Fume (a.k.a. HRH - Her Royal Highness)

I call Fume my "hard luck" bird. She was an unplanned pregnancy . Merlot, her mother, had already successfully raised nine babies that season, and I decided that nine babies was enough. But Merlot had other ideas. She laid three more eggs. The first two fell to the bottom of the cage and broke. The third egg fell about a foot to the wire grating, and didn't break.

I had just bought a brand new incubator, so I thought, "What the h*ll," I'll give it a test run. I had no idea what I was doing. The humidity in the incubator went up and down. The temperature was too low at first, until I read in a book that it needed to be higher. Nevertheless, after a few days, I candled the egg and found the "spider web" pattern so familiar to breeders.

Fume started to pip, and took three days to come out. I was there at the birth, which occurred on the afternoon of May 16, 1995. I couldn't believe it when this perfect pink little bird popped out of the shell!

Although the books say that baby birds don't need any food for the first several hours of their life, Fume started crying for food about two hours after she was born. For the next several days, I spent all my time preparing handfeeding solution, feeding Fume a drop or two, cleaning her up, sleeping ten minutes, getting up, preparing handfeeding solution, etc. and so on. I became attuned to her peeping, so I didn't even need an alarm, even though I was exhausted from days of not getting more than ten minutes sleep at a time. I still remember how excited I was when I got my first two hours of uninterrupted sleep! :)

Fume started life (after the incubator) in a Snuggle Birdie Baby Brooder, but soon moved out of that into a shoebox on top of a heating pad. Even at a few days old, she hated being alone. She would cry and struggle as I put her back in the brooder, but would stop crying the minute I held her in my hands. I would set up her towels and let her sleep next to the computer as I checked email, newsgroups, etc. She decided that she was a small human, and she expected human companionship.

Fume travelled with me after she feathered out. Her shoebox was exchanged for a Doskicil pet carrier, and she fledged from her carrier while we were on a business trip. Her first flight was around a hotel room in San Francisco. She went with me to the office every day, so she could get her four-hour feedings. Afterward, she would climb up onto my chest, wait for me to cup my hand over her back and wings, and then fall asleep.

Fume is a pearl cockatiel hen. If you ask her, however, she'd tell you she is just a very short person. She loves hard-boiled egg yolk mixed with cottage cheese. She also loves fresh corn kernels (yellow only).

Fume loves hand toys, and she almost rivals my bigger birds in her ability to hold little things in her claws. She can pick up pellets and break pieces off of them while holding them, and she can manipulate toothpicks (and similar-sized toys), turning them from end to end and holding them, usually with her left foot, but sometimes with her right.

Fume likes everyone. She even likes the vets, regardless of her experience with them. She is more than happy to go up to total strangers and drop her head for a quick scratch or neck massage. She is spirited and playful, and I hope that she has used up her bad luck quota and will live out the rest of her years in health and happiness.

The Spector Flock
Merlot - 3 year old normal gray, mother of Beau & Fume	Chablis - 3 year old male pied bonded to Merlot	Chenin - cinnamon pearl hen, bonded to Beau	Beau - 1 year old male pied, bonded to Chenin
Fume - 10 month old pearl hen, bonded to Spector	Froggy - 8 month old yellow- collared macaw	Kenya - 7 month old congo african grey

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Last revised 5/22/97