My Parakeet’s Personalities.

Both of my parakeets are darling to me.

We got Daler from a friend who was unable to take care of him any longer, and I think it was a wise decision because seeing how Daler is now versus then… he is definitely a whole different bird – always playing, dancing and singing. 🙂

Mika came on a whim… a gift from God, really! She’s a sweet, sweet little girl, she is! She’s a roly-poly doll. Maybe almost a year old, she has learned to dance from her mentor, Daler. But, since she has such a sweet, chubby little body, she doesn’t hop about as much as he does, but it’s sure precious to watch! Her screams are quite LOUD, but she only does that when she’s cranky, and God knows that can be often – thanks to Daler who is always pecking her cheeks (which I don’t blame him for doing – those cheeks are just as cute as a baby’s cherub cheeks!) and teasing her by pecking her shoulder when she’s scratching her back.

The other thing they differ in is their food tastes. Here’s probably why Mika is the sweet chubby one and Daler is the lean, active one… They have this honey stick that Mika devours within about 48 hours of placing in the cage. It’s always funny to see Daler bother her when she is busy munching away as if to say, “C’mon, Fatty, play with me instead!” because of the way she madly chases him afterwards. Sometimes, I do see them sharing their rings and bell, but half the time, I see Daler stealing it away from sweet Mika. Mika does fight back, and then, Daler goes back to his hopping about.

Something that cracks me up to tears is when I see Mika staring ahead or at my hubby when he’s playing the guitar and Daler is staring at her. The way he stares at her is like watching an old creepy man staring at some young dish at the bar. 😛 Too funny! Their staring contests are stellar, though! Just seeing them stare solidly at each other makes my own eyes water!

Who woulda thunk that birds had such amazing personalities? Love these guys SO much!

Mika Taneja.

March 15, 2011. The day after mine and hubby’s anniversary, a sweet little baby parakeet came into our lives. It had just rained and it was very, very cold outside. (Okay, not VERY cold, but a chilled 45 degrees out and the leaves were still barely making their 2011 debut). My Mom was here visiting and was making me breakfast (Yes, I am blessed! I was about 3 mths preggo) and our trees were still bare and I saw a fat, little “lime” in the tree. I did a double take, and then suddenly (within 2 seconds) I realized that this lime was a baby parakeet. Of course, it goes without saying, I was more than worried about the approx. 6 month old baby’s health and well-being outside thanks to the congregation in a very tall tree about 500 feet away that provides a cozy meeting place for birds of hawks/falcons-nature. Anyway, I was ready to take the lost soul in.

My sweet little key lime! 🙂

My jaw literally dropped because my hubby and I had talked about it a few weeks prior about getting Daler a companion but decided against it thinking about the added noise pollution. But, it was as if God had other plans and sent this baby parakeet straight to my backyard tree in search of food. As soon as I saw her, I was literally having visions of her and Daler playing and sharing their toys and food. It was a beautiful vision.

Spoiler alert: They are definitely playing and sharing like I had imagined, and they are also fighting about the same amount. They are both so cute.

I took out Daler’s old cage and placed his favorite food, millet, into it and around it on our patio table hoping she would come. I even enticed her by telling her that there was a parakeet inside happily prancing about in his mansion-cage. I don’t know what it was, but she actually came (probably spying the food past my shoulder).

Long story short, she was smarter than us about it and grabbed food from everywhere but inside the cage until we scooped it all up and placed it in the cage, and 6 1/2 hours later (Yes, we did wait that long for her and she is sooo worth it!)

She also had disappeared for an 1 hour and half in between that time in which I was very stressed that I’d never see her fluffy self again… but she came back for dinner seating herself!) 😉

and 6 1/2 hours later, she came into the cage, and we were thrilled.

Mikki’s first picture in her temporary house.

As soon as Daler saw her, he was also very happy to see one of his own kind. We waited about 30 – 45 days until we placed them together but Daler proved to be extremely territorial. So, we attempted to move one of them out of the mansion-cage with the enticing piece of millet; however, Daler was the one who fell for it and moved into his old cage (by accident) and had to live there for 10 days until we moved them together again.

Thrilled, they both didn’t fight as much as the first trial-run together, so we decided it was a permanent change, and thankfully, too, because now we only have to feed them in one cage, water them in one cage, consolidate all the toys, and just watch them play together. It also relieves us from entertaining them separately, and they are now the best of pals. 🙂

Adoration.

Sharing a Smooch.

First time Mika (left) and Daler (right) were put together. Didn’t go so well. Look at Daler’s territorial face.

Read about Bread.

Daler: All this for me? You shouldn't have!

Well, this entry is definitely not JUST about bread. It’s about the people and animals who LOVE bread. You could say it’s an ode of some sort. As I was having my toast this morning, Daler Singh Taneja, a.k.a. my little sweetheart, started running around facing me as I took my first bite. Of course, since I know my sweet little parakeet, I knew he was asking me for a bite, also. I’m not one for sharing my food, but when it’s my sweetheart, I will, without any doubt! So, of course, I instantaneously broke off a piece of the crust and immediately started feeding him. He’s a spoiled baby and requires eating yummy things out of my hand. It’s quite cute, actually! Ever since I’ve put his millet in a millet holder, he’s been a little cranky, but he’ll get over it. The reason I had to do that is because he will only eat millet if he gets the chance, and it’s like eating donuts for every meal for a bird. I, of course, lost track talking about my cutie, but as I was saying: Bread.

So, I remember going to the lake full of little duckies and their mommies and daddies and feeding them bread. I also remember when a swan charged toward me, and I was no longer amazed by a swan’s grace. I haven’t seen Black Swan, but I’m guessing it’s about a swan who is trying to get the last crumb! Ha ha. Couldn’t help myself. 🙂

The hubs and I were talking about why birds and bread go together claw in claw, and we realized that they are familiar to the taste and smell of whole grains. Millet actually is a great fiber that we Indians put in our rotis for added health. So, it’s a wonder why Daler actually would take any given chance to request bread crumbs when he can’t reach the millet. Ah ha! What a clever parakeet he is! And, it’s not like he can’t reach the millet. He has to climb onto the millet perch and search (the whole point of the millet holder is for him to search for the priceless millet like he would in the wild, so I promise, I’m not torturing him!), which he will need getting used to. Until then, I don’t mind hand-feeding my sweetheart bread. 🙂