So about a week ago, my mom let me fill up her old bird feeders, that have been hanging out there empty for almost a year, and the birds finally noticed them. One is a little "seed sock" for thistle seeds, that gold finches love, one is a "no mess" feeder with a dome-like roof over it (birds find ways to make messes with it, though), and one holds sunflower seeds, but has cage bars around it to keep larger birds like doves from getting into them.

Of course, it was such a convenient time to forget my camera, but while the seed sock wasn't in a good enough site range (I may have to move it), there were some doves on the ground eating what falls on the ground. I let Lucy watch, and she was so interested. So interested, she didn't want to eat the nutri berry I placed in front of her.

And while I didn't see him today, there does appear to be a Eurasian Collared Dove that may have claimed the yard as his home. I've seen him frequently, hanging out near the pond, or in the trees. His color is lighter than most I've seen, though it is apparently natural for some to be this lightly colored. At first, I thought he could've been a lost domestic ringneck dove, but the size said otherwise, as Eurasian Collared doves are quite large.

It's beautiful!

There was a real party at the feeders today. I've seen several finches, sparrows, woodpeckers, doves, and the like. However, I was only able to get a few good pictures.

some finches


The woodpeckers also tried to get in on it as well.




The doves landed fairly close. This really excited Lucy



Then just as I thought there wouldn't be any more birds, our resident Eurasian Collared dove comes to visit, and lands on the bench next to the pond, like usual.

So Lucy was very excited. Pacing back and forth, trying to find a way past the "glass barrier". I felt like opening the window for her to hear them too, but I feel like she would just try to chew through the screen.

Lucy was so excited, that for the rest of the session of her being out of the cage, she was really, really hyper. Then after I put her back in the cage, she wanted to come back out.

Lucy has been a lot better about getting out of the cage. I don't know if it's the nutri-berries, or that I've covered up her cage so she can get up to 12 hours of sleep, but she comes out willingly. She'll sit on the doorway, and step up for me, as soon as I open it. The only tricky part I have though, is that she'll hop to the top of her cage herself after I get her to step up, then she'll run from my hand, though eventually step up. I wonder if she just wants a few seconds to stretch, or something? Because when I got her out today, I set her on top of the cage, walked away to get something while still in the room, and turned around to see her wings out-stretched, as she's bobbing and gyrating her head in a similar fashion that most other types of cockatoos do it. She also looked like she was ready to start hanging upside down too. I went back over there, and she stepped up willingly.

Also, I couldn't get a picture of this, but Lucy was still out during the evening while it's still light out, and the bats started flying around. One flew into view, and unless if Carolyn also gets bats, I think this was the first time she's seen one. Rather than excited, she was quite confused, due to the nature of how bats fly, and how different it is from how birds fly. She had the same expression that she has when she sees dragonflies, large butterflies, or hummingbirds, as she gets intrigued when she sees them flying, as well.

I do get bats, but the tiels don't see them because they're already asleep. This was her first time seeing one!

Young birds have a lot of energy to burn and like to fly around the room or do something crazy when they first come out of the cage. I leave them to it and handle them later on after they've settled down. That's probably what she's been doing.

She definitely has energy, alright. Sometimes, this can cause for a bit of a hectic session, as she never wants to do one thing, and so I have to give her different things to do, to keep her from getting bored, or else she'll chew on everything. She's happy though, and likes to get out of the cage, so that's a good thing.

Of course, I have all those bird toys, and what does she like to chew on? Shoelaces, tissue, curtains, ribbons, keyboard keys, and just about everything BUT the toys.

Welcome to the world of bird ownership lol. Cockatiels aren't the most toy-driven species in the parrot family but they do like to tear stuff up, and anything forbidden is extra desirable. For cheap tiel entertainment, bring in a bird-safe branch from a tree in your yard with the leaves still on it.

I don't know what the fascination with shoelaces is, but they all seem to have it. I can't think of anything in their natural environment that would be similar.

Not just shoelaces, too. Just about every string-like thing out there. I wonder why?

The toys I have in her cage aren't very fancy. One basically looks like a giant tassel, and the other is a chain of rings with a bell on the bottom that doesn't ring. She enjoys them though. I think she just likes whatever she can hold and throw around... As well as shiny things.

She's also taken a recent liking to my iPad. She keeps walking on it, trying to tap things with her beak. Earlier today, I was writing an email, and she pressed the send button after I typed the first five words. she's so busy.

I'm starting to wonder what Lucy really thinks of the birds out there. She acts like she gets excited when she sees them, but when they start fying, she seems a little more terrified, rather than excited. Just the other day, when a couple doves flew, she spread her wings out and hissed. Then she flew and perched on my mom's orchids on the other side of the room. Since she didn't flap her wings as hard, I don't think it was entirely out of fright, since it seems she flaps her wings harder when she's scared.

Honestly sometimes, I can never tell what's going on in that little head of hers.

When a flock of birds suddenly takes off it's often a sign that they think there's a predator nearby. So her natural instincts tell her to be worried when this happens.