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Karen McClintock

Out of the cages they end up sitting on the bird area. A piece of chip board aprroximatly 1x2 metres long sitting on two metal shelves. On the chip board are a series of branches at different heights a branch nailed to the wall and a swing hanging from the ceiling. Newspaper and toys and treats cover this area and they spend alot of their time making sure the toys are on the floor by midday.

I also give toys to my wild Aviary birds who also make sure every single toy is on the floor by midday so I can pick them up and put them back so that they can make sure they are on the floor again by sundown. A few favourites are bottle caps, The ringnecks like pulling the small piece of plastic out of the bottle top and dropping both onto the floor and move on to the next one. Filling the bottle tops with treats also makes it a bit more fun.

Munch Balls, Vine rings and Plastic Disks are demolished within minutes. I never understood how a parrot could be interested in Plastic Disks. But sure enough, I slid them all together to make a weird shape and Niamh, My friends Indian Ringeck pulled it all apart in 2 minutes. I had a backup and kept handing him the assembled disks while I gathered up and reassembled the peices. 15 minutes later I hand him a different toy and sneak away.

Another favourite passtime is putting stuff in the water bowl. They have a wide shallow dish for bathing. I splash the water and Bappy comes down to take a bath and I splash him with the water as he dips into the bowl with a cluck or a squeak. Occasionally I find different coloured water in the bowl. On further investigation I find that one of the wooden toys made it's way into the water and the colour ran.

Taking the water bowl outside to clean I put the clipped birds outside on the grass for some Indiana Jones and the tall grass of doom time. The grass gets chewed on as they wander around making a beeline to the aviary where Niamh decides it wants to be one of the wild birds and not our beloved yellow chicken anymore at which point they all end up back in the house.

On Sundays I have my Role Playing group over for a game. Bappy runs around on the table trying to chew some pencils before crawling back up onto my shoulder. I try and teach him to roll the dice for me but he hasnt got the part where the dice is supposed to stay on the table.

My friend and roomate moved out and took Niamh with him. At the time I had only the sun conure, Bappy and one cockatiel named Trill. Bappy was in love with Niamh and slept huddled against the yellow ringneck. They were always together and It was sad when Niamh went away. I decided to get a ringneck of my own to be friends with Bappy. A lovely breeder gave me Kiva, a baby green Indian Ringneck. I started thinking about how lonely Trill must be so I bought a second cockatiel. So it turns out that Kiva doesnt like Bappy and Trill doesnt like the new cockatiel. Bappy and Trill spend alot of preening time together and so does Kiva and the new cockatiel. So much for forward planning. I was hoping for little baby cockatiels someday.

I dont think there is any better feeling than having a bird fly to you. Wild birds fly away, Aviary birds fly away, Most pet birds fly away. Not naming any cockatiel shaped names. They are getting better though. Kiva flies to my hand when I hold out a much ball. The room itself is approximatly 7 meters by 12 metres so there's ample flightspace.

I had a wonderful cockatiel once named jirra that flew to my hand whenever I clicked my fingers. We discovered a trick that was dubbed "Torpedo Jirra" Holding jirra in my hand I would throw him like a football and he would get half way across the room before he spread his wings, turned around and flew back to me. He was not taught this and I never clicked for him to return to me. He spoke a few words and was by far the best pet I've ever had.

Late into the night the birds put themselves to bed apart from Kiva who doesnt want to sleep with Bappy. He first flies up to my statue of a warrior angel and sits on her wings, Pretends to nibble on the wings because he knows how much I dont want her damaged. He flies onto my head and proceeds to slide down my face with his nice sharp claws until he's sitting on my shoulder. I remind myself again to clip his toenails and promptly forget again as he settles for chewing my earring or biting my ear depending on what mood he's in, before he finally nuzzles up against my neck and falls asleep.

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