Kindling the Cockatiel’s Affections

Q-Tip: A Man After Someone Else’s Heart Tippy spends most of his days trying to woo Winston, our English budgie. She is a strong, independent woman who needs no man, though, so his efforts fall flat (we were THRILLED when they were sitting side-by-side the other day). Hubby and I have been going back and forth over whether to get him a friend who wants the … Continue reading Kindling the Cockatiel’s Affections

Diggin’ the Deck

Decided to update Winston’s cage from the janky, rickety red one that always falls apart to a swankier blue one (this involved purchasing it from a neighbor on the other end of the development and carrying it waiter-style on my shoulder ALLLLLL the way back to my house, thus solidifying my position as the resident crazy bird lady). The only sad part was the loss … Continue reading Diggin’ the Deck

Budgie or Cockatiel? Our Limited Experience

The video below essentially highlights the key differences in personalities between cockatiels and English budgies (the carefully-bred, more-expensive-than-their-svelte-American-cousins behemoths of the budgie world): View this post on Instagram A post shared by Snowpack Deactivated (@the.snow.pack) When people debate over getting their “first bird” (I refuse to call any bird a “starter bird”, for each bird is its own individual and there will never be another quite like the … Continue reading Budgie or Cockatiel? Our Limited Experience

Flock Mentality – The Pull of other Parrots & Whistle Training

I now understand why Karen (the former owner of the bird shop where I volunteer) told me to keep my budgies in separate cages where they can’t hear each other. Flock Mentality: It’s A Thing. Qtip (our cockatiel) came to us knowing the “Imperial March” and “Zippity Doo Da”. Sure, he’d get stuck on the four march notes like a scratched record we couldn’t quite shut … Continue reading Flock Mentality – The Pull of other Parrots & Whistle Training