So I look down to see my cockatiel, feathers fluffed up and content looking. She nibbles on my ring once more, and presses her head against my hand. She was asking for scritches.
Now I want to make it clear that she rarely EVER does this. When I first got her, she wanted nothing to do with me for a whole two months, and if anything, was more interested in Dudley (though it wasn't mutual). I began to think that she preferred other birds than people, and wasn't as tame as the breeder said (though the breeder was honest and said she was one of the less social birds, but did say that she enjoyed human company).
After she got used to things, she became quite accepting of scritches, and ended up really enjoying them. Still, she never usually asked for scritches. She usually preferred to preen me, than asking me to preen her. During the year of 2015, she only asked once, in total. This is the second time during the entire time I had her, that she actually approached me like this.
So needless to say, it was a pleasant surprise. Though funny enough, the first time she actually came up to me wanting scritches, was some time after I got her back (for anyone who doesn't know, she managed to escape on December 9th, and I was lucky enough to get her back the following Sunday). She might be thanking me for rescuing her from the laundry basket the woman who responded to the Craigslist ad put her in, or something. Either way, it was a very nice moment.
