Raising Exhibition Quality and Hand Tame Pet Cockatiels

Welcome to Lemon & Tea Aviary!

We are a small Cockatiel aviary located in central Nebraska.

Please visit our Available Birds page if you are looking for a new best friend!

lemon_and_tea_aviary

Adorable little cinnamon pearl pied baby that hatc

Adorable little cinnamon pearl pied baby that hatched in January to Citrine (58Y) and Madeira (77T). She went to a pet home but we plan to put this pair together again in the future. Right now I am working on cleaning and sanitizing our breeding area to prepare for pairing in late April. I can’t wait!
#cockatiel #cockatiellover #cockatielsofinstagram #cinnamonpearlpied #babycockatiel

I haven’t posted in so long! We moved to Nebrask

I haven’t posted in so long! We moved to Nebraska back in July of 2023 and absolutely love it here. Of course our entire flock came with us, and here’s one of our babies hatched late December of last year. His name is Rocky! Hope everyone is doing great! I’ll be sure to post more often.

Bought this unicorn piñata for the birbs not real

Bought this unicorn piñata for the birbs not realizing how massive it is! Made for big parrots no doubt, but the cockatiels have been enjoying it nonetheless. 😂

Big wings! #cockatiellover #petcockatiel #babycock

Big wings!
#cockatiellover #petcockatiel #babycockatiel #cockatielsofinstagram #cockatielaviary #birdlover

Last but not least from our show team this weekend

Last but not least from our show team this weekend is Morgaine le Fey (21C). She placed in two shows on the Novice Bench, earning 4th and 9th Best Novice.
#pearlpiedcockatiel #cockatielhen #cockatiellover #exhibitioncockatiel #nationalcockatielsociety

Bellatrix (21C) is very proud of her ribbon from t

Bellatrix (21C) is very proud of her ribbon from this weekend. She placed 8th Best Novice. She is one of our tamer babies so she didn’t show well as she refused to perch and just wanted to play 🤣. She’s another we are very excited to see how she fills out as she matures. If she can figure out how to perch in the show box she just might do something!
#cockatiellover #cockatielbaby #nationalcockatielsociety #showbird #exhibitioncockatiel

Baby Applesauce (21C) really surprised us by placi

Baby Applesauce (21C) really surprised us by placing on the Novice bench in two out of three shows. She’s a petite girl but judges said perches beautifully and is balanced. She would have a better size but she was stunted in the nest, so we are very happy that she’s here with us and healthy and actually earned herself two ribbons this weekend! She placed 9th and 10th Best Novice.
#cinnamoncockatiel #cockatielbaby #exhibitioncockatiel #cockatiellover #nationalcockatielsociety

Sweet baby Sheridan (21C) (formally Toupée when w

Sweet baby Sheridan (21C) (formally Toupée when we thought she was a he) placed in one out of three shows this weekend. She earned 6th Best Novice and first judge said she was the best novice baby in the show! She didn’t do as well the other two shows because like many babies, she didn’t perch well. Excited to see how she matures and fills out.
#cockatielbaby #nationalcockatielsociety #showcockatiel #exhibitioncockatiel #cockatiellover

Chonky girl Missandai (21C) placed on the Novice B

Chonky girl Missandai (21C) placed on the Novice Bench in two out of three National Cockatiel Society shows this weekend in 6th and 7th place. Judges said she would have done better but she had molted her longest tail feathers and had several broken tail feathers. Looking forward to seeing how she does in the future!
#whitefacecocktiel #showbird #exhibitionbird #exhibitioncockatiel #nationalcockatielsociety #cockatiellover

Our gorgeous lady Madeira (77T) placed on the Novi

Our gorgeous lady Madeira (77T) placed on the Novice bench at all 3 shows this weekend, earning 3rd, 2nd and another 3rd Best Novice.
#cinnamonpearl #cinnamonpearlcockatiel #cockatielhen #exhibitioncockatiel #nationalcockatielsociety #showbird #cockatiellover

The birdie formally known as Toupée has her offic

The birdie formally known as Toupée has her official name now… Sheridan! Sheridan is the name of the town I grew up in back in Wyoming. I keep a long list of name ideas in my phone and when I scrolled to Sheridan it just felt perfect.
#cockatiel #cockatielsofinstagram #cockatiellover #petsofinstagram #birdlover

We thought this baby might be a boy, for no partic

We thought this baby might be a boy, for no particular reason it was just a hunch. But DNA came back a couple days ago and she’s a she! We were calling her Buckbeak because her beak is black and my husband called her Blackbeak, but I wanted to go Harry Potter with it. But now we have officially named her Bellatrix. So, sticking with the HP theme. Except she’s not evil like Bellatrix was 🤣

Two of our six week olds. Just had dinner and are

Two of our six week olds. Just had dinner and are all settled in for the night. These two are full siblings to the white face hen in my last post.

Missandai (21C). Whiteface hen. She will be debuti

Missandai (21C). Whiteface hen. She will be debuting in a couple weeks at her very first show at 5.5 months old! Excited to see how she does and continue to see her grow and mature.
We have two full siblings of this hen that will be ready for pet or exhibition homes mid-May. Please visit my website (link in bio) for more information.
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#cockatiel #whitefacecockatiel #cockatielhen #cockatielsofinstagram #cockatiellover #exhibitioncockatiel

Both of these babies will be ready to go home in a

Both of these babies will be ready to go home in about 3-4 weeks. Waitlist is on my website! Located in Maryland.
#cockatielbaby #cockatiellover #cockatielaviary #marylandcockatiels #cockatielsofmaryland #birdsofmaryland #babycockatiel #petcockatiel

Baby “Toupee”. Sending off samples for my 10 w

Baby “Toupee”. Sending off samples for my 10 week olds tomorrow to find out if they are boys or girls. I’ve assumed this one is a male but I honestly have no idea! Excited to find out. Then we can pick official names for them.
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#cockatiel #birdphotography #cockatiellover #cockatielaviary #showbird #fancybird #cockatielsofinstagram

One of the normal babies from our youngest clutch.

One of the normal babies from our youngest clutch. These guys just hit 4 weeks. Maybe pushing five now actually. The past month and a half has been nothing but feeding babies 3x per day and getting our flock acclimated to being caged as they will spend the next six months caged. Most of our birds have been free flight in an aviary their entire lives and so it’s an adjustment for them.
We are moving this summer to the Midwest and until we get settled in whatever new house we are buying, everyone (including us) has to get used to smaller spaces. I hate it but every birdie is adjusting well with the exception of a couple 🤣 Our untame birds are fine but our tame birds are wondering why they are being subject to such a horrid life of a caged bird. (Also I’m just kidding about a “horrid life”. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with caging birds, they essentially live in a cage even in an aviary. I’m just joking from a birds perspective).

Today’s chop! Kale, spinach, carrots and scrambl

Today’s chop! Kale, spinach, carrots and scrambled eggs. Super simple and the birds love it.
We offer all of our babies chop as soon as they move to a cage (around 5 weeks old) along with our seed/pellet mix and millet. Babies this age are very curious and will usually start checking out veggies within a day or two. Birds cannot live a healthy life being fed only seeds or pellets. They need fresh veggies and some species need fruit as well. Older birds can be a bit resistant to trying fresh foods and this can be a struggle for a lot of bird owners. So I highly recommend clipping a small piece of millet with some leaves of spinach to the side of the cage daily, and slowly add other veggies over time to discover what your bird likes and doesn’t like. You can also make a bowl of simple chop, such as seen here, sprinkled with some scrambled eggs. Most birds are suckers for eggs and while eating them they may try the other food as well.

Cute little bub! This is our little white face chi

Cute little bub! This is our little white face chick. His crop has been a little slow since we pulled him to hand feed, but it’s catching up and he’s doing just fine. Sometimes their crops can get a little stretched from all the food parents pack in to them, and they can have a hard time fully emptying because they aren’t lining up as they should. We use vet wrap to make what is called a crop bra, and it secures around the neck and under the wings and supports the crop to line it up so it can empty properly. After a few days or so, the crop will usually be rectified and the bra is no longer needed.
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#babycockatiel #babybird #cockatielbaby #whitefacecockatiel #babyanimal #cockatielsofinstagram

Freshly pulled babies! Just started hand feeding t

Freshly pulled babies! Just started hand feeding them yesterday. Hatched late February.
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#cockatielbabies #cockatielbaby #babyanimals #cockatielsofinstagram #babybird #petcockatiels

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