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This thread technically begins from another thread
http://forums.avianavenue.com/budgie-boulevard/45246-experiment-budgies.html
I can't recall when, but sometime after I had been feeding the budgies by hand, one of my hand-raised but not worked with tiels (at the time) was also interested in this same behavior. I suppose I should start out by introducing the cockatiels!
Current flock is as follows
Casey - 9 going on 10 year old hand-raised tiel, loves scritches. She is a cinnamon pearl pied. I've had her since November 2001 when she was 5 months old
Pistachio & Kiwio - the pair, 13+ years old. Kiwi is a whiteface hen, Pistachio is a normal male. I've had the pair since November of 2005.
Tomi Girl - pied hen of unknown age. I've had her since May 2006
Faye - normal hen of unknown age, came to me December 2007
In 2007, prior to getting Faye, I also had Kirby (normal male) and Sunshine (pearl hen), and at the time, they were 7 years old. Both are the offspring of Pistachio and Kiwi, hand-raised and at one time tame, but not worked with in years. I believe this part actually starts out after rehoming Kirby in 2007 but prior to taking in Faye.
Every morning I go in to feed the birds and to interact with them. That is, I feed the little guys, Casey flies on over to me, I give her scritches, and I would interact with the conures (only one now). It was pretty much set in stone. Things wouldn't happen the same way every day, but it was just about guaranteed a routine. Well, one day, Casey (or so I had thought) landed on the back of my hoody, and instead of coming on over for scritches, flew off again. I thought that was rather odd.... then I realized, it wasn't Casey! It was Sunshine!
A few days later, Sunshine repeated this behavior, only landing in a different spot, and I knew it was her because I could clearly see her. And once again, she didn't stay! After having her for a couple of years, this was extremely strange behavior she was showing, since she had never done this before. I couldn't understand what she was asking, or perhaps demanding. Then I thought about it, and realized that this behavior had *always* occurred while I was refreshing the food dishes... I decided to offer her some food from my hand... and *BING* - it was like a light-bulb had gone off!
Stupid me, once I figured out what she wanted, she came to expect this! So the mornings now included feeding the birds, giving Casey scritches, and feeding Sunshine from whatever perch she was at. Over time, she got up enough confidence to fly to my hand to eat... and then we have this video.
In 2008, I was in contact with a family looking for a bird, and they had had some previous bird experience. By this time, I had been feeding Sunshine for quite a while, and a few days before Sunshine went to her new home (they said they were quite happy with Sunshine!), Faye, the newest tiel to the flock, started copying Sunshine. Faye was very hesitant and unsure about asking for food, but she was interested nevertheless! She didn't exactly get "serious" with this interaction until Sunshine had left.
This was the first video showing Faye wanting to eat, but also quite unsure about the entire ordeal.
The next quote is another cross-post after having had Faye for a year.
*continued in next post*
http://forums.avianavenue.com/budgie-boulevard/45246-experiment-budgies.html
I can't recall when, but sometime after I had been feeding the budgies by hand, one of my hand-raised but not worked with tiels (at the time) was also interested in this same behavior. I suppose I should start out by introducing the cockatiels!
Current flock is as follows
Casey - 9 going on 10 year old hand-raised tiel, loves scritches. She is a cinnamon pearl pied. I've had her since November 2001 when she was 5 months old
Pistachio & Kiwio - the pair, 13+ years old. Kiwi is a whiteface hen, Pistachio is a normal male. I've had the pair since November of 2005.
Tomi Girl - pied hen of unknown age. I've had her since May 2006
Faye - normal hen of unknown age, came to me December 2007
In 2007, prior to getting Faye, I also had Kirby (normal male) and Sunshine (pearl hen), and at the time, they were 7 years old. Both are the offspring of Pistachio and Kiwi, hand-raised and at one time tame, but not worked with in years. I believe this part actually starts out after rehoming Kirby in 2007 but prior to taking in Faye.
Every morning I go in to feed the birds and to interact with them. That is, I feed the little guys, Casey flies on over to me, I give her scritches, and I would interact with the conures (only one now). It was pretty much set in stone. Things wouldn't happen the same way every day, but it was just about guaranteed a routine. Well, one day, Casey (or so I had thought) landed on the back of my hoody, and instead of coming on over for scritches, flew off again. I thought that was rather odd.... then I realized, it wasn't Casey! It was Sunshine!
A few days later, Sunshine repeated this behavior, only landing in a different spot, and I knew it was her because I could clearly see her. And once again, she didn't stay! After having her for a couple of years, this was extremely strange behavior she was showing, since she had never done this before. I couldn't understand what she was asking, or perhaps demanding. Then I thought about it, and realized that this behavior had *always* occurred while I was refreshing the food dishes... I decided to offer her some food from my hand... and *BING* - it was like a light-bulb had gone off!
Stupid me, once I figured out what she wanted, she came to expect this! So the mornings now included feeding the birds, giving Casey scritches, and feeding Sunshine from whatever perch she was at. Over time, she got up enough confidence to fly to my hand to eat... and then we have this video.
In 2008, I was in contact with a family looking for a bird, and they had had some previous bird experience. By this time, I had been feeding Sunshine for quite a while, and a few days before Sunshine went to her new home (they said they were quite happy with Sunshine!), Faye, the newest tiel to the flock, started copying Sunshine. Faye was very hesitant and unsure about asking for food, but she was interested nevertheless! She didn't exactly get "serious" with this interaction until Sunshine had left.
Anyway, I take it that Faye has been watching my interactions with Sunshine and Casey. I was feeding the birds this morning, and at the specific time I was giving Noel her food, I saw Faye fly to the top of Noel's cage and watch what I was doing (I've seen her intently watching me before, interacting with the other birds). This is the same behavior (or rather similar) to what Sunshine was doing when she started begging me to be handfed, but at the time I didn't understand what she wanted! So I take care of all the birds, then put some seed in my hand, and both Sunshine and Faye are interested! Faye is on a hanging branch, and Sunshine is in the corner on the hoop ball. Put seed in both hands, and Sunshine flew to my hand to eat, as per usual. Faye seems to get a little ansty, and so I put my hand up to one of the branches to the hanging perch, and Faye walks around closer to me, moving back and forth, not sure what to do. During this time, I'm watching Sunshine so I had my head turned away from Faye, but could still see her out of the corner of my eye. She then moves to where my hand is, pecks it, and runs off.... only to return, decide its safe enough, and starts eating! After a moment Casey flew over to see what was up, and decided isntead of demanding scritches (which I wouldn't have been able to give her anyway...), she joined Sunshine on my left hand to eat.
Quickly ran out of seeds in my hands, so added a bit more and Sunshine ate some more while I gave Casey scritches... had some in both hands, and offered it again to Faye, who was still unsure but wanted to eat from my hand still... after going back and forth on the hanging branch she finally decided to eat... at this point I only had Casey with me. She was doing just fine until Sunshine flew to the same perch, and was interested in eating more from my hand... at which point, Faye went and chased Sunshine off, then came back to me for a few more nibbles.
This was the first video showing Faye wanting to eat, but also quite unsure about the entire ordeal.
The next quote is another cross-post after having had Faye for a year.
......I ended up getting busy with other stuff so couldn't continue feeding Faye and she didn't persist on the subject so we pretty much stopped the activity. Well, this morning, as per usual, getting everyone their food, let Casey out of Noel's [cherry headed conure, RIP] cage (since Casey decided to sleep with Noel last night), and there's Faye who seems to be following me but I can't be sure. When I'm near the food station, and Casey is on me getting scritches, Faye flies over to the next closest area which is a boing, and she keeps traveling up and down it as if she wants something. Then she flies off to another area.
I put some seed in my hand, which Casey notices and starts eating it. I then extend my arm out so that the back of my palm rests at the bottom of the boing... thus in this way, Faye can land on the boing, travel down, and eat with Casey! Sounds like a good plan, righ? :dance: But no, instead, Faye decides to do something she's never done before! :doh: She lands on my arm and travels up to my hand to go eat! Then a few minutes later, Tomi Girl follows and lands near my shoulder. She didn't stay long, but I got some seeds in my other hand, and offered her that at her perch, where-in she ate a couple bites and was done!
Meanwhile, Casey and Faye pretty much finish off the seeds, with Casey, once she had her fill, took flight over Faye from my hand to my arm, to get some more scritches. Once Faye is all out of seed, she takes off to a nearby perch. I put a little more food in my hand and put near the boing. Faye lands on the boing again, climbs down, snags a couple bites, and I remove my hand a few inches away, indicating if she wanted more she would have to fly to my hand. She wasn't too sure, but she flew anyway! :boogie: So she lands on my hand again, and eats a little more!
Guess this is her way of saying she wants some more one on one interaction, although she's not quite ready for anything more personal! And to say the least, she's an untame cockatiel that I've never tried taming! So this is completely done by her choice! And although she's not tame, she is a sweet bird! :angel:
*continued in next post*