

how to encorage her?by put her back to the cage or just ignore her?
thanks for the help!!!
you guys are great!!!

[birdsnreps]

petting them on the back or under the wings usually encourages this type of behavior. the best thing to do is just to ignore it, or if she goes on and on, just walk away for a few mins and let her calm down. i have to put my tiel down for a while cause sometimes she just begs and begs me to mate with her, lol.