My Galahs made a nest in a hole??

[guinevere]

Ill start from the beginning so it might be a long post!!
Ok i go these two galahs off a friend of my husband about 6months ago. They have had the male for 18 years but they found the female in a tree a couple of years ago (they assume she was someones pet as she is tame). Anyway so we get them because they owners couldn't really look after them..their living conditions weren't the best either, but as much as i wanted to tell them off...being my husbands friends i couldn't. The female is overweight and had plucked some of her feathers as well as most from the males head (he is pretty much bald except for his crest) as bad as it is to laugh, he does look quite funny.

Ok so over the past month they have been digging many holes in their Avairy and finally they've decided on one, and its quite a long tunnel in the corner. so it dawned on me they've made a nest.
Has anyone else had their birds make nests in the ground?? They do have a hollow log...but haven't used it.
What sort of nesting material can i provide them?
I dont really want any baby galahs though, but I dont want to stop them from doing whats natural for them.
Now because they are both tame I let them out, let them have a wander around the yard etc. The female has always been pretty affectionate but lately shes stated humping my had (I think, hubby reckons it looks like shes laying an egg). She puffs up and does this sorta wobble thing and scrapes her foot on my hand??!?!
So does anyone know why shes trying to hump me and not her male companion? shes already laid one egg which i found broken on the ground...so im guessing there is more to come.
Its so hard to work these two out, so anyone who has had similar experiences with galahs during mating season let me know!

[bill]

Be careful that hole does not cave in as the soil dries out, it can trap a bird
if they are in there or doing a dig. You did not say if they have been mating
has the male been regurgitating food to feed the female?, by the way you
describe them i would doubt if they have mated...the female sounds to me to be imprinted to a human and this humping is her affection to you and not to their mate, (Screwing their tail around close to your arm) males do the same. when they have had only a human handler for all that time the person is their mate "imprinting", and a imprinted cockatoo rarely ever takes a mate of their own kind.
Cheers, Bill.

[bill]

To further add , cockatoos "normally" have a hollow in a tree,and they will go down a hollow in a stump, they work the sides of the hollow for the nest, they end up with very fine chip. They also will take on a 60litre drum, but you have to put a metal rung down and place fine chip for them, BUT, as you dont know the females history, she could very well be 30/40 Yrs old and all that time would have been with only a human handler, so that was the mate to them. The male she sees now is only a companion to her and not her mate. hope that helps, lets know the progress, Bill.

[guinevere]

Thanx, that does help confirm what i was thinking about her behaviour. The male hasn't been feeding her, so I guess we wont be having any baby galahs (thankfully). She laid another egg today outside of the nest, the male seems to be still working away on it...obviously not fast enough. I was a bit worried about the tunnel caving in on them, but it isn't that deep, so if it was to fall in (which part of it did, making a hole outside of the avairy ) its not too dangerous.
They do have a log, which they apparently used to nest in, but I think we put it in a spot with too much light.
Thanx again for your help
any recommendations on nesting material for the future breeding seasons??

[bill]

For cockatoos, i use ...A coarse hardwood saw dust WASHED, so as its free from dust, i do this by spreading it over a sizable piece of shadecloth
and working the hose over it to seperate the fine dust, and what you are left with is a coarse mixture. let this comp` dry out. I mix this with a fine woodchip product called fines, I was lucky enough to get a quantity from a chip mill.
Must stress that under NO circumstances use any product that can tangle
with the young babys feet. I make a bed of this chip on the bottom of the hollow. Cheers, Bill.