Tiel Weekly

Egg City

2009-08-23T15:03:00.002-06:00

This has been an egg-citing year, my friends! I have to confess that I neglected the blog during my turbulent teenage times, but I am now a grown-up, responsible tiel. I have been very busy taking turns with Miss Prissy sitting on the pretty pink eggs she lays. I'm not egg-sactly sure what will happen if I sit on them long enough, but I'm sure it's important. The Tall One has been taking them away, which does not make me happy. Miss Prissy, though, replaces them faithfully. I'm waiting now for the next egg to appear. In the meantime, I'm shredding the Tall One's magazines.

Grounded

2008-08-07T01:56:00.002-06:00

I have been spending way too much time in my cage lately. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my cage, but I think the door should be open all the time. I don't understand why the Tall One closes it. Miss Prissy and I are so well behaved, we don't give the Tall One any trouble at all. We even help her shred all the papers she has, and she has lots of papers!

Usually she lets us out when she is home, but the last week, she has only gotten us out of the cage to pet us and then to put us back. Miss Prissy says it's because of my flight feathers. You see, I have very beautiful yellow feathers on my wings that help me fly. The other night, though, Miss Prissy fell off the perch while she was sleeping. She likes to sit on the perch and lean forward until her head is lower than her tailfeather. It does not look comfortable to me at all, but she likes to fall asleep that way. Sometimes, though, she loses her balance and flutters about, and that startles me. This time, I crashed into the cage bars and lost some of my flight feathers. I did not bleed, though, and I'm already regrowing my feathers.

The Tall One wants to make sure that I don't hurt myself while I'm out of the cage, because I've been flying lopsided and landing in places I did not want to land in at all, mostly on the living room floor. Yesterday, though, I managed to get away from the Tall One and fly from her shoulder to the top of my cage. She was surprised, but happy that I'm already flying so much better. I'm hoping that she'll start letting us out again really soon!

Hello from Carrera!

2008-08-04T09:47:00.000-06:00

This is Carrera the Cockatiel! Miss Prissy, the beautiful cockatiel lady who shares my hunter grossen cage, reminded me about the blog. Now, I usually don't forget things, but I must admit that I've been so busy with my fun new life in the sunlit apartment with Miss Prissy and the Tall One that I've put blogging on the back burner, as the Tall One would say. (I like watching her cook, you know, especially tortellini, my favorite.) Now that I've settled into my new life, I promise I won't forget again.

Things have been going well around here. Miss Prissy has gotten used to me by now, and I think she trusts me. The Tall One was gone a while to the place she calls Germany to visit her people family and show some of the students she workd with what it's like over there.

In the meantime, the Cool One came over a lot and played with us. He held me upside down a lot! It was fun. The Tall One is back now, and she says she is on vacation now. I think that means she has more time for us. She is home a lot and plays with us.

Well, that's it for now! I'll be back soon, I promise!

Carrera the Cockatiel

Oh, right, there you are!

2008-07-31T22:17:00.001-06:00

Hi! This is Miss Prissy here. I just walked across the room and landed on this thing, and I remembered it was LeMone's favorite toy. So I thought I'd peck on the keys a bit, and I remembered all about our blog. I think I said we would write about our lives. But I forgot. I get forgetful sometimes. What was I saying?

Hmm. Oh, yes, the blog. The Tall One has not gone on the blog much. She won't say it, but I think she really misses LeMone. All it takes is a picture of him, and water comes out of her eyes again. The blog is full of pictures, so there is lots of water.

Carrera is really a nice guy, you know. He's not a baby anymore. He's getting pretty grown up. He's even gotten a bit bigger. Right now the Tall One has grounded him, because he has lost some flight feathers. I think I startled him, and he crashed into the cage bars. He's not happy he can't fly. I am going to tell him to check in with all of you and tell you how he is doing!

See you soon!

Miss Prissy

Any News about Tita?

2007-12-06T21:15:00.000-07:00

Steph, have you found your missing tiel, Tita? I'm really worried, because you haven't posted. Maybe somebody found her and doesn't know who she belongs to? The Tall One said she checked the newspaper for weeks after she found J.L. LeMone; did you put an ad in the paper?
Everybody, please keep looking for Tita!

The Laptop Is Working!!!

2007-11-22T20:28:00.000-07:00

The Tall One finally figured out how to fix the laptop! It was working okay, but we could not get on the internet on it, and the old computer was very slow. Today, she finally found out how to restore the computer to its original settings, and then she realized that the repair people had disabled the wireless network connection, and that's why it was not working. She is so smart! She even found out how to enable it again, and now it's working wonderfully! Thank you for being so patient. I'll be able to blog much more often again.

Right now I have to go, though. The Cool One is coming over, and he is going to hold me upside down!

Night Fright

2007-11-04T23:00:00.000-07:00

I like Miss Prissy, who shares my cage, but sometimes she startles me. The other night, she suddenly started fluttering about, even though the Tall One had left the night light on and Miss Prissy could clearly see that there was nothing to be scared of. She has a habit of sleeping on a perch leaning forward, until she almost forms a horizontal line; I have never seen a fellow tiel doing this. I think she lost her balance and started slipping off her perch, so she fluttered about.
Anyway, the noise startled me, and I fluttered about as well. I bumped against the bars and the perches with my pretty wings until the Tall One came, turned on the lights, and told us everything was fine. Well, Miss Prissy and I settled down right away, and the Tall One checked us to see if we were alright. Then, we all went back to sleep.

Well, I didn't really think about the incident very much, and neither did the Tall One. I seriously doubt that Miss Prissy wasted even a second of her time reflecting on it; she gets startled quite frequently, and she probably thinks it's part of her cockatiel routine. The next day, though, I wanted to fly about the living room for a while, but I lost altitude and could not steer. I made an emergency landing on the table by the window, and I tried again to reach the cage, this time landing on the floor. I like the Tall One a lot, and she is very busy, and she already does so much for me and spends so much time with me, so I do not like to bother her, but this time, I needed help. So I chirped for her, and she picked me up and petted me and told me the left wing feathers I had lost kept me from flying evenly. Not to worry, though, she said; they would grow back soon. I'm lucky to have such a nice human who knows so many things about tiels, otherwise I would have been worried. I'll just have to wait for my feathers to grow back in. On the upside, the Tall One gave us extra millet spray to make us feel better. Yum!

Leisure Time

2007-10-27T10:48:00.000-06:00

I really like the tiel who shares my cage. His name is Carrera, and he is always nice. Except when I try to pull on his tail feathers, then he hisses at me, so I don't try to get to his feathers anymore. He doesn't preen me, though, so that's one thing I still have to teach him.

The Tall One is not home much these days; she always goes to the place she calls work. It's nice to have Carrera around. He is good company. We just hang out in the cage, eat, and play with our toys. It's fun!

Fall Fun

2007-10-27T10:44:00.000-06:00

Oh, I just love this time of the year! The sky is blue, the leaves are red and yellow, and I get to see all of it from my cage! I never knew fall was so nice! I used to live in a small room in the basement of a house, and I never got to see the sky. I did not know that colors could be so brilliant! I also hear many birds singing outside, and as soon as I do, I sing back to them. It is so much fun!

J.L., Are You Sure I'm Not a Duck?

2007-10-07T21:50:00.000-06:00

Hello!

My Tall One still has not been able to make her computer work right, so I wrote out my blog post on a piece of paper and gave it to the Cool One to type up. I assume he has a computer, too, since he is cool. If you are reading this, it means that the Cool One posted it for me.

The other day, I had a very exciting adventure. J.L. always used to tell me that I'm not a duck, and maybe he was right, but I definitely have duck-like talents. The Tall One had opened up our cage, and Carrera and I were climbing around the furniture, when suddenly, something startled us. I fluttered off and found myself in the small bright room the Tall One uses when she needs water to get clean. I saw a nice, shiny surface in the big thing she calls a tub, so I decided to land. The surface was not solid, though, and it moved below me, so I spread out my pretty wings. It worked very well, and I was just about to enjoy floating, because I realized the warm stuff was actually water just like in my drinking dish, just a whole lot more of it. The Tall One picked me up right away, though. She rinsed out my pretty feathers with lukewarm water and dried me off with a soft clean T-Shirt. She seemed worried about me, but actually, I quite enjoyed it. My feathers were nice and clean and not as dusty anymore, and I spent most of the day preening them.

A smaller tub might have been nice, but other than that, I liked going for a little swim. I don't know how long I would have enjoyed it, though, so it's good that the Tall One was right there. She usually does not let us out of the cage when there is lots of water around, and she was really worried about my little excursion. I hope that she will get me a small cockatiel-sized bathtub that fits in my cage.

Tiel Monthly? No!

2007-09-22T08:54:00.000-06:00

Dear Friends, I have to apologize for temporarily turning Tiel Weekly into Tiel Monthly! The Tall One's computer broke, and she had to send it away to be fixed. She said it had something called a warranty, but it took a very long time for it to come back. She was very mad at the computer store, because at first, they forgot to send it and just left it in the back of the store, and when they finally sent it to be repaired, they sent it to California instead of to the place in Illinois where it needed to be fixed. It took over a month!!! She would have let me use her old computer to blog, but it is so old that Tiel Weekly would not even load correctly on it!

The laptop is fixed now, but the Tall One said that a lot of the programs and files are gone, and she needs to reformat the hard drive and reinstall everything, so it may be a few more days until I can get back to you. Needless to say, I was not happy about it, because I love blogging and getting to know all of you. I know the Tall One is very smart, though, and I'm sure she will be able to get our laptop to work again.

In the meantime, I have been very busy exploring the cage. The Cool One hung up a bell in it, and I love to ring it! I finally managed to tear the string and make the bell fall to the bottom of the cage, and I like to throw it around. I also like the echo it makes when I sing to it. It is so much fun to sing, and the Tall One enjoys it! She whistles back at me and tells me to sing some more. She is gone most of the day now to the place she calls work, but when she's home, she plays with me, and the Cool One comes over a lot and holds me upside down!

As soon as the Tall One is done getting our laptop back to the way it is supposed to be, I will update you on all the things that have been going on in the meantime! I hope all of you are well!

Carrera

My Tall One

2007-08-09T16:19:00.000-06:00

My Tall One has been back for over a week, and I am so happy! I love to walk around on her and preen her hair. She is home most of the day now, and I enjoy spending time with her. I don't like it when she leaves the room, though; I scream for her, and if the cage door is open, I go looking for her. Sometimes she goes into her small room with the shiny piece of glass where she can see herself. When she does, I tried to land on the little cabinet shelf in front of it. The problem is that she has little containers and other strange things on it, and they are in the way, so I knock them down with my wings. She does not get upset, though, she just picks me up and talks to me. She also knows how to scratch the back of my neck. Carrera doesn't know that yet, so I have to teach him!

Quality Tiel Time

2007-08-07T15:42:00.000-06:00

I am so happy the Tall One is back! She is there almost all the time, and she lets us sit on her shoulders and preen her hair! I really enjoy it. I also like flying on top of the bookshelf and shredding the magazines she has there. The Cool One has been coming over a lot, too, and he holds me upside down! At first, I did not know what to think about that, but now I enjoy it!

The Tall One is Back!

2007-08-03T09:11:00.000-06:00

To be honest, I had almost forgotten about the Tall One, because the Cool One took such good care of us, and she has been gone quite a long time. She came back with her huge blue boxes on wheels, and she has been spending a lot of time with us since then. It's so nice to have a human around all day! I've been singing happily, and she has been admiring my beautiful voice.

This morning, she took some pictures of Miss Prissy and me while we walked around on the shelf. She has statues of a cookaburra and a lorikeet that are about our size, so here are some pictures of Aussie birds, real and fake:

I knew he was just a fake, but I still didn't like the way he looked at me with his long beak!

So I showed him who the boss is!

The Tall One had to rescue him from me by taking him away! Ha! I showed him!

In Memory of J.L. LeMone

2007-07-14T23:10:00.000-06:00

It has been a month, dear friends, that J.L. passed away. Even though I never met him, I know him through his posts and Miss Prissy´s recollections, and I feel very sad today. I hope you all remember him today, and always.

Cage, Sweet Cage

2007-07-06T01:57:00.000-06:00

I really love my cage, and now that Miss Prissy shares it with me, I don´t really want to leave it. The Cool One comes to spend time with us, and I enjoy riding on his shoulder, but after a while I want to get back to my nice home. It is so much nicer than the old one I used to live in, and the food dish is huge! The Cool One makes sure the dish is always filled, and he gives us treats, too. It is so nice to have a good home, a nice human around, and a beautiful cockatiel lady nearby. Not to mention all the sunshine we get! I´m so happy, I sing a lot. I hope Miss Prissy enjoys it.

Time Together

2007-06-30T13:26:00.000-06:00

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

2007-06-30T05:01:00.000-06:00

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!

2007-06-28T11:20:00.001-06:00

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

2007-06-28T11:15:00.000-06:00

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.

???

2007-06-24T15:20:00.001-06:00

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.

2007-06-24T15:10:00.000-06:00

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!

2007-06-24T02:59:00.000-06:00

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

2007-06-22T11:31:00.000-06:00

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

2007-06-21T23:21:00.000-06:00

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

2007-06-21T07:51:00.001-06:00

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

2007-06-20T20:00:00.000-06:00

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

2007-06-20T11:42:00.001-06:00

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!

2007-06-19T17:41:00.000-06:00

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

2007-06-19T08:51:00.000-06:00

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

2007-06-18T11:36:00.000-06:00

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

2007-06-18T08:58:00.000-06:00

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

2007-06-17T14:36:00.001-06:00

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

2007-06-17T14:23:00.000-06:00

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

2007-06-16T11:15:00.000-06:00

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

2007-06-16T07:08:00.000-06:00

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

2007-06-14T19:39:00.000-06:00

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

2007-06-13T21:58:00.001-06:00

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

2007-06-11T11:15:00.000-06:00

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

2007-06-10T04:28:00.000-06:00

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!!!

2007-06-07T10:44:00.000-06:00

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

2007-06-06T20:13:00.000-06:00

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

2007-06-04T20:51:00.001-06:00

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

2007-06-02T05:56:00.000-06:00

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.

Tales of the Tall One

2007-05-27T11:57:00.000-06:00

Mes amis,

I am so happy to finally be able to post again! I apologize for the long absence, which, of course, was not my fault. You guessed it. As usual, the Tall One is to blame.

Just a little while aftr she got back from the trip, she got very sick. First, she had a bad allergic reaction, and right after she got better, she caught a cold, and her asthma got so bad that she had to go to the doctor many times and take lots of medication.

At first, I was happy when she had to stay home, but she just slept or sat on the couch, and she did not even have the computer out. Usually, she is obsessed with it and leaves it on all the time, but she had put it away, and there was no way for me to get to it. I was really upset, because I know all of you were waiting for my posts, but she barely responded to my chirps at all. I guess I should be grateful that she even remembered to feed us and change our water, because she was very confused and lethargic. I just hope she did not forget to pay our bills!

All the cockatiel websites say how important it is to have proper medical care for your tiel, but they do not mention how fragile our humans are and how sick they can get. When I finally got back to the computer, I googled "asthma", and I found that it makes it hard for the human to breathe. They can even die from it when they don't get proper treatment. Here is a link with more information and additional links about the disease. My advice is to keep a close eye on your human and send him or her to the people doctor when they start feeling badly.

Cockatoos in the Wild -- or Wild in Civilization

2007-04-27T09:48:00.000-06:00

I found some more cool pictures on the Tall One's hard drive. These are cockatoos in a place called Middle Harbor, which is a part of Sydney. They fly around as they please, and they like to eat fruit from the trees and look for seeds on the ground. They are wild, but so used to people that the Tall One could get really close to take their picture.

Sydney, Australia

2007-04-26T05:59:00.000-06:00

The humans seem to have a habit of building big things wherever they go. I think it's because they don't have cages. They compensate by creating all kinds of structures so they can go inside and feel safe, and then they visit each other's buildings and take pictures of them. Sydney, where my human went, is a good example. Here are some pictures my Tall One took of the city. I especially like the Harbor Bridge, because it looks like a very big bird cage. Here is a close-up:

The Opera House looks like a lot of beaks. I think it's very interesting, and I'm happy that the humans tried to memorialize our beaks by building it, but I wouldn't be comfortable going too close. It reminds me too much of the big birds that tried to eat me. From a distance, though, it's okay.

Cockatiel News

2007-04-25T18:04:00.000-06:00

That Tall One is completely crazy! She took over 1000 pictures! It will take me forever to look through all of them! I did find a cockatiel picture, though. I heard her telling the Cool One that she took it at the zoo, where the cockatiels were displayed as pets in the children's exhibit.

I was surprised that they were not with the wild birds, and I was disappointed that the Tall One did not see any in the wild. Then I heard her telling the Cool One that she went to a bird show at the zoo and asked the zookeeper about the tiels. He said that they travel in flocks all over the place, and that they don't have any predictable patterns of where they will be at any given time. Some people go looking for them for months and never see them, and others just come upon them unexpectedly.

Thinking about it, that's no surprise. We cockatiels are very smart, and so we are unpredictable. Of course, we like it that way...

The Tall One Is Back -- And So Am I!

2007-04-25T06:47:00.001-06:00

Mes amis,

I apologize for my long absence. The Tall One did hide her computer, just as I feared, and after she got back, she kept hogging it to print pictures of her trip. She finally ran out of ink, and as soon as she left for work, I got online to update you.

While she was gone, the Cool One took good care of us. He came over every day and stayed with us for a long time. I liked it when he played with me! He held me upside down a lot!

When the Tall One finally got back, I was happy at first that 24-hour service had returned; it is very annoying when there is no butler around during the day to take care of me. I sat on her shoulder and preened her hair, and I even let her pet me and pick me up.

Don't you think after being gone so long she would want to be with me all day long? I like my Tall One, but she does not have her priorities straight. She actually went to work the day after she got back instead of staying with me! So I bit her the next time she tried to pick me up, and I even flew right towards her with my beak wide open to scare her. I turned at the last second and landed on the cage, but I think she got the message, because she cooked some of the yummy tortellini for me.

Now that I can finally get to the computer, I'll look through the pictures she took so I can share them with you!

Au revoir!

The Trip

2007-04-06T04:14:00.000-06:00

I've finally found out what the Tall One is doing. I heard her discussing it with the Cool One on the phone. She is so fascinated by Miss Prissy and me that she is going on a trip to Australia, my ancestoral homeland, to research my relatives. The pink dress I saw is for her sister's wedding, who lives in Sydney; since she is there to look for birds anyway, I guess she will see her sister and her parents. The Cool One is coming over every day while she is gone to take care of us.

I'll be glad when he is. The Tall One has been staying up late and getting up early to put clothes in soft blue boxes with wheels, and trying to clean the apartment, without much success, in my opinion, but then I don't really care; as long as the cage is clean and the Cool One can find the birdseed, which is stacked right in front of my cage, I'm happy. I'm just afraid that she'll take the computer away while she's gone. If I can get the old computer to turn on and to get on the internet, I might be able to update my blog, even though it will be slow; if you don't hear from me, you'll know why. Luckily, she's only gone for a week and a half.

What Are You Up To, Tall One?

2007-04-02T05:28:00.000-06:00

The Tall One really seems to think my computer belongs to her! She has been carrying it around everywhere, even when she went to visit a friend overnight. She called the last week Spring Break, but Miss Prissy and I did not get much of a break. It was business as usual.

Today is the first day of the Tall One's work routine, so I was finally able to get back on the computer once she left for work. She has been acting very strangely. Her hair is much more curly than before, and she would not let Miss Prissy and me preen it. She said something about chemicals that might be dangerous for us. Now, I know she is paranoid about our safety, but that is going too far. Who would put chemicals in their hair???

She has also been gone a lot, and she's been coming home with all kinds of things in plastic bags. One of the strangest ones was a big piece of clothing she called a dress. It's a pretty pink, just like the fun necklaces and earrings she brought home, but she would not put them on so we could play with them. What good is clothing and jewelry if I can't play with it? It seems like she is saving those things for a special occasion, but what can be more special than playing with Miss Prissy and me?

Something is going on, and I don't know what it is. It might have something to do with that mysterious trip she has been planning. I'm not sure what she is going to do. I hope the Cool One comes over soon. Maybe she will discuss it with him, and I'll finally know what's going on.

A Dreary Day

2007-03-25T09:47:00.000-06:00

Bonjour!

I did not get a chance to post anything yesterday, mes amis. It was a dreary day, with cloudy skies and some rain, and I don't like rain. Neither does Miss Prissy. Even though we're nice and dry in the apartment, we cockatiels still don't like it when it's overcast. We like sunshine, and lots of it! On overcast days, Miss Prissy and I just sleep on our perches until the sun comes back on. The same is true for the Tall One, except that I can't imagine a perch big enough for her, so she sleeps on her couch. She did not sleep all day, of course, since she has to watch over us, but the times that she was awake, she was on the computer or carried some clothes back and forth.

The human clothing ritual is very interesting to watch, even though it does not make much sense. Since the poor things don't have feathers, they have to put on fabric of different colors to compensate. They change the colors often, which is very confusing to me. Luckily, I only have one human, but how do they tell each other apart when they get together? Anyway, one of the strange rituals humans follow is to carry clothes around. My human puts her clothes into a big basket and carries them out the door. Where she takes them, I don't know, but it can't be far, because she always comes back right away, but with an empty basket. After a while, she leaves again with her basket and brings the clothes back. She then folds them carefully in a certain pattern. I can only guess that this is a human preening ritual; since they don't have feathers to preen, they preen their clothes. I've tried to preen her clothes before, but I've given up, because they are too big for me. It would take me all day for just one item. Maybe there are some giant birds nearby with huge beaks that preen the humans' clothes for them. I don't want to find out, though; they might mistake me for their dinner!

Anyway, in the evening we all finally perked up. The Tall One made the light come on, and since we had snoozed all day, we had a lot of energy. I, for one, wanted to work on my blog, but the Tall One kept hogging the computer. I may have mentioned that patience is not my strong side; anyway, for a second I forgot all about the fact that my blog is a secret and the Tall One cannot find out about it. I flew from the cage to the top of the computer screen, which is about the same width as a comfortable perch, and glared at the Tall One to give me a turn. Luckily, she did not understand what I wanted, and thought I was coming for some quality time. She put her finger in front of me, and I stepped on it. She talked to me real nicely; I think it made her happy that I came to see her, so I forgot all about her hogging the computer, and I was glad she appreciated my presence like a well-trained human should.

When she tried to pet me, I flew off, but a few minutes later, both Miss Prissy and I landed on her. I even let the Tall One pet me for a little while without biting her. Then, I preened her arm for a while, and then I preened Miss Prissy while we were both sitting on the Tall One's arm. I was in such a good mood, I started serenading Miss Prissy. Like I said, I could have been an opera singer. Since Miss Prissy does not know the difference between a train whistle and a song, the beauty of my performance was lost on her, but the Tall One enjoyed it.

Sad News

2007-03-23T22:03:00.000-06:00

I just found out that my friends T-Man and CC-Man lost their grandpa (their human's dad). If you have been visiting their blog, you know that he has been having some health issues lately, and it is sad to hear that he passed away. I know T-Man especially is sad, because he visited his grandpa a lot, even in the hospital and the nursing home, and of course, his human must be very upset. If you would like to read T-Man's post and leave a message under "Comments", I'm sure it would make my friends feel a little better.

T-Man and CC-Man, I am sorry for your loss! Please pass my condolences on to your Mom as well.

Doctors and Vets

2007-03-22T17:24:00.000-06:00

If I did not live in a relatively small cage in a tiny apartment, I would think the Tall One is some kind of millionaire or celebity. She has different doctors for almost every part of her body! She goes to one doctor when she is coughing or has a cold, to another one for her sprained ankle, and today she even went to a special doctor just for her teeth!

The last one I absolutely can't understand. I don't even know why she has teeth in the first place. Miss Prissy and I get along just fine without them. Anyway, the Tall One went to her tooth doctor today, and she said some of her teeth needed fillings and had to be drilled on. Now, why does a tooth need to be filled? Is it hollow? The Tall One says the tooth doctor is nice, but she came home during lunch time with half of her face numb. She looked funny. She couldn't even smile or blink right!

At least she had enough common sense to stay home this afternoon and not go to that place she calls work. Everybody there would have laughed at her. To make her feel better, Miss Prissy sat on her shoulder and I preened her hair while sitting on her head. Then, the Tall One put us back into the cage and went to sleep.

Once I was sure she was fast asleep, I got out of the cage and onto the computer. We birds only need one type of doctor, but a special kind called an avian veterinarian. Other vets may not have studied birds, but avian vets do. Birds need to go to the avian vet at the slightest sign of trouble. That's because we birds are so resilient that we hide our illnesses very well, so by the time our humans finally notice, things are usually getting serious.

I found some information for you on finding avian veterinarians:

Why and How to Find an Avian Vet

Why Your Bird Needs an Avian Veterinarian, How To Find One, and How To Tell If You REALLY Have One....

Find a Local Avian Veterinarian

Finding an Avian Vet

Avian Vet Lists and Search Engines

AAV: Find Your Local Veterinarian

AAV: Active Veterinarian Members

ParrotParrot: Avian Vet

Parrot Connections: Avian Veterinarians

Birds n Ways: Avian Vets and Veterinarian Services

Toolady: Avian Vets in the UK

Vetafarm: Australian Avian Vets

If you have any other good links, please post them under Comments!

Where Did You Put My Computer, Human?

2007-03-21T21:34:00.000-06:00

One of the annoying things I have to deal with is my human's sporadic clean-up sprees. I'm not sure if she folded up the computer and simply put it away somewhere, if she had it repaired, or if she took it to the place she calls work, but either way, I could not find it, no matter how hard I looked. Usually, she is very careless and leaves it sitting on my desk, ready for me to blog away, but this time, all that was left was some birdseed and papers. I was not happy at all. I love my computer, and I enjoy surfing the web!

Finally, the computer was back in its place today, and she even left it running, so all I had to do was log into Blogger so that I could finally post the update I am sure you have been eagerly awaiting. My question is: How do I keep my human from putting the computer away again? I heard her telling the Cool One that she is planning to go on a trip soon. I'm not sure when or where, and honestly, I don't really care, because it means the Cool One will be coming over every day for a long time to play with me and give us food, and of course, I prefer his company to hers. The thing that worries me is that she might take her computer with her or clean house and put it somewhere so the place looks organized. I'm not sure what to do to prevent that. What I really need is a tiel-sized computer in my cage, but I've searched the web and found nothing. We cockatiels are shamelessly neglected when it comes to fulfilling our computer needs!

Saturday Snoozing

2007-03-17T08:46:00.000-06:00

The weekend started very nicely. The Tall One is staying home so far, which is very good. She let us out, and Miss Prissy flew onto her head right away. The Tall One knows to get Miss Prissy down from there immediately and put her on her shoulder so that the landing space is clear for me. While Miss Prissy preened the Tall One, I climbed down to the other shoulder. I did some preening, too, because the Tall One definitely needs it. Then, Miss Prissy settled in on the Tall One's arm and I climbed on the other shoulder, and we both fell asleep. I love to have a little snooze!

Let Us Out!

2007-03-16T22:10:00.000-06:00

Miss Prissy and I tried to get the idea across to the Tall One that we wanted to get out. It took a while, but finally she relented. What she does not realize is that, if we had pushed the door just a little harder, we could have gotten out without her help. But like I said, I want to keep that a secret...

Nymphensittich-Informationen für meine deutschsprachigen Freundinnen und Freunde, Teil 2

2007-03-15T21:21:00.000-06:00

Cockatiel Information for my German-Speaking Friends, Part 2.

Guten Tag! Ich habe neulich eine ganze Liste von deutschsprachigen Webseiten über Nymphensittiche bereitgestellt. Im Falle, daß Sie sie verpaßt haben, ist hier noch einmal der Link: http://tielweekly.blogspot.com/2007/03/nymphensittich-informationen-fr-meine.html

Ich habe außerdem viele Foren für Vögel im allgemeinen und Nymphensittiche im besonderen gefunden. Hier sind sie:

Nymphensittich-Forum. Ein Forum mit den Themen Einsteiger, Vorstellung deiner Nymphensittiche, Ernährung, Lebensraum, Krankheiten, Foto-Wettbewerbe, Tierische Hilfe, und mehr.

Nymphensittich-Foren. Hier findet man Foren zu den Themen Haltung (Anfänger, Voliere, Beschäftugung/Bastelforum, Ernährung), Verhalten, Hilfe (Krankheiten, Zugeflogen/Entflogen, Abgabe/Suche), Foto-Ecke, Zum Andenken (an verstorbene Tiere), Benutzerlandkarte und Fotowettbewerb.

Das Nymphensittich-Lexikon: NL Forum Ein Forum mit den Themen Haltung, Verhalten, Anfänger, Krankheiten, Hilfeecke, Regenbogenbrücke, Küken, Kleinanzeigen, Fotogalerie und mehr!

Mein Nymphensittich-Forum. Ein Forum vom TierNetzWerk mit den folgenden Themen: Behausung, Nahrung, Grünzeug, Futterzusatz, Gesundheit, Aufzucht, Farbschlag, Partnerschaft, Spielzeug, Kleinanzeigen, CaféLounge, Stammtisch, TeenagerCafé, und mehr.

Sittich-Foren. Hier findet man Foren für verschiedene Sittich-Arten, z. B. Nymphensittich, Wellensittich, Laufsittich und Plattschweifsittich, sowie für andere Vogelarten, z. B. Papageien, Kanarienvögel, und Finken. Sogar Hühner, Tauben, Wildvögel, Fasanen, und anderes Gefieder sind hier willkommen. Außerdem gibt es allgemeine Foren zu den Themen Ernährung, Medizin, Zubehör, Tier-, Natur- und Artenschutz, Haustiere, und Vogelvermittlung.

Vogelforen. Ein riesengroßes Forum mit allen denkbaren Themen zur Vogelhaltung.

Viel Spaß!

A Knock on the Door

2007-03-14T00:14:00.000-06:00

Except for one light, the apartment was dark, and Miss Prissy and I were snoozing in our cage. The Tall One slept in her bed. After a busy day full of eating, chewing, and preening, I like my rest, so I was not happy when there was a knock on the door just a little while after we had all settled in for the night. I opened my eyes, and I saw flashing lights outside. I wondered if we would have to evacuate the apartment, and I think the Tall One had the same idea, because she looked at our cage as she walked to the door. Obviously, she was already worried about getting us out. She has her shortcomings, but at least she has her priorities straight.

She did not open the door, which was very smart, of course, because you never know who might be out there. When she asked who was there, a man's voice answered: "Police!" Of course, I wondered what she might have done to get into trouble. The problem with humans is that they are very hard to supervise. I wondered if jails take bird seed in lieu of bail money, but luckily, it turned out that she had not done anything wrong. He said that he was there because they got a call that she had breathing problems, which sounded very silly to me. My human's breathing is just fine, thank you very much, and when she's sick, I send her to the doctor. I take good care of my human, there is no reason to call the police.

Then he asked: "Do you mind if we come in?" Luckily, my human has been watching more detective shows than is good for her, and she knows that without a warrant, nobody is allowed to come into our apartment and disturb our sleep. She would not let anybody in, and she asked who called. The guy said it was her daughter, and she told him she did not have one. It was very annoying, because he did not seem to believe her. Don't you think she would know the members of her family? Neither he nor the Tall One sounded very happy, and I wondered why he did not go away and let us go back to sleep. He read off the address he had been given, and it matched ours. Then he said that fire and rescue were there. At that point, I began to fluff up my feathers and stretch my wings, just in case I would have an audience. The Tall One seemed to think along the same lines, because she started grabbing the things she calls clothes.

Suddenly, the guy's tone of voice changed, and he became all friendly. He said that the dispatcher had just gotten another call that said our address was the wrong one. See, he should have listened to the Tall One right away, it would have saved him some time! He apologized for waking us up, which, of course, was the right thing to do after all that trouble. Then he finally left. I think he and the rescue people finally went to the right place and helped the human with the breathing problems; hopefully, they got there on time. The lights flashed quite a while longer and then went away. Miss Prissy, the Tall One, and I went back to sleep. I hope we don't get interrupted again!

Getting to the Food, Fireman Style

2007-03-13T12:13:00.000-06:00

The Tall One filled up our food dish while we were on top of the cage. As soon as she had put it back into our cage, Miss Prissy and I slid down the cage bars like firefighters to get to it quickly! Guess who won the race...

Looking for a Good Book

2007-03-11T10:13:00.000-06:00

I was bored, so I decided to look for a good book in the Tall One's bookshelf. The next question, of course, is: Should I read it, or should I shred it?

Information des calopsittes pour mes amis francophones, II

2007-03-10T20:18:00.000-07:00

Cockatiel Information for My French-speaking Friends

Ici sont des forums francophones pour les amis des calopsittes:
Here are some forums in French for cockatiel friends:

Forum de callopsitte.free.fr Discussions générales, alimentation, reproduction, mutations, santé, photos / vidéos / sons, bricolage, petites annonces, etc.

Le monde passionnant de la perruche calopsitte. L'aquisition, les urgences, le comportement, l'alimentation, habitat, les mutations, elevage, naissances, gags, vente, recherche, photos, videos, sondages, autres animaux, et chat.

Perruches.net. "Forum d'entraide pour éleveurs et passionnés."

Le Forum de Nos Volières. Volières, questions générales, maladies, photos, etc.

Ornithopassion Un forum général des oiseaux.

Birds Who Bite Badly Trained Humans

2007-03-09T20:24:00.000-07:00

A lot of times, the Tall One wonders why she gets bit. I never bite the Cool One, because he understands me, but I can't say the same about the Tall One. Generally, I bite her when she gets too close to me, Miss Prissy, or my cage. Miss Prissy thinks that gently nipping is biting, but believe me, I know how to inflict some damage. I've drawn blood more than once.

Most people look at us cockatiels and think we are cute and cuddly, and they don't know how intelligent we are. Simply put, we need to have things our own way, and a badly trained human needs to be disciplined when he or she does not do what we want.

Here are some links for my human readers to better understand what they need to do to keep from getting bit.

Cockatiels and Biting

Why Does My Bird Bite?

Once Bitten...Twice Shy.

Ouch!! Bird Bites.

Success With a Biting Pet Bird.

My Blog Buddies: T-Man and CC-Man

2007-03-08T21:10:00.000-07:00

Ever since I have been blogging, I have met some wonderful birds, dogs, and humans around the world. It's nice to be able to exchange thoughts with other people. Two of my internet friends are T-Man the Poodle and CC-Man the Cockatiel who live in a far away place called Chicago. Here are some of their pictures:
T-Man is the black fluffy thing CC-Man is walking around on. Here is a better picture of him:

If you have been reading my blog faithfully, as you should, you probably remember that CC-Man was sick a little while ago, and I'm happy to report that he's much better. To read more about my furry and feathered friends, go to the link under "Blog Buddies" to T-Man's Precious Poodle blog. T-Man posts a lot of pictures not only of himself, but also of CC-Man the Cockatiel. I have to write all my own posts, but CC-Man has a secretary!

My favorite blog post so far is a series of pictures that show CC-Man first eating out of his seed dish, and then throwing it. Here is the link. Enjoy!

Bread!

2007-03-05T02:16:00.000-07:00

I'm finally in a much better mood! The Tall One brought home some of that yummy bread and gave us a large slice. I chirped happily and started eating, and pretty soon, Miss Prissy joined in. It didn't take long for us to make it disappear!

I'm Cranky! Get Out of My Way!

2007-03-01T23:06:00.000-07:00

I am the king of the cage! The pictures show you what will happen if you come too close!

Nymphensittich-Informationen für meine deutschsprachigen Freundinnen und Freunde, Teil 1

2007-03-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

Cockatiel Information for my German-Speaking Friends, Part 1.

Informationen

Cockatiels / Nymphensittiche.
Remember the Happy Cockatiel music link I introduced in a previous post? This is the homepage of the composer and artist, Stephan of Hochheim, Germay. On this bilingual (English-German) page, Billy the Happy Cockatiel introduces us to his world, and you can download some more tiel tunes.
Die zweisprachige (englisch-deutsche) Seite von Stephan aus Hochheim, der die Happy Cockatiel Musik aufgenommen hat. Hier stellt Billy der fröhliche Nymphensittich seine Welt vor, und man kann sich Nymphensittich-Musik herunterladen.

Vogelgalerie: Nymphensittich. Eine sehr kurze Einführung mit Bildern.

Haltung von Heimtieren: Nymphensittich Eine Seite der Stadt Wien mit einer kurzen Übersicht über Herkunft und Lebensweise, physiologische Daten, Geschlechtsdifferenzierung, Haltung als Heimtier, Unterbringung und Käfigeinrichtung, Klima, Fütterung, Umgang und Pflege.

Das Nymphensittich-Bilderbuch. Eine sehr ausführliche und gut gegliederte Seite mit vielen Bildern. Die Themen Anfängerfragen, Behausung, Nahrung, Grünzeug, Zusatzfutter, Gesundheit, Anatomie, Aufzucht, Farbschlag, Spielzeug, Steckbrief und Pflanzen sind in spezifische Unterthemen gegliedert. Außerdem gibt es Links zu Chat und einem Forum sowie anderen Bilderbüchern der Tier- und Pflanzenwelt.

Die Nympensittich-Seite. Dies ist eine sehr gut angelegte Seite mit vielen Informationen, u.a. eine Einführung, die auch das Leben der Nymphensittiche in Australien beschreibt, Bedürfnisse, Anschaffung, Haltung (mit Informationen über Innen- und Außenvolieren), Ernährung (sehr ausfühlich und gut gegliedert), Futterpflanzen, Verhalten, Verhaltensstörungen, Vertrauen, Clickertraining, Brut, Krankheiten und Notfall. Es gibt auch Videos, Audiodateien, PDF-Dokumente, Webematerial und Wallpaper zum Herunterladen, sowie Buchempfehlungen.

Nymphensittichzucht. Eine sehr informative Seite eines schweizer Züchters. Unter "Der Nymphensittich" findet sich ein Diagramm, das die Körperteile eines Nymphensittichs benennt. Außerdem gibt es Informationen über die Zucht, Haltung, Pflege, Fütterung, Ernährung. Unter "Was der Vogel nicht braucht" sind unnötige Produkte beschrieben.

Nymphensittich-Wegweiser Eine sehr detaillierte, informative Seite mit den folgenden Themen: Kennenlernen (Vorüberlegungen, Anschaffung, Schwarmhaltung, Eingewöhnung, Verhalten, Hahn oder Henne, Farbschläge, ungewollte Eier), Lebensraum, Ernährung, und Vermittlungshilfe.

Carmens Nymphensittich Infoseite. Eine schön angelegte, informative persönliche Webseite mit vielen Bildern. Die Themen sind: Vor dem Kauf, Steckbrief, Kauf, Haltung/Pflege, Futter, Gefahren, Krankheiten, Photos, und eine Bastelecke, wo man lernen kann, wie man Kletterbäume, Schaukeln und Kletterketten bastelt.

Nymphies Online. Diese persönliche Webseite hat Informationen über Nymphensittiche, unter anderem Anatomie, vor und nach dem Kauf, Haltung, Ernährung, Krankheiten, und ein Nymphensittich A bis Z. Es gibt außerdem Bauanleitungen für Volieren, einen Vogelbaum und einen Vogelspielplatz. Steffi beschreibt außerdem ihre eigenen Nymphensittiche im Detail. Besonders interessant sind die Bilder unter "Tony färbt sich um" und "Sammys Verwandlung", die zeigen, wie sich das Gefieder eines jungen Nymphensittichs allmählich umfärbt.

Das Nymphensittich-Lexikon. Eine sehr unterhaltsame Seite, mit Informationen, Fotoalben, Videos, Sounds und Spielen. Außerdem gibt es Nymphensittich-Screensaver und Wallpaper zum Herunterladen, Nymphensittich-Comics, Wettbewerbe, ein Kreuzworträtsel, ein Memory-Spiel, Puzzles, und ein Flipper-Foto-Spiel.

Sittich-Info. Diese Seite hat allgemeine Informationen über die Haltung von Sittichen, z.B. Nymphensittichen, Wellensittichen, Arasittichen u. a. Die Themen beinhalten ein Arten-Lexikon, Wissenswertes, Haltung, Ernährung, Medizin, Zucht, Sittich-SOS und ein Forum.

Organisationen

Standard Nymphensittich Vereinigung Deutschland e.V.

Tierheimlinks. Hier kann man Tierheime in ganz Deutschland finden. Viele Nymphensittiche und andere Tiere warten auf ein gutes Zuhause. Vögel sind im allgemeinen unter "Kleintiere" aufgelistet. Man kann auch einfach das nächste Tierheim anrufen und fragen, ob ein Nymphensittich auf Adoption wartet.

Quiz

Das Nymphensittich-Quiz Viel Spaß!

Wer noch andere gute Links über Nymphensittiche kennt, möge sie bitte unter "Comments" hinterlassen! Vielen Dank!

Leisure Time

2007-03-01T03:36:00.000-07:00

The Tall One went to work later than usual yesterday, so Miss Prissy and I took the opportunity to move about the apartment while the cage was open. Afterwards, we settled in on the porch for a little snooze.

Frequently Asked Questions

2007-02-27T06:10:00.000-07:00

If you have not had your tiel for very long, or if you are just getting ready to bring one into your home, you probably have many questions about feeding, housing, and other issues. I hope the links in my previous posts were helpful, but I'm sure there are still some things you'd like to know about.

If you've had your tiel or tiels for a while, you have probably learned by now that the questions never end. They shift from basic care concerns to more complex issues, with "Why does my cockatiel do that?" becoming the overarching question. Behavior and health issues become more important.

From my own experience, I know humans wonder why we tiels like to grind our beaks. Well, I grind my beak when I'm happy. The other day, I sat on the Tall One's shoulder and started to doze off, grinding my beak. Another thing we do when we're happy and healthy is to sleep standing on one foot. A sick cockatiel would not be able to keep his balance like that, so if your tiel always uses both feet, it might be a warning sign. We have many more habits like that, so with that in mind, I've compiled a list of links to pages dedicated to frequently asked cockatiel questions. I hope you find it useful!

* North American Cockatiel Society: Frequently Asked Pet Cockatiel Questions. Sorted by Behavior, Caging, Clipping Wings, Diet, Egg Laying, Escaped Cockatiels, Feathers, Illness, New Cockatiels, Sexing, Talking, Training, Travelling, and Miscallaneous. All questions and answers are very brief and concise, making for an easy read.

* Frequently Asked Cockatiel Questions. My friend Eleanor at the Cockatiel Cottage put together a list of over 60 questions and answers to all types of cockatiel related topics, from new bird topics to care, health and behavior.

* Australian National Cockatiel Society: Frequently Asked Questions. Questions and answers about many aspects of cockatiel care, most notably eggs, breeding, health conditions, and behavior.

* Pet Cockatiel FAQ. Five basic questions and answers from our cockatiel friends in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, including cockatiel lifespan, size, suitability as a pet, talking, and noise level.

* Cockatiel Information, Cockatiel Care. Nine questions and answers, including health, lifespan, sexing, care, cage, and breeding.

* Birder's Eye: Cockatiel FAQ. Answers to a variety of questions.

* Beginning With Birds: Cockatiel FAQ. By Anita Golden. Answers to a variety of questions.

* Tiel-L FAQ. This list of 38 questions and answers was compiled by the users of the Tiel-L mailing list.

* Cockatiel Tweets Corner: Frequently Asked Questions. Most of them start with the age-old question "Why do cockatiels..."

* American Cockatiel Society: Ask the Vet. Questions and answers on two specialized health topics: a hen laying soft-shelled eggs, and the symptoms and treatment of sour crop.

* Bird Frequently Asked Questions. A fun, simple site with basic questions and answers regarding food, safety, terminology, etc. for all types of pet birds. Easy to read.

* Animal Adventure: Bird Questions. Questions and answers to different bird questions, such a cage placement, apartment living, feeding, temperature, bathing, and cockatiel night frights. If you're interested in other types of pets, you can keep reading on for questions and answers about fish, ferrets, hamsters, rabbits, and even prairie dogs!

If you can't find the answer to your question, try the articles I listed in previous posts. You can easily find them under "Previous Posts: By Topic". Click on Cockatiel Care, Cockatiel Knowledge, or Links. If you can't find what you're looking for, leave me a question under "comments"; I'll try to find the answers for you. You can also join one or more of the friendly message boards I selected and listed under "Cockatiel Conversation" on the left side of my blog. The people on these boards are very dedicated and experienced, and if you post a question, they will generally answer you right away.

Good luck!

My Human, the Bird Fan

2007-02-25T23:51:00.000-07:00

When my human left this evening, I took the opportunity to snoop through the pictures that she had just downloaded from her digital camera to see where she had been. I was surprised to see that most of the pictures were of birds! I think she went to a zoo or rescue facility, or possibly both, because there were pictures of all kinds of wild birds. There were a few pictures of other animals, too, but the birds were clearly in the lead. I think my constant presence has inspired her to look at all of my winged cousins as being very special. Since she has no idea that this blog even exists, she won't know that I uploaded them, so I am going to share the ones I like best with you:

This is my favorite picture: one of my big parrot cousins.

The barn owl is taking a nap. She looks a lot like Miss Prissy when she's asleep, except that she does not have her feet in the water dish!

This, Miss Prissy, is a duck! A duck can put her feet in the water! You are not a duck, you are a cockatiel! You need to keep your feet dry and out of my drinking water!

I don't know what this bird is called. I think it's some type of dove. Very pretty!

Some people say we birds are really dinosaurs. Once I saw the picture of this bird, I believed it!

This peacock has very pretty tailfeathers. I wonder why the Tall One did not bring me one of those feathers to play with.

I think this is some kind of pelican! Look at that beak!

It's hard to believe that a huge bird like this ostrich is related to me. And the Tall One says I look mean! She's lucky there was a fence between her and him!

She's Not a Duck - Or Is She?

2007-02-25T06:17:00.000-07:00

Bonjour, mes amis!

There comes a time when even an extremely intelligent and resourceful cockatiel like moi needs some advice, and that time is now. You know about my beautiful companion Miss Prissy. As gorgeous as she is, she also has some strange habits. Most of them are harmless, like looking dreamily into space as if she were seeing angels, or being startled easily.

However, lately she has taken to a very strange behavior that I can't quite understand. She likes to sleep while sitting on the water dish, with her feet in the water! She's not a duck! I'm worried about her possibly getting sick. Not to mention that our drinking water doesn't exactly taste better that way! The Tall One was not very happy when she saw Miss Prissy acting that way, and I have a feeling that she is thinking about taking our water dish away overnight. What if I get thirsty?

My faithful human, cockatiel, and canine readers, has anyone experienced this with a tiel before? If yes, what should I do? Please post your experiences, ideas, or advice under comments!

Merci!

J. L. LeMone

Paper Fun

2007-02-24T18:50:00.000-07:00

I spent most of the morning tearing up the paper the Tall One put underneath our cage while Miss Prissy looked on from our porch. Here are the pics:

Cool Link: National Geographic

2007-02-24T07:28:00.000-07:00

Since you are a faithful reader of my blog, and since we cockatiels are beautiful winged creatures, you are obviously interested in the beauty of nature. One site that gives you information, pictures, and even videos of many creatures and places in the world is the National Geographic web site. If you click on "Animals" and then on "Birds", you can see pictures and read articles about many of my fine feathered relatives who live in the wild.

Since it has a Photo of the Day and a Daily News section that is updated frequently, I am going to put the link under "Daily Diversions" as well so you can visit it daily if you like. The site also features a Place of the Week, free newsletters, educational games for children, information for educators, wallpapers, soundfiles of world music, maps, and much more.

Have fun!

Information des calopsittes pour mes amis francophones, Parte I

2007-02-24T04:44:00.000-07:00

Cockatiel Information for My French-Speaking Friends, Part I

Ici sont des sites francophones avec information de calopsittes:
Here are some sites in French with information about cockatiels:

Mes amies les calopsittes. Une site en Belgique avec information de choisir, loger, nourir, reprodiction, particularités, photos, sons, liens, livres, et articles de la santé des oiseaux.
Cockatiels, my Dear Friends. The English version of the Belgian site cited above, including choosing, housing, feeding, reproduction, particularities, photos, sounds, links, and books.

La perruche calopsitte. Description, mutation, nourrissage, elevage, génétique, maladie, photos, et trouver un prénom pour votre oiseau.
(English version under construction.)

Ornitho-Passion: Perruche Calopsitte. Un peu de information des calopsittes: distribution, taille, dimorphisme sexuel, et elevage.

Perruche Calopsitte (Cockatiel). Informations générales des calopsittes.

Perruches calopsites (Nymphicus hollandicus). Généralités, sexage, reproduction, caractère, et un album des calopsittes. Liens générales des oiseaux: attention toxique, alimentation, cage, cohabitation, entretien, maladies, mirage des oeufs, etc.

Le site des passionnés de perruches calopsittes. Généralités, alimentation, logement, reproduction, mutation, photos, vidéos, sons, liens, et un forum.

Oiseau Club Lorientais. Articles, forum, liens, petites annonces, photos, etc.

Vouz avez des liens des calopsittes francophones? Ponez-les en "comments", s'il vous plaît!

Go Away, Tall One!

2007-02-23T19:00:00.000-07:00

The Tall One is getting on my nerves. She just does not know what she wants! Sometimes she sleeps in the other room, sometimes in our room on her couch. Sometimes she sleeps during the day and covers us up (she calls it a nap), and other times, she is gone all day long. Sometimes, she gets up before the sun rises, and other days, she sleeps when it's still light outside. And sometimes, she gets up in the middle of the night, and then she goes back to sleep!

I just don't understand these humans! We cockatiels like having a routine! To make matters worse, the humans have control over some of the light, so sometimes it's dark for a while, and then the light comes back on when the Tall One wants it to, and at the craziest times. Usually, it's not that bad, because she goes to bed at almost the same time every night and then gets up early five times, and then she goes to bed late and sleeps late two times, before her routine starts all over again. Ever since she got sick, though, she's been sleeping or waking up at the craziest times!

In my opinion, she needs to go away for a while and let the Cool One come over instead until she can return to a routine like a well-trained human should. I tried to get the message across to her by fluffing up and turning away from her when she talked to me, but I don't think she got it. I like having a human, but sometimes, the behavior issues are a problem.

Cool Blog: Parrot World News

2007-02-23T06:08:00.000-07:00

You know how the humans read newspapers and internet articles about other humans? They are interesting to humans, of course, but we parrots get bored of them after a while. We really would prefer a newsmagazine where we could read about other parrots.

I'm happy to report that there is such a thing! It's called Psittapedia: Parrot World News. It is a blog written by a bird, and it contains links on parrot news from all over the world, along with general information. I will put the link under "Blog Buddies" as well.

Enjoy!

Cockatiel / Quarrion / Nymphicus Hollandicus / Nymphensittich / Perruche Calopsitte / Calopsita / Cacatúa Ninfa o Carolina

2007-02-21T16:49:00.000-07:00

We tiels are very popular around the world, and we go by many names. In the English-speaking world, we are known as Cockatiels; in Australia, also as Quarrions. Our proper Latin name is Nymphicus Hollandicus. In German-speaking countries, we are called Nymphensittich. Our francophone friends call us Perruche Calopsitte. In the Spanish-speaking world, we are known as Cacatúa Ninfa or Cacatúa Carolina. In Italian and Portuguese, our name is Calopsita.

I'm very excited to report that I have alreay had visitors from many different countries, including the United States of America, Canada, Britain, Australia, France, Germany, Austria, Mexico, Spain, Tunesia, Qatar, Sweden, Croatia, India, China, Japan, and Malaysia. Just today, Andrea and her cockatiel Jackie from Brazil stopped by!

With so many names and so many friends around the world, some of whom have already visited my blog, I want to include more international information, and I am going to begin by putting some resources together for my friends in the French, German, and Spanish speaking realms, with others to follow. Watch for future posts that feature links in these languages!

Merci! Thank you! Danke! Gracias! Grazie!

Get Well Soon, CC-Man!

2007-02-20T23:16:00.000-07:00

I just received some alarming news: My tiel buddy CC-Man got sick and had to go to the doctor. T-Man wrote all about it in his blog. Now, I know dogs and humans seem to get sick quite frequently and have to go to the doctor, but we cockatiels are usually the picture of health. Sure, I've read about other tiels getting sick on occasion, and I know that a sick bird needs to go to the doctor immediately, but I've never personally known a tiel who fell ill. Worse yet, CC-Man has to take medication, and he does not even have the Cool One around to help him take it! I am very worried about him.

CC-Man, I hope you feel better soon! Make sure your human and T-Man take good care of you! Let us know how you are doing!

J. L. LeMone, Cockatiel

Entertaining the Tall One

2007-02-19T15:45:00.000-07:00

The Tall One has been home all day. She says she has a stomachache. If you ask me, that's because she eats all kinds of strange things. Maybe I should convert her to a pellet diet, hehe! She says someone called the Flu is going around, and she did not sound happy about it, so I hope he does not come here; she's already unhappy enough as it is.

Miss Prissy flew on the Tall One's head right away this morning, and I followed. We sat on her shoulders for hours. I preened her hair and her neck, and I think that made her feel better. Finally, both Miss Prissy and I fell asleep for a while. The Tall One has her shortcomings, but she does make for a great perch! Later on, I chirped at her for a while so it would not be so quiet and boring around here, and then I got behind the cage and tore up some of the newspaper while screeching at it. I pecked at the wooden cabinet for a while, because the Tall One likes it when I act like a woodpecker. She was getting too quiet, though, so I got ready to chew on the rubber cord. Just like I thought, she told me to quit, and I was happy that I at least got a reaction out of her.

I'm telling you, it's pretty hard to entertain a human who is sick!

Cockatiel Safety

2007-02-18T22:20:00.000-07:00

It is extremely important to keep your bird safe and healthy. We are very sensitive to many plants, foods, and chemicals. Remember, what might be dangerous to us could also be dangerous to you, so it's in your own interest to keep us safe. Make sure to read all the links below and to check your feathered friend's environment for hazards.

I have a lot to say about the Tall One, and not all of it is good, but she will go to extremes to keep us safe. As soon as she got me, she researched cockatiels on the internet, and when she found out that non-stick pans can kill birds, she threw all of hers out and bought a new set that had no Teflon or any other non-stick stuff on it. She'd rather scrub the sticky mess than put me in danger.

When the apartment people come to spray for bugs, she either puts Miss Prissy and me in the other room and completely seals off the door, or takes us over to the house of her friend with the long dark hair, who also has a tiel, so that we can stay in a safe place. She did the same thing when they painted the apartment, even though everybody told her the paint was non-toxic. She left us at the dark-haired one's house for several days until all the fumes were gone. She said she was not going to take any chances. She won't even use bug spray, spray starch, or insect repellant in the same room with us.

Even though she's completely addited to chocolate, she won't let us near it. She won't even let us out of the cage when she's eating the stuff, and she washes her hand before handling us.

One time, there was a fire alarm in the building, and there was smoke in the hall. She covered us up with a thick blanket and took us outside, where the firemen admired us after finding out that it was just a washing machine that had broken and overheated. There was no way the Tall One would have left us in the building, exposed to smoke. She took us into the fresh air right away (luckily, it was warm outside) and made sure the building had been aired out before she took us back inside.

Part of a human's job is to keep the tiels safe, and so it's important to keep yourself informed. Of course, I can't guarantee the accuracy of the information on these sites, but they seem like a good place to start. If you know of any other good sites on the topic, please post them below under "Comments". Of course, I will keep you updated on other informative articles I may find in the future.

Read these pages carefully! Your tiel's safty depends on it!

* Hazards and Care of Your Bird. By Bobbi Brinker, Winged Wisdom Pet E-zine, 1998. This article describes potential hazards, such as teflon pans, self-cleaning ovens, links to articles about toxic foods, plants, chemicals, and toy safety, roaming, guests, other companion animals, windows and mirrors, vet visits, bird fairs, bathing, toys, and more.

* Household Hazards. Another page on the very informative Cockatiel Cottage site. It describes all types of visible and invisible household dangers, some of which I was not even aware of. A must-read!

* Hazardous Plants. A list of potentially dangerous plants to birds.

* Safe Plants and Trees. Before exposing your bird to a plant or perch, make sure that it is on the list of safe items!

* Safe and Toxic Plants. Two useful lists by my friend Eleanor at the Cockatiel Cottage: a list of safe plants, and a list of toxic ones.

* Poisonous Foods, Metals, and Compounds. A list of dangerous stuff.

* Safe Cleaning and Pest Control. By Carolyn Swicegood, Winged Wisdom Pet E-zine, 1999. We cockatiels are very sensitive to chemicals. Some cleaning and pest control products can hurt or kill us. This article describes safe alternatives to these chemicals. Think about it: if it's bad for our lungs, it's probably not good for you, either, so using safe products makes your environment safer not only for your feathered friends, but also for yourself.

* Gillian's Help Desk. This page contains links to bird safety lists and short articles, including first aid, holiday hazards, scented candles, pens and markers, safe wood for perches, potentially toxic plants, dangers in new homes, and many more topics. Concise and easy to understand.

* Cages, Cages, Cages! By Sharron Salas, Winged Wisdom Pet Bird E-zine, 2000. I posted this link previously under "Setting the Stage for the Cage", but I think it's important to include it in this post as well so you can inspect your bird's cage for safety.

Parrot Trivia

2007-02-15T00:14:00.000-07:00

We cockatiels are so pretty and unique that many people forget we are actually small parrots. While we are very special, we also have a lot in common with other parrot species. Here is a trivia quiz about Parrot Behavior! Have fun, and let me know how you did under "Comments"!

What Should You Feed Your Cockatiel?

2007-02-13T16:01:00.000-07:00

Now that we're on the topic of food...

We cockatiels like to eat all kinds of things. Personally, during my first years with the Tall One, I would only eat bird seed, millet spray, honey treats, and my cuttlebone, no matter how hard she tried to get me to eat fruits, vegetables, and other things that she considered healthy. She even tried to convert me to pellets a couple of times, because they are supposedly well-balanced, but when she realized she was facing a hunger strike, she gave me my bird seed. You show me the human that's eating a well-balanced pellet diet, and I'll eat it, too, but in the meantime, I want some real food!

Once Miss Prissy moved in, though, I realized that I had been a little narrow-minded about food. She actually tried all the stuff that the Tall One gave us, not only the bread and pizza crust, but also the fruits and veggies. Of course, I didn't want her to have anything I couldn't get, so I tried it, too, and I have to admit that some of the stuff is pretty good. I really missed out before. The other day, she brought something called a hamburger and gave us a little piece. I'd never had one before, and it was yummy! Yesterday, she gave me something called a tortellini. It was a little softer than the things I usually like to eat, but by now I had learned to try new things anyway. It was soooo good, I ate the whole thing!

So, if you're a cockatiel, I'd encourage you to try and eat what your human gives you, unless it really seems to be bad to eat. If you're a human, you need to make sure that everything you feed your tiel is actually good for him or her. Things like chocolate and avocado are actually toxic for birds, and feeding your feathered friends only seeds is not good for them, either. Following are some links on cockatiel nutrition.

The National Cockatiel Society: Feeding Cockatiels. By Dr. Vanessa Rolfe, DVM, 1997. This is a concise article about how to make sure that your cockatiel gets adequate nutrition.

Health and Diet. This page is part of the Australian National Cockatiel Society's web site, and it contains articles on Caged Birds and Diet, Vitamin A Deficiency, and Weeds for Birds.

Cockatiel Cottage: Diet. My friend Eleanor has a very informative page about cockatiel diet on her Cockatiel Cottage site.

20 Things You Must Know About Nutrition. This very informative list refers not only to cockatiels, but all species of pet birds.

Understanding Pet Bird Nutrition. By Gary D. Butcher and Richard D. Miles, University of Florida, IFAS Extension. This is a well-researched article from a reputable source. It describes the six essential nutrients: water, protein, carbohydrates and fiber, lipids, minerals, and vitamins in a relatively easy-to-understand, but scientific format. It also includes a Question-and-Answer section on bird nutrition.

Avian Nutrition, Winged Wisdom Magazine. By P. J. Schimel, 1997. This is an easy-to read general article about pet bird nutrition. It is split up into food categories, for example water, vegetables, sprouts, fruits, nuts, tablefood, birdy bread, and food toys. The author also points out that different species have different nutritional needs.

Some Random Ideas on how to Get Your Cockatiel to Eat Veggies. This is a fun, short, easy-to try list of ideas. Some of these ideas may not work for you and your tiel, but some of them may, and they sound like a lot of fun. Try them out!

To Peel or Not to Peel: Parrots & Natural Living Foods. By Monica Gonzalez, 2003. Another list of creative ideas on how to get your bird to eat healthy food. Actually, I might print it out and leave it on the Tall One's desk...

Avian Nutrition. By Cynthia L. Kiesewetter, NACS. Despite its title, this article focuses on cockatiels in particular. Each nutrient is described in detail. There is even a chart that shows how much fat each type of seed contains.

Cockatiel Nutrition Guide. This guide is organized by food components such as carbohydrates, proteins, etc. It explains what role they play in cockatiel nutrition and where they can be found. This site is especially useful if you have some background knowledge in nutrition.

What Should I Feed My Cockatiel? By Mary Beth Voelker, Online Pet Consultant, National Cockatiel Society. If you decide to switch your cockatiel's diet to an all-pellet diet, this article gives good advice and a step-by-step guide.

Converting the Seed Junky to Pellets. By Dr. Vanessa Rolfe, DVM, National Cockatiel Society, 1997. This is another article on the same topic.

What to Feed? A Solution. By Peter Feldman. This article gives a different perspective on pellets, considering them a part of a healthy diet rather than the main or exclusive source of nutrition for birds.

As you can see from these articles, there are different issues and opinions involved with providing good nutrition for us birds. While humans know what foods are unhealthy for us and what nutrients we undoubtedly need, there does not seem a consensus on exactly what a good diet should look like. My advice for my human readers is to offer your cockatiel a diet that contains different types of nutritious foods, and to continue doing your research on cockatiel nutrition and new developments in the field. If I hear of new information, I will certainly keep you posted.

In the meantime, if you have any other informative links on the topic, please post them below under "Comments".

Food Fun!

2007-02-12T07:12:00.000-07:00

I really like the Tall One! She came home with a couple of bags last night, and it was full of cockatiel treats! There were different types of bird food, millet spray, fruit treats, and a toy that has seeds inside. She also put some yellow stuff in our drinking water so that it looks like some of that lemonade she likes to drink. I've always wondered what she does that for, but this time, I got a chance to look at the bottle, and it said it had vitamins in it that are healthy for birds. That's good, because Miss Prissy needs extra nutrition now that she is recovering from the pink things. Of course, vitamins are good for me, too. I played with the new toy right away, and it was so much fun!

Setting the Stage for the Cage

2007-02-11T15:15:00.000-07:00

Now that you know how to go about finding a fine-feathered friend and the basics of cockatiel care, your next concern is probably to find out more about how to properly house him or her. Personally, I love my cage. It's my home where I sleep, eat, drink water, climb, play, and preen Miss Prissy. It even has a nice door that folds out into a porch. The Tall One usually opens up the cage while she is in the room, so we have plenty of space and time to fly about and exercise our wings and feet. If you can't let your birds out a lot, you should invest in the biggest cage you can possibly afford and accommodate so your fine-feathered friends can fly around and get their exercise. It is also very important to find a good place for the cage. We cockatiels don't like being cold or sitting in drafts, and we love being where the action is. Keep in mind that we are very social!

* Home Tweet Home... All About Cages. By Anne Johnson, Winged Wisdom Pet Bird E-zine, 1997.

* Cages, Cages, Cages!!! By Sharon Salas, Winged Wisdom Pet Bird E-zine, 2000. Important information about safety considerations when buying a cage.

A cage isn't a cage without perches. While we cockatiels like to play at the bottom of the cage every now and then, we spend most of our time on perches. Make sure that the perches you use are made from wood that is safe for birds. You should provide perches of different thickness to your bird can pick a spot that is comfortable for his feet. Don't use sandpaper-covered perches; your bird's feet will get sore! My personal favorite is the banana-flavored calcium perch the Tall One bought for me. It not only feels good on my feet, it also tastes good and is healthy!

* Perches for Caged Birds. By Holly Nash, DVM, MS, at petecudation.com .

* Bird Cages, Perches, Dishes, and Other Accessories. By Drs. Foster and Smith, Inc., on peteducation.com

I don't like it when the Tall One cleans my cage, but it needs to be done. Once it's nice and clean, I'm happy. Not to mention that a clean cage keeps us birds healthy. You need to be very careful with cleaning supplies, since we birds are very sensitive to chemicals. Good pet stores carry safe cleaners for bird cages. The Tall One uses vinegar, which is a natural cleanser. Anyway, here is a link that describes how to safely clean your bird's cage, and another link about cage liners that help keep the cage clean.

* Cleaning Your Bird's Cage. By Drs. Foster and Smith, Inc., at petecudation.com

* Cage Liners: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. By Carol Highfill, Winged Wisdom Pet Bird E-zine, 1997.

Of course, every cage needs a good cover. We birds do not like being cold at night. Sometimes, a cover calms us down. The Tall One simply uses a nice blanket to cover us, but for those of you who are creatively inclined, here is a link on creating pretty covers for your bird cage:

* Decorative Cage Covers. By Katherine Booth, Winged Wisdom Pet Bird E-zine, 1997.

We will talk about the things that belong in the cage (food, water, toys, etc.) at a later time.

Au revoir!

A Cool, Cool Visit

2007-02-10T05:00:00.000-07:00

The Cool One came over last night, and completely unexpected! The silly Tall One had been gone all day at her place called work, and it was getting dark, when suddenly, she came home, and the Cool One was there, too! He whistled at me right away and took me out of the cage. Now, usually I bite everyone who tries to hold me, but the Cool One is an exception. We understand each other, and besides, he saved my life. So of course I was thrilled that he came to play with me. He even held me upside down! I love looking at the world from a bat's perspective! Here are the pictures!

I feel like I'm in a bird's nest! How comfy!

I like it when he's wearing a shirt with one of those toys called zipper!

Ready, set...

... chew!

Caring for Your Feathered Friend

2007-02-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

Here are some introductory articles on cockatiel care. They cover a wide variety of topics, such as selecting a tiel, quarantine, cages, cleaning, wing and foot care, nutrition, accessories, and much more. Don't get overwhelmed by the information; I will post links on each of these topics in the future. This is just to get you started.

* New Bird In Your Home.
Information provided by Dr. Jill M. Patt, DVM.

* Caring for Your Pet Cockatiel. By Amy Patria, Winged Wisdom Pet Bird E-zine, 1998.

* Cages and Accessories for Your Pet Cockatiel. By Mary Beth Voelker, National Cockatiel Society Online Pet Consultant, 1997.

New Award And More Bird Rescue Links

2007-02-07T05:40:00.000-07:00

I'm very happy to tell you that my blog has won another award! This one is from the nice people at www.parrotphotos.us .

Remember how a little while ago, I posted an article with links about adopting birds? Lynne from www.parrotphotos.us e-mailed me several other links, along with this very true message:

It is important for people to understand that there are a lot of "throw away" birds out there - particularly the smaller ones - in need of homes and sitting in shelters waiting for a loving home. Usually it is not the BIRD that is the problem, but the people who impulse buy them who do not do their homework and come to understand how to properly care for them.

So, here are the additional links for finding a fine-feathered friend in need of a good home:

http://www.mickaboo.org/our-birds/all-small.html (I posted a link to Mickaboo previously, but this one lists the birds currently available for adoption.)
http://avianwelfare.org/issues/homelessness.htm
http://www.avianwelfare.org/issues/marketing.htm
http://www.avianwelfare.org/issues/sheltering.htm
http://www.secondchancebirds.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=184

Thank you for the award and the information, Lynne!

The Return of the Tall One

2007-02-06T19:06:00.000-07:00

I think the Tall One realized I was mad at her, because she came home at lunch time. She made herself some of that liquid stuff that she calls soup, with little things floating in it just like when Miss Prissy drops our food into our water dish. (I can't stand it when my feathered friend does that, and I chirp for the Tall One to change the water.)

Anyway, the soup did not look appetizing to me, but I still chirped at the Tall One to give me food. Not that I was really hungry; I just felt like a snack. She gave me a piece of banana. Now, I like the taste, because that's the flavor of my calciumm perch, but the fruit itself is way too soft. I tried it, but it was not crunchy, so I left it alone. If she figured out a way to make a banana crunchy, I would try it alright, but not if it is soft.

Miss Prissy didn't even bother to try it, even though she is usually obsessed with anything edible. She was so happy our human was home that she flew on the Tall One's head right away and climbed down on her shoulder. Since I had nothing better to do, I abandoned the banana and landed on the Tall One's head, too, and preened her hair while Miss Prissy got the human's shirt dirty in a matter of seconds. I think the Tall One felt better, though; I'm sure she did not mind changing clothes. She has so many, more than I have feathers... Then she went off again to the place called work, and I returned to the computer to do some more tiel research for you.

Oh no, gotta go!

Don't Go to Work, Human!

2007-02-06T07:00:00.000-07:00

I am really mad at the Tall One today. She actually went to that place she calls work, just as I was getting used to her being home all day long. I knew she was going to, because she got up early and ate something, and then she ran the water in the bathroom for a long time. She only let Miss Prissy and me out for a few minutes and put us right back into the cage. Those are the classic signs that she is planning to be gone all day. I thought about biting her, but then I saw that she had filled up our food dish, and that appeased me somewhat.

The Tall One just doesn't know what's best for her and, more importantly, for me. She's not even feeling well yet. She's sneezing a lot, and she's still tired. Of course, she should be staying home with Miss Prissy and me. But this way, she'll come home when it's dark, and then she'll be too tired to let us out and play with us.

I chirped at her to let her know she couldn't leave, but she did not obey me! Even Miss Prissy joined in the noisemaking, but it did not change the Tall One's mind. She is so stubborn! It's very annoying when humans don't do what they're told.

Woodpecker Time

2007-02-05T17:17:00.000-07:00

The Tall One is still not feeling well, so she stayed home today, even though it's the first day of her routine and she should be leaving early. She says the place she goes to is called work, but I don't really believe her. Her job is to take care of me, that's the only work she should be concerned about. Anyway, that place will have to do without her today, because I can tell she is still miserable. She coughs and sneezes a lot, and she is really tired.

For Miss Prissy and me, that's a good thing, because it means that the cage door is open whenever the Tall One is awake and on the soft thing she calls a couch. I took the opportunity to climb behind the cage. At first, I ripped up all the newspaper the Tall One had placed underneath the cage. Once it was all gone, I did not really know what to do, because all that was left was the wooden cabinet our cage sits on, but then I started tapping it with my beak. It was a lot of fun, because it sounded hollow and made a lot of noise. I like noise! The Tall One told me I sounded like a woodpecker, but it did not seem to bother her much, because she did not stop me. Maybe she was glad I was leaving the papers on her desk and the rubber cords that come out of the wall alone.

I wonder if she'll stay home tomorrow, too. Maybe I should e-mail that place she calls work and tell them they can't have her. Her work is to take care of me so I can play outside the cage all day.

One Tiel or Two?

2007-02-05T04:30:00.000-07:00

One Tiel...

Now that you've decided to get a tiel, you are probably wondering whether it's best to get just one cockatiel or two. People say that one cockatiel may bond very well to one person, whereas two cockatiels usually bond to each other, leaving the human somewhat left out. On the other hand, cockatiels like company, and if their humans are gone all day, they will be lonely.

Personally, I enthusiastically endorse the idea of getting two tiels. I liked being with the Tall One alright, but she does not have feathers and is gone most of the day. Once Miss Prissy moved in, I was much happier. We share the same cage, preen each other, and we even bond with the Tall One together. As a matter of fact, I spend more time with our human now, because Miss Prissy adores her and likes to sit on her head or shoulders, and of course I go where Miss Prissy goes. The Tall One and I have gotten along much better since my feathered friend moved in. I was lucky, though; Miss Prissy is very easygoing, and we liked each other right away. If that had not been the case, the Tall One might have had to put us in separate cages, so it really depends on how well the two tiels get along.

These, of course, are my own experiences. Here are some articles about the topic that will give you some more information:

Double the Trouble or Double the Fun? Keeping Birds in Twos. By Winged Wisdon Pet Bird Magazine, June 1998.

An Only Bird Is a Lonely Bird. By R.R. Holster/PetStation

Should I Get a Second Cockatiel? By Mary Beth Voelker, National Cockatiel Society, 1998.

... or Two?

Super Bowl Sunday

2007-02-04T15:30:00.000-07:00

I won't be able to stay on the computer very long; the Tall One will be coming out of the other room pretty soon to watch her talking box that she calls a TV. A big football game called the Super Bowl is on. To be honest, I don't know much about the rules, unlike the Tall One, and I don't really care who wins. I love football, though, because the humans on TV make a lot of noise. They scream and they whistle, and I really like hearing it. I usually whistle right along. Get the chips ready, human, I'm ready for the game!

The Demise of Thing Number Three

2007-02-04T12:12:00.000-07:00

By now, you are probably wondering what happened with the pink things. Well, about a day after the Tall One took the first two away while she was cleaning the cage, another pink thing appeared. This time, though, neither Miss Prissy nor I felt like sitting on it. I didn't, because I'd tried it a couple of times and it was very boring. Miss Prissy kind of surprised me, though, because she usually acts like the pink things are the most important things in the world. Maybe it's because the cage looks different, or because the heat in the apartment has been fluctuating due to the cold, cold weather outside, but when it comes down to it, I don't really care. The thing is just at the bottom of the cage, Miss Prissy, the Tall One, and I all ignore it, and no new ones have appeared. I hope this is it for a while where pink things are concerned.

More Cockatiel Jigsaws!

2007-02-03T22:57:00.000-07:00

I know many of you love to do jigsaw puzzles. Don't forget to check out the daily jigsaw puzzle link under "Daily Diversions" on the left bar of the screen! However, if you feel that there are not enough cockatiel puzzles featured, here is a link to five jigsaw puzzles featuring beautiful cockatiels. If you still want more, try the bird jigsaw puzzles page, which includes pictures of other feathered species, for example cockatoos, lovebirds, canaries, budgies, finches, african greys, amazons, and macaws.

Have fun!

Buying a Healthy Cockatiel

2007-02-03T11:18:00.000-07:00

Just to make sure you are really prepared for the responsibility of serving a cockatiel, here is another link that will help you consider the implications:
Considering a Pet Bird? Ask Yourself These Seven Critical Questions. By Simon Blake at petboro.com.

Following is a list of very useful links for choosing a pet bird in general and/or a cockatiel in particular. As a cockatiel, I can only base my judgment on my own experiences, and these links seem very good to me, but of course I cannot guarantee that the humans who wrote these articles got all their information right. I hope they make your search for a cockatiel companion easier!

* Introduction to Cockatiels. By Susan Hahn. This brief article contains a description of cockatiel characteristics and what to consider when selecting a bird.

* How to Buy a Cockatiel by e-how.com. This is a brief 9-step guide. It provides useful introductory information. However, you should read several of the information provided in the following links for more specifics.

* Procuring the Right Bird for You -- the Right Way. Information provided by Dr. Jill M. Patt, DVM. "Procuring" is a fancy word, just right for us fancy birds. This is probably my favorite article on the topic of getting a bird, because it is packed with information. It includes questions to ask yourself, and information and links about bird adoption, which the author and I both recommend over purchasing a bird. In addition, it provides information about the advantages and disadvantages of buying from private parties, breeders, and pet stores.

* Choosing Your Bird. By Parrots Canada, 2000. This article covers pretty much anything that a prospective first bird buyer needs to know, including how to start looking, whether to buy from a breeder or pet store, hand raised babies and weaning, personality, lifesapan, noise level, price, signs of a sick bird, and much more. If children live in the house, the "if you have children, read this" section is especially helpful.

* Buying a Cockatiel. This page provides a comprehensive overview for the first time cockatiel buyer, including a description of our personality, a checklist to see if you are the right kind of person for a tiel, tips on choosing a male or female, one bird or a pair, buying a tiel and a suitable cage, and information on cockatiel bands.

* Purchasing a First Bird Companion. By Pamela L. West, Birds and Ways: Winged Wisdom Pet Bird E-zine, 2001. This article descibes the different options for buying a pet bird: professional breeders, hobbyists, and commercial pet shops. It also includes a list of questions to ask if buying from a pet store.

* Ask and You Shall Receive: Buying a Quality Pet Bird. By Anne Jackson, Birds and Ways: Winged Wisdom Pet E-zine, 1997. This article includes useful lists of questions to ask when buying a bird, including general information and questions as well as questions about diet, health, and care and questions specific for the bird you might select.

* The A, B, Cs and 1, 2, 3s of Bird Buying by Wanda Elder, Birds n Ways, 1997. This article includes a useful list for questions to ask of breeders, exhibitors, and private sellers. I find the questions to ask about older birds especially important.

* Before You Purchase Your New Bird. By Donna Mason, 1997. This page includes three checklists that are very useful when considering a bird for purchase: a health checklist, a list of questions to ask, and a list of basic needs of your new bird.

* Finding a Good Pet Store. By Becky Taylor. This article describes what to look for when choosing a pet store.

* Healthy Cockatiels, by my friend Eleanor McCaffrey at Cockatiel Cottage. This very beautiful page includes information on how to tell if a cockatiel is healthy, including a detailed checklist.

* Inspecting and Choosing a Healthy Bird. By Geoffrey and Barbara Gould, Parrot Preservation Society, 1993. This article describes how to select a bird from a breeder, including questions to ask.

* National Cockatiel Society Bird Checklist. By Dr. Vanessa Rolfe, DVM, 1997. This is a very brief list of the essential items you need to make your cockatiel feel at home. I will post more articles on taking care of your tiel soon!

If you know of any other useful links on this topic, please leave them under "Comments"!

Time with the Tall One

2007-02-03T10:11:00.000-07:00

The Tall One is staying home today. Now, that's not really surprising, since it's the sixth day. She usually leaves really early for five days in a row, but the following two days, she does not. On those days, it's hard to tell what she is going to do; sometimes she leaves later, sometimes she stays home, and sometimes the Cool One comes over. Then she starts all over with the five days of leaving early. I don't know why she follows such a strange pattern instead of just staying home with Miss Prissy and me, but she does many silly things, and I try not to wonder too much about them. At least I have some idea what she is going to do on most days.

Today is different, though, because I can tell the Tall One is not feeling well. She sounds funny when she talks, and she sneezes quite a bit. She gets that way sometimes. To be honest, I don't mind it, because I know that she'll stay home with us for sure. I'm a very healthy bird, and I've never been sick in my life, but I know how Miss Prissy acts right before the pink things appear, and I remember that one time when Miss Prissy kept losing her feathers and growing new ones for two months, so I can tell when others are not feeling well. The Tall One does not always know what she is doing, but she really likes me, and so I don't like it when she is sick. I want her to be happy.

I think Miss Prissy was thinking the same thing. She flew off to land on the Tall One's shoulders, and I followed, landing on her head. I preened her hair for a while, and then I climbed down on her shoulder and preened her neck, and I think she felt better, because she called us "pretty birds" and petted Miss Prissy. (She knows better than to try and touch me; I want to make her feel better, but that does not mean that she can pet me!)

I had to wait until she got tired and went back to the long soft thing in the other room where she likes to sleep before I could finally get to the computer and give you this long-awaited update. Those humans sure are funny. Every self-respecting bird sleeps standing up or, at the very least, sitting in a nest, but the humans actually stretch out horizontally as if they were dead. The first few times the Tall One did that, I panicked and started screaming, and I still do that sometimes when I see her doing that, even though I know now that she'll get up and be just fine, but it just does not look right. Well, if it helps her feel better to sleep that way for a while, I'll try not to make too much noise. You never can tell, though; if I feel like chirping, I will do it, and the Tall One will just have to wait until I'm done.

Le petit déjeuner

2007-02-02T06:18:00.000-07:00

Bonjour, mes amis!

I am very happy with the Tall One this morning. While she was having her breakfast and I was sitting on top of my cage, she gave me some of the bread that I really like, the kind that has little seeds baked in it. Of course, she gave me my favorite part, the end piece that consists mostly of the crust. I don't like bread that is too soft, but this kind is just right. Yum! I chirped happily while I was eating. The day is off to a good start!

Tiel Trivia

2007-01-31T12:33:00.000-07:00

Bonjour!

I found another cockatiel trivia quiz for you: All About Cockatiels. Have fun, and leave me a comment how you liked it and how you did!

The Cage Cleaning Ordeal

2007-01-28T23:04:00.000-07:00

There is one thing I hate almost as much as bathing, and that's when the Tall One gets into her cage cleaning moods. As usual, she was very sneaky about it, opening the cage door and then waiting until both Miss Prissy and I took a break from sitting on the boring pink things. As soon as we strolled on top of the cage, she started dismantling it, even taking the bottom off. At least she has given up on trying to stick us in the small cage she used to put us in at cage cleaning times; I guess my sharp beak got the message across after all. Instead, she put us on her shoulder, and after a while we flew off onto the bookshelf.

I don't think Miss Prissy knew what was going on, but I watched the Tall One as she took our beautiful cage apart and scrubbed it down. Now, I like a clean cage as much as the next tiel, but did she have to do this today? It's not like we haven't had an exciting enough week already! The pink things, the boiler, and now this? To let her know how I felt about it, I shredded the magazines on the shelf, and after that, I felt better.

After a while, she brought the top of the cage back, and she let us sit on it while she got the other parts ready. When she finally assembled everything, it was squeaky clean, we had fresh water and birdseed, and she had even put some newspaper underneath the cage that I started shredding right after having some food, since she did not bother to close the cage door yet.

The day's excitements were still not over; suddenly, I slipped on the newspaper and fell behind the cabinet, just like Miss Prissy did the other day. Of course, it was not my fault, but the Tall One's. Unlike Miss Prissy, I am not prone to panic. I did not flutter my pretty wings so I would not hurt them, I simply chirped for the Tall One to get me, and she did. Of course, I was undaunted by the adventure and kept on shredding, until it occurred to me that the cage looked different than before.

So I climbed back inside, and I inspected the place. A few of the toys were missing, but that was not the most alarming part. The pink things were gone, too! Now, I had given up on the Tall One taking care of the things, and, to be honest, I had gotten used to them. Why did she take them away now? Miss Prissy, of course, did not even notice they were gone, but if I remember correctly, two or three more of those things should show up soon anyway.

If she is going to take our toys away, I might as well preen my pretty feathers while I am waiting...

... and do some stretching exercises...

... while Miss Prissy is totally oblivious to the fact that the Tall One is rearranging all our cage furniture.

What have you done with the pink things, human? We left them right here. Miss Prissy, our pink things are gone!

What pink things? I don't remember any pink things. Hmmm, that bird seed is yummy!

Adopting a Cockatiel

2007-01-28T19:35:00.000-07:00

Now, if you have decided that you are the right type of human for a cockatiel, your next question is, of course, how to find one. There are many tiels out there who, like moi at the time, have been abandoned by people who did not understand their needs. Others may have had caring humans who passed away. These tiels are in need of a home that is worthy of them, and if you are in a position to provide it, you should.

Luckily, there are many caring humans who dedicate their time to helping animals find good homes. Being a cockatiel, of course, I have not been in a situation where I needed to find an animal to adopt, so I cannot guarantee how well the following services work, but they certainly will give you a place to start.

If you live in the USA, a good place to check is petfinder.com. You can search not only for cockatiels, but also for other types of birds and other animals, such as dogs, cats, reptiles, and even pigs! All you need to do is select what kind of animal you are looking for, along with your ZIP code, and a list of animals will pop up. Many of them even have pictures.

Here is a list of Bird Rescues and Sanctuaries in different countries. States in the USA are listed first. Scroll further down for Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Panama, the Netherlands, or the United Kingdom.

The Mickaboo Cockatiel Rescue has a Reading Room where you can find answers to frequently asked questions and some information on avian care, dangers in the home, symptoms of illness, and other topics. If you live in California, you can check their site for cockatiels and other birds that are up to adoption, and you can even attend free bird care classes! I wish all humans got training before taking in a cockatiel, or any other creature for that maatter.

If you have any other cockatiel, bird, or animal rescue links, please post them under "Comments" below. I will keep my eyes open for more cockatiel adoption information.