Spike said: My name is Spike and I am a pied cockatiel. I'm now about 9months old. My wings had been clipped when I was little so I couldn't fly. When I was taken to my new home, my human kept moving my cage, which was very unsettling, but she finally left it alone in a nice spot with a view. I didn't really like it when she put her hand in the cage, but she was pretty insistent and eventually I gave in and started stepping up on to her for some peace and quiet. I'm glad I did, coz she started scratching my head and I REALLY like that. I try and get her to do it as often as possible. Sometimes she doesn't pay attention and I have to give her a wee nip to remind her that I'm waiting for her to start.

She did get me some cool toys. I have a bell that I like to ding when my human is watching tv and not watching me. I also enjoy my swing, but my favorite toys are the ones that my human wears in her ears. They are great fun, but she doesn't seem to like it when I try and play with them and stops me - of course, I hiss at her, I mean what's the point of wearing toys if she's not going to let me play with them? I just don't understand humans sometimes.

She also takes me visiting people, which is okay, cos it means that I can get more head scratching. I don't even mind if it's the little humans - as long as they don't squeal, cos that hurts my ears. I like going in the car, but traffic lights are a pain - it just means it takes longer to get to my next head scratch. I also often visit a really big green bird called Dino - he's pretty cool and we like talking to each other.

I quite like my human really, and I guess I think of her as my Mum. She gives me yummy food too - I especially enjoy broccoli, pistachio nuts and millet spray. I'd rather eat what Mum eats - however I prefer to try and get the actual food she's putting in her mouth, not the stuff she puts on the table for me. She's not very impressed with me when I do that.

I've grown some new feathers - including wing feathers and best of all, I've learned to fly! I'm sure it will get easier as I get more practice, and Mum seems really excited by it. It's great for me, cos now when she leaves the room, I don't have to call out for her - I can fly off and find her! I can also get to food that she doesn't want me to have - but I'm not sure if she knows I do that.

Jan said: I got Spike at the end of November last year. I had never seen a pied cockatiel and just adored his colorings. I am assuming Spike is a boy, although I haven't had him tested. I have been told if he has very orange cheeks, then he's a boy - but he's very snuggly, which apparently is unusual for male cockatiels. Spike has a lot of personality and seems to enjoy visiting people. He isn't afraid of children and is quite happy to be held by them, as long as they are fairly calm and quiet - he doesn't like it when they shriek. Spike also like visiting Dino, the Alexandrine.

Spike's normally pretty quiet, but he has a range of different whistles meaning different things. The normal two note whistle means either I'm hungry, I'm bored or I want to go to bed. He also has a trill which can get really loud which he does if I leave the room and he can't see me. Now that he can fly, he seems to follow me and sit on my shoulder. We have recently moved, so he's been sitting on my shoulder while I unpack and arrange things - he wasn't very keen on the process of packing (but then again, neither was I!)

He loves having his head scratched, and sometimes I have to that for between 30 minutes to an hour - depending on what kind of mood he's in. He's getting a bit cheeky and tries to eat what I'm eating (literally when it's on its way to my mouth) - I have to break him of that habit. He is very endearing and I wouldn't be without him.

Mama Bird said: Spike your mum sure likes to brag! So you get the toys in your mum's ears taken away from you too huh? Well, sometimes you just have to forgive these humans for what they do. They mean well. Isn't it cool being able to fly after your mum? Did you know that you can also fly AWAY from them too?  Making a human chase after you is loads of fun! Here's a tip for you--don't eat that yucky food from a human's mouth. You'll get sick and going to the vet is NO FUN! 

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