Whether the youngest cockatiel was pushed out by its siblings or not, one things was clear - the nest pot was getting too congested. It was evident when the chicks started to literally ‘hang out’ of the entrance hole. What I initially thought as inquisitiveness about the big bad world was probably an attempt to cool off.
:-P
Are two heads better at cooling off instead of one? I don’t know, but the chicks seem to think that way.
Whatever they were thinking, the eldest decided that it has had enough and wanted to be a free bird. She (I think that it is a ‘she’, because it is so feisty and pushy), pecked and pushed the younger one in and gained a foot hold on the entrance hole. The next was the one small step, a hop, from the hole to the nearest perch.
Oops! Oh, Okay. The wings are for balance, is it?
Seems sitting on the perch is tough on the baby legs. After tottering on the perch for a few minutes, she decided that she better get to the top rather wait at the door.
That’s quite an attempt, Go, go girl!, says the mother, while the sibling seems concerned, ‘Be, careful, sis!’
A stupendous effort for a 3 week old nestling. ‘Yea! I have done it’, she seems to say. The two siblings seem puzzled and awestruck.
And so am I. Not that I have much experience in breeding cockatiels or any other bird, but the earlier (lone) hatchling took almost 5 weeks to fledge and that after a lot of coaxing from the parents and me.
The scenes are 3 days old (happened on 18th April), and today, she is already exploring the cage, pulling and playing with straw, pecking and peeling the perches.
:-P
Are two heads better at cooling off instead of one? I don’t know, but the chicks seem to think that way.
%5B3%5D.jpg "fledges_18_apr_11 (1)")
Whatever they were thinking, the eldest decided that it has had enough and wanted to be a free bird. She (I think that it is a ‘she’, because it is so feisty and pushy), pecked and pushed the younger one in and gained a foot hold on the entrance hole. The next was the one small step, a hop, from the hole to the nearest perch.
Oops! Oh, Okay. The wings are for balance, is it?
%5B3%5D.jpg "fledges_18_apr_11 (2)")
Seems sitting on the perch is tough on the baby legs. After tottering on the perch for a few minutes, she decided that she better get to the top rather wait at the door.
That’s quite an attempt, Go, go girl!, says the mother, while the sibling seems concerned, ‘Be, careful, sis!’
%5B3%5D.jpg "fledges_18_apr_11 (3)")
A stupendous effort for a 3 week old nestling. ‘Yea! I have done it’, she seems to say. The two siblings seem puzzled and awestruck.
%5B3%5D.jpg "fledges_18_apr_11 (5)")
And so am I. Not that I have much experience in breeding cockatiels or any other bird, but the earlier (lone) hatchling took almost 5 weeks to fledge and that after a lot of coaxing from the parents and me.
The scenes are 3 days old (happened on 18th April), and today, she is already exploring the cage, pulling and playing with straw, pecking and peeling the perches.
No comments:
Post a Comment