I've mentioned several times that I have feathered family members as
well as the cats. The birds came first, the cats moved in several
years later. When I gave the birds clean water and  food this
afternoon both were fine. I went outside for about half an hour, and
when I came inside Sunny had died.

I  visited a local pet store when I returned from the first Gulf War,
thinking I'd get a parakeet since birds and fish were the only pets
allowed at the apartments where I was living. While looking around I
noticed that a cage had one lonely cockatiel inside, and no price. I
asked and was told that someone had returned her a couple days after
buying her because she was a vicious biter who drew blood. (BTW, she
never bit me, but was terrified whenever she saw brown gloves.) The
store owner was pretty upset - she had a broken wing from rough/proper
handling. To make a long story shorter, they ended up giving me Sunny,
though I did end up spending quite a bit on a cage, toys, etc.

She was very shy at first, but within a few days of coming home had
learned the up command to climb onto my finger. For several years the
first thing I did when I got home was open her cage. She followed me
from room to room, and became a semi-permanent fixture on my shoulder.
She was a very poor flier, since her wing healed crooked. She would
circle the room, getting lower and lower, but couldn't get enough lift
to take off and get higher.

For several years she was my only pet. Eventually, I bought a second
cockatiel to keep her company. Didn't exactly work out that way - she
never liked Tiger, the new bird. For several more years, Sunny would
be on my shoulder while Tiger sat on the back of the chair. Sunny
would throw a hissy fit whenever Tiger tried to get too close, but
tolerated Tiger in the cage without any real fighting.

Sunny, you'll be missed ;-(