I have read an explanation as to why even very tame cockatiels which
escape never come back. It goes like this: in the wild cocktiels roam
over vast areas and as they grow older they add to their mental map of
landmarks so they can navigate around their usual territory to find
food, water, nesting trees &c. When a previously caged cockatiel
escapes it flies looking for landmarks it recognises, but as it has
spent its life in a cage it hasn't got a metnal map :-( , so it just
keeps on roaming until it either happens on a food source, or dies.
I guess the only chance for these birds is to run into a flock of wild
birds. I haven't heard of flocks of feral cockatiels in any of the
major cities.
John Leonard
On 2/7/07, Scot Mcphee <> wrote:
> Who's letting all their cockatiels go?
>
A friend found a near-dying and harrassed by noisy minors cockatiel
in Paddington, Sydney, which I agreed to look after. I put posters
all over Paddington 5 ways advertising a found pet cockatiel. Within
days, I got about 6 different callers all of whom had lost a
cockatiel in the Paddington, Edgecliff, Rose Bay, Bondi Junction
area. None of which was the actual owner of this particular
cockatiel. Apparently they have a habit of just taking off. You can
have a very tame, human-bonded pet cockatiel that for years never
looked like trying to make a break for it, despite opportunity, until
one day it suddenly just takes the bolt through an open window. The
previously placid nature of the bird makes their owners complacent, I
guess, and escapes very frequent. The avian vet in Alexandria reckons
they get about 500 metres before running out of puff (and thence
eaten by a cat, raven or currawong).
The bird eventually went to a good home in Double Bay.
regs
scot
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John Leonard
Canberra
Australia
www.jleonard.net
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