Cockatoos in the Wild -- or Wild in Civilization

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

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

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!

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

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?

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

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

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

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?

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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!