The Dangers of Hidden Cockatiels

     My roommate and Ex recently adopted two birds- a Green-cheeked conure a few months older than Tango and a young peach-faced lovebird. She adopted the Conure because she fell in love with her. She adopted the lovebird because he is a consummate con-artist. He managed to trick the conure into feeding him like a baby bird, to the point where she worried about him and stressed about him if she could not see him.

Note: He may not be a lovebird. 

is there a similar-looking species called a playah-bird? if so, that is him. 

It is difficult to get non-blurry pictures of him.
it would require him to stop moving
for more than a second

     So I helped her bring these two birds home, unaware of the phantom cockatiels that came with them. We didn't see then come from the store- we have not seen them yet, to this day. We only hear them, when these two get upset.

Note#2: nothing in this world conveys offense, 

or just the sense that the world is not going their way, quite like a cockatiel 

     So somewhere in the house, there are at least three cockatiels, as conveyed by two other birds. They have not been seen to this day, and I think they never shall be.

Note# 3- the conure figured him out about a week after they came home and "weaned" him. 

     Other bird news: I brought home a second Conure, a Gold-Capped one. Cappy, or Captain(but never Capitan) is about 10, not hand tamed(yet) and has been hit or thrown, probably. But he is smart, sweet, and needs the love. His strategy of escape and evade is pretty amazing to watch. He doesn't mind a person being close as long as they are just talking, but he is afraid of anyone trying to pick him up. He and Tango talk but he is about twice Tangos size, so I am really careful about how close they get.

     And finally, Sid, my Roommates Cockatoo, took flight yesterday. She has been encouraging him to take short flights, to build up his flight muscles, and improve general health. Yesterday, she took him outside, and I got the call:

"I need help"

"what's up?"

"Sid's on a roof. A second story roof"

"I'll be right up"

     Seems that he saw kids across the street, and he LOVES kids. So he flew, and when I got there he was walking proudly and slightly freaked out across the edge of the roof. We asked our neighbor for a ladder, and that worked. Sid took one look at the ladder, decided he wanted no part of it, and flew down and across the street. I ran, scooped him up, hugged his wings so he knew he was safe-and so he could not take off again- and ran him back downstairs. He's getting a wing trim in the near future. I love that he can fly, but he is not yet at the point of doing it safely. He tends to stop by running into things.

     But he was majestic in the air, on the way across the street

He was also so proud of himself. And he involved two neighbors and the mail carrier.
His legend grows

The Pet Shop Boys

     No, not the synthpop group, these are green cheeked conures trying to entice someone to take them home. I was lucky enough to catch their act today.

(SL)Aviculture

     I have come to realize that the exotic bird trade is legalized and institutionalized slavery. When a Parrot is sold, it puts a sensitive, sentient creature, with real emotions and intelligence in servitude to the amusement of another being.

     It leaves an intelligent being to be cared for, or discarded when they are of no more use.

     It takes a free creature, one who is meant to prosper and be independent, and makes it the property of another. Subject to the whims and manipulations that that creature designs. 

     Whenever a parrot is sold, a human being becomes it's slave. There oughtta be a law, I tell ya. Or Charlton Heston chewing the scenery about "Damn, Dirty Parrots"

In the meantime, bow down and serve your feathered masters. 

     This public service announcement was written with Tangos permission and forbearance. He lets me get away with a lot, because it amuses him.

     Now, seriously; the original idea for this post came up on August 26th, which is National Dog Day. So I went looking for National Bird day, and I find...this. Which is mostly negative about people keeping birds. Clearly, Humans who are companions to birds need to organize better. Sure, Dogs are one of mankind's favorite inventions, but so are Companion birds. And both can be, and often are, mistreated. Without getting too preachy, we need to be better to every living thing on this planet, birds, beasts and each other. And we need a good bird day.

     Yep, I did say inventions; we have bred dogs into a bunch of different sizes and shapes, just like we have bred colors and behaviors not found in the wild into Parrots. What we call captive bred birds are closer to wild than modern dogs are, but many are hand-raised with an inherent trust and desire for human friends. Tango picked me, folks.

Apparently World Parrot day is May 31

There is also a certain delicious irony in scheduling National Dog Day for a time when traditionally dogs go mad.