Reasoning with Cockatiels

It is practically impossible. Miss Patty and Yo-yo finally decided the floor of their cage was the best place to start a family, as that was the one place I could not keep them from.

Miss Patty laid the first egg without much trouble. The second one, however, was another story. She was two days late laying, during which time she got plenty of steam baths. After the last one, she did finally lay it, but not without great difficulty. I was worried that the strain had been too much for her- for the next day she did nothing but lay on the floor of the cage. However, she has since improved, and now, a week later, seems as good as she was before. The experience, though, seems to have cooled her urge to raise a family.

After she laid the first one,I was surprised to see that she really seemed serious about raising a family. Both she and Yo-yo took very good care of that egg. She not only sat on it,but turned it regularly, and even seemed to check it with her beak for temperature. She would then stand beside it for several minutes before resuming her position on top. She also got up quite often, wet her stomach in the water dish and then went back to sitting, though now with proper egg hatching humidity.

Yo-yo would take over sitting on the egg whenever she left to eat, or just took a break. He was ever so dedicated a father, but I must say, he was not very good at it. He would spend the entire time he was supposed to be sitting on the egg, often half an hour or more, simply trying to adjust it beneath himself. Instead of watching Miss Patty, and placing the egg between his leg and breast bone as she had done, he continually tried to place it directly beneath his breast bone. Obviously, this did not work, for once it was there, his feet could no longer touch the ground, and Yo-yo would fall forward while the egg rolled backward. Needless to say,Yo-yo took the egg on some very long walks across the bottom of the cage!

For a day or so after the second egg was laid, they continued sitting. Actually Miss Patty was too tired to get up, so she sat on the eggs while Yo-yo preened and fed her. After a bit, Yo-yo even took one of the eggs to "sit" on, so she only had to sit on one. Very adorable to watch, but I am only too glad to say that a week later, there have been no more eggs, and the two that were laid are totally abandoned on the bottom of the cage. Miss Patty hopefully has laid her last, so I do not have to worry about her anymore, or replacing the eggs, as I would have had to do if she had kept up her dedication. I certainly don't need to add to the thousands of cockatiels already needing homes!

And Oscar has gone home!

Surprisingly, my "shameless endorsement" of Oscar worked, and he has found a lovely new home, with Karla and her family, who are just waiting to spoil him! He was taken there just a few days ago, and I know he will be very happy there. You can also check out her recently started blog, and see how all of her flock is doing.

Now, just mentioning it again, if anyone is interested in an amazingly tame and incredibly loving Indian Ringneck girl, don't hesitate to contact me!

And we have arrived!

The travel day was, in general, rather uneventful. Everyone got here fine, and was very happy to be set up in their cages. Although they were all a bit stressed for a few days, and unanimously decided becoming very picky eaters was only thing worth doing, they soon got over that. Not surprisingly, separating birds like Yo-yo and Miss Patty from their food is extremely difficult!

Speaking of Yo-yo and Miss Patty, they have decided to be quite contrary to all commonly accepted rules of breeding, and in just the few days since arriving, and even fewer since settling in, have come to the decision that this is the perfect place to start a family. Again. A completely new place, and no "obvious" nesting sites available, and yet this is the time they chose. So far, they have tried the top of a picture frame, behind their cage (which is on a table, not set against the wall and beside a window) under a chair, under the dresser, and under the bed. So far, the dresser seems to be winning. Yo-yo spent over half an hour under there yesterday, whistling, talking, and calling to Miss Patty to come. She declined stubbornly, and stayed on top of the cage. As she did not seem interested in the dresser then, I was happy to let Yo-yo entertain himself under there - at least it meant I did not have to stand in front of the picture frame (the previous favorite spot) the entire time they were out of the cage! However, today he managed to convince Miss Patty to join him, so I now have another place from which to keep them. It is not easy, though. As soon as I let them out of their cage in the morning, they start flying from one "nest spot" to another, and it is all I can do to protect the furniture from being chewed or them killing themselves, let alone stop their building a nest at all! If you add that to the fact Yo-yo has morphed, seemingly overnight, into to something not unlike a ferocious 9 inch dragon...... well, you see my point.

On a different note, I just came back from taking Ava on a walk, which both of us greatly enjoyed. It is odd, though, ever since I got her, she has been extremely sensitive to heat and/or the sun. She starts panting and holding her wings out almost immediately, and if you don't get her to a cooler place or spray her with some cool water, she quickly looks like she is about to pass out. It has always bothered me, none of my other birds do this. Because of this, though, when I take her out, I cover the top of the carrier, and take a spray bottle with me. I also try to take her out on cooler days, or when there is a breeze, of course, as there was today. As I said, despite her heat issues, she did really enjoy the walk and the fresh air, studying all there was to see outside. When she came in, I gave her a spray bath, which she also loved. After all that excursion, along with the effect of a couple of her favorite treat, sunflower seeds, she is now taking a nice long nap.

Claudia is gaining surprising new knowledge already from this trip - she has been practicing all day the frog calls she hears outside. It is quite funny, actually, watching her while she works so hard to perfect it. Although it is an adorable sound, I don't think she quite has it yet - her voice is too high!

Frank and Lola are simply loving the fact that they have an entire new backyard to yell at out. I take them out on the porch, and they stay happy all day, chattering with each other, playing, and telling the local squirrels and birds exactly what is up and what is not!

And, for those MCS readers, the air is so much better here off the Potomac in the woods, I am really enjoying being able to go outside! Combine that with the fact that the air in the house is so much better, too, and it is a win-win situation. Being able to take deep breaths is simply wonderful!

Awww, Quakers are so cute

After a shower, Frank and Lola were having some later afternoon playtime on my bed. However much trouble those two are (ahem, Frank!) they certainly are sweet and so lovable. Along with being incredibly photogenic, of course.

Wet fluffiness.

A rare picture of Frank mid-preen.

A more usual picture of Frank preening,
as he is preening while posing perfectly for the camera.
Lola is in the back, doing a bit of a fluff and ruffle.

Finishing with a nice afternoon nap in the warm sun.

Lola playing on my stomach. She can be such a sweet bird;
she loves playing and sleeping on her back on my stomach,
or simply on the bed beside me.