cockatiel
I love watching the exploration that goes on with new parrot owners. It’s such an exciting time. Everyday is an adventure as you learn one amazing parrot fact after another, and you can’t even imagine that there is any creature on this planet that is cooler than your bird.
You start making new friends (because your other ones think you’re crazy). Right about this time, you begin thinking about how great it would be to bring another parrot into your home.
The math seems simple enough: 1 bird = love, therefore 1 bird + 1 bird = twice as much love. I have been there, so I really get it. I have failed to stop myself from getting another bird more times than I will admit to. Learning to put the brakes on did not come easily. Looking back, I wish I had done things differently.
cockatiels
If I had not been so anxious to start my bird family, I would have taken the time to really get to understand the complexities of the one bird I started with. I had some behavior problems with him- he would always scream to come out of his cage. I knew that if I let him out, the screaming would stop…until following day when he wanted to be let out, at which time I would repeat the actions of the day before. Bird screams – I open cage door.
This pattern continued for some time. It really didn’t seem like a problem – as long as I let the bird out, the screaming always stopped and life was good. I had no idea of the monster I was creating.
A few months later, I got a second bird. And as they so often do, the new bird mimicked the behaviors of the first, and now I had two screaming birds . Eventually, I would fumble my way through to the right solution – with twice the volume as before, that happened sooner than later.
With the addition of the second bird, I could notice a shift in my first bird’s loylties to his human family. We had to schedule times into the day to work with each bird seperately to keep them socialized to us at the beginning. It was far more complicated than the math equation that computes that 2 birds doubles the love.
More cockatiels! Photo from http://centerforavianrehab.blogspot.com
Don’t be in a hurry to expand your avian family. You have your whole life to enjoy the flock of birds you might wind up with one day. Use this time, right now, to continue your learning and master the skills of bird ownership. Step back and really think things through, because your decision to get another bird could very well change the now that you love so much.
Author Patty Jourgensen specializes in avian health, behavior and nutrition and has been working with and caring for rescue birds since 1987.
4 comments
One female one mail
I love having 2 birdies. I now understand why people have more than 1 kid! Lol!
Sorry barbar but u stick with that lil conure in ur picture…. i would work or hold & make him less scared of things as much as possible because grey asi have a cag can get huge problems with anxiety & afraid of everything so they are a lot of work or else they can end up extreamly unhappy 7 feather pick or scream wich sence ur its flock just like in the wild they are very close with there mate 7 flock be prepared to always spend alot of quality time if you want a happy & healthy bird bc they are one of the most given up species or take barbras adivce & it picks itself apart or screams 7 crys bc he is not being mentally & physcially stimulated….. barb stick to ur simple conure or bugie type cause they are strong willed but if u keep a bird for a pet & ignore it & just let it be i seriously feel sorry for it as it would do & learn many of the things in the wild & if any one read the diet thing its a load of crap….. they said they werent planing on selling it but they made a preview utube video over 4 months ago &if u know of a better diet than ur qualiefied vet… you should prolly get a new one dave & classy jamielee,(saw ur newude pics at ur newude illision show with ur husband…. id be embarriesed 7 my gf would not wear that let alone my wife…. but gotta take away from the faces of butter to buttox i understand but my niece & nefew cant see that show now….& chet doesnt use it cause he was asking th questions & u only done research for 3 months that a qualified vet hasnt herd of with no knowlege of lon term effects & u want us to take ur word for it? i prefer longer studies bc i dont wana kill my birds…. kinda ironic…. im usually a suporter & im sorry to disapoint but ur free trial copies still arent really free & just dissapointed…..i duno man just how sure u are of most of what u said is common sene…. & how preparing a diet for our birds specail needs would be feeding each of my kidss a dif meal but if one was a diabetic, one had cancer, one had high blood pressure, heart problems, i wouold change the diet not to mention most of us dont have 100 birds locked up for profit…. shame on u bird tricks, shame on you & look at daves flicker or jamies blog that i used to get to it to see her arsh kinda like the freebe its a load o crap buh atleast u get to see where the crap is commin from…. stay clasyy & the recipes there was a great book at the library & got some resipes written down i can post for free reommended by specific vets you can look up & i wil post the book when i find it…
My first baby is a cockatiel and then I got an African Grey. Now my Grey and cockatiel converse back and forth but the Grey has a really loud cockatiel voice. Wouldn’t trade either one for the world :)
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