Motherly Pride shining through ...
On the day of the birth, I heard the feeble chick-voice past midnight amidst the excited Parakeets chirps. Okay....! I was working late sitting at the dinning table. I felt the impending special event from the way-all of them sitting right in front of the nest, chirping excitedly when I came home that evening!
You should see how they function as an extended family, pitching in to take care of both Foresty & the keetling. Foresty still does not eat grains or fruits from the feeder. She gets fed and then she feeds the chick. Isn't it amazing? Or is it amazing-only because of our human brain having miscalculated happiness by substracting the extensions from "family" to a very small circle or even just to a mere "me & mine"?
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
Being an avid bird watcher-birds indoors-is a little out of taste for me. However, my son "J" convinced me the birds are better off with me than at the pet shop being in a crowded cage. So I ended up with these pretty little parakeets-flying wild in my house. Finally, I figured out how to provide a birdie bath for them. Just remove the top cover of their water feeder, once in a while-they just go wild & crazy! You can see for yourself how they enjoy bath-time!
Who is First? It is a group decision!
Foresty, first! Sky, next-Tweety
as our kids call her. Who else? Ladies-It's Nightly the gentleman's turn, now! 
There, Sky goes second dipping-such fun watching the parakeets frolicking at bath! Maggie our Lab lays there and watches them fluff their feathers and chirp with excitement. I like to think they are all happy & content!
