Grief

[meowingaround]

So as we enter our 3rd week with no sign of Willow I'm becoming concerned about how Windy is doing.

He's always been a bit of a screamer when I leave the room . And I figured it was natural for him to call for Willow for a bit. But now he is beginning to get upset and scream at his shadow when he see's it anywhere. He'll follow it along the wall at first talking to it, then scream and scream and scream.

I'm really not sure how to deal with this besides trying to not have any shadows , which isn't as easy as it would seem.

[liz]

If it has been 3 weeks I doubt you will ever see Willow again. Since your male is not used to being alone - I suggest getting another female.

Cockatiels are flockers and are not really happy alone. If you can't be with him 24/7, he needs a friend.

[meowingaround]

I am home 24/7 with him .

And I had a female before and there's no doubt that he got aggressive when they started mating. Both towards her and myself. I was not allowed near her or the cage. That got really bad and I had to give her to a friend.

I'd consider getting another boy though.. but Windy and I are becoming so close again, and I like that and would hate to ruin that.


It's funny because I picked him out cause he was the only one in his flock not sleeping when I went to see the babies. They had just eaten and everyone else was enjoying the warm food in their bellies relaxing. He on the other hand was running on the bottom of the cage back and forth waiting for me to say oh look there's a crazy bird.. I want him.. hehhee

And he doesn't seem miserable, he sits on top of his cage singing and on me loving.

I'm just not sure what the right response is to the screaming at his shadow. Usually when he screams for other random reasons I will try and wait him out, and if that fails I tuck him in his cage for maybe 15 minutes covered till he calms himself.

[liz]

Years ago, Bubba got out. He stayed around for a couple of days trying to get Sweetie to come out. They called back and forth all day long. He would sleep with a wild flock of starlings and come back the next morning. When the starlings moved on so did he.

Sweetie kept calling. A male cardinal heard her calls and came to the window. He visited with her everyday as much as he could. She learned to speak cardinal. He stayed near her until I got another tiel.

[Cage Cleaner]

Should have trapped the cardinal and kept it. kekeke

[liz]

He was relatively tame and would have come in if I had opened the window but then she would have gotten out.

He could never be happy being a captive.

[airunreal]

Cockatiels are flockers and are not really happy alone. If you can't be with him 24/7, he needs a friend.

agreed. try to find a match for him