All the World is Charlie's Stage

All my parrots have certain activities they like more than others: Chipper likes to hang out/chew/have fun with his books; Pippin likes to nest or shred things; Sam likes to chew on his foot toys or forage for treats.

But Charlie! He likes most of all to SING!!!!! He came with about 5 "default" songs - mimics of wild bird calls very badly done - that used to drive me crazy. Fortunately, Chipper taught him better songs.

So now Charlie sings with zing.

Charlie also uses objects in his cage to amplify or "improve" the acoustics of certain trills - in this case a treat cup. When outside the cage, he uses the inside of stainless steel bells for special effects. Perhaps he knows these are special riffs that must be heard in the best way to be fully appreciated.

So, without further ado, heeeeeere's Charlie!

Charlie Molts

Charlie has decided that it is a good time to molt.

Lest you think I never vacuum (admittedly, not my favorite pasttime, but I do it every week!) this pile of feathers is just a two-day accumulation.

Everywhere I walk in the living room, there are little drifts of creamy gray cockatiel feathers and down clusters.

You'd think he would look rather tatty and nearly featherless, but he's got plenty left. While he is out of step with everybody else's molting period, I think he's got good timing. What better occasion to shed some extra warmth than during a heat wave?

The Cocky 'Tiels Go to the Vet

I take all of my birds to a wonderful avian vet, about 45 minutes away from where I live (no avian vet nearer). This vet also donates veterinarian time, surgical expertise, and advice when injured birds and other animals arrive at Wildlife Images.

It was the two cockatiels' turn this time: just a toenail trim for Chipper, and a check-up for Charlie who had the luck of the draw in getting a periodical blood test to establish that his health continues as good as it's been. It's truly amazing how tiny the syringe needle is - it would have to be, to get into the tiny veins of a small bird.

They both appear to be in fine shape, weight is steady for both, and all survived just fine. But - whew! It's just as traumatic and exhausting for birds to see the vet as it is for us to see a doctor. As you can see, poor Chipper flaked out on the tree after he got home (it was an exceedingly quiet afternoon).

Getting Charlie to the vet requires a specific tactical maneuver. He was never hand-tamed as a baby - I think he was an aviary bird - and my attempts to hand train him failed when he first showed up. He's missing a toe, so there may be issues about hands and toes here. I managed to get him on my fingers consistently when his wings were clipped, but he was always scared spitless in the process and seemed traumatized after each session. He has a strong phobia of hands, though when he feels relaxed and excited to see me, he may even fly to my head, my hand, even occasionally on my fingers - IF Chipper is there also. And he will now take treats eagerly from my hand. (This is Charlie after the vet scene - he's a tired boy too.)

He will follow Chipper anywhere and will cry with distress if he's parted from him even across the room. So I use Chipper as my "Pied Piper," and once Chipper is inside a travel cage, Charlie ends up there too.

But I'm not really fussed if Charlie never ends up hand trained. He's very happy, free-flighted, dependable, and cheerful as they come. Hey, hands aren't everything, anyway.

Chipper and His Favorite Objet d'Art

On my living room wall is this framed display box, containing all kinds of natural treasures: flicker and raven feathers, Chipper's baby feathers, Pippin's eggs, seashells, eucalyptus pods, cacti spines, fossilized seashells found 2500 feet on top of a desert mountain, pretty moss, etc, etc.

For some reason, Chipper just loves hanging out on top of it and around it.

He will spend minutes at a time on my hand, looking at the contents of each square, sometimes commenting, licking the glass with his funny round tongue.

Chipper is on the frame here, to the right, and Charlie - never to be apart from Chipper for long - has joined him on his left.

After spending quality time with the frame, both boys decided to visit with Pippin while she was working on her sleep nest (inside a boutique sized tissue box). It's quite cozy in there with shredded seagrass fibers, and shredded paper. She quite an industrious little girl.


And so, another birdie weekend afternoon passes: mellow, hanging-out time had by all.