Chocobo the Cockatiel

by Jamie
(Elma, IA)

I bought my little bird Chocobo from a bird sactuary around where I live. The room she was kept in was full of different species of beautiful little birds that flew right over my head as we were standing in the room. When I saw her I fell in love. Her feathers kept the normal grey of most cockatiels but they have a pale tint to them.

For the first few months she would be scared of me, and peck me when I put my hand out for her to step up. I would look at her and she'd be sitting in one place of her cage, clearly not interested in me even when I talked to her. She would not play with her toys or explore.

After feeling that she'd had enough time settling down in my house, I decided to start taming and training her. Slowly and one step at a time, I taught her to trust me. The pecking and fear started to ease up a bit when she started accepting me handling her.

Although she accepted me as her handler, she would still be aggressive towards me to see what she could get away with. She started to realize that it didn't bother me when she bit me and that she was not benefiting from it at all. Each time she didn't bite my finger when I tried to touch her head, I gave her a good cheek rub and praised her. Instead of biting my finger she was now lowering her head for a cuddle :)

Soon after I got her comfortable with me touching her head, I started to try her feet since I knew she was not comfortable with it and that it might help if she needed to have that part of her examined by a vet sometime. Same with her head, I would gently and slowly rub her foot and praising for good behavior. She lowers her head when I pet her foot now.

Now that she has learned that I'm not going to hurt her, she is starting to bond with me, plays with her toys and preens my eyebrows x}. She's still quiet but I've noticed a little girly chirp whenever I get up out of my chair or a little chirp when I get done petting her. Also when she's on her perch she'll start flapping her wings and *hang upside down* on it. :) She has a diverse appetite and will eat anything I'm eating ;) pizza is her favorite. It's funny to see the sauce on her beak.
She doesn't have night frights like I've heard most cockatiels do but she hisses whenever I put the cover over her cage :/

I would definitely suggest a cockatiel to anyone who is looking for a cute and funny little friend *who eats your pizza* :}