VIDEOS! Watch Us Grow—5 Baby Cockatiels Explore the World!

[Tiki]

Welcome to the world’s first (I think?) reality show for cockatiels! In January 2004, Tiki and Taina hatched these 6 little miracles one of whom only survived for two days. This is the story of their journey from egg to tiny little helpless hatchling to triumphant fledgling. They had my heart from the moment they hatched-I hope they capture yours as well. So sit back, relax and see the world through the eyes of a baby bird. They were parent reared but given plenty of love and attention by me and you will probably gag on the baby talk but they ARE my babies! Watch their bright, eager little faces as they discover the world around them!

Cast of Characters:

Narrator/Proud Parront-ME (Tiki)
Tiki (normal grey)-Father
Taina (cinnamon)-Mother
Maui (4 month old pearl)-Big Step-Brother
Baby #1 (cinnamon pearl) grew into Manea-female
Baby #2 (cinnamon) grew into Rangi-male
Baby #3 (pied) grew into Shaka-male
Baby #4 (pied) grew into Tattoo-male
Baby #5 (normal/split) grew into Rima-female

The babies weren’t named until a couple weeks after the making of these clips when I had DNA testing done to determine sex. So I referred to them by birth order number. I had quite a time getting these to load-finally I had to cut them waaaay back to 6.5 MB max. Clips 2, 4 and 7 were originally single clips but had to be divided as they were too long to load. If you have a slow connection, please be patient-I could tell you that they are worth the wait…..but then I am very prejudiced!

The next batch of clips will be loaded over Christmas weekend.

Table of Contents for the first batch:

1. Hello World, We’re Here!

The first five babies greet the world. Here they are between 2-6 days old and have been fed well by their parents as you can see by their full crops. Egg # 6 is still in the nestbox.

2. and 2A Gone But Not Forgotten-Baby # 6

The sixth baby to hatch was sadly rejected by his parents. I came home from work and found him on the floor-he had somehow been tossed out of the nest box by a parent. I tried to get Tiki to feed him without much luck. I did manage to spoon feed him and took him to work the next day. The story played out on the original pre-crash Birdboard on 20 Jan 2004. He couldn’t empty his crop and Joel tried his best to talk me through saving him. After work I took him to an avian vet and the nurse emptied his crop and I thought he would be OK. Sadly he died an hour later. I will never forget his fighting spirit and the memory of him losing his battle to live still tears me up when I think about it.

3. The Fab Five

Now they are between 5-10 days old and the older ones have legs rings from the Australian National Cockatiel Society. Though I don’t breed for resale, I chose to ring them for security purposes, there is a register kept on who owns which leg ring numbers. The three elder ones’ eyes are opening slowly, the two younger ones eyes are still shut.

4. and 4A They Have Crests Already!

At the age of 8-13 days you can see little crests developing. The hissing sound is how they beg for food from the parents. They were all parent reared but I played with them daily to get them used to human contact.

5. Colouring Becoming Apparent

They are between 10-15 days and the wings are showing hints of the colour/mutations they will be. The two eldest were showing cinnamon and the other three were showing the darker normal grey colour. Later, #3 & #4 will show the pied mutation.

6. Bright and Eager to Face the World

Maybe it’s just my imagination, but at 15-20 days old, they just seem to exude confidence and excitement to be in the world. Look at the expressions on their little faces-they are soooo cute! (Proud parront speaking)

7.and 7A Bite My Finger? And Little Cuties

Babies 1 & 2 nibble on my finger a bit. Colour patterns are more apparent and the “blonde” crests on 2, 3 and 4 give a clue that 2 will be a cinnamon and 3 & 4 will be pieds. Baby 1 is showing cinnamon pearl colouring. Number 3 (Shaka) is showing a cheeky personality that he still has to this day. They are 17-22 days now.

8. Papa Tiki and his Babies

Tiki inspects the little ones who are now between 19-24 days old. He isn’t plucking them, but he is removing the sheathes on their pin feathers. You can also see how he feeds the babies. At this point, Taina was discovered to be plucking the babies so I had to isolate her.

9. and 9a Stretching Their Wings (2 parts)

The youngsters have discovered that they have wings…..and that wings are a way cool thing to have! They are 21-26 days old.

[Tiki]

New clips just added of baby tiels stretching their wings--too cute if I do say so myself! http://www.birdboard.com/album/showphoto.php/photo/1823

[Candice]

Very cute! I love the new video! :D Thanks for sharing all these great videos!