A Bird's Got To Do What A Bird's Got To Do

Matilda has lots of freedom at her home. When she stays here, she spends most of the daylight hours in the huge Exotic Enclosure. She has this marvelous 4'x6'x6' cage to explore, but what does she do? She goes to ground and focuses on a corner to attempt to dig to China. Nesting?Frustration? Trying to escape? Perhaps... It must be a very strong instinct to dig out a place to call her own. (Actually, Matilda is a male, but that doesn't seem to make a difference in this characteristic.) When I handfed baby greys, they too went wild digging in the shavings in the corner of their baby bin. If they were in a hollowed out tree cavity like in the wild, they would be expanding their nest space as they grew larger. They would also be creating more "shavings" to cover any messy poops on the floor of their abode. Instincts are a strong force with our parrots. It is interesting to watch their behaviors and then analyze why they occur.

A Bird Has To Chew

Charlie's here for a few days and he is located next to the new birch forest. His favorite pastime is chewing on the soft wood of a balsa log. He spends a lot of time munching away his day. This is also a good way for him to expend energy and soothe anxiety. I groomed him this morning and he immediately started attacking the log upon his return to the cage. Better it than me! Conures are hyper active and he needs to decompress somehow!

Birds In The Forest

To take my mind off of Sierra's absence, I took on a project. The wall in my living room has bird cages all along the front of it. It needed a new look. I wanted to cover it with something that wouldn't show potential bird splatter, be it food or other...

I found this beautiful wall mural online and decided it was perfect. Doesn't it look tranquil? Charlie doesn't seem to even notice it, but I would think it adds a sense of wildness to his surroundings. It mounted just like wallpaper and certainly takes two people...thank you Sharon! If you want to hang one, email me! I will give you the details to avoid pitfalls and problems. There are many sites but I used www.muralsuperstore.com

Sierra Heads North

Well, the house is a little emptier. Sierra has flown the coop.

Her mom and dad spent a few days visiting her and exploring our beautiful Bay Area before packing her up and heading back home to Anchorage Alaska.

I was so saddened to see her go. She has been a sweet girl for me the entire year that she was here. Yesterday it was difficult to imagine her incredible adventure. In her backpack, she traveled in style, but her day was undoubtedly exhausting. SFO to Seattle to Anchorage, 8am to 9pm. I bet she is so happy to be back in her Northern Home!

Shower?

Well, the cold weather has put us into the indoor shower mode. Oh how the macaws loved getting their showers outdoors in the sunny flight cages! But now, I have started up the shower rotations to the dedicated indoor bird shower.

I have an advantage due to the fact that I recently installed a tankless hot water heater. The water is heated only on demand. This brought my power bill down considerably. Another huge benefit is that I have a thermostat on the wall that allows me to adjust the temperature of the hot water. I simply set it at 105 degrees (the temperature of a parrot) and then I do not have to worry about any accidental water temp fluctuations.

Here you see Sierra loving the warm and wet showering opportunity. She has loads of energy and the shower is a good way to wear her out!
I rotated all the big birds to the shower and had a nice quiet afternoon.
Notice that the shower perch is wrapped with vetwrap to make it nonslip. The shower is a great place to leave your bird while you clean his or her cage. Just make sure the water temp is warm, not hot, and they can't get to any shampoos, soaps, or razors!

Re-Introduction for Sierra

At long last, Sierra's mom and dad have returned from overseas! I have been caring for their baby during that time.

They both came to visit the evening that they arrived and it was amazing to watch as Sierra's memory was awakened.

We tried to go slow because the initial contact had to be without any stress or anxiety. Sierra was unsure of what was going on. Did she remember? Yes, I feel she did. Was it confusing? Yes, I'm sure it was.

The good thing is that mom and dad will stay in this area and visit her for a few days before taking her back to Anchorage Alaska.

In this photo, I showed Linda the tuck-in routine where we say our goodnights through the "window" in the sheet and get our kisses. It's an important part of Sierra's day.

Ben Senagal Quiet Time

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I actually had an epiphany the other day. I almost always have a TV or radio on as I trudge through the never ending bird chores around here. The noise level in the house can escalate at times. I wear my TV headset or my ipod in order to hear the preferred noise. My amazement came when I had turned off all the peripheral noise and just kept the house quiet. The birds got quiet too! I don't know why that surprised me, but it did. I suppose they compete with the TV and radio.

I won't stop watching TV or listening to the radio, but it was a nice calm afternoon for a change.

The Senagal in this photo, Benny, is a new guest. He is quite old by his dad's best guess. Benny is mellow and talkative. He enjoyed the quiet afternoon as well. As an only child, he wasn't quite sure what to make of all the other birds!