Introduction

Welcome home to the newest member of the family – Niko, the Nutty Parakeet. Niko (pronounced nee-co) joined the family almost two weeks ago. For some reason, I suddenly started obsessing over the idea of a parakeet several weeks ago. I have no idea why. I’ve never wanted a bird before, and I certainly didn’t need something else to take care of. But as days passed, I found myself thinking about it more often, and one day I discovered I was reading several websites about parakeets. I finally decided the only way to end the obsession was to just get a parakeet. So I did (and spent less on the bird and his food and equipment than I do on a month of dog food...sigh).


The store employee told me that Niko is a male, but from what I read, that can be hard to tell with birds that are predominantly white, which he is, and with young birds. His leg band says he was born this year, and its apparently easier to determine the gender with birds that are a few years old.


Niko may be smaller than Reyna’s ear, but he has loads of personality. He chirps a good bit, and has two distinct chirps – a happy one, and a mad one. He’s not a morning bird, just sits on his perch with a stupid expression for about an hour each morning. He tends to be more active late morning, late afternoon, and evening. He loves to hop around his cage, eat, and hide under the paper towels that line his cage. He’ll sit on my hand, and he seems to play with Reyna a lot, sitting where he can watch her when she’s being nutty, hiding out of site when she’s watching him, and then popping up suddenly to peep at her. Its really funny to watch the two of them. The first few days, Duncan was fascinated by Niko, and Reyna didn’t seem to notice him. Now, though, Duncan doesn’t pay much attention to Niko, and really prefers to play in the sheet I use to cover Niko’s cage. Reyna loves to look at Niko, and will put her feet on one of the shelves of the entertainment center so she can get up high enough to see him. And when she does that, Niko plays peek-a-boo with her.


I’m sure if I worked more with him, he’d learn a few words. But I’m pretty inconsistent about that. I figure he’ll learn to bark before he learns to talk. And, oh, does he get grumpy with me if I don’t leave the TV or radio on for him when I’m gone for the day. He’s so funny when he gets grumpy about something, or when he decides to hide under the paper towels. For such a little thing, he really is entertaining.