The Great Escape

Cockatiels, native to Australia, are members of the large parrot family. They live in flocks and are very social birds that love company. They can live for up to twenty five years of age (however our last one only lasted seven).

This one is banned from the conservatory because when she was very young she was extremely inquisitive and used to parade up and down our new rattan furniture, giving it a vicious peck here and there, trying to create holes in the bamboo.

Having been chased from there, she'd then fly up to the curtain rail, and have a go at the shiny curtain hooks on my new gauze curtains. She would peck them until they'd ping off, the curtains would sag and she'd give herself a fright and fly round and round the room getting faster and faster (luckily the ceiling fan wasn't usually on) until she found her way back to her cage.

She is also banned from the kitchen. She used to fly round in there quite happily until one day she tried to land on a pan which was lodged on the top of a very tall cupboard. She totally misjudged the landing and fell down the gap at the back of the cupboard...All the way to the bottom where she was trapped in the dark, cheeping feebly, between the wall and the wood...I had to enlist a neighbour's help to rescue her and we had to take the whole unit to bits...

She isn't keen on water, refuses to go in her bird bath and cowers when we advance upon her with the cockatiel refresher spray. However she loves to be out in the garden in her cage and hiss and whistle at the other birds and doesn't seem to mind the rain or when Son No Two sprays her with the pressure hose he is washing his bike with...

When it comes to parties she loves red wine and crisps. She dips her beak in the glass and shakes her head so that we have red spots all over our cream furniture. Now we've learnt to shut her in the cage with the cover on when we have friends around...

Her latest trick is trying to burrow through the sandpaper at the bottom of her cage. She pecks huge chunks out of it resembling starbursts. She then disappears underneath for long periods of time, staying completely still with only her tail feathers peeping out, hissing at regular intervals. The Great Escape maybe? I wonder if she's trying to tell us something?