One of our daughters lives with her pet cockatiel, Tashi.

Tashi, who loves to chew up paper, is shown above opening a Christmas present in 2005.

It's not that easy to determine the sex of a cockatiel. But Tashi settled that question decisively by laying a clutch of eggs. She sat on them for a while, but of course, due to the lack of a male, they were infertile.