Duped

Douglas (right) and his new companion

Douglas came to us some eighteen months ago.   His previous owners relocated to Malaysia and due to Hong Kong's issues with bird flu, Malaysia had and still has banned the import of birds from Hong Kong.   He came to us with a decent sized cage but the plastic base tray must have deteriorated in the sunshine and was so brittle it eventually fell to pieces.  

Luckily we had a spare but much bigger parrot cage so in he went and after a few days in his new home we decided he deserved to share his much larger space with a companion.  We decided he deserved a wife, so I was despatched to find him one.   Despite my hesitation in the shop, the lady assured me the bird I was about to buy was indeed a female and even persuaded me to buy a nesting box too.

Without getting too nerdy about ornithology let me explain that female cockatiels rarely sing, are mostly drab coloured and have barring marks under their tail feathers.  Well we got this young, supposed lass home and Douglas immediately began to sing and show off.   A good sign we though until she immediately burst into an equally magnificent sing song.  The bird is not that drab in colour but does has barring under the tail feathers, so who knows?  We are not that bothered really and I guess eventually we will find out.   In the meantime as long as they both are consenting then ....