re: Anyone have pet birds?

I had pigeons as a kid for about a year and just like a kid, I lost interest and let them loose.

In my 30's I got a Cockatiel and he was a cool bird to have and picked up pretty quick on whistling tunes along with me.
That one went with the first ex since my son liked it so much.

Fast forward into my late 40's and I got another Cockatiel, a female this time. The females are harder to get to whistling out tunes but she would go berserk if the old "Andy Griffith Show" came on with that whistling opening song. I never trimmed any of the birds wings and let them fly around the house. Very friendly animals and easy to take care of.

I just made sure they had a nice size cage with suet, seed logs, water and feed. Cleaning the cage was a snap with the pull out bottom tray that I'd line with paper to keep the metal clean. Above the pull out tray was a grate with 1/4 x 1/4 inch. opening for the seeds and crap to collect in the tray.

The only mess they really make is when eating they tend to sling the seeds around. You will have a floor with seeds on it that needs to be cleaned at least once a day or you'll track that crap through your house.

If you don't clip the wings and let them fly in the house, just be sure no ceiling fans are running or it could get nasty.

My last Cockatiel died during the last playoff game the year the Saints won the Super Bowl. She was fine and had flown into the den to sit on my shoulder while I was watching the game. She then flew back into her cage and when I got up about 20 minutes later to get another beer from the fridge, she was dead on the bottom of her cage.

I've not had one since and gave my cage away to a friend who got into them a year or so later.