A Jazzy Mate

decided to get another cockatiel – a female.

Jazzy has been screaming day in and day out for about six months now, and in general, has been grumpy and easily irritated. There are a couple of women at the store where we bought him who have birds of their own, including cockatiels, and are very knowledgeable. The information we have read on websites and in books can be quite contradictory. Because cockatiels haven’t been in “captivity” as long as some other species, there isn’t as much known about them. And their tame behaviour can be quite different from their wild behaviour. Since these women have cockatiels and access to active information, we value their advice.

After consulting with these women over the course of the six months of screaming, I employed strategies to modify his behaviour – actually, it modified my behaviour! And the hubby treats him differently than I do. I had to ask him to change his behaviour too for the sake of my sanity. It was difficult to just ignore Jazzy. I set his cage in the hubby’s office instead of mine and this helped some. The hubby’s hearing isn’t as good as mine so the screaming doesn’t bother him while it just seems to drill right inside my head.

We tried different toys in his cage that are meant to calm the mating anxiety. He attacked the one item, and the mirror just freaked him out at night, so we took it out. One of my pleasures with him was to give him a “berry” every morning. It was a little round treat that I would drop in his food dish. He’d get all excited for his berries. The rule: no treats! No weekly treat sticks either. I had been able to pet him without being pecked. No head scritching. Touch just raised the hormone levels and that’s what we were trying to lower.

And, after six months, the screaming got better, but not a lot. So, in talking to the women at the store, they said some birds just don’t get over the mating phase, even though most birds do. Then the decision had to be made as to whether we would sell Jazzy, or get him a mate. The hubby said it was my decision since he was my bird, and I would be doing all the extra work with a new bird. I waffled on this decision for about a month. I’ve been so run-down and tired since last Fall, I wondered how I could even think about taking in another bird. And there was the possibility of little ones along the way too. One of the store women told me if you don’t put a nest box in the cage, they won’t raise young, although the female will still likely lay eggs.

The hubby took two days off last week and we travelled to Niagara Falls overnight Wednesday. Our two favourite places – besides the Falls – are the aviary, and the butterfly conservatory. We went to the aviary Wednesday afternoon. They have a section for small birds, then a room with reptiles and a couple of other birds, then a walkway to the main aviary – a huge room with all manner of birds flying and walking, calling and eating. It really is wonderful. In the walkway leading to the main aviary room was a large cage with an African Grey Parrot, and a couple of other green birds that I don’t know what they were.

I started talking to them and the Grey responded with clicks. We stood there about 10-15 minutes and I interacted with all three birds. I walked around to the other end of the cage and the Grey followed me. He kept watching me and became annoyed when the other birds came to see me too. At one point, I started moving side to side to see if he would imitate and he did! The women at the store were amazed when I told them. I asked if that was unusual, and they said, “very.”

After my visit to the aviary I realized I had really enjoyed interacting with the birds. There is something special to me about being able to talk to and look in the eye these creatures who could very easily fly out of your range. The women at the store once saw me bump Jazzy’s beak against my nose, as I have done with him since we first got him. They gasped and told me not to do that. I asked why and they said because he would peck me. He never has. He has only draw blood from me twice in the two years we have had him and that was on the fingers. They were amazed saying that was extremely unusual. It seems I have a way with birds. I decided I couldn’t get rid of our little guy. So, after we return from our vacation later this month, we will get Jazzy a mate. The store manager is already looking for one for us. I find I’m very much looking forward to this, even though there is no guarantee the female we buy will bond with him. We bought a cage at the store on Saturday at half-price and the hubby has already set it up in my office. We still have some items to buy, but we’re basically ready – I think!

Until next time, give your pets a hug…