Faithful Fang

Fabulous Fang has been an integral part of our family for 9 years now, having arrived not long after we lost our previous cockatiel Kang whom we had had for 17 years. He is your typical flighty cockatiel and can be a bit of a doofus brain from time to time but I can't blame him, that may just be what happens when you spend your entire life pretty much at the bottom of the pecking order!

When Fang gets his moment in the spotlight however, he does love to belt out a show tune or two. He knows a few tunes from "The King And I" (my favourite musical), the 1812 Overture (with kissy noises for the cannon shots!), La Marseillaise, the themes from "The Great Escape" and "The Banana Splits" amongst others. Mostly he likes to do a bit of improv and mixes them together to create his own original tunes

He is on daily medication for his chronic heart condition (much like his dad!) and is pretty good about taking it from the syringe, even though when I go to give it to him he acts like he's never seen the syringe before in his life, then he remembers that the meds taste good and he's all like "Oh yeah, that's right, this stuff tastes pretty nice!" and gobbles it right down. His favourite things in the whole world are the occasional crust of toast with his dad in the morning and a big scratch from me in the evenings when HRH has FINALLY gone to bed.

Here is a short vid of Fang performing one of his favourite tunes, and he likes to wave his foot in the air while he's doing it. You can also hear ACTUAL RAIN in the background which was most welcome


You're a good man Fang and we love you to bits :smile015:

Fang is a magnificent whistler! He must be so happy with much needed rain!

Quick question.... ~ 1/3 into the video an oblong object appears to Fang's right. Looks like an ancient Egyptian canopic jar with the head of a cat or jackal??

Well spotted Scott, yes it’s a canopic jar with a cat head. It’s a souvenir from an Egyptology exhibit that came to Brisbane many years ago now, so made in China and strictly limited to however many they could sell

Is there anything more precious than that? I think not. Oh, Martina, he's just delightful. Such sweetness and humility in his little serenade. Fangsie-wangsie, we love you. Hold yer head up, little rooster!

Thank you Aunty Gail. Fang is a sweet gentle soul. His name is a complete misnomer that has made a couple of vets think twice about handling him before we tell them he’s a lover, not a biter!

Noodles was sitting on my knee when I played this and she immediately did her little contented/lovey beak click when he started singing--she approves of this message lol.

LaManuka said:

Well spotted Scott, yes it’s a canopic jar with a cat head. It’s a souvenir from an Egyptology exhibit that came to Brisbane many years ago now, so made in China and strictly limited to however many they could sell

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I've long been fascinated with Egyptian pharaonic period culture of afterlife. Nice to see yours was constructed by hand, with care, and strictly limited!

Awww, he looks like my dearly departed Johnny, who was also at the bottom of the pecking order, but such a happy cheerful little dude and SO bossy in spite of the fact that none of the other birds paid the least attention to his tirades.

Great song base Fang has!!! Clearly well influenced.

God bless you all!!!

Awww, Fang is not only beautiful but talented as well! I am going to start playing this video over and over for my tiels and see if they can learn from Fang, I love this!

Actually I'm mistaken about Fang being at the bottom of the pecking order, that spot is reserved for those of us who have to clean up after him!

Aaaa, the joy of being in the Staff Classification.

“Staff” has connotations of payment for services rendered and legal representation from a worker’s union should the employer turn out to be unreasonable. The word “slave” is more apt

Fang's name is so misrepresentative of his personality (I'm recalling the vet staff's nervous hesitation until being reassured)...
I think maybe I should rename the Rickeybird to match this irony.
What's the opposite of Fang? Q-tip? Powder Puff? Butterfly Kiss?

Jeez I dunno Aunty Gail, what about Cream Puff? Profiterole? Sugar Beak?

The look on the vet’s face was pretty funny when we casually introduced Fang, but it was only later that it dawned on us it may be because of his name. His predecessor had been named Kang after one of the aliens from The Simpsons, so Fang seemed like a natural progression. We didn’t realise at the time that we were marking him as potentially dangerous for the rest of his life!

Your is a better singer, my Pepper will try to sing, but then he screws it up trying to mimics another theme song mid way.

Oh Fang mashes songs together all the time. My favourite is his cross between “I Whistle A Happy Tune” from “The King And I” and “Pop Goes The Weasel” which is hilarious. He enjoys singing in the bathroom most, probably because of the acoustics. I often wonder what the neighbours think coz he gets pretty loud!

The iPhone ring tone mix in with The Andy Griffith Show theme song is my favorite. Good to know it not just mines that like to mash songs together.

LaManuka said:

Jeez I dunno Aunty Gail, what about Cream Puff? Profiterole? Sugar Beak?

The look on the vet’s face was pretty funny when we casually introduced Fang, but it was only later that it dawned on us it may be because of his name. His predecessor had been named Kang after one of the aliens from The Simpsons, so Fang seemed like a natural progression. We didn’t realise at the time that we were marking him as potentially dangerous for the rest of his life!

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OMG

SUGAR BEAK it is!

LaMartina, you should offer a service for creative-ironic-apt names/nicknames...

Sugar Beak!?!??!!

Thank you, dear Fangsie, for inspiring the happy laughter in our household tonight.

Sugar Beak.

SUGAR BEAK!