Jubilee and Liberty would like to share some changes in their lives with my readers this month. They are 10 months old now and beginning to exhibit some maturity. I suspect the birds would make the following statements if I understood their language.

Liberty: Hi! I’ve learned that telling the females in my life "You’re Pretty!" gets a really nice reaction. My human female gives me kisses after that. Jubilee turns her eye towards me and lets me know that she heard what I said. Sometimes she even preens my head if I bow to her.

Jubilee: That Liberty! He thinks following by my side and telling me I’m a pretty girl, a good girl, or saying "you’re pretty" will get me to preen his head. He’s so silly. I’ve been keeping really busy walking around my living room. So far, I haven’t found the perfect site for a nest. It is fun walking side by side with Liberty as we explore our human’s townehouse.

My Comments

Jubilee is showing a strong interest in finding some dark corner. If she is sitting on my computer desk, she bends down to check out the printer cart shelves or under the computer desk itself. I’ve even caught her looking under the rocking recliner and lifting up pieces of paper to peer underneath. It is rather comical sometimes!

So far, she hasn’t really accepted mutual preening from Liberty unless I am holding both birds at the same time. Then she preens a few feathers on his head. Frequently, Liberty bowing to Jubilee asking her to preen him results in a “beak fight” (poking at each other with their beaks open). I assume this behavior is telling each other that they aren’t interested in the courtship related overtures.

During our nightly rocking ritual, Liberty forcefully tries to beak away Jubilee when she tries to snuggle up under my chin. He also uses his beak to push against me a few times. So far, I haven’t determined what is happening. He may be trying to get Jubilee away from me or me away from Jubilee. I am not sure which. I do strongly suspect some jealousy is going on.

Peace is restored when Liberty is sitting on my shoulder, facing the rocking chair, contentedly grinding his beaks. Jubilee usually sits by my hand and slightly leans against it. She likes to rest her head on the side of my hand just before she closes her eyes and begins grinding her beak. He usually chatters for a few minutes mixing up his chirps and other bird calls with the words he knows. Then he preens a bit and tucks his head under his wings. I have learned to NOT put my hand near him once he is asleep unless I tell him "nite nite time" first. Otherwise I get some rather sturdy nips. If I say "nite nite", he simply steps up on my hand to be carried to the sleeping cage.

I didn’t realize what a night time ritual we had until the birds started calling in protest when I tried to put them in their sleeping cage without rocking them first. I now spend about an hour each night watching some favorite program and rocking the birds to sleep in a darkened living room before I take them to their sleeping cage for the night.

Life with two cockatiels is so much fun! I never thought I would be making plans based on the needs of two birds. My past birds have never been hand tamed and did not demand my companionship like Liberty and Jubilee do.

Return to Living With Pet Birds Index
Return to Cockatiel Index