Poppy in Proximity

Franklin

We lost our beloved cockatiel Franklin several weeks ago.  He was an old guy when we adopted him several years back, and this wasn't a surprise, but nonetheless a heartbreaking loss. While we've all grown attached to him, Poppy was his best friend and has suffered the greatest loss.  Poppy's parents, aunts, uncles, and Franklin were all quite old, and Franklin was the last of Poppy's flock.  We've had Max and Elvis (I have to point out that they came with these names--not my choice) for a couple of  years, and they came older and very pair bonded. They kept to themselves and didn't really mix into the existing flock. They never fought--just lived separate lives and spoke different dialects. I knew Poppy was going to take that last loss hard.  I've worried quite a bit over the last few months as I've seen the inevitable signs that Franklin was getting older and weaker. We went to the vet a couple of times, as he was losing weight, and each time, there was nothing wrong other than he was too thin and an old guy. Cockatiels can take loss so hard, that I really worry whenever one of them goes that the others will become depressed and/or ill.

Poppy and Franklin

 I was very concerned that without Franklin, Poppy would fall into loneliness and despair. He never seemed to like Max and Elvis, based on the disdain he showed them, so I didn't really see him integrating with them.

Elvis and Max

I have curiously observed Poppy's overtures at friendship over the last couple of weeks.  The first couple of weeks after his loss, he was quite depressed and stared at the wall a lot. He completely ignored Max & Elvis. I started spending a lot of time with him--singing and playing (which is mostly letting him pull on my nose ring or assault my face in various other ways) to cheer him up.  He started by watching them intently, sticking about three feet away from them (they previously usually stayed on different sides of the room).  He has progressively edged closer and now hangs within about a foot, sometimes less, of them.  Max & Elvis are rather strange, and they hang out in spots

Elvis, Max, Poppy (far right)

in the room that the other cockatiels never went.  Despite living in that room his whole life, Poppy has never played in the rabbit/guinea pig hay or the rabbits' box village, but suddenly he's just casually "hanging out" there by Max & Elvis.  They aren't yet including him, but they don't chase him away either, so the relationship is progressing slowly but positively. I've noticed a few times in the last week, that Poppy has made some slightly bolder advances--joining in when Max & Elvis "sing" with me (which is a different dialect from Poppy's repertoire) and even eating greens from the same plate as them.

I find this most interesting, because Poppy is a very confident, arrogant bird. He was raised with a loving flock that all took good care of him. He's always been cage free and feels like he owns the room.  The other cockatiels always catered to him ("the baby") and let him be the boss; he was a spoiled brat.  I didn't think he would humble himself to try to ingratiate himself into the other flock, but he most certainly is doing so. He's going about it in a very deliberate, conservative manner, and it's quite impressive. His need for connection is apparently more important than his need to be the boss, and he's playing a very different role than he has in the five+ years he's been alive.

I am planning to adopt some cockatiels, as soon as the right ones come into rescue.  It's rare that I only have three cockatiels.  They seem to prefer being in groups of 6-8.  I didn't want to take any chances on stressing Franklin, so I couldn't adopt anyone while Franklin was getting weaker.

For now, I've been spending extra time singing with Poppy. He really enjoys singing loud duets and taking turns repeating each other's tunes.  He is a little rude and domineering about it, frequently cutting me off in the middle of my turn, but in fairness, I'm a pretty awful singer. We both prefer his voice.