Polly the cockatiel is driving me insane. She refuses to leave me alone. At this very moment she is running back and forth outside the door to the room I am in [little feet-pitter patter], back-and-forth, back-and-forth, and occasionally emitting the sharpest, most piercing cockatiel sounds you will ever hear in your life. It’s the bird equivalent to a baby’s crying [i.e. impossible to ignore] and it’s because she wants me to let her in. And the moment I let her in she will run to my feet and proceed to try to crawl up my leg. And unless she is thwarted in her efforts, she will succeed. Because she has a beak and some sharp claws and she is ONE DETERMINED BIRD. In fact, so determined that she will keep pitter-pattering and emitting her insufferable cockatiel sounds until I cave in and open the door.
Once she has crawled up my leg she will sit on my knee, look around to ensure there is no danger anywhere, and then she will bend her head and rest her beak on my leg. This is my sign to kindly begin scratching her head until she decides she would like me to stop. Which will be never.
And it isn’t like I can just tell her to go bug EPI, because she won’t. She hates EPI. In fact she hates anyone who isn’t YT. Which is particularly sad for poor AAH, who is actually the proper owner of Polly. Cockatiels can only have one human friend, apparently: this is a documented fact. And YT is the lucky recipient of Polly’s affections.
When she could fly, this was a BIG problem. I could not get that damn bird off of me; it was ridiculous! Walk past the cage: flutter flutter, Polly alights on the YT shoulder. YT removes Polly, puts her back on cage. A moment later: flutter flutter, Polly on the shoulder again. Gah!
Now that she’s had her wings clipped [a necessity after she became a girl], she can’t fly onto my shoulders anymore; instead she runs after me like a puppydog. Where YT goes, there goes Polly. Except when she feels like snoozing. Which lucky for YT, is often.
TODAY THE WEATHER IS…
Overcast, drizzly, but fairly mild and no wind to speak of. Went out for a run earlier and it was actually very refreshing. The no-wind makes all the difference. Any weather is good weather here in Iceland when there’s no wind. In the humble YT opinion. Temps have been around 10°C today [50F]. Daybreak was at 03.56, nightfall set for 23.06.
[PS I hope this post doesn’t make it sound like I don’t want to be Polly’s friend, because I do. I just wish I didn’t have to be it 24/7.]
awwww, she loves you! 🙂 I am owned by a cockatiel and it can get taxing, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything!!!
You wrote this blog on AUGUST 11, 2005. I only just found it. I guess I’m a little late but what the hey! You might still be sitting there waiting for someone to come by and leave a comment. Well, I’ll be that somebody for you. I’m nice, aren’t I. Yes, I am. Thank you for saying! Iceland has always intrigued me. It’s a land- made of ice. Wow! That’s cool. Excuse the pun.
It sounds like it was cold over there, 4 years ago. It must have warmed up since then. Global warming and all that stuff, you know. Will Iceland melt soon. I wonder. To be honest, I’m a climate change skeptic. These goons can’t even get tomorrows weather right. How can they tell what it’s going to be like in 50 years. Pfffft! Nonsense.
Well, I should get back to work. Yawn. Your cockatiel buddy sounds cool. You’ll miss him/her when she/he is gone! Like me. Bye.
Oooooh, my little girl cockatiel does the exact same thing. I love her, I really do. I just need a break from her never-ending love every now and then.
Cockatiels really need to be trained from young. If your cockatiel is anoyying you why not try training it with a clicker, so that each time he comes close head him away and use the clicker to direct him. Reward him with some fresh fruit.
Hope this helps.
That is actually really sad….it is ok for a cockatiel to like humans but to be obsessed with one is not healthy for her. She suffers because she considers you her partner and she is actually “in love with you”. That should change if you guys get her a real partner she can cuddle with. Even if she already has a bird friend living with you guys, maybe they just dont get along and she is spending way to much time with humans and the human is being too compliant. After you get her a male friend that she accepts and she gets along with, you need to stop spending too much time with her and letting her get used to her new friend and also realize that she is indeed a cockatiel and not a human. I would also recommend that you get her a partner that looks like her, at least the color of the feathers in his face should be the same as hers….just in case….
Awwwww! ur cockatiel sounds so sweet……. can’t wait till i get mine 🙂