Spritzer, standing on his little bird tiptoes and trying to take a chomp out of the aloe vera. It’s a good thing that #cockatiels can’t fly, or he’d be such a menace.

I saw this picture and was reminded of how Pompom hung off the side of the nest box cage for three straight days. At the time I thought he just missed Honey, but he must have known that the eggs were real and about to hatch. #budgie

To make it fair, here’s a baby picture of Earl. Full name: Tea, Earl Grey, Hot. #cockatiel

Political satire feels like an endangered species these days, but Canada still has gems like The Beaverton. I just bumped up my subscription to help keep them sharp, loud, and unapologetically funny. Down with censorship! #cdnpoli

Here, have a cute baby bird in these trying times. #cockatiel

Skittle’s curiosity often leads to a display of her elegant #budgie #birdbutt

The birds are not doing much these days other than somehow injuring themselves by colliding mid-flight. So here’s a mesmerizing video of jellyfish from the Vancouver Aquarium instead.

Spritzer and Earl take turns showing off their wings and chasing each other. The little happy chatters… #cockatiel

My favourite mug broke today. Pictured here from a few weeks ago when I made pumpkin syrup because the weather felt like fall. Happy pumpkin spice season everyone. Gonna go sob with my second favourite bunny mug now.

Spritzer singing “if you’re happy and you know it” a little more recognizably! #cockatiel

An assortment of fine Vancouver #birds.

According to Siri Knowledge, my #cockatiel dropped an anemone from its cheek.

This is the cutest thing I’ve seen (next to my actual flock!) Thanks @kitkatnisart.bsky.social for this adorable wallpaper commission! #cockatiels

Wallpaper commission for @plutopizza.bsky.social of their adorable cockatiels (you can get a wallpaper by me at ko-fi.com/kitkatnisart)

Spritzer serenading Skittle with the cookie song and another song that he seems to have made up himself. #cockatiel #budgie

Back to School! Ginger and Spritzer are helping to prep the kids’ backpacks. The birds are going to miss being out of their cages all day. #cockatiel

It was in the 18-20 degree comfortable temperature zone for the bubble backpack so I took Lemon out for a walk. This is her “I’m not loving this, but fine” face. I showed her the homes where I’ve heard cockatiels through the windows, but I was more excited than she was. #cockatiel

Earl still holds the record for finding the most weird places to land. Also for having the most tail feathers, but not by much. #cockatiel

Oh hi Mom. We were in our cages when the bedtime announcement rang, but we noticed you didn’t take us there, so we came back downstairs to get you. Mom. Mom. Hey Mom. #cockatiels

I should be cleaning my kitchen, but why, when I can sit here listening to little Spritzer trying his best to learn “if you’re happy and you know it” #cockatiel

This is reminiscent of having toddlers. I can’t even walk into the bathroom without five birds alighting on me. #cockatiel

Ginger, intrigued and horrified by this winged beast. #cockatiel

I took the cutest video right after this, where Spritzer climbed onto the podium and regaled all four lined-up #cockatiels with a perfect rotation of his songs, and then realized I wasn’t recording. gaaah.

Earl can “sing” now, having learned the same few songs that Honey and Spritzer belt out all day through some sort of third-hand #cockatiel telephone game. Earl, you’re lucky you’re cute.

I never would have guessed that it’s easier to put seven birds to bed than one. I say it’s bedtime, the #budgies go home, then the #cockatiels fly to me to be walked to their cage. Fifteen minutes of snacks and cage toys, then lights out. Any deviation from this routine is chaos, of course.

Ginger, Spritzer and Earl Lady&Tramping a blade of oat grass #cockatiel

I’m amused by Pompom’s blue tongue. No, he hasn’t been drinking blue slurpees. #budgie

Lemon is getting her sleek feathers back after a big spring moult. Does anyone know what that neck/cheek floof is called? #cockatiel

Honey, Lemon and Ginger hanging out with two of the local magpies. I’m not sure how long this has been going on, but they were calmly watching each other for several minutes. #cockatiel

Spritzer, the #cockatiel raised by budgies, playing beaks with my fingernail. I’ve never seen a bird other than a budgie do this! (He’s never bit me for real.)

Skittle and Pompom enjoying their little foraging zone. #budgie

Good morning! Honey and Lemon will have a conniption if their tails even touch, but this is how the babies always sleep. #cockatiel

I heard some flock calls from my home office, and went in to find these little guys telling me it was time to get to work. It’s 8pm but ok. #cockatiel #budgie

Earl, lured onto the scary new window perch with a rare sprig of millet and Skittle, scoring some millet while creatively avoiding touching the perch. #cockatiel #budgie

Spritzer getting better at singing the Cookie song. He’s almost always moving or using his songs as a battle cry to chase his brother so it’s hard to get a video. #cockatiel

Pompom chattering Honey and Spritzer to sleep. #budgie #cockatiel

The #cockatiels have a lovely bedtime ritual. At the “bird bedtime” announcement, Honey & Lemon land on my head and fight, Spritzer lands on my face, then Ginger & Earl land on my shoulders. I’ve been struggling to get a good picture since they wont stay still, but this is the energy.

I think Skittle lets Spritzer win at feather tag. She’s as agile as a hummingbird in the air. #budgie #cockatiel

I took down the lace curtain today (the one that keeps baby birds from flying into the windows) and Skittle reminded me how much she missed her box of rocks to drop on the floor. There haven’t been herbs here for a while - the budgies mow them all. #budgie

Earl & Ginger, still inseparable. #cockatiel

Usually my pollinator garden attracts honeybees and mellow Mason bees, but this summer we have some of the chubbiest #bumblebees ever. Here’s one on my catmint.

How are Honey and Lemon able to stay in the air without all the feathers they’ve moulted this month? In other news, I’m fully stocked for my next feather art project. #cockatiel

Middle management watching me assemble the babies’ new cage. #cockatiel

k-k-k-k-k-k > “keekee” > wolf whistles > exit stage right! - Spritzer, breaking records for cuteness if not perfection #cockatiel

I call this portrait “Done.” Honey, who has officially had enough of Ginger’s demon screeches for food. Those are peas on her beak - she can feed herself, and recently gorged on a buffet of soft foods, but screaming at Dad is more fun. #cockatiel

Angelic Spritzer. I tried playing whistle training for him, and Honey objected by screaming “COOKIE COOKIE” over it until I played the Cookie song instead. I heard Spritzer say “cookie” today so it’s just a matter of time. #cockatiel

Yesterday I met my friend’s new baby chickens, and one leapt out of its enclosure on the table onto the chandelier. 1. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a chicken fly that high, and 2. Light fixtures and #birds, an iconic duo…

Ginger, queen troublemaker, has figured out exactly which light fixtures I can’t reach to get her down from. Her favourite is the IKEA Death Star. #cockatiel

Every time I look up, it’s like the end scene from The Birds. Except more yellow. Ginger, Earl, Lemon, Honey, Spritzer #cockatiel

So I saw mischievous Skittle curling Lemon’s crest feather like a ribbon… I reminded Lemon that she has many perches and does not need to sit on a calcium block where her dorky crest feather sticks through the top of the cage, but she climbed right back up. #cockatiel #budgie