The Bird Diaries 4: So Quickly they Grow

Another bimonthly commute to see my boyfriend, only this time the car feels empty. No one squawks in tune to the music, no one cheeps for my attention at every mile marker. I smile, thinking of the two babies back home, safe and secure that they've been completely weaned and now no longer need my intervention.

It's been how many weeks since their hatching, I wonder. Their parents sit on eggs, their second and final clutch for this season. New hope, new promises, and as always, so quickly they grow up.

This is a crucial time in my baby cockatiel's development. Now that they're completely weaned, these birds still need all the love and all the social development that I can provide for them. New experiences, our first wing trim, introduction to toys, all of this happens at this pivotal moment. Will they fulfill the hope I've held for them.

I'm certain they will. My friend has given me her Acrobird play gym, and the kids (along with the rest of my parrot flock, have taken to it well. They enjoy sitting on the top of the ladder, eating treats out of the bowels, or walking around the edge so they can sit closer to mommy as she types on her computer.

As I've watched these first children grow, I'm struck by one thing. In order to breed birds well, you can't be in it for the money. I breed my cockatiels so that they are happy, healthy pets that anyone would want in his or her home. They won't win show classes, and they won't produce expensive mutations, but they're fun, lovebird birds, and isn't that what this crazy passion is all about?

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