Wake up, we’re on!

"Aw, man, you didn’t say anything about, like, this gig being at six in the morning, man!  ‘Cause, like, I really don’t do mornings, if you know what I mean."

"Will you get up and sing, already?  You’re holding up the whole production!  That’s our cue!!"

"No, man, really — you take this one, all right?  See, I was out with a couple of models last night, and we were, like …"

"Look, mister — you have a contract!  No singing, no bird seed!"

Like, chirp, man...

Like, crazy, Federico I.

53 comments … read them below or add one

  1. Chickadee says:

    Sooooo teeepy!

  2. catablob says:

    Parakeets are so snuggly!
    I lof them!

  3. jabbo says:

    A bird in the hand is worth…

    … something.

    How’d that go again?

  4. The Other One Michelle says:

    Jabbo…ha, I was just thinking that! What the heck does the phrase mean, anyways? Gotta go on wikipedia and look it up!

  5. Ohlookachicken says:

    Awww, such a cute sleepy birdy.

  6. momof2kitties says:

    The boids, they creep me out a little bit, but these guys are cute! Espeshe since they can’t get me!

  7. Dee says:

    Does sleepy birdy have a gold beak?

  8. chanpon says:

    The sleepy one and it’s fuzzy feathers are prosh!

  9. (the original) Mel says:

    Maybe he’s pining for the fjords.

  10. scooterpants says:

    i have never seen a bird do this.
    and i have had quite a few birds in my lifetime.
    are we sure he’s ok?

  11. gyarreee says:

    These guys are so cute, you’d never know it but budgies are very cuddly when they want to be!

  12. jabbo says:

    (to)M: ‘E’s not pinin’! ‘E’s passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! He’s an ex-parrot!

  13. PINING FOR THE FJORDS?

    LOL Mel.

    Actually, w/ the NTMTOM backstory, I thought this was the “Comfortably Numb” number from the all-parakeet version of “The Wall.”

  14. Theresa says:

    Budgies or parakeets? When I had them when I was little, they were always called parakeets. Now they’re always called budgies.

    Those birdies are super-duper cute.

  15. Kate says:

    That “sleepy” budgie doesn’t look well. They don’t usually do that unless they’re on the way out.

  16. Margery says:

    A budgie (short for budgerigar) is a type of parakeet. These two are still babies. You can tell from the black on their beaks, the stripes on their forehead that extend to their ceres (nostrils) and the solid black eyes on the awake one. Baby budgies and tamed adult budgies can be very sweet and affectionate. They can also be excellent talkers! My 12 year old budgie is by far the smartest and most loving pet I’ve ever had. It’s hard to find hand-raised budgies, but if you can, you’ll have a wonderful companion.

  17. Theresa says:

    I grew up with budgies/parakeets as pets, so it was wonderful when I went to Australia, and saw flocks of wild budgies. They scream a lot. ;)

  18. sunnymum says:

    Very beautiful birds, love the colors! Hope the “sleepy” one is okay. Any boid experts in da house?

  19. platedlizard says:

    The sleepy one is probably fine. Baby birds are like other babies, they play and play until they crash and burn. These guys are probably between 6 and 12 weeks old, if I had to guess :) Their beaks and eyes get lighter as they get older and they lose the striping on their forehead.

    Even if they were parent raised at this age they are very easy to tame. They aren’t old enough to have learned to be scared so simply handling them will tame them. I used to tame parent-raised budgies this age when I worked at a bird store. Simply pick them up and feed them millet spray, they become tame very quickly.

    Older budgies can be tamed as well, but it takes much longer to gain their trust. You have to start out by sitting very quietly next to their cage until they are comfortable with you, then offering millet from your hand while you sit next to the cage, then open the door and offer millet (the way to a bird’s heart is through their crop, lol), etc until they perch on you willingly. With an older bird this may take months. The baby budgies typically took a week or less.

  20. Decca says:

    Wait! There’s a six o’clock in the morning too? Whose idea was that!

  21. platedlizard says:

    Oh yeah, ‘parakeet’ refers to any parrot-type bird that has a long, pointed tail that isn’t a cockatiel, lorikeet, or a macaw. Conures are technically parakeets, and are referred to as such in South American birdwatching guides. An Echo Parakeet, a Budgerigar (budgie), and the Carolina Parakeet are all very different birds, both in disposition, behavior, and status.

  22. mallen says:

    Ok y’all, these are 100%BABIES and nothin’s probably wrong. Keet babies lofs to fall asleep in hands specially when hands are warms.

  23. Wafflecat says:

    MEL!! I totally fell off the bed when I read that! Wow, it’s been awhile since I’ve seen that Monty Python. Thanks for the refresher!!

  24. Herself says:

    Isn’t the flat budgie the one who sat on the kitten? Looks like kitten slipped him a mickey.

  25. alexa says:

    remember Garfield’s nap attacks lol
    this poor bird has been napped attacked.

  26. Gail (the first one) says:

    One MP ref begets another…
    “We’re thinking of having the budgie put down.”
    “Ooh. Is he very old then?”
    “No. We just don’t like it.”

  27. SillyGirl says:

    oh…that baby makes me ti ti

  28. Subhangi says:

    Awwww, I wuv bebeh keets!

  29. Jo says:

    Former budgie breeder here – the sleepy BABY bird is fine. My hand reared ones used to fall asleep on me all the time. Its more an indication of the level of trust between the person and the bird if anything.

    Budgies make beautiful pets, but don’t think of them as low maintenance. In terms of food, yes, low maintenance, but in terms of time spent to develop the friendship and taming part, they are high maintenance. Very social creatures who love company.

  30. starling says:

    “Oh yeah, ‘parakeet’ refers to any parrot-type bird that has a long, pointed tail that isn’t a cockatiel, lorikeet, or a macaw.”

    OK, that reminds me of my German lessons: “It’s always “dem” before a preposition unless it’s like this or like this or like this.”

    Meh!

    :P

  31. binky-mama says:

    Am I weird for thinking it’s cute that bird eye capsules are upside down? I mean the eyelids are on the bottom! Then when they blink (plink-plink!) they look so cute! Ok I’m gonna stop now; I think I answered my own question….:P

  32. Nevermind says:

    Mike, lay off, OK? Let Meg handle it. You’re embarrassing.

    [Wow, you're awfully judgmental for someone who changes their screen name with every new comment... - Ed.]

  33. Hon Glad says:

    I guess their gig is the programme idents for “Wunerfull Radio Tweet’s” Bleening Breakfast Show.
    v/o:- ” He’s the Guy you’d love to meet, on Wunerfull Radio Tweet” vocals: Tweet, Tweet, Tweet.
    “He’s the Guy, who’s show’s real neat”
    Tweet, “Oh my head” Tweet, “I feel sick” Tweet, “bloody” Tweet.

  34. TW says:

    Nevermind, lay off, OK? You’re being a twit.

  35. Theresa says:

    Hon Glad– I can just hear it!

  36. leslie says:

    These captions were SO WONDERFUL (as the photo). What is with all the aggressive, negative Cuteoverload people? This thing from Nevermind is in snipe mode. Even if we have different preferences/ reactions, how about “that approach didn’t work as well”??
    Geez — I had hoped that at least at Cuteoverload I wouldn’t hafta see people releasing nastiness all over someone else’s day.

  37. Keet!!! I had a keet called Twinkle Toes! OK, my mom named her, but she was a lovey dovey bird and she sang and sang for us. Gosh, I think we had her for 15-20 years.

    Nevermind – you are embarassing, as are all humans who say mean things.

    [I disagree, partly. I believe there's always a time and place. That said, "Nevermind" was definitely out of line. Nothing about Mike's post called for that degree of rude... - Ed.]

  38. ding says:

    Platedlizard, your explanation of how to win the trust of a budgie is sooo sweet! Be gentle and patient, and offer millet. I think I will follow this advice in everything I do!

  39. ThreeCatNight says:

    Always remember that a bird in the hand can sometimes create a little mess!

  40. Babs says:

    Mel, you made me lol. I usually just snicker.

  41. Kris says:

    Cute little parakeets! I had 2 when I was about 12. They were SO noisy…probably because I had two of them. My cockatiel is far less noisy except when she feels like you have been neglecting her – like HEY YOU come talk to MEEEEEE!! Squawk, squawk, flap, flap, flap!!
    I did not know that parakeets could learn to talk!

  42. Ray says:

    Aww, the sleepy one with his cheek smooshed up against the hand…luffly <3

  43. Noelle says:

    “Nothing succeeds like a budgie with no teeth.”

    {defense: this is not mine. I heard it on a tv show a very, very, very long time ago. It took me forever to get it, mostly because I didn’t know what a budgie was at the time. But even then I think my Dad had to explain it to me.}

    I never, ever thought I’d have an occasion to use this line! Thanks CO!

    Also, don’t let rude, annoying people get you down. They only expose their own ignorance and are not worthy of our attention.

  44. Theo says:

    3Cat — let me see if I understand you right:
    A bird in the hand is worth two in the john?

  45. Theresa says:

    @Binky-mama– I agree, the upside-down eyelids make them look extra-sweet. ;)

  46. Iheartbudgies says:

    I had a budgie when I was 14. She pretty much lived on my shoulder when i was home and I always left the cage open for her to fly around in my room. She would fly then always land back on her cage. When she got sick she started sleeping on me. Everytime I’d go sit on the bed to watch tv or anything she would fly up to me and sleep nuzzled under my chin. I was heart broken when she passed away. :(

  47. jmuhj says:

    Life is tough
    and then you
    FLY

  48. platedlizard says:

    lol@starling.

    In my defense the exceptions are very different from parakeets: lorikeets eat nectar; macaws have bare cheek patches (they even blush when excited!) and some species get quite large; and cockatiels are very small cockatoos, genetically speaking. So for that reason they get excluded from the ‘what’s a parakeet’ definition.

    Psittacines=Srs Bsn.

  49. skippymom says:

    I had a green parakeet, Jim, when I was in my early twenties. I trained him to say “Pining for the fjords?” Also “Take off, eh?” from Bob and Doug McKenzie (anybody remember them?) and “Hurry up, please, it’s time” from “The Waste Land”. Jim was a great friend with a huge personality.

  50. slythwolf says:

    Did…anyone else hear the sleepy boid in Cheech Marin’s voice in their head? Just me?

  51. Katrina says:

    I need some millet…anybody have any to spare?

  52. anya says:

    my cockatiel died on 7/6/08
    oh so sad his name wuzz Cookie. soooooooo, im getting a budgie!!!!!!!!!

  53. angela says:

    what kind of parakeet is this?