Loss of another...

Yesterday, we lost "Lugano", the son of our beloved hen "Pierre".

Lost Bird

Our "new" edition, now a after a year and a half flew the coop on Monday January 7th. I left for work with them in their cage and on a screened in porch. Someone that shouldn't have opened the cage did so. That same person later opened the door to the screened porch. Orly is the only one missing, so for that I'm grateful, but she was the sweetest of all of them.

We've put up posters and will still keep looking, but with hawks and vultures near our home in Orlando (yes we moved) the chances of survival are dim. Her wings were also mostly clipped, with one long feather and one medium length allowing for flights of 30-50 feet (guess).

She is nowhere in sight.

I've owned birds for over 5 years and have never had this experience.

New Addition

This is a great shot of the latest additon to our family of birds. She is about 7-8 months old.

We aquired her about 3 months ago, and have assumed she is a female based upon the lack of vocalization and other mannerisms. 

Death in the Family

Our beloved father 'tiel, Victoria, died today. His death was sudden, and unexpected, and we hope pain free.

He was a joy to behold, curious and shy at the same time. He was loved by all who came to know him. He and his mate (Pierre) had two cluches of babies. The first clutch saw 7 'tiels make their way into the world. The second clutch saw 4 more join their brothers and sisters.

We will always love you.... Thanks for sharing your love with us.

-David & Madga

Outside for the day

Well, I finally did it. Monday I had a dentist appointment, that was just a bit to late in the morning to go to work, but not early enough to leave at a normal time. I had breakfast with the birds, spending about 30 minutes with them in our screened in patio.

I got busy with a couple of things and the next thing I know it's time to leave. I ran outside and put the birds away, closing the cages.

When I got home, my wife - who arrives before I do - let me know that one of the babies was left outside. She had put him back in so I don't know which one it was, but they all seem none the worse for wear. There was seeds left out (from earlier that morning) so he did have something to eat.

Needless to say, I'm counting to 6 twice a day. Then I'm counting to 2 for the other cage twice a day, everyday.

Zurich, the baby of the bunch

Here is Zurich, the "baby" of the bunch. I believe that this is a "she" because of both her temprament as well as the lack of vocalization. The other male birds are singing and vocalizing now. She always wants to be around her mother.

This is one of few times I've been able to keep her still to snap a photo.

Great photo of one of the resting babies

Here is a great photo of one of the Babies. Go back and lookup what they looked like when they were born (less than a year ago). The egg that they came from was barely the size of his head now.

If you notice the wings, you'll see that he's in for a clipping. Those feathers sticking out of the right wing there are just too long, enabling him to fly about. I just got finished cutting one of the other babies this morning, and he'll get his turn later today.

He's so much like his dad (Victoria) that he looks like him at night with the white wing sides and the bright yellow on the front of his face (around the eyes and beak). His dad is a bit more yellow, but at night with a light that casts a yellow shadow it's hard to tell them apart sometimes.

New Years Eve

Well, this year was a quiet one with nary a feather ruffled. Our neighbors decided not to set off fireworks like last year. Last year the birds were given such a fright that at least 3 of them lost feathers.

Cockatiels do not see well at night, they usually perch and wait for daylight once the sun starts to go down. Obviously, noises like fireworks and firecrackers scare them, and this is aggrevated by both not being able to see well, and the bright lights given off by the fireworks.

Hope your birds had a good new years eve, and a new year.

Vacation Week

I spent last week on vacation, and spent some time with the birds, enjoying their company. It was a fairly quiet week and it passed quickly.

Friday was the first day that I cut the babies wings. I didn't trim them but about 1/2 of what I normally trim them. I'm trying to keep them from flying to the top of the screen enclosure and a couple of high perch points. Most of them seemed to take it fairly well, though they still have not gotten down the idea of climbing the ladder to get back into the cage.

Uneventful weekend

The birds and the babies got to get out of their cage for much of the day on Saturday, and all of the morning on Sunday so they enjoyed it. They flew around, learning to land and fly (I think they got that down). They ate, they played on the floor with Mom and Dad for a little while. They would not play on the playground that I had for them on the floor. I'll have to figure out how to get them involved in that. All in all it was a good weekend.

I've got this eating thing down!

One of the babies showing us what babies do. He actually was eating from the purple cup, but decided that the plate of food was the proper angle to do so. 

Learning....

It's fun watching the babies learn.

Learn to walk.
Learn to eat.
Learn to fly.
Learn to climb.
Learn to be outside their cage.

The nest box is no longer, its time to start growing up.

All four one and one four all

This morning I saw the last baby poking his head out the nest box hole, and my wife called me later to say that he had in fact gotten out of the nest box and was at the bottom of the cage. More than likely I'll see him with the others near the top of the cage when I get home.

Now I can remove the nest box, and clean the cage up a little bit (possibly add a new toy or two also).

and Baby makes 3

Yesterday, the third baby came out of the nest box. When I got home I found him at the top of the cage perched along with the others, pleased as punch to be there. Well, when I let them all out on top of the cage I was able to pick all three babies up with my finger right from their perch and take them to the top of the cage. That is something that I've never been able to do with all of my other birds. They'll come out on their own, and I can pick them up but I've never been able to reach inside the cage and have them perch on my finger and then take them out of the cage. Two of the three started eating shortly after getting out of the cage, and the other one still is finding his way around.

I'm trying not to ignore Paris and Lucky during this time. They are watching everything and at times you can tell they are a bit jealous at the attention. They've enjoyed the extra treats though!

While they were out yesterday, I got to see an amazing site (at least to me). Both Victoria (dad) and Pierre (mom) each fed a baby on top of the cage at the same time. It has been interesting to note that they don't give them that much food at a time. They just do that over and over again until the babies are full.

Dinner time!

After a while, I put the babies up on top of the cage with their parents and layed out a smorgasboard for them to eat from. Seeds, pellets, millet, and bread. The babies slowly started to figure out what to do. This morning for the first time I saw one of them eating millet. Mom (on the far left) and Dad are still feeding them at least 60-70% of the time. 

Victoria keeps an eye on things

Victoria (pop), sitting on the chair, kept a close eye on the babies making sure that they didn't get into any trouble. He had them follow him around for a bit, taking them to this nice shaded corner. Whenever they would get startled, or fly around he would go as rapidly as possible, half flying and half walking (his wings are clipped), to wherever they are to both reassure them that it's ok, and to guide them back.  

Look Ma, no box!

Here are the first two babies that came out of the nesting box. After flying around (not very well :) they finally settled down for much of the day.  

Sneaking out of the Nest box

Yesterday one of the babies climbed out of the nest box into the cage. Today, he not only climbed out but started flying around our screened in patio. He's not been so adventurous since then, sticking to the cage or nest box. I was only one day off, and definitely within the week of when I expected them to start coming out of the nest box.

I took one of the babies to the vet today (I had the day off - finally!) and had his eyes checked. Seems he doesn used the lower eyelids and they are very droopy. We were able to see him close his eyes and use the eyelid so it may just be a growth thing. I wanted to check in with the vet because we have had problems with the eyes and sinuses in the past with the last group of babies. Seems it's not any kind of infection or virus so that's good news. I'm sure he'll grow out of it.