Pin Feathers 'n' molting

On your left, is a pic of a baby bird. (baby Lovebird) just covered in pin feathers.

Not a pretty sight, but you should see the bird afterwards.







Another reason why we preen, is because we need to smooth our pin feathers out. What are pin feathers, you ask? Well, humans have hair; you just grow hair, there's nothing blocking. We birds, however, are covered with feathers. Now, it'd be a right funny sight (as well as uncomfy) for to just start growing full feathers out of our plumage. No, we have what you call pin feathers. The feathers grow inside a covering that looks like a small stick with a pointed end. If you'd like a more specific description as well as development, Click Here for Wikipedia's explanation.

This is how we grow back feathers from our molting season. We have to molt, of course, not all feathers stay fresh...

Fooooooood

Yuuummmy! Now here's my favorite topic! Food, saffron seeds, sunflower seeds, millet seeds, the list goes on and on. We don't just eat seeds, though. Too many seeds make us fat! Because seeds are mostly starch and such, it would be like eating bread all the time. We eat veggies, all kinds of veggies. Carrot sticks, broccoli, cauliflower, string beans, lettuce...see, all kinds of veggies. Just don't feed a lovebird or cockatiel tomatoes or any mushy foods. Like avocado. Oh, and just in case, consult a handbook afore giving a bird a certain veggie, not all foods good for humans are good for birds!

We could eat bread too. Really, even the birds outside eat bread! Cooked spaghetti strings are also a treat, the look like worms. Regular bread if you please, nothing fancy added to it, just in case. Tortilla is fun to eat as well as rice.

Chocolate. Biiiiiiggggg NO for a bird, or any "Pet" for that matter!!

Long time no blog...

...a'cause I've been busy preening my fluffy feathers! No, I'm joking, but we do have to preen. Preening helps our feathers to stay healthy and free from dust or other such harmful and flight preventing objects. Preening also keeps our feathers in place after flight so the next time we need to escape, our feathers are ready.
Tail feathers are particularly important. They are our rudders for flight. Any science book can tell you, so I won't go in to much detail.

Toys...well now that's a thing hard to come by, particularly since mistress hasn't a job. Yes, toys are very expensive, so inventive mistress gives us string. Not the kind of string you use to sew cloth, a nice kind of string to make knots in. You see, they can't be very thin, or we risk getting our necks ouched. Knotted string, however, is a wonderful substitute for toys. We unravel the knots, and oh it's very fun! Not too long of a string though...

Go cousin!!

This is one awesome cousin!
We cockatiels are a smaller version, but here's an example of what any fun loving bird can do.
For a Cockatoo article click here.

Ta da!

Another example of bird behavior:

Click here

Or, well, follow the link on Mistress' blog at least.

African Greys are among the best in the art of mimicking.

Click here to see a picture and article about them.

St. Francis of Assisi (pictured right) is the patron saint of birds, well, animals in general. Once, he preached to us birds! The picture is from Patron Saints Index.

Look what I can do!!

Mistress sure takes a long time to post something! To her credit, though, she does have a lot to do.

Have you ever wondered just what a cocketiel can do? Well, we can do a tremendous amount!

Oh the joys of whistling! Teach us the right song, not too long, and eventually we'd learn it. Careful, though, one at the time, else we'll get confused!

'Tiels are pretty good at copying sounds. Click your tongue, and we'll mimic. (yick, even kissing sounds) Whistle, and we'll do it too! Sounds of all kinds are fun for us, especially the interesting ones. All you have to do is teach us.

I confess, I don't really like this one, but it makes Mistress happy. What she does is stick her finger right in front of my feet (a little higher) then whistles a high note. She's telling me to step up on her finger. (Usually that means she's going to put me back in my cage.)


I like this one! Mistress knocks on a table, and I follow by knocking my beak on whatever I'm standing on!


I'm potty trained.


Yes, we do get tired. When I get tired, I automatically go back home. (To my cage)


Some of these examples vary. Some 'tiels may preform these tricks, others may not. It all depends on the way we were taught, and the talents we were given.

Feathers and Beak

Okey dokey, more characteristics of a cockatiel!

The bird on the right (yes, it's me) as you can see, I have my head feathers up. Chances are I'm surprised, curious, or alarmed. I'm also looking kinda skinny. That has nothing to do with my diet, (which is fine) like his crown feathers, it means I'm alarmed, surprised, or curious. As you can see on the picture on the far right up there somewhere, I'm sort of puffed up. Relaxed is what it means. Our feathers add to our size. When we sleep, we become even more puffy.

On to the multi useful beak!
Beaks are used for eating, preening, checking things out, climbing, and defense. Shells of seeds are punctured and and the delicious interior eaten, and feathers are cleaned and prepared for flight. You can tell, birds don't have hands, feet yes, but we cockatiels don't use them to pick things up. Instead,we use out beaks! So wires beware! Hmm, wires are chewy...uh...
Defense! Of course, if meany hands are forever in the way, they will promptly be bitten. So pleeaasssee be careful. Nice, too.

Me, Sunny

Ah! That's better! This is me! Ok, so I'm usually more cheerful looking...

Anyway, I'm a pearl cockatiel. If Mistress takes a picture of my feathers on my back, they look like white pearls on grey. As you can see, I'm male. How to tell? My face is yellow.

Also, I have bright red cheek feathers. In addition, I have a yellow crown. Ok, not a crown, head feathers. More on that later. Unlike my canibal-uh lovebird neighbors, I have a smaller beak. It's just as effective! Just smaller.What's missing from my face, you say? Nothing....

Ooohhh, ears! We birds have ears, of course! Like you, they're on the side of our heads, or in my case, behind the red spots.

Cockatiels & Lovebirds

Hello, welcome to Sunny's Birdblog. I'm Sunny, a cockatiel, one of the most friendly and social of all pet birds. (Though the picture on the right isn't a cockatiel, it's a lovebird, like my neighbors) This blog is created with the help of my mistress Cy to help her keep track of how to take care of me, and for you to enjoy learning how also. Have fun!