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HoneyBerry
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- Location: Zone 8A Western Washington State
My Cockatiel
This is my rescue bird. His name is Rosco. I call him Ross The Boss because he is just that.
I've had a couple over the years. First one was a male when married to wife #1 and he went with the divorce and lived for about 12 years. The last one was a gift for my then 12 yr. old step daughter who just had to have a bird that the wife and I took care of since the girl liked the idea of pets, but none of the responsibility. Needless to say, that was her last pet when she lived with us.
The little gal lived for only 4 years and died suddenly in her cage one Sunday afternoon. I had let her out earlier in the day and she flew around the house in several rooms and she landed on me while I was on the sofa munching on some mixed nuts watching the Saints play football. She loved to pick in my mustache and would climb between my chest and beard and hide in there from time to time. My wife put her back in her cage and an hour or so later I went to the kitchen to get a beer out of the fridge and she was lying dead at the bottom of her cage. Never heard a peep out of her to signal distress prior to that.
I had purchased a very nice, spacious cage for her and wound up giving it away to a friend that got gifted a couple birds from a friend that raised them. The males are way more vocal than the females as far as picking up on whistles and tunes to repeat.
The little gal lived for only 4 years and died suddenly in her cage one Sunday afternoon. I had let her out earlier in the day and she flew around the house in several rooms and she landed on me while I was on the sofa munching on some mixed nuts watching the Saints play football. She loved to pick in my mustache and would climb between my chest and beard and hide in there from time to time. My wife put her back in her cage and an hour or so later I went to the kitchen to get a beer out of the fridge and she was lying dead at the bottom of her cage. Never heard a peep out of her to signal distress prior to that.
I had purchased a very nice, spacious cage for her and wound up giving it away to a friend that got gifted a couple birds from a friend that raised them. The males are way more vocal than the females as far as picking up on whistles and tunes to repeat.
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GardeningCook
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- Location: Upper Piedmont area of Virginia, Zone 7a
Another bird-lover here!
Used to breed Australian birds - Cockatiels, Red-rumped Parakeets, Rainbow Lorikeets, Zebra Finches, Owl Finches, etc., etc. Laborious, but a labor of love.
These days just have one bird - a Citron-crested Cockatoo.
Used to breed Australian birds - Cockatiels, Red-rumped Parakeets, Rainbow Lorikeets, Zebra Finches, Owl Finches, etc., etc. Laborious, but a labor of love.
These days just have one bird - a Citron-crested Cockatoo.
Last edited by GardeningCook on Mon Jul 20, 2015 2:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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HoneyBerry
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My bird is very sweet. He is 10 going on 11.
That's too bad that your cockatiel died so young, gumbo.
I only know 1 person from New Orleans and he's a Saints fan too.
GardeningCook: I love cockatoos! I hope to work with them at the sanctuary sometime. They are so possessive. I love that. I would love to be owned by a cockatoo. Such beautiful birds.
My dream life would be to live close to the Oasis Sanctuary in Arizona and be with and help the sanctuary birds everyday.
That's too bad that your cockatiel died so young, gumbo.
I only know 1 person from New Orleans and he's a Saints fan too.
GardeningCook: I love cockatoos! I hope to work with them at the sanctuary sometime. They are so possessive. I love that. I would love to be owned by a cockatoo. Such beautiful birds.
My dream life would be to live close to the Oasis Sanctuary in Arizona and be with and help the sanctuary birds everyday.
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GardeningCook
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Yes - ours is very sweet. But LOUD?? Honestly, we're convinced that we both must have hearing loss after around 15 years with this bird - lol! And even though we do have dogs, they don't hold a candle to announcing anything going on outside - delivery people, strange animals, etc., etc. The cockatoo alarm is never-failing.
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HoneyBerry
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GardeningCook
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Well, I don't know about "all the way to Australia", but we can hear ours when we're out working at the farthest boundaries of our 22 acres.
But like I said, unless I'm inside right next to her, it is nice to have her scream her brains out when there's someone at the door - especially since we live in a very rural area completely out of sight of most neighbors.
But like I said, unless I'm inside right next to her, it is nice to have her scream her brains out when there's someone at the door - especially since we live in a very rural area completely out of sight of most neighbors.