I haven't had much experience with birdies in golf, but last spring, I decided to get a birdie as a pet!

I have always had a fascination and a love of birds and as a child and young adult, I had canaries at different times. I wanted something different this time, so I went out in search of a cockatiel. I heard the pros and cons-they talk, they sit on your shoulder, but they also are very aggressive and bite. All of these are true, but I decided to get one anyway because I heard they were a very companionable and personable type bird.

I went to many pet stores until I was satisfied and chose a store in Danbury which specialized in only birds. When I went bird-shopping, I paid close attention to how the caretakers of the birds in these stores interacted with the birds they sold and I found the best interaction with the owners of the Danbury store, so last April 14, Tippy, my long-awaited two and a half month-old cockatiel, came into my life. The owners of this pet store are a husband/wife team and they were most helpful. They showed me how to get the bird to come onto my finger by placing your finger under the bird's chest and saying the word "up". Of course, they were telling me where to put my finger to get the bird to perch, but once I got the bird home, it was hard to do this because not being able to see where he was, even though my hand was near him at some point, the bird wasn't always in the right location for him to know that I wanted him to sit on my finger. Even using the word "up" didn't seem to work, but he isn't frightened whenever I put my hand in the cage. In fact, when I say "up" to him, he mimics me and says the word "up" but doesn't know what I want him to do. I've even tried the word "Com'ere" and he mimics me saying that also. It's quite funny.

He seemed to adapt to me right away, though, and right from the start, he seemed like a well-adjusted little critter. I would stand in front of his cage and say words repeatedly so he would say them. Every time I would leave the room he was in, I'd say "I'll be right back, okay?" I was shocked when about a month or so after I bought him, I heard him say, "I'll be right back, okay?" I couldn't believe it! It's almost comparable to a mom hearing her baby's words for the first time. I kept repeating things and before long, he was saying things like "Pretty bird" and "Peek-a-boo". He even would mimic birds outside and seems to try to whistle when songs are on the radio or music is on TV. When people come into the house, he wolf-whistles at them. He mimics me when I cough too!

His day starts out when mine does. In fact, he sleeps without a cover on at night and I don't hear a "peep" out of him-excuse the play on words-until I'm up and around which is about 7 a.m. When he hears me rattling about in the kitchen making my coffee, then he starts chirping and talking. I noticed that in the early part of the winter, he was up a little later than I was, but not by much. I give him a diet of fresh raw veggies or fruits in the morning, then I give him his bird seed at around lunchtime. Cockatiels even like table food and I was encouraged to give him whatever I would eat. I make things for him as plain as possible such as vegetables, then for myself I add spices, but I don't give him anything spicy. He also likes scrambled eggs and cooked mixed vegetables, even sometimes plain pasta.

Caring for him is quite easy and about every other day, I mist him to keep the dander down and his feathers in good shape. Just as you mist plants or vegetables, birds of this type have to be misted to give them some moisture. These birds are used to being in warm climates and misting them is like warm rain coming down on them.

His cage is on a stand with wheels so that whenever I go into a different room of the house, I bring him along with me. Cockatiels have a tendency to screech and they let you know when they want attention! And yes, he does occasionally nip my finger. Ouch!

Cockatiels in their natural habitat have quite a large wing span and are very strong flyers. When they're confined to a cage, it is necessary to clip their wings. They can still fly, but not high or far. When they're out of the cage, they mostly walk on the floor. Because I wouldn't know where he is if he were to walk on the floor, I don't let him out of the cage. He seems to be a very happy little bugger and is content to play with his toys and amuses himself quite well. I was lucky to find a woman in my area who grooms him, clipping his wings and his nails. She's my bird-sitter whenever I go on vacation. He seems to enjoy going on vacation too!

Tippy's a really cute, companionable and very smart bird, and I love caring for him. He loves to show off when I'm talking on the phone and coax him to say things. He's quite a ham! Oops! He's quite a bird! Even though I don't get golf birdies that often, Tippy's a birdie I love having around!

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