Story Bird: New Lovebird

I had received a pair of Peach Faced Lovebirds as a birthday gift from my parents. Elated, I put them in a cockatiel breeding cage in my "bird building" (a small, heated outbuilding in which we had built to house my breeding pairs of cockatiels). This was my first pair of lovebirds, and they were so beautiful and sleek. I had not even had them a week when I came down to the building to check on my birds and discovered the female missing from the cage. I looked all about for her, growing panicked. And then my eyes fell upon a full water pitcher which I had left in the building that morning. With growing dread, I looked into the open pitcher and saw my lovely new hen inside, drowned. I had never before considered that this pitcher would be a hazard in the rare instance in which a bird might squeeze out of the cage. It was the last time I EVER kept an open container in my bird room... even though escapes from the cages were very rare. The hen lovebird (who was rather small) had apparently squeezed out of a space between the wires, a space which had been overlooked because it was on a corner, and because I had always used the cage for cockatiels, I had very foolishly assumed it was safe and tight. She had escaped her cage, and unluckily landed in the open pitcher, the mouth of which was only about 3 inches across. I learned two harsh lessons that day, and have always regretted my mistakes.

Thanks to Shawna for sharing this story