Intoduction to lovebirds

Oh, alright...I guess I could say some stuff about my neighbors.

Those neighbors of mine are lovebirds and they originate from Africa (I looked it up..) They are bright colored usually. Some species, such as the masked lovebird, are not brightly colored, though, with their dark feathers around their eyes...thus their name.

Some bird guides say that the peachfaced lovebirds (such as my neighbors) are the most aggressive. hmm..

They are much smaller than I am, perhaps half my size. Not to mention they really don't like me that much. Maybe our size difference has to do with it, but 'tiels and lovebirds don't naturally mix.

Another difference is that they are much, much noisier than I am. They can talk to basically no one. For such little birds, they are quite loud.

Their acrobatic skills are higher than mine as well. They are able to climb their cage walls and cling upside down on the roof. They are fairly good flyers...ok, they're better than me in that too...

Up or Down?

See those feathers on my head? Those are called crest or crown feathers.
Yes! I, Sunny, have a golden crown!
Anyway, you saw the reason why it's up on the picture to the left in a previous post. (time for a review!)
In this case, I saw something outside that was either very interesting or creepy. (no, I'm not a scaredy cat!)
Feathers that are not puffed up and close together making me look skinny go with the scared look. (if one saw a huge bird outside, of course one would be scared!)




To the right is a picture of me content. You might notice that my feathers are in a more relaxed position. Puffy! I don't look as skinny either. (maid Cy isn't scary, so..)



When I'm angry, my feathers are either in a compact position like above, or they are fluffed up.
To tell the difference, I let out a warning shriek, and keep my beak open as if to bite. My head is kept low near the threat, so to have a better position to strike. I sometimes flick my wings briefly to add to the warning.
Ok, then I run away. Better to run than to fight...
..particularly since a little 12 inch bird can't do much.



It takes a quite a bit to make cockatiels angry. We are a friendly species of bird.
It's better to remain happy anyway!

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.