A Confusing Snooze

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

Feathered Friends

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

More Time with the Cool One

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

Millet Spray!!!

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

Tiel Therapy

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

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

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

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

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

Note the other cockatiels in the branches above!

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

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

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

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

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

Upside Down

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

The Arrival of More Pink Things

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

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

Tales of the Tall One

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

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...