This morning I went to let my cat out… my sister was on her way to school (day off for me. yay :)) and yelled at me not to let him out. There was a little bird on the ground, so I didn’t.
Turns out the little bird was a parakeet :eek:
He wasn’t flying well (I assume he had clipped wings or just had never really learned. He’s obviously a pet bird.) so I caught him pretty easily.
But… now what? We have an ancient birdcage, but it’s unfurnished. He’s in there now just because it’s way better than a shoebox. It’s broken and not very nice and we’ll have to get a new one if he ends up sticking around, but the cage itself is okay for now.
I gave him water and he seemed to appreciate it. jumped right up on the side of the little bowl and took a drink immediately. I also gave him some peanuts and lettuce and chopped-up carrots and a few cheerios. He doesn’t seem to have much interest in them. I’m planning on going to Walgreens in a few minutes to get him some actual bird food. I think we may actually have some outdoor bird feeder birdseed… would that be okay for him? For now, at least? This is kind of selfish of me, but if he stays, he’ll be my sister’s bird and not mine, so I really don’t want to spend a lot of money on him. I just want him to be okay and not too scared right now.
the last and most urgent question at the moment is… it’s really really really horribly warm inside our house. Will my little feathered friend be okay in the heat? Should I blow a fan at him? I would think that would be a bit uncomfortable and frightening. Should I put ice cubes in his water?
and the really-I’m-serious-last and not at all urgent question is… if you had a little green birdy, what would you name him? I don’t actually get to name him, but I can always suggest things
I don’t think the fan is a good idea - this might just keep ruffling his feathers and make him uncomfortable.
Parakeets eat seeds and fruit; some millet sprays will probably go down a treat while you are sourcing some actual parakeet mix.
Couple of things:
-Are they native to your location, or is this a domestic escapee?
-A caged bird and a cat in the same house? Are you sure you want to do that?
The parakeet and cat should be okay. My cat has shared the house with small critters before without a problem. The parakeet will live in my sister’s room anyway, and my cat doesn’t go in there.
I’m reasonably positive that this little guy is a domestic escapee. He was tame enough to be caught and I’ve never seen a wild parakeet in my area. I believe the plan is to ask the neighbors if they’re missing a bird, and if they aren’t, we’re just going to keep him.
I’ll see if my sister left her camera in a convenient place and take a picture of him…
I feel so bad for him. he’s so scared. I know I should leave him alone and just let him chill, but I’m paranoid… I’m afraid I’ll check on him and he’ll have had a little birdie aneyurism from all the stress and heat and not-very-pretty-caged-ness.
it would be nice to put up flyers around the neighborhood stating that you have found a bird and let the owner call you to describe him. Someone may be very sad missing their birdie.
As others have said, having a fan blow on your feathered friend for an extended period is probably not a good idea but you could have the fan blowing away from him. At least that’ll get the air circulating and the room won’t feel so warm.
We’ll have to put up flyers.
I went off to get him food and came back and he was like a new bird- climbing the cage, chirping, not scared at all… when I put my hand in to give him food, he hopped right on. I took him out just to revel in the cuteness of having a bird on my hand and he flew to my shoulder and started grooming my ear.
Whoever lost this bird must miss him a great deal. I know I’ll miss him when (if?) we find his rightful owners and I’ve only known him a few hours.
I will not get attatched. I will not get attatched. I. will. not. get. attatched.
If he hopped right on your hand then someone has been training him for quite awhile and must miss him terribly. I hope you find the owner. Please keep us posted.
That’s a budgerigar (budgie) - they are a kind of parrakeet, but their dietary requirements are a bit simpler than others in the family - they eat mostly smallish seeds - usually blends of millet and other small grains. Mine likes an occasional nibble at a slice of apple or a little piece of lettuce leaf.
The only essential furniture for the cage is perches - if it doesn’t have any of these, you can easily make them from a bit of dowel or a natural twig - hazel or beech is good - just cut it to size, strip the leaves off and give it a bit of a wash before putting it in the cage.
A few questions that might help ascertain the bird’s age:
-how long (compared to the bird’s body) and how neat is the tail?
-Are there stripes across the forehead (as in the linked pics)? do they extend all the way down to the cere(that the bit above the beak where the nostrils are)
-What colour is the cere?
Concur; see here - hopping onto the hand and shoulder represents at least six months of training, I would say.
The chances are, the bird will be a fairly recent escapee (otherwise he’d be either dead or not so tame by now) and will not have come all that far; I hope you find the original owner.
I don’t recommend ice cubes in the water - could shock his system. Budgies are originally from Australia, so they usually do better with a warmish, draft-free environment.
Outdoor bird seed may get you by in a pinch, but a little box of budge seed won’t set you back much & would be better.
If he seems frightened or shocky, it’s a good idea to cover the cage with a towel or sheet. They often feel safer that way.
I do hope you get him/her back to the owner who undoubtedly is missing their little friend.
Your thread was the exact one I was thinking of when I posted. I got my 2 keets in January and they still won’t even let me touch them. I’ve tried everything with them. I think the problem is that I got the 2 of them together. They seemed to be friends at the store, so I bought them both and they’ve bonded with each, instead of with me.
SurrenderDorothy, my apologies for the slight hijack.
I think you’re right; we’ve had a total of five budgies (including the present one) - the two we bought as a pair never got tame and the one we bought from a big group of birds in a large cage at a large pet store didn’t either; the two we bought very young(probably the most significant factor) from small cages, in with only one or two other birds at the pet shop, were the ones we were able to tame.
Ours are partial to green peas and corn. UNSALTED and lukewarm-only – hot foods can burn their crop. What we do is boila handful of frozen peas and/or corn, then cool (you can set them spread out on a small plate in the refrigerator for a few minutes) until they are just-marginally-warmer than room temperature. Offering those might score a big hit. Birds adore warm food (slightly warm! NOT hot!); I think because they only get it warm in nature when another bird regurgitates to feed them – which is only doen by a parent or a lover, so I think it has postive psycohlogical associations.
Put your flyers up in the pet stores, vet offices, and grocery stores. Do NOT describe or photograph the bird – just say hwere when and what you found, let people who claim ownership describe him (to hopefully weed out liars).
He’s happy as a parakeet can be in a now-furnished cage in my sister’s room.
We knocked on doors to ask, and nobody knows anything abuot him. Nobody’s responded to the flyers yet either.
He doesn’t have a name yet, though… we’re holding out a few more days before deciding that he’s here to stay.
as for his age, I’m pretty sure he’s full-grown. His stripes go all the way to his head, his cere is light blue, and… I’d have to check on him again to see about his body and tail, but I’m reasonably sure he’s not a baby.
And… unfortunately, one dopey sister’s dopey friend sat on her camera and killed it and the other one won’t let me use hers, so no pictures quite yet
Does he talk at all? Normal budgerigar sounds consist of melodic trills, piercing chirps and chattering sqwawks, but they quickly learn to mimic human speech. If this bird has been in close contact with humans, he may be a talker.
In my experience, it’s possible to tell if this is the case even if the bird is not clearly mimicking any specific phrase, because it will often utter a stream of sounds that are recognisable as human-like (it’s a bit like listening to lots of voices all talking at once at a party - you can tell it’s speech, you just can’t make out what they’re saying).
Pick a moment when the bird is already vocalising and try saying “Hello” (in a cheerful tone) to him, then wait silently; if he’s a talker, the chances are he will respond with “Hello [+his name]”.
I’m glad to hear he is still around! May I recommend birdboard.com…they’re quite knowledgeable, willing to help, and have a great archive for ‘new’ bird owners.
he’s so scared. I know I should leave him alone and just let him chill, but I’m paranoid… I’m afraid I’ll check on him and he’ll have had a little birdie aneyurism from all the stress and heat and not-very-pretty-caged-ness.
