Time Together

I really like the pretty cockatiel girl, now that she is not preoccupied with the pink things anymore. I like her name, too: Miss Prissy. She has been paying attention to me the last couple of days, which makes me really happy. The Cool One put us both on top of her cage so we could share some millet spray, and she was very friendly. She did not try to bite or chase me at all.

Later, she flew onto my cage with me, and when the Cool One put both of us in there, I invited her to dinner at my food dish, and she graciously accepted. She has been staying in my cage a lot, and I am so happy that I do not want to leave it, even when the Cool One comes to play with us. I hope we will continue to get along really well.

Tiel Time

The new cockatiel´s name is Carrera, and he is very nice. He even has a nice hunter green cage of his own! I was very interested in it, so I followed him there. My cage is nice, but his is even better, so it did not bother me when the Cool One put both of us in there. The food dish is really big and full of yummy seeds. Carrera and I eat out of it together, and that´s fun. I like having another tiel around.

Hi, everyone!

I have been very busy the last few weeks, but I do not remember why. Anyway, I have some more time now. The Cool One has been coming over and playing with the new tiel and me. (I forgot his name, but he is nice and has pretty feathers.) The food is good, too.

The Cute Cockatiel

The pink things are gone. I think the Cool One took care of them. Now, the cute little cockatiel girl pays more attention to me. I have been preening my feathers to make a good impression. I am hoping she will like my cage and come visit me more often. Maybe she will even join me here. I like company, and Miss Prissy is very pretty.

???

I feel like something is missing, or I am forgetting something. What could it be?

I´m going back to the cage. Maybe I´ll remember when I get there.

Bird Seed, etc.

I love the bird seed the Tall One left for us! I noticed that she got a big plastic tub before she left, and I watched her pour bird seed from different bags in it, along with some colorful tasty things she called pellets (I especially like the green ones). She mixed everything very well. Then, I watched her stack bags of millet spray and honey treats by the tub. I still had some of those in my cage, but I really wanted to try some of the bird seed mix. I did not want to be rude, though. So I was delighted when she filled up my dish with a sample of the mix. It was sooo good! I love the sunflower seeds a lot; they are so big!

Now that the Cool One is taking care of me, he fills up my dish with the yummy birdseed and makes sure I have millet spray to eat. Of course, I eat in a very mannerly fashion, and I chirp my thanks. Miss Prissy, on the other hand, is still too preoccupied with the pink things to thank anyone or really enjoy food. She just gulps it down and returns to the things. I am hoping she will soon be back to the way she was when I first met her. I sing for her quite a bit, but I am not sure if she appreciates it. Well, it probably takes her a while to get used to me. I am a patient bird, so I will wait.

TV Time!

The Tall One left with her blue boxes on wheels. Just like she said, she left Miss Prissy and me in the nice, bright apartment so I could enjoy the sunlight and look out of the window. She had filled up our food and water dishes all the way, so I expected that we would be all alone until the food was almost gone! To my surprise, the Cool One came by very soon after the Tall One's departure, not only once, but twice, to check if we were okay and to play with us!

Miss Prissy did not feel much like having company, but I was happy. The Cool One played with me and made that talking picture box called a TV turn on. I climbed around on him until I got a good viewing spot, and we watched TV together. It's really cool, because there is lots of movement to watch and all kinds of cool noises to listen to! I love TV. I have never seen a TV before until I moved in here. I'm looking forward to watching TV every day with the Cool One!

Eggs

I sit on my pink eggs all day and all night. It's very important. I don't know why. But I know it is.

Exploring

I figured the pretty cockatiel girl had some time to cool off, and since the Tall One had left my cage door open, I decided to pay a visit. I flew over and landed on the side of Miss Prissy's cage; then I climbed up to its top. She gave me a dirty look from her seat on the eggs below, but at least she did not chase me this time. Maybe she is getting used to me. I hope my pretty singing will make a difference.

After a while, I flew around and landed on the top of a picture frame. The Tall One came right away and got me. She is so nice. She does not leave me stuck in a place; she helps me out, and she does not scold me. She put me on her shoulder, and I climbed on the top of her head. I like to play with her curly hair. It's fun to stick my head in it and sort her hair with my beak. She likes when I do that. She told me J.L. used to do that a lot, and it makes her feel better. I think we will get along really well!

My New Life

I have been spending a lot of time in my new cage, even though the Tall One usually keeps the door open for me when she's in the room. It is so much fun to nibble on my honey treat, sample the food the Tall One put in my dish, and play with the rope toy. I also like the sounds I can make by clanging my beak against the green bars. I flew about the apartment a few times yesterday, and the Tall One was amazed at how neatly I was able to land on Miss Prissy's cage and on my own.

The pretty cockatiel lady has settled down a bit, but she still does not want to spend any time with me. That's fine, because the Tall One and the Cool One have been playing with me a lot. The best thing is that it's never quiet. I don't like silence, because then I think something is wrong. It was way too quiet in that basement. Here, I hear so many interesting sounds outside. The noise box called the TV is fun, too, and the Tall One talks to me a lot. The Cool One does the same thing on his visits. I love all the attention!

Yummy Millet Spray

I flew on the Tall One's head today. She fed me millet spray. It was yummy. I have to get back to the two pink eggs in the cage now.

News from Carrera

My life has become so exciting! Something new is going on all the time. I noticed today that the Tal One was moving about the apartment a lot and putting soft things she calls clothes into big blue boxes with wheels. She noticed I was wondering about that, and she sat down with me and explained that she will have to be gone for a while. She is from a place called Europe, and she needs to go there to see her family, for a big celebration called a wedding.

She explained that they make different sounds in that place when they talk, and that she will also spend a few weeks helping a group of young humans from America to get to know the place and learn to make those sounds. I got all excited, because I want to learn to say people sounds, and I did not know there were different kinds. I wanted to come along and learn the different sounds, too, but she said she could just teach them to me here when she got back. I am looking forward to that!

At first, I was afraid she would take me back to that dark basement, but she said she loved me very much already, and she would never put Miss Prissy or me into a dark place. She said we would stay right here in the apartment, and the Cool One would come by every day to feed us and play with us. That made me very happy. I like the Cool One a lot. He plays with me and holds me. I know he won't just fill the dish and leave me like the human in my old place. We'll be spending some fun time together every day, and I will have lots of sunshine in the apartment. I won't have to leave my new cage with the fun toys and food, either!

How nice of the Tall One to ask him to look after us, and how nice of the Cool One to agree! I am looking forward to getting to know him better. He is so nice! The Tall One said she was going to take her laptop with her, but that we could use her old computer to blog if we wanted to. And she said she would be spending a lot of time with me once she got back and teach me to say people sounds. I'm going to have such an exciting time here!

Hi, everyone! I'm Carrera the Cockatiel.

Wow! This has been the most eventful week in my entire life, and there are more and more new things happening every day.

Just a few days ago, I was sitting in a dim basement room, upset that my cockatiel buddy had been taken away by some strangers. To be honest, I hoped it would be my turn next, because there was not much going on, and I felt alone. The human came every day and fed me, but other than that, I was bored all day long.

Suddenly, the room door opened, and the human came in with two human visitors. I was hoping they would get me out of there, and I was happy that the dark-haired one (I think it's the human you know as "The Cool One") picked me up. I had been picked up a lot when I was handfed as a baby, and I had enjoyed that a lot, but that had been a long time ago. The nice visitor put me on the other one's hand (I think you call her "The Tall One", which is very fitting, because she is taller than any human I ever met before). She put me on her shoulder, and I preened her curly hair for a while. It was so much more fun than playing with a toy!

Then she handed me back to the Cool One, and she left the room. I was afraid I would be left behind, but she came back after a short time with a little cage, and the Cool One put me in it. They carried me out in the sunlight and put me in a big blue box they called a car. They both got in, too, and the thing moved for a long time. I was all excited about the ride. It was so much fun!

At the place they call "the apartment", I saw a big white cage. The Cool One put me on the porch, and a beautiful sprinkled cockatiel emerged. She walked all around me and looked at me from all angles, inspecting every one of my feathers. I had never seen such a pretty and confident tiel before, and I was a bit shy around her. We got along well, though, sharing the food and water dishes, and even sleeping on the same perch. One time, we beak-sparred a little bit while sitting on the Cool One, but it was all in friendly fun.

You would not believe all the things in this apartment! There are tasty treats they call millet spray and honey treats, there is plenty of sunlight that comes through big windows, and there are all kinds of sounds from birds and people outside. There is a big box that shows pictures and sounds (the Tall One calls it a TV), and a smaller one that can be moved around and is called a computer or a laptop. Every time I chirp or sing, the Tall One responds to me happily. Instead of telling me to be quiet, she enjoys my singing and encourages me to continue. It's an amazing new world!

Yesterday, though, something very strange happened. I had just fallen back asleep after singing my good morning song, when I suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my tail feather. It was the pretty lady cockatiel, and she was trying to pull my feathers out! I climbed away from her, but she kept chasing me. At first, I thought she just wanted to play, but she got more and more vicious, until in the end she flew upwards, trying to peck at me, and she finally chased me out of the cage altogether. She sat in the doorway and looked at me as if she was saying: "And stay out!!!"

I looked at the Tall One for help. I did not know what I had done to make that pretty girl turn psycho on me, but I certainly did not want to go back in that cage. The Tall One put me on her shoulder, and we left the cage to the crazy bird for a while. Sure enough, after just a few minutes, a pink round thing appeared under her, and she moved it around until she finally sat down on it, giving the Tall One and me dirty looks. That was definitely too weird for me, so I hung out with the Tall One on the couch. We watched the moving pictures on the TV, and I ate bird seed out of her hand.

A little later, the Tall One explained to me how her computer worked. She showed me this blog and read me all of J.L.'s posts. I never met J.L., but he must have been one cool bird. He described the pink things as the source of lots of trouble, and he was certainly right. About halfway though the posts, I started to recognize some words, and by the end, I had figured out how this reading and writing thing works. I went ahead and typed out some words on the keyboard. She was impressed at how fast I learned, and she told me that she had hoped for Miss Prissy and me to take over the blog. Since Miss Prissy is, to put it mildly, busy with other things at this point, I let her know that I was certainly willing to give it a try. So, here is my first post!

When the Cool One came, he played with me for a while, then they put me in the small cage they had brought me in. I was glad to be left alone in the small cage instead of attacked in the big one, and I fell asleep. When I woke up, the Tall One and the Cool One were back with a pretty grey and green cage. I chirped in excitement, hoping it would be for me, and it was! That made four cages in as many days, but this one was by far the nicest one, with large dishes full of food and water, a honey treat, millet spray, a cuttlebone, and a toy. I was so happy when she put me inside, and I tried all the different things out. I'm happy now! Miss Prissy can keep the other cage, and if she wants to spend time with me, she'll have to visit me in my new home!

Here is a picture of me eating birdseed in my new cage last night. It's a bit dark, because it was in the evening. You should see it now; it's very bright! I'll have to ask the Tall One to take more pictures during the day.

Here I am on the perch in the new cage. Look at the honey treat, the mineral bone, and the cuttlebone in the background! I am so lucky!

Well, that's it for today. I'm looking forward to hearing from all of you!

Carrera

Introducing Carrera

I would like to introduce the new member of our little flock: Carrera the Cockatiel.

Carrera is a 15-month-old pied cockatiel. He flies as fast as a race car and sings as beautifully as an opera singer. For the past year, he spent his time in a basement room with one cockatiel buddy, away from high traffic or family areas.

He loves his new home, especially the sunlight. Every morning, he greets the rising sun with a beautiful song. He likes to look out of the window at trees, birds, dogs, and people, and he chirps when he hears other birds singing outside. Carrera is a quick learner who likes to try new things out right away. He especially loves millet spray and honey treats, which seem to be new to him, and he shows great interest in the telephone, the TV, and the computer.

Carrera likes to make new friends. He loves to sit on the Cool One's finger, and he enjoys sitting on my shoulder. He will make a great addition to the family and Tiel Weekly. Welcome, Carrera!

Adopting a New Friend

Miss Prissy has told you that we adopted a cockatiel, and I'm glad that she enjoys his company. If it had just been myself, I would have probably waited quite a while before thinking about getting a new feathered friend, but I was very worried about Miss Prissy. She has never been without another cockatiel in her life, and I knew that after a few days looking for J.L., she would probably get sad and depressed. The Cool One said the same thing; he told me that she would need a new companion, the sooner, the better.

A while ago, J.L. compiled a list of links on adopting a bird, which was very helpful. I did not want to buy a bird from a store, because there are too many birds who are in need of a good home, and I hoped to find a rescue bird. Petfinder.com was especially useful in compiling a list of tiels. When I checked, there were 198 cockatiels in the U.S. and Canada looking for good homes.

However, none of them were in my state. The closest one was over 300 miles away. The local rescues did not have any tiels, and even if they had, I would have had to go through a lengthy application process. I would not have minded doing that, of course, and I commend the rescues for checking applicants so thoroughly to make sure the bird has a good forever home. In my case, though, time was of the essence; Miss Prissy needed a new companion right away, and there was no way she would have made it through a 4-6 week waiting period.

So I checked the local newspaper. Sometimes, tiels outlive their owners, and nobody in the family can or wants to keep them. Other times, an owner realizes cockatiels and not for him or her, or the family circumstances change and the owner feels that giving up the birds is the best option. I hoped that I would come across a tiel in these circumstances.

There was only one advertisement for cockatiels: 2 males, one pied, one pearl, handfed, for sale. I was still too upset to call, so the Cool One made the call for me. It turned out that the owner realized that cockatiels were not the right kinds of birds for her. She had bought the two thinking that they were a pair, but it turned out that they were both males. The pearl had already been sold, but the 15-month-old pied was still there.

The Cool One and I went there right away. The cage was in a basement room that did not get much natural sunlight. The little bird was happy to see people, and he got on the Cool One's hand right away. I picked him up and set him on my shoulder, and he preened my hair. It was clear that he was supposed to go home with me. He enjoyed the ride in the car, looking around and basking in the sunlight, and he responded with melodic chirps to every new sound.

Both he and Miss Prissy had been used to sharing a cage with another bird before, so they got along right away without any animosity. They checked each other out and then went about their own business around the cage. He started eating birdseed right away, and he was fascinated by the honey treat and the millet spray. Of course, it will take a while for them to get acquainted. Miss Prissy is still looking for J.L., and she will probably continue to do that for some time. But she has a feathered friend, and she won't be alone.

The little bird got plenty of interaction right away. I picked him up several times and let him climb around on me, and the Cool One came over a few times to play with him as well. Our new friend is very interested in all the sounds and sights he is now exposed to. He chirps at birds outside, listens to the dogs barking, makes a melodic sound every time I pass by his cage, and vocalizes every time the phone rings. I don't think he got a lot of attention or stimulation in that basement, but since he was hand-fed, had a buddy, and spent less than a year there, he was not traumatized like LeMone had been. I am glad the owner realized relatively quickly that she was not the right match for the tiels; that way, he and his buddy had a chance at getting a good home.

I know that usually, a new bird should be quarantined for quite a while before being introduced to the bird(s) at home, but in this case, it was not an option. Miss Prissy would not have lasted that long alone, so I had to take that chance. Besides, the little one and his friend were basically quarantined in the basement for a year, so I was pretty sure he was free from disease. I do think, though, that if a bird comes from a place with many other birds, or if you have many birds at home and are going to introduce a new one, quarantine is the best choice.
J.L.'s passing greatly upset me, not only because I lost my best feathered friend, but also because it happened when it did. Since cockatiels have a life span of 15 years or more, and since he appeared to have died of natural causes when it was his time, I realized that he was probably much older than I had thought. That means that he spent much more time than I thought in a bad situation, or in many bad situations. No wonder he was so distrustful when I first got him! I wish the breeder and/or owner(s) had taken the time and made the effort to make sure he had a good home.

The reason so many birds are in need of a good home is that too many people don't take the time to find out what it takes to take care of them. Many also don't realize how long pet birds can live, and they don't understand they need to be prepared to take care of the bird for 15, 20, 30, or even more years, depending on the kind of bird. Too many birds end up neglected or passed from one home to another. Pet birds, especially parrots (and cockatiels are part of the parrot family), need plenty of attention and interaction. Feeding them and putting a few toys in the cage is not enough. They need time with their humans, and they need a stimulating environment. Based on my experience with J.L. and Miss Prissy, I also believe they need at least one companion of their own species.

If you would like to own a bird, or any kind of pet, you should research its needs carefully and see if your lifestyle is a good match in the long run. The pet store should be your last stop; you should check shelters and rescue organizations first, then the newspaper, and then breeders. J.L. wrote several posts about pet adoption, with things to look for and questions to ask, and I agree with his recommendations. He was one smart little bird!

As I'm typing this, Miss Prissy is on my desk looking for J.L. in his hiding spots, and our new little friend is preening on my shoulder, getting used to his new life. I'm not quite ready to name him yet, but in time, I will. The important thing is that Miss Prissy won't be alone, and that the little tiel found a good home. We will keep you updated!

The Cool One's Memories of J.L. LeMone

J.L.'s special friend, the Cool One, posted this tribute under "Comments" on June 14. Miss Prissy and I decided it should be a separate blog entry on the front page to honor J.L. Below is a picture of the Cool One holding J.L.



My really good friend, the Tall One, lost her best friend of seven years today. Today she came home and found her cockatiel J.L. at the bottom of his cage. He had passed away. She had called me and I came over and he apparently passed away in his sleep.

Just hours earlier, we had went to lunch and she said he was doing fine when she left her apartment and there was never no sign of any problems because he was acting and chirping like he normally did. We really never knew the age of J.L., but at the time, we knew that he was at least five years old, of course, that was just speculation.

Seven years ago, I was sitting in my back yard on a windy April day, when I saw something fly over my head as I was sitting under the backyard patio. I thought it was a piece of a newspaper, but then it landed on the neighbor's roof crest and that's when I realized it was a cockatiel. I had walked to my fence and whistled to him, he walked down the roof casually and then that's when he flew and landed on my dad's truck that was parked in the driveway, from there I approached him and that's when he stepped on my finger and the rest was history. That's when I decided that the Tall One should have him, she thought the world of him and him likewise.

She was very excited about her newfound friend. Some time later she got J. L. LeMone a partner, whom she named Miss Prissy. The Tall One was very fond and dedicated to him. J. L. LeMone will be sorely missed by The Tall One and Miss Prissy.J. L. will never be forgotten.

The Cool One

Bird A Day Tribute to J.L. LeMone

Our friend Andrew at Bird A Day Blog, who featured J.L. LeMone on his blog in January, posted a tribute in his honor. Thank you, Andrew, for remembering my little tiel.

T-Man's Tribute to J.L. LeMone

Our friends, T-Man the Poodle, CC-Man the Cockatiel, and their Mom posted a very nice tribute to J.L. on their blog, Precious Poodle. Thank you so much, dear friends, for remembering J.L.

News from Miss Prissy

Hello, my new friends! Thank you so much for all your friendly words. I'm still not sure what happened to J. L., but it makes me feel a little better to know that all of you are missing him as well.

I have been looking all over the cage for him, and I even checked his favorite hiding spots behind the cage and on the Tall One's desk. I chirped for him, and I even screamed the way he usually does when I fly around and land somewhere out of his sight. He did not answer.

The Tall One said he went to a better place, but I can't imagine a better place anywhere than with her. She is very smart, though, so it has to be true. She says we'll all go there someday, so we'll see J.L. again. It's very confusing, but she says everything will be okay.

I never realized how big the cage was until I was all by myself. I grew up in a house full of dozens of cockatiels, and I had to share my cage with many of them. I was glad when the Tall One and the Cool One came and got me out of there.

When I first got to the apartment, I was surprised that there was only one tiel with a big cage. He seemed surprised, too. He acted like he had never seen another cockatiel before, and maybe he hadn't. I liked him right away, because I thought he was funny. He tried to impress me with his good voice and pretty feathers, but he could not even find the way back into his own cage. That's how excited he was to meet me.

He didn't really know much about being a cockatiel; for example, I had to teach him how to gently preen each other, and he had never left the cage much until I went exploring with him. Until I showed him how much fun it can be to stroll along the bottom of the cage or the floor, he had only stayed on perches or on top of the cage. He also tried new foods, like fruits, vegetables, pizza, and pasta once he saw me eating it. He was great fun to be around. We did everything together: eating food, preening each other, playing with the Tall One, fluttering about the apartment, shredding the Tall One's papers, and even taking turns sitting on the eggs. I miss him a lot!

I think the Tall One noticed that right away. She hasn't been much fun either, since J.L. left. She has been sitting on the couch a lot, making strange noises, and water has been coming from her eyes. She was really worried about me and picked me up a lot to spend time with me. I love the Tall One, but being around a human is not the same as being around another tiel.

Yesterday, she and the Cool One left me for a while. I was not happy, because I'd never been all alone before in my life. They came back soon though, with the little cage that they brought me home in long ago. There was a bird in the cage! The Cool One took him out and put him on my porch. I looked at him very closely, from all angles. He had pretty grey and white wing feathers like J.L, but a white and grey head with orange spots and a light golden crest, like the cockatoos in the pictures the Tall One brought from Australia. His tail feathers were not grey like J.L.'s, but yellow like like mine, but without the sprinkles. Definitely a cockatiel!

I liked his crest feathers and tried to pull one out, but he did not like that and screeched at me. He really liked my food dish, though; he ate most of the birdseed in it and kept sitting on it like I usually do. I didn't get upset, though. I just ate the honey treat and the millet spray the Tall One put out for us. He's still keeping his distance from me, but we slept on the same perch last night. I think he is trying to impress me, though. He sings quite nicely, and he has been preening his feathers. Of course, that won't impress me. J.L. was the best singer around, and he was also stunningly handsome, with his shiny gray feathers and bright colors on his head.

I'm still looking for J.L., and I miss him terribly. It's nice to have another bird in the cage, though. I'm glad he moved in right away, because I was getting very upset about being all alone. I'm not that sad anymore, and I think the Tall One is feeling a little better after the new bird woke both of us up at 5:30 in the morning with his pretty singing. I think we will all get along just fine.

Memories of J.L. LeMone

Thank you, everyone, for your condolences and kind words. They really helped me. I did not know J.L. made such a big difference with his blog, but it makes me very happy to see how much his readers like it. My little bird was full of surprises!

A little over 7 years ago, I mentioned to my friend, the Cool One, how I didn't like to go home to the apartment after work, because it was empty, and nobody was waiting for me there. A few days later, he gave me a call and told me to come over to his house. He said he had something for me so I would not feel alone anymore.

When I got to his backyard, I saw a little cage on the patio table. A big bird glared at me from inside. I had never had birds before, and I did not even know what kind of bird this was. My first thought was: Uh-Oh! I'm in trouble!

The Cool One explained to me that the bird had landed on the neighbor's house and come down to let him catch him. The Cool One put him in a little cage that he happened to have in the basement and fed him wild bird seed, since that was the only type of birdfood he had at hand. The bird did not care; he was hungry, and he gulped it down.

Since the Cool One had a whippet (a miniature greyhound), who liked to chase birds in the back yard and would have tried to get at the bird, he decided to give him to me. So I returned to the apartment carrying a small cage with a bird who gave me dirty looks and hissed at me, wondering how in the world I would bond with him.

I researched cockatiels on the internet, and I went to buy him a big cage. When I carried it into the apartment, it was the first time that he showed any kind of interest in what I was doing. As soon as he saw the cage, he started moving about and chirping loudly. Most likely, he had a similar cage wherever he came from, and he knew it was going to be his. He did not like waiting for me to clean the cage and get it ready; he wanted to move in right away. When it was finally ready, I had to put on one of the thick gloves the Cool One had given me for that purpose and get the bird out of the little cage, while he was trying to bite me all the time.

He loved his cage, and that day was the beginning of our somewhat rocky friendship. He did not do a lot of the things cockatiels were supposed to do; he never went to the bottom of the cage, and he did not want me to pick him up. I spent many hours trying to get him used to me, talking to him while holding my hand into the cage so he would get used to it. He always stayed in or on his cage, except when the Cool One came to play with him. He was an excellent singer, though, and we spent many hours whistling back and forth to each other.

When the Cool One convinced me to get him a girlfriend and we returned to the apartment with Miss Prissy, he was completely excited. He spread his wings, started chirping, and began to act silly while trying to impress her. Even though he acted as if he was the boss, he really followed her lead, venturing onto the desk and the floor with her, learning how to gently preen her, and even landing on my head just because he saw her on my shoulder and wanted to be close to her. Miss Prissy's presence actually helped J.L. and me bond. Every few weeks, he started doing new things he had never tried before. I described his transformation as getting in touch with his inner tiel. He even started sitting on Miss Prissy's eggs!

His life came full circle, and I am very happy to have been part of it. I definitely became a better human because of him. He fell asleep in the cage he loved, like he had done so many times before, with Miss Prissy close by. The Cool One and I buried him in the Cool One's yard, in a pretty box with flowers, just a few feet away from the spot where the Cool One picked him up and where I first met him.

I'm still very upset, and I think it will take a long time for me to start feeling better. I'm just hapy that I was able to give J.L. 7 good years filled with the things a cockatiel loves, and that every years got better than the previous one. He'll always be a part of me, and I'll always miss him.

Here are some pictures of J.L.:

Sad News -- from the Tall One and Miss Prissy

Hello! This is the Tall One typing, with Miss Prissy sitting on my shoulder. She showed me this web site on the computer today and helped me log in. I am happy to find out that J. L. has created this site and made so many friends.

Sadly, Miss Prissy and I have very bad news, and I wanted to let you know right away. J. L. passed away this afternoon. When I got home, he was on the bottom of the cage, and he looked as if he was sleeping peacefully, every feather in place. I called the Cool One right away, and he came over immediately.

As you can tell from his last posts, J.L. was healthy and happy as always. He took a long nap behind the cage this morning, but he had done that before, and when I picked him up and put him on his perch right by the food dish, he seemed fine. I had no idea he would only be around a few more hours.

I have been his human for 7 years, and I never knew how old he was when the Cool One found him. I knew this day would come, but I had no idea it would be so soon. He looked very peaceful, so I know that he had not been sick or injured. I believe his little heart just gave out, and he went to sleep.

I don't think Miss Prissy realizes yet what has happened. She just knows that he is asleep and can't take care of the blog as usual, which is probably why she showed it to me. It will probably take a few days to her to understand that her mate is gone. Of course, I am worried about her, since she is such a social bird and loved having J.L. around. I don't want to think about it at this time, but I know she will need a new companion soon so she won't be lonely. I know J.L. would agree with me, since he positively adored Miss Prissy and always wanted her to be happy.

I know J.L. spent a lot of time building up this blog, and I am sure he planned for it to be continued for a very long time. Miss Prissy and I will be sad for quite a while, so I can't make any promises on when the next post will go up, but I am planning to keep this blog going. I am sure Miss Prissy will help me once she realizes what happened.

Please keep checking back with us. Thank you for being such good friends to my little tiel!

Sincerely,

The Tall One with Miss Prissy

A Confusing Snooze

I am glad the Tall One is not going to work for a while. She has more time to take care of Miss Prissy and me, and the Cool One comes over more often. Yesterday, he visited us, and he held me in his hand. I fell asleep right away. Being around the Cool One is very relaxing. It feels as if I had never left the egg. Imagine my surprise when I woke up and saw the Cool One a few feet away from me. I was still in comfortable human hands, but it was the Tall One! He must have handed me off to her while I was snoozing. Talk about a rude awakening! I don't want her to start thinking that she can hold me like that! So I bit her right away and started moving toward the Cool One. Luckily, the Tall One realized that she could not hold me, so she handed me back to my friend's hand. I hope she doesn't try to hold me again! I bit her today when she tried to pick me up, just to make sure she doesn't get any ideas. I'm cool and tough, not cuddly!!!

Feathered Friends

Here are some more pictures from the zoo that I found while snooping through the Tall One's hard drive. I wish she had taken Miss Prissy and me along to sit on the branches and chat with the other birds for a while.

More Time with the Cool One

The Cool One came over again last night. I was so happy to see him! He held me upside down, and the Tall One just looked on in awe. He tried to hand me to him, but I did not want to waste any time with her. I bit her, so that she would give me back to him and let me play with him. It worked. I wish the Tall One would leave again so the Cool One could come by all the time!

Millet Spray!!!

I finally spent some quality time with my Tall One. Now that she is better, I decided she really needed some more tiel interaction. When I saw her eating something that looked a lot like birdseed (she calls it cereal, but it looks a lot like what she puts in my dish), I flew off the cage and landed on her head. She did not give me any of her food, but she got some millet spray out for me. I munched on it happily, and even Miss Prissy deserted the annoying pink things to join me. The day got off to a good start!

Tiel Therapy

I've been worried about my Tall One. Ever since she got sick, she's been tired and sleeping a lot, even though she's better now. I think she should never have gone back to work, but who of you knows a human who listens to reason!?

I chirped at the Cool One to let him know about my concern, and as usual, he understood what I was saying. My Tall One needed some nice fresh air and some diversion. Of course, that's good for all humans, including the Cool One. So I sent both of them to the zoo, where one of the exhibits featured my cousins, cockatiels, along with some more distant relatives: budgies, a.k.a. parakeets, and finches.

Of course, the Tall One took her camera along, and she took pictures of my fine feathered cousins. Not surprisingly, they flocked around the Cool One without hesitation, and with his help, a couple of them also settled down on the Tall One eventually. Here are some pictures:

This beautiful black and white cockatiel reminds me of vintage movies. I dubbed him Humphrey Bogart. He bit the Cool One and the Tall One right away to let him know he is the boss. Of course, neither of them let that deter them. They know we cockatiels are in charge. Here he is on the Cool One's hand.

Here are two tiels on the Cool One's hands!

Note the other cockatiels in the branches above!

The cool bird came back to the Cool One after a little break in the branches and perched on his shoulder.

This youngster lost his tail feathers. I can sympathize, because when Miss Prissy was young, she always bumped into things and lost feathers. I think he felt quite comfortable with the Cool One:

The Cool One finally placed the little bird on the Tall One's shoulder, where my feathered friend started preening her hair.

The zookeepers were so impressed by the Cool One's connection to birds that they asked him to stay and volunteer!

I think my Tall One is feeling much better after some Tiel Therapy, and I'm sure it was good for the Cool One, too!

Upside Down

I am very excited today! The Cool One finally came over and held me upside down! I completely forgot about the pink things for a long time. I just chirped and played with the Cool One. He really understands us cockatiels. Here is a picture:

The Arrival of More Pink Things

My unlucky streak does not seem to end. Now that the Tall One is finally back to normal, Miss Prissy is in her own world. She is sitting on pink things again. At last count, there were two, but I don't know how many are under there by now. She is no fun at all. She is fluffed up like a pancake at the bottom of the cage, and she gives me a dirty look whenever I come close. It's almost like being all by myself again. I hope the pink things quit coming really soon. I'm really tired of them.

The Tall One told me that she is done with the work thing for a while, and that she will be spending more time with me in the next few weeks. I'm glad. She needs to stay home with me all the time instead of going to work. Maybe she can do something about the invasion of the pink things. Most importantly, she will probably keep out the computer all the time so I can keep blogging.