It isn't mine. The bird club bought him for their Christmas raffle, and I'm babysitting until the day of the Christmas party which is 7 weeks from today. It's a handfed baby male Princess of Wales parakeet.

When I first saw the picture I literally gasped out loud. I really thought you bought a POW. You have me a burst of adrenalin for a second. Is he being quarantined from your cockatiels?

Yes, he's in quarantine. He'll be here for a while and he'll meet the tiels before his visit is over.

Depending on how much I like him, I might end up buying lots of raffle tickets 7 weeks from now. It's very common for the babysitter to get attached and end up being the owner of the bird lol.

I know you'll get very attached to him. He is very beautiful. Good luck to you! I hope your ticket wins!

OMG. You got a POW? He is so cute. Give him some apple for me. I bet you he'll stay.

I think I'm in love already. He's adorable. He's handfed but it's obvious that he hasn't really been handled. He didn't even know how to step up but he's catching on. I don't think he ever learned how to fly. His wings are clipped kind of severely so when he tries he goes straight down but has a fairly soft landing. I had dinner with him sitting on the table with me, and several times he startled me by trying to fly straight up, like a helicopter. He's friendly but shy at the same time, and it'll be fun watching him learn new skills and become more trusting.

Most importantly, he's cockatiel-compatible. POWs are about the same size as cockatiels including the size of the beak, and have a non-aggressive personality. The diet is basically the same too. But they're different enough to be interesting. His call is quite different and it's fun to listen to it.

The seller had three other normal POWs but this was the one whose personality stood out. He also had three albino POWs but I was afraid to ask the price of those lol. I was looking at the birds picking out possible candidates for the bird club raffle. Then I went back to the club president and said "if you'd want to get a princess parakeet I want to babysit it". She got up right away and bought the bird. It was hilarious - I didn't think she would actually go for it since we usually get stuff more like conures or IRNs. But he's a great little bird and a good choice for the raffle.

You say he is a Prince of Wales parakeet...
He's a beauty...
Am I right in thinking he could in time
be added to a flock of Tiels? What about with
budgies?
They are a flock bird not like P'lets, can only be kept in 2's.
Very interesting... I don't know anyone who has POW bird...

Beautiful bird. When I first looked at it, I thought it was a lovebird.

Yes, POWs can get along fine with cockatiels. When it comes to putting them with budgies, it's probably the same as mixing budgies and cockatiels - the bigger bird had better watch out lol.