Guest post by Mike: Bird facts 101

Ah, Zoom Times! The place where I get to be famous! I puff, I photo, I fame.
As you can probably tell, A bird's gotta eat, so I has nutriberry sometimes.

Sometimes.



But, I can also scream which attracts their attention! Wonder why I am always put back afterward...


Puffing: Not to be confused with fluffing
The action or doing of ruffling feathers to a warm and calm position. Can be done to symbolize comfort or content.

Fluffing: Not to be confused with puffing
Shaking all excess dust and loose feathers off.
Can also symbolize feeling safe.

Scruffiness: Appears on feathers after being 'Instantly neutralized.' meaning holding said birds neck lightly. almost never done now.

Good to know all that, yes? So let's try for some warnings.

Hissing:  A sign that the bird wants t be left alone, or that you are mistreating it.
See also: Raging.

Raging: Angrily scraping beak across subject and making broken stereo noises.
Only used when you are actively hurting the bird. watch out for excess biting.
See also: Hissing.

Flapping wings: Very angry. Usually followed by hissing or raging.
Can also be a sign of fear.

That was also nice to know. Call all those warnings No-ing. as in no.
DO NOT SPELL AS 'NOING'.

Let's go happy.

Heart wings: Followed by singing or jabbering, Means your bird likes it.
Usually via tissue power. See also: Singing, Jabbering.

Singing: Usually done while having heart shaped wings,
Can be taught via whistling a tune enough. Usually preluded by jabbering.
See also: Heart wings.

Jabbering: Usually preludes singing, What the bird hears when you talk.
Can be taught by having conversations near your bird.
See also: Singing.


Thank you, one and all! thank you very much!

Happy Birbday, Mike!

 Mike came to us last summer, but he actually hatched from his egg a year ago today!

We love our sweet singing, jabbering, laughing, tea drinking, button stealing cockatiel!

guest blog by mike: i is a happy birb

 ah, hello! I... am mike! or, saint michle the archangel defend us in battle is my full name, but we usually just go with mike.

now, you half to understand, I am a bird. so I go in a cage. in a room. on a floor. in a house. in a street. in a neighborhood. in a state. in a country. in a continent. in a world. in a ect.


but I am let out... when I am good. but if I fly onto the floor, 'no' someone, or anything else bad, I am put back in.

lets get serious with the no part.

 so I admit to being a huge computer fan. but also, I am a big no fan. look
left to see a no and right to see computer. 'tom' means Tinfoil Olive Man.

whats that you say? one of choclos bionicles? cool... lets no it! (ok, lets not get into the hero factory-bionicle thing.)
all that aside, I should... eat something.

I Like Mike

As you may know, Oob loves birds.  For his birthday, we decided to get him his very own pet bird.

After careful consideration, he decided that the perfect pet would be a cockatiel.  The only problem was that we couldn't find anyone who sold cockatiels!

There was one place, a specialty bird store called Just for Pets, that was in the process of breeding several pairs of cockatiels.  They sounded wonderful!  They hand raised and socialized their chicks.

The only problem was that they had about 40 people on their waiting list.


They encouraged us to add our names, however, since often people were no longer interested by the time the birds were available.

They had enough breeding pairs, that it seemed like we had a shot, so I asked if it would be ok if, once the eggs started hatching,  we visited each week to watch the babies grow.

 Sure!

So I called once a week to see if they had eggs yet...

And we did see a single chick that they were hand feeding, although that bird was certainly spoken for.


Except, near the end of June, when he was ready to meet his new family, that person couldn't take him.

And then the next two people on the list couldn't take him.

So they decided to call the family that had been calling every week!


And we were thrilled and delighted to have him!

Oob named him St. Michael the Archangel Defend Us in Battle, but we call him Mike for short.

Since he was an only chick, he is unusually well bonded to people.

Meaning, he's well past tame and into cuddly and affectionate!