Birds, Birds, Birds

This is my little page devoted to my birds. They're very intelligent companions, and constantly keep me amused. They also keep me on my toes! Dude, my budgie, has a vocabulary of over 100 words, some of which he learned from listening to my ex-husband watching sports on tv which explains why some of what he says is so "colorful"! It also explains why Dude sometimes sounds like he's got such a terrible temper... Some phrases he says very well and quite frequently are pretty bird, good boy, good bird, good Dude, cheeseburger, Hi Dude, and Butchy's bird. Dude loves car rides and hangs upside down from his perch singing while in the car. He also loves going down the shore to sing with the seagulls. Dude loves to blow kisses, and loves to imitate every sound he hears including all of Dusty's sound effects.

Dusty, my cockatiel, is my terror, who always wants attention and hates Dude. He says "Hello" when the phone rings, and can imitate the phone ringing so he can "answer" it. He also says "okay" but the rest of his vocabulary is sound effects and whistles. Dusty whistles "yoo-hoo" and also does a few different versions of the wolf whistle. He'll get louder and louder if he feels he is being ignored or if he can't see you. He does some really interesting movements with his head when excited. Dusty also loves to make a clucking sound, and uses that when imitating other things. When you touch a light switch he clucks to imitate the clicking sound. He also growls, but not really in anger. He's feisty, but when he wants affection he is a cuddly little baby…he'll put his head down to be rubbed and make little chirping noises.

I also have another parakeet named Skye. She's about 14 months old, and is Dude's cagemate. They are both very happy about this, and love to play together. Skye is very energetic and sweet, but still a bit nervous. Dude taught her how to imitate Dusty already, so Dusty doesn't like her of course. She's a sassy little thing, will get in Dusty's face and refuse to back down! Dusty is much bigger than her, but will actually run from her! He's terrified of her since she flies around and upsets him. She is nice to Dude though, which is the important thing. Dude and Skye have been feeding each other, which is a good sign of affection between them. Hopefully during the next mating season, I will have little baby budgies to take care of :) I calculated her hatch day to be about September 9, 1998. She's got such pretty coloring that I doubt will show up too well in pictures, but her belly is blue with green around the edges. She's got both bright blue and bright green near her tail as well. Since she was hand-fed, she is very affectionate and gentle, never biting people. She's also a talented singer with a soft, pretty voice.

On August 19th and 20th, 1999, two cockatiel babies hatched, and we had the privilege of hand feeding them everyday. It was a first for us, we are NOT professionals in any way shape or form. They are soooo cute! The parents, Dusty and Chrissy, did not know how to care for them. They do FINALLY have permanent names. The "blonde" formerly known as CJ, goes by the name Pearl and DJ now goes by the name Opal. We are not sure of the babies' gender, but based on what we know about birds, my family and I think Pearl is a girl and Opal is a boy because of their behavior. The only certain way to tell what gender they are is for them to have a DNA test, which is unnecessary stress on them and it costs a lot of money. We are perfectly happy with just waiting to find out the natural way. We love them whether they are male or female :)

This is a present from a fellow Internet birdlover, Linda, and from her birds Precious and Jenny. To see her beautiful babies, please click the image and you'll be magically taken to her site :)

Please Note: I love reading the wonderful emails I receive about people's pet birds, and try my best to answer any questions people ask. But it is important to remember that I am NOT A VET, and don't have the authority or training to answer medical questions about birds. Also, I'm not a professional breeder, so am sometimes stumped by those questions as well. The BEST advice I can give you, is if your bird is sick, find an avian vet (one who specializes in birds) and don't hesitate to take your baby there if you think there's a problem. Thanks for your understanding.

This Cockatiel Circle site is owned by Dawn and Dusty Want to join The Cockatiel Circle? Graphics copyright 2000 by NACS
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