Cockatiels with Personality

There in Ventura, California
We almost always had
A cockatiel fluttering
Around the house.
We didn’t believe in
Clipping their wings,
Figuring birds were meant
To fly freely
Even if in captivity.
The tamed easily,
As long as we only had
One bird at a time
And each one quickly
Made our house theirs.
We had one that liked
Shiny objects
And took up dive bombing
Our guests
To get at their jewelry.
Another one liked
To fly down and join us
For dinner
And once mistakenly landed
In a cup of coffee.
They loved to pester our dogs,
And sorely tested
Both their humor and patience.
One of the birds
Used to nibble the hair
Between the pads
Of the dogs feet
When the dogs
Were trying to sleep.
If that wasn’t enough,
Another took up the practice
Of squatting in the dog bowl
And trying to claim
The dog food as hers,
And daring the dogs
To try and get any.
They would even fly down
And land on the dogs
Always testing the limits
Like a bunch of kids.
We thought one of our birds
Was a male
Until we discovered she
Had laid an egg
And was trying to nest
In the corner of her cage.
One of them discovered
The sport of tap dancing
On the keys of the phone
Whenever we tried to use it.
Each bird seemed to find
Its own unique way
Of being a pest
And working its way
Into our hearts and minds.
With their ability to fly,
Quite a few eventually escaped
And added themselves
To the outdoor
Bird population.