Grey Mischief and Energy

It's fun to watch our grey parrots find ways to spend their energy. Cassie, the centerpiece at our weekly Gathering, decided that she wanted one of the wiffle balls that we were working with. Therefore, she found a way to reach throught the basket handle and stretch out her neck. What Cassie wants, Cassie gets.

Buster, on the other hand, has taken up attacking a hanging leather toy that has a bell attached at the bottom. He loves to jump on and excitedly twists and turns on it to make it ring and succumb to his attack.

Any form of exercise is fine with me! I just wouldn't try to ask for a "step up" during this activity!

Control Freak

Any of you with a grey parrot out there knows that they tend to be control freaks.

Buster loves to get things going by ringing like the phone, which makes every other bird say, "hello?" He also calls the dog, says "ball?" (to get me to respond), and now has a new game.

Rico, the big Greenwing Macaw that is a long-term guest, has a cued behavior. If you say "Wings!" he raises up his wings as requested. This is a great way to detour him off his sometimes bratty stance of "I don't want to step up!" It makes him very proud of doing a "trick". Then, feeling quite good, he steps up beautifully.

Back to Buster... Buster has started saying, "wings!" and Rico responds by raising his wings. I've heard of parrots that tell dogs to "sit" and, being well trained, they do. My Buster only says, "quiet!" when the dog barks. Although, if it's too quiet, Buster will bark to get everyone riled up.

He is definitely a control freak with a great sense of humor. Life is never ever dull when you keep a grey parrot. By the way, please notice the scallops of chest feathers now growing on Buster's fuzzy belly! His improvement is encouraging. Lots of new and creative toys has made a huge difference!

Instead of a Plush Fuzzy Sleepy Hut

I've talked about the dangers of those plush tents that many parrots love to sleep or play in. The not uncommon disaster of being the strangling on the shredded material makes them a true hazard to your bird. Here is a photo of a yellow collar macaw having a ball (literally) in his Jolly Ball. He would climb inside and peek out quite happily. I never had to worry about threads and strings! Some birds like to explore inside of cavities and some will have nothing to do with them. The more active species like conures and lovebirds seem to enjoy this activity, as well as the small macaws! Cockatiels never seem predisposed to this activity...unless it's a brown paper bag at the bottom of the cage! For nesty birds that get hormonal or territorially aggressive, not a good game. For hen birds that may take up nesting and start laying...also not good. But for fun-loving active birds, go for it in a safe way.

Boarding or Care Visits?

One of my clients who has a single bird is planning to go out of town. The discussion was about whether it is better to have me come to her home and visit the bird and see to her needs or, to have her come and stay with me at my home.

Although I am available for either scenario, I would like to expand on why boarding here is a much more desirable.

First, there is the fun fact that an only bird can experience the "flock" stimulation. They are positioned where they are most comfortable and can interact from a distance with others their size. She would also get more attention and the chance to be out of the cage and properly spoiled.

But, there is also the peace of mind that if there is an emergency like an earthquake, I am here and I have emergency preparedness supplies stored and ready. I would not be able to get over to the house and check on the scared bird for quite some time in the event of an emergency.

Being "exposed" to other birds has its risks, to be sure. So this is an individual decision that has to be made. Honestly, I feel that the benefits outweigh the risks in giving the bird a vacation of her own with me.

I see the benefits on a daily basis when my guests birds start coming out of their shell and start playing, eating, bathing, and talking as one of the group. The camaraderie is catching!

Grey Gathering

Our group, The Grey Gathering (represented here by Cassie, our mascot), is planning to send a large box of toys to The Oasis Parrot Sanctuary in Arizona. We'll be sending Christine's famous Cluster Flock toys. Although Cassie wants it renamed, the"Ball?" toy!

With these difficult times, the economy has taken a huge toll on non-profits that rely on donations. If you can put together a box of new toys for the many parrots that live at The Oasis, send it to:

The Oasis
5411 North Teran Road
Benson, AZ 85602

We can all help the birds at The Oasis. This is a very worthy foundation. Check it out at www.the-oasis.org

Just keep this address available and when you order toys, foods, nuts, whatever...think of sending some directly to The Oasis! Your donation will be tax deductible.

Girl Crazy

The small bird room is going to the birds. Here Bubbus is singing away in fine form. Katie a little hen cockatiel is right next door. She doesn't give him or the other males the time of day.


Sammy decided to take the matter into his own hands. He flew over to visit Katie on her cage. She stayed inside. Katie doesn't play with toys very much. Sammy started playing with her new toy (made by me) through the cage bars. This stimulated Katie to give it a try! Yea, Sammy! Good Teacher!

Captions Needed

I often share my downtime with a parrot. I can't seem to get away from the guilt of sitting down to watch TV
without grabbing one of the parrots to come hang out on the ropes while I relax. The problem can be trying to hear what is on the television.

You can see by this photo of Rico that I use captions. My hearing is definitely shot living with all of these parrots. The captions allows them to yammer away blissfully and I can still understand the program. Problem solved.

Sweet Spike

Sweet little Spike. She is definitely a girl. She is also an only child. When I had her out for some free time on the playstand, the two boy cockatiels that were nearby started singing to her! What were they thinking? Spike was interested but perplexed.

Bubbus and Sammy had a bit of a competition going. Who could woo her better? Let's see, the Andy Griffith theme or Sentimental Journey...

TOY MAKING FUN

Another toy making party and we certainly had fun! It looks a little chaotic but the results were fantastic!



We mostly worked on what Chris calls Cluster Flocks. These are wiffle balls strung with Polly Rope and many MANY items knotted on to make a terrific and irresistible toy! Buster adores these and has the final say. Since he has been offered these, his feathers are showing some real improvement! He spends a lot of time working on the toy to dissassemble all of our work. He even loves to unravel the polly rope ends. They are easy to restring with items dropped. Some of the dropped pieces become foot toys that hold his interest for a long time. After an afternoon of creating these Cluster Flocks, I can attest to the intricacy, number of items, and time involved in just one toy! Granted, we were also laughing and playing with the birds but one of these toys takes hours to complete! If you want to purchase some for your flock, go to www.birdybling.net and place your order. Chris can provide you with the toys and, perhaps, even a bag of refurbishment parts! Remember, it's not how many toys you have, it's the quality and attraction factor! These are activity magnets!

Foggy Is Groggy

This is Foggy. He resides at an assisted living facility. His mom pasted away and he now has his cage in the lobby where everyone can pause to say hello on their way by. I think he enjoys this interaction and the many residents enjoy him!

I go down and groom him periodically and, when it was time for his checkup, I picked him up and chauffeured him to his appointment.

To everyone's dismay, a lump was found next to his preen gland at the base of his tail. Luckily this exam caught this before it grew too large.

Yesterday Foggy had the minor surgery to have it removed. I am keeping him here for a few days to medicate him and observe any signs that the wound is bothering him. So far he is sedated and he hasn't indicated that there is any pain or irritation. He is, however, on Torp which makes him quite drowsy.

Exams are an important part of quality bird care.

Special Needs for a Special Bird

Can you see Jasper?

Jasper is a frequent visitor and he is a sweet boy. However, he definitely has feather issues.

His cage for this week is stuffed with lots of things to shred. Not only does that give him something to tear up other than himself, but also it gives him a feeling of shelter.


He can "hide" if he wants, or climb around and investigate all the chewing options.

He feels quite comfortable here and started eating upon arrival.

Daily time out of the cage and on my knee will be part of his "vacation". Being allowed to just hang out is what he is accustomed to.

The loofa toy is one of my own creations. Ugly, yes, but fun to destroy!

Two Rambuncious Kids

No one knows the noise level of a house with six macaws in it. Especially on a rainy day! They all seem so excited to be alive!
I've had Oro and Azul here all week and they are a dynamic duo! They are young and full of vim and vigor!
To ease the decibel level, I put them both in the shower. This was a potential funniest home video because they thought they were going outside to the cages...and when they saw the shower stall, they had a different opinion. I had a double macaw hat! But, once in the warm water, they enjoyed getting wet.
Then, I placed them on the ropes to expend some of their energy. Some, not all. They got wild and climbed from one end to the other.

When they both ended up at one end, they had a mock battle. Lots of posturing and beaking but all in play.

Eventually, they tired themselves out. I put them in their cage for a 20 minute rest. Soon, they were back in action! Whew! Hard to keep up with those two! They have a zest for life as large as the rainforest!

Sound Effects

This is Daisy. She is positioned next to the dining room table during her stay with me. My friend, Shelley, came up today to help me with the many endless chores around here.
After we were done, we sat down to catch our breath at the table. When I grabbed a tissue out of the Kleenex box on the table, Daisy sniffled. The sound effect was dead on! We laughed and tried it again...yep, Daisy sniffled again. She definitely relates her sniffle sound to the retrieval of a tissue!

There is a laugh in every corner of this house!

Ugly Toys

Okay! I know I haven't posted a new blog entry in a week! So sorry! I feel like my day is filled with one million tiny tasks that all need to be done right now! Talk about pressure...


Here are some photos of my latest toys. My toys are the ugliest toys, but they function extremely well. The parrots don't care. They just need texture, surprises, and safety. The cardboard tube is surprisingly successful! Chauncey is one of those birds that shovels his dry food up and out of a bowl. Not so good when a bag of Harrison's costs a small fortune! I made him this Harrison's Dispenser and, with his incredible beak, he gets one cube out at a time and eats it. No more waste! Horray!