Our parakeets had one egg in the nest; then… there were two. That was three weeks ago. By Feb.7th there were five... then SIX eggs and our green keet Foresty was brooding. She was all fluffed up looking 3x her normal size-one loving dedicated incubator. 
On Valentine’s Day there were SEVEN eggs. The other buddies "Tweety & Sky" were feeding her and even get inside the nest for quite awhile-keeping her company. They are doing a great job of feeding Foresty-because she rarely comes out. Is it possible one of them or both of them contributing to Foresty’s egg collection? Is it possible for one parakeet to lay all those eggs? 
One fact is clear. “Nightly” the dark blue one is a male and he is never allowed inside the nest. Tweety had been very protective of the nest and fought many ferocious battles with Nightly to keep him at bay. That implies… Tweety is a male-but having pink beak goes against the common belief! It is interesting that eventually, Sky got Foresty’s approval and was able to go into the nest. Is she keeping company - helping out a friend -providing food and even eggs to brood over?
When Foresty makes her once or twice a day appearance, other three get so... excited;chirping a lot, all four of them swoop around the house. It is like the well coordinated jet squad flight maneuver in an air show.
That shows Foresty is well feed and I guess she is getting her daily exercise at flight time. As soon as they are back at the nest Foresty goes straight to the nest entrance and other two-Tweety & Sky peck her and encourage her to go in. Then they check her out through the side window that they have made on the basket as if to make sure she is comfortable. Most of the time Tweety seem to go in and tuck her in (sort of)!
We were excited at first then started to worry a little about the number of eggs. But as we watch them taking care of the matron brooding over the eggs, feeding her and enticing her to take regular flight exercise, we are convinced –that our keets know... what they are doing! 
We probably under-estimate their capabilities and think -all they need is shelter, water, food and little attention. Even worse if we think that they are pretty little things just providing us some fun. We thought our parakeets needed some freedom; they have shown us that little freedom can do wonders!
Copyright © 2009 by VeeraMahal FRANKLIN
