Pet Forum / Birds / Parrots / November 2004

We lost our little buddie Paulie [cockatiel] when my daughter was careless
opening the front door a month ago. After posting ad's everywhere offering
rewards, calling all pet/vet places, placing ad's in newspapers, and walking
a couple hundred miles we never found him.  We bought a very sweet Cockatiel
shortly after. Then something interesting happened. People who saw our lost
bird ad called and asked if we would be interested in taking their bird. We
adopted another nice Cockatiel and also recently a Quaker Parrot from a very
nice lady that could not give him the time he needed anymore due to change
in her life circumstances. She gave us the bird, cage, boatloads of toys,
and about 100 pounds of food. I know it broke her heart but she felt that it
was the right thing to do or off to shelter he would go. If her
circumstances changed we would be happy to give him back as she obviously
loved and took good care of him.

Anyhow I now have all these birds. The Cockatiels seem to get along great
except for occasional food squabbles and hang out together in the "big" cage
when not with the human flock members but for now sleep in separate cages.
The Quaker Parrot is adorable and loves to have his head scratched and be
petted. His "screech" [sounds like the Velociraptor in Jurassic Park ] takes
a bit getting used to but for the most part he is pretty quiet. I was
wondering if anyone has had experience with having both Cockatiels and
Quaker Parrot. The Cockatiel we lost had one in the same house and I guess
they got along OK but I am worried because even though they are about the
same length the Quaker Parrot has a pretty major beak and is obviously
bulkier and stronger. The plan so far is to never let the Cockatiels in or
on his cage [kept in a separate room] and after a couple of weeks try to
bring them gradually together to see if they can at least socialize. They
are ware of each other already. My better judgment says never to leave them
out alone together. Can Cockatiels and a Quaker Parrot be friends or will
they always have to be kept separate. Can jealously become a problem leading
to aggression between birds if the Quaker Parrot sees us snuggling with our
gentle Cockatiel?  Thanks for any info.  --- Steve