Tag Archives: cockatiel care

Dog lovers are so lucky……there are so many great books about pet dogs and their owners. But for bird lovers, we often have to hunt to find new stories about our fav pets and their human companions. I stumbled across “Life With Ben: A Story of Friendship and Feathers” completely by accident. Or sort ofContinueContinue reading “Life With Ben”

To Pearl, no area of the house is more interesting than my office. There are so many neat things to chew….so many documents to “edit” (she likes to jump on the keyboard when I’m not looking)….so many reflective surfaces. While I wouldn’t call Pearl’s brand of help “helpful”, she sure knows how to keep theContinueContinue reading “The (Other) Help”

The truth is (odd as it feels to me to admit this) – my bird loves scrambled eggs. At first, I thought nothing of it. I like scrambled eggs too. No biggie. But then a well-meaning facebook friend delicately pointed out that Pearl, too, initially emerged from a, um, shell. Frankly, I am still sortingContinueContinue reading “Just Like Chicken”

Plate surfing should be an Olympic sport. In a cockatiel’s world it probably is. The way it works is like this. You set a plate down on the table in front of someone. Someone with feathers spies it. Something on it looks tasty. So of course that means it is time for a closer investigation….andContinueContinue reading “Plate Surfing”

“Of a Feather: A Brief History of American Birding” is anything brief, despite what the unassuming title (or cover art) might suggest. Author, naturalist and ornithologist Scott Weidensaul might just be one of the best writers on birds – okay, one of the best writers period – that I have ever had the pleasure toContinueContinue reading “Of a Feather”

There is a reason why Pearl doesn’t get out much. She is a very curious bird. VERY curious. During Hurricane Ike a couple of years ago, Pearl and I spent a couple weeks as drifters, moving from one friend’s house to another until the electricity in our home came back on. We stayed for oneContinueContinue reading “The Incredible Disappearing Bird”

Like babies, cockatiels love to play the “drop and retrieve” game. As in, they drop it (whatever “it” is) and you retrieve it. Cockatiels also love anything that crinkles or crunches. If it is securely encased in crinkly, crunchy packaging, even better. I first discovered Pearl’s fondness for fortune cookies when I came home withContinueContinue reading “Smack the Fortune Cookie”

Just like I tend to assume everyone is my age, Pearl tends to assume everyone is an avian. Some of us just wear our feathers on the inside. Which is why, perhaps, I noticed her studying one of my mom’s “birds” with such fascination. It started like this: And then things started to get weird:ContinueContinue reading “There’s Always a Longer Bird”

Occasionally someone mentions to me that I might be just a tad too enthusiastic about birds in general, and my bird in particular. Who me? Usually I promptly conclude that I have no idea what they could be talking about, after which I return to the enjoyable task of reading through the large stack ofContinueContinue reading “An Eagle Named Freedom”

It is impossible not to love a cockatiel. I say that with total objectivity of course (it has nothing to do with the fact that I just so happen to cohabitate with the prettiest, smartest, sweetest cockatiel in the whole world. ;-)) So of course on holidays, birthdays, or any day really, everyone wants theirContinueContinue reading “Family Portraits”