Thank you Tielfan, I will definitely go have a look.
Tsuka is such a beautiful bird, what can I say, it must be the "bad boy birdy" allure we were talking about the other day

I know it's just nature but seeing a bird being bullied by another, especially Bubu who is usually a doll, is so upsetting.

Tsuka is too much of a bad boy for me lol. I've seen pictures of the bloody aftermath of a Tsuka attack, so I'd be scared to be in the same room with him.

I feel so sad for you Barbara... What I do with
my terror, when she is out of the cage.. I avoid eye contact...keep my soft gloves on.. she luvs to bite hands...I really totally ignore her...She luvs my daughter to death tho! I spend hours chatting to her threw the bars of the cage.. she still tries to bite me, even then
I don't know what to suggest for you. Maybe, rehoming, where there aren't any birds, he would have all the attention then.. not really the answer I like, but I don't know what you can do. you cant go on like this tho' can you?
Some times we just have to accept we cant do what is best for our birds...wish I could suggest something to help. Sorry!

Jan I think he would make an excellent pet in a home without other birds... and, just to be safe, where there aren't little children either.
But finding such a situation isn't easy, especially because I am officially his forever home but he still remains property of Birdline... So they have to agree to the move. It becomes a big mass of paperwork and bureaucracy that I would really want to avoid.

He seems much calmer today.
I kept them uncovered but inside the cages until about 2pm, I had things to do around and wanted to avoid the mess of yesterday.
They weren't happy, pacing up and down and yelling the occasional insult to me, but I was around and they could still see me, so they knew they weren't forgotten; at least I like to think so.
I only left them out when I was ready to sit with them, and since they look much much calmer this is the way it's gonna be until I sort the door screen.

Later I will try some more millet spray bribery, but at the moment everyone is happy going on with their little things, Darcy sitting on a perch, as near as he dares to Bubu. He is even grinding his beak! As soon as I touch Bubu he gets upset so I am afraid no cuddles for Bubu today I hope he won't hate me for this.

Oh these birdies are sent to try us!
And they sure do....
I only let my birds out when I'm in the room with them.. that's for a few hours each night..
I do hope you find a good solution for Mr Darcy.. just luv his name.

Mr Darcy thanks you

I think it's an appropriate name, he is dark and moody... the perfect name would have been Heathcliff but that's a bit of a mouthful for me to pronounce so I had to find a compromise

You have a lot of conflicting social relationships to deal with in your flock. But try to arrange things so birds don't have the opportunity to attack each other, and so that each bird gets some personal attention from you. This might mean that you need to interact with Bubu when Darcy isn't out of the cage and vice versa.

Darcy has had a strange start in life living with larger birds and not being able to accept that bubu is not interested. Part of the reason for this is that Darcy has not been in contact with other cockatiels to learn their rejection and the signs and ways. darcy also prefers male than female and likes bubu and will do any thing to impress him. Keith is another male but darcy dose not see him as a threat and in fact may even have a slight liking for him. you however are threats and bubu prefers you to him. I would like to ask how long do you think you will have darcy. as it would be best to keep them apart for a while.

Sorry for the late reply but I was away from everything computer the whole week end.
Darcy will stay with me forever if I can manage.
Birdline, the charity I got him from, gave him to me to foster permanently, so unless the situation becomes completely crazy I will be very happy to keep him with me forever.

There has been a small development. I have kept bubu out of the bird room for the whole week end, and Darcy has been fairly quiet.

When I put them to bed, usually I put Bubu first and then Darcy will fly on Bubu's cage and try to get in.
Last night he didn't do that. Instead, he went to his own cage, where he sleeps with Trilly and Frank.
After I put them all three in the cage, I caught him being flirty with Trilly!!!!!!!
This is such an unexpected happening, I couldn't believe my eyes lol

IF he is in the process of switching preferences to a different bird, maybe this is the right moment to put him in a cage with one of the hens and leave them alone there for a few hours every day.

Does it sound like a good idea?

It's definitely worth a try, but keep an eye on the situation the first few times to make sure they seem to be getting along well together. The bigger the cage is, the less likely it is that mayhem will erupt if they're not happy together.