Making Allowances

After three weeks of living in a nice warm bedroom, it was time to begin acclimatizing Friend to outdoor temperatures. To this end, I closed down the heat vent in the room and began leaving the window open at night. Our overnight lows had come up from the teens and were hovering near the freezing point, so the room cooled down to the 40s by morning. I also wanted to stimulate his interest in rejoining his flock, so began playing his own "churps" back to him. His head would pop up at the sound and he'd talk back to the unseen birds. His appetite increased as cooler temperatures boosted his caloric requirements, and now he was gobbling the vitamin-enriched cockatiel feed voraciously.

The day I had initially picked for his release came up rainy and cold. Yes, he'd have to deal with that eventually, but not yet. I decided his tenure in the bedroom wasn't quite ready to end for a few more days.