PARROT'S LIFE - GALS AND GENTS I THINK WE MIGHT HAVE A NAME

The cockatiel is doing great, his progress is clearly visible and he is already behaving as a king of his castle. Drunkenly, vigorous and incredibly cocky.

This is his 6th day with us and a photo is made on the distance of two or three inches ( you can see where is a mobile phone back in the mirror). Bird is no more intimidated or uncomfortable with my hands next to him or hanging food around him.

A bird gained some reassurance in my presence and very quickly figured out that I am the giant who brings food and water.
He shows interest in my company and ignores others. In fact, when my husband talks to him, a parrot turns his head away. He does the same to me when bored or has enough of it.

I also learned that a parrot has an ability to 'ask', or even to 'demand'.

At the end of a fourth day, a parrot found out that bird bar seeds are more fun than ones in the bowl. He started to chirp and bonce around the hanging bar that was cleaned of the seeds so only a staple was left.
He was chopping and pulling the staple with nervous motions and chirped in my direction, obviously signaling that a thing needs to reload.

I decide to ignore him and I was sorry a second after that. A parrot figured out I saw his trouble but not hanging a new bar - so he shrugged at me and started flapping wings screeching and demanding his favorite meal.

I think he wants another one, my daughter said watching the parrot who was obviously desperately trying to explain what he wants.

I attached another bar and a bird took a few seeds, taste it, then walked around on bars back to his beloved chunk of bread and repeated the annoying ritual.

A parrot enjoys bread a lot and that piece got all dried up, so I had to change that too.

After that, he was perfectly ok. He quickly plucked seeds from a bar, added more bread on top of it and fill it all up with some seeds. A pretty good appetite I would say. The surprising fact is that a parrot 'mixes' food while eating.

Sometime around 9 PM, a parrot started to object something, but we failed to realize what. He started to be louder and louder, and my daughter grabbed her ears asking me to do whatever just to stop the noise.

I noticed that a parrot is nervous and constantly blinking at the 'artificial sun', a room's light, but I thought it must be something else.

I mean... this is a bird. It can't possibly tell me to go and shut the light, right? Right?

I was standing next to the cage while parrot was performing some unusual bouncy walk when finally a parrot moved away from the bars made space and went into a full wingspan at me.

I know this motion means 'go away' or 'danger'.

You want me to go away, I asked a visibly disturbed bird. Aw, I thought, the last few days we would shut the light at exactly 9 o'clock and probably a bird is annoyed because her natural day/night cycle could be a source of this behavior.

Ok, I said and shut the light, sat back in my armchair with a laptop but a bird was not calming down. In fact, it was louder than before.

This makes no sense. What else could be wrong in the room? With me in dark is the same as with me being in the light, so I can't be the one who he objects in any way.

I was not willing to leave a room without finding out what is wrong as a bird went from crazy to berserk mode. It might be something serious, but I don't see it.

After a few minutes of insolent noise and intimidating shrieks, my brain moved and I noticed that an air in the room is warm but suffocating. I may not object it, but a bird manual clearly says that I have to keep a little fellow in the well-aired room.

I even found sources claiming that a bird can suffocate in a room that other beings and us humans consider ok to breathe.

I opened the window, the fresh air went in, bird calmed down. Ok, rule assimilated - air the room shortly before going to bed.

The fifth day in the morning we found a result of overly enthusiastic acrobatics. The bird is now constantly climbing all over the cage, and yes accidents happen. A parrot somehow scratched his wing from the bottom end on a ridge. A scratch is maybe 2 millimeters big, and I saw it only because a bird is white. Otherwise, there is no other damage and parrot is lifting clouds of seeds while practicing wings. And yes, he ends up upside down and sometimes on the bottom of a cage. His muscle tonus has a consistency of pudding.

His temper doesn't help either. He quickly shifts between a slow-mo and bat-shit crazy within seconds.

I don't know if this is normal, or he just wants attention. I didn't notice he self-inflicts because there is no lost plumage. Sometimes the mishandled birds start to pluck own feathers, but I think he just feels really bouncy at times.

I thought he can fly! - my daughter said asking me how come a parrot has no ability to do so when I explained he has to flap to make wings stronger. He can fly, I explained, like any bird, but his wings are weak, the same as the rest of him.

My daughter asked me if I can speed up his training so he can be outside of a cage, but there is no way to tell when a parrot will be ready for a stand.

A stand is nothing else but a cage without a cage, so to say. So, I have to see to place all parrot's favorite things to a construction that will stand inside of a cage, so he can use all without any difficulties. Once he is accustomed to it as his base with the food, water, and toys, plus used to us - I will just remove the cage.

I have no idea how much time a bird will need. I have to make a stand-alone construction that can hold his things. After a few months of being familiar with it, a bird should consider it a base and return for food, water, and toilet.

Today morning he again welcomed me with the very visible 'pretend-yawning'. I mean I got up late, around 7:30 and a bird was up for hours, still, he was yawning like he has a chronic fatigue.

Ok, I talked to him as usual, refill water and brought a fresh piece of the bread. I tried to introduce a new type of a treat, a dried plum. No reaction, he just hissed at me and tocked on the bar when I became increasingly persistent.
Well, it looks like a piece of turd anyways...

He also has something that I could even call a 'rotten temper' which is quite obvious when he can't do something, can't get something right away or when he steps into own feces on the bars.
When annoyed or nervous he usually blows steam by aggressively chopping a piece of bread, biting it and screeching.

Besides soiling own steps, falling every now and then, having the vile episodes with the chunk of the bread, bonding and overdosing with the bird bar, his preferable pass time is sitting next to a mirror chirping weird sounds to that another parrot - a clear case of reality detachment- combing the feathers to perfection and napping at least 18 hours a day.

Considering parrot's behavior, I think I have the perfect name for him. This must be a stroke of genius or touch of divine grace. A bird has everything - appropriate plumage, behavior, epic sense of entitlement and vile tantrums. I thought to call him Johnny Depp, and I only need to train him to soil in one place and to say 'motherfucker'...