Make Hay While The Sun Shines

Above are photos of Minna, Lucy, and Apollo enjoying the beautiful spring weather over the last couple of days. It's a good thing we all got out for some fresh air because today is rainy and windy and we are all housebound.

Joshua's New Digs

Joshua and I have come to terms. He doesn't like the toweling process and I don't like him to be frightened. Therefore, I have backed off of all attempts to handle him. He now resides peacefully next to my bedroom window in a larger cage than before.

He was so skeptical of the new cage at first that it took all day for him to venture over to it. I simply put the larger cage next to the smaller one and left both doors open. He was tempted with some of his favorite things in the new cage.

He still is allowed an "open door policy" whenever I am home. (Most of the time!)
He climbs out and onto the ropes and plays or hangs out. Then, he migrates back inside to eat and play with toys. He is very comfortable. If he goes to the floor for any reason, he simply climbs back up to the cage.

Perhaps, after a long while, we will develop a relationship of trust and he will be more accepting of my hands.

I'm in no hurry. He has spent the majority of his first two years being a bedside companion without much handling. For now, this is acceptable to me too. I certainly don't need a cuddle bird and I enjoy the camaraderie of Joshua.

No one showers like a tiel!

This morning I went through two 24 oz spray bottles of water. Everyone wanted to participate in the spray mist free for all. What fun!

Here you can see how Echo completely turns himself inside out to get the most water absorption possible.

The routine is: one by one each cage occupant is put up on the ropes. He or she gets drenched with the spray misting bottle. While they preen and "recover", I change out their papers, give them clean food, water, and their breakfast bowl and return them to a sunny cage.

They continue to put themselves in

order and then go to town on the breakfast. Makes for a pleasant morning for all.

By doing it in rotation, even the reluctant ones seem eager to take part. Bubbus always migrated away from this activity but now he unfolds and enjoys it immensely.

Lot to have happy birds!

Joshua and I take a new direction.

At first I thought that handling Joshua would be the best tact to take. I would towel him and then massage his head and body which he seemed to enjoy. However, the panic and terror that ensued between the cage and the capture was too traumatic for both of us. My new slant on things is to simply allow Joshua to hang out with the cage open. He climbs out to romp on the hanging Atoms and Boinggs. He goes back into his cage to eat and sleep. He seems to like the new direction. If he goes to the floor, I let him climb up the cage stand and back onto his cage. No more chasing him down and toweling a growling grey. Just not worth it.

He and I will take our time and develop a better rapport before tackling the scary handling part. I was simply going too fast.

His vocabulary is more and more evident every day. He whispers when it's early and converses with me when I'm in the room. He is also picking up songs and phrases from the visiting guests. All in all, I'd say we're both doing very well.

Macaw Stitching

This first photo is Oro and the one below her is Azul. How do I tell them apart? It's easy when Azul is hanging by one toe from the top of the cage. That's a behavior that he exhibits frequently. However, these two cage together so I needed to find another way to distinguish them apart. A Blue and Gold macaw has "stitching" on their white faces.

This stitching is like a fingerprint, each being unique. I use these facial feathers for identification. Oro has no feathers directly behind her eyes and Azul does. See how easy that is?

Molly and Lucy are my own macaws. Molly has that excited crazed look because she loves the camera! Lucy has no stitching on her face because she is a scarlet macaw. Greenwing Macaws have red stitching.

Companion Buddies

Kiku is here again! Ben loves Kiku and allows him to preen the spikey neck pinfeathers that I am not easily permitted to touch. Kiku is a young and active blue crowned conure male. Ben, on the other hand, is an elderly (over 30 now) blue crown that has limited mobility. He gets around...but not easily.

I love seeing these two hang out together and enjoy each other's company. Would I recommend having two birds for this purpose? Not always. Two birds do not always get along. Two birds are definitely twice as much work, if not more. There are many considerations when attempting to create a harmonious parrot home.

Kiku and Ben can "visit" with each other when Kiku stays here. They cage separately, of course.

I am hopeful to get Joshua, my new project grey, to be companions with Buster, my grey. I think, over the years, it is advantageous to have birds that can be companions. I can't be the activity director all of the time!

Joshua Update

Joshua has been staying in my bedroom while I work on taming him to the touch. He is still a work in progress. Ouch!

However, I am getting to know him through his mutterings and endearments. He was obviously much loved. (He watched as his mom got sicker and sicker with cancer and then died.)

There are low volume moans and groans plus you can hear the sweet whispers of concern as barely audible "Hi Sweetheart" "How are you?" "Are you all right?"

He's not always sad though! Later in the morning he begins his whistles, beeps, and normal grey sound effects. That, along with laughter and "Good Girl" "Good Boy" interspersed with an occasional "God Dammit". His vocabulary is huge. He literally has ongoing conversations including lots of praise, endearments, and laughter.

Joshua has been through sadness. Now he is acclimating to a parrot household and seems to enjoy calling back and forth to Buster, my grey downstairs. "Hi Joshua, what a good boy!" When a grey comes into my home, I get a window into his world.

Grey Pals?

Here is a photo showing Joshua (at the top) and Buster (bottom left) as they are experiencing being in the same space at the same time. I am trying to tame Joshua and he is quite resistant to "stepping up" to a hand. We had a tough day the other day as he launched down and ran under the desk in my room. He managed to get quite frantic and, unfortunately, I had to towel him to get him out. Back to square one. I thought that spending time with my grey, Buster, might bring some calm to the situation. They're both dna'd males so we shall see how this works out. They seem to tolerate and almost enjoy looking at each other. Of course, I stand at the ready to intervene if there is a flare up of tensions. Most likely if one of them gets nervous, he would just fly down to evade an advance. Buster just asked, "What are you doing?" Hmmm, did he ask me or Josh?

Have a Plan

PJ, seen here, has gone to her new home and they adore her. However, they are running into some problems with one ingrained behavior that is difficult to break. PJ tends to run up to the shoulder quicker than a mouse! She finds comfort up there and becomes empowered with the position. Then, of course, she evades capture and even bites to resist arrest.

I am working with them to find a solution. When PJ was here, I immediately recognized this unacceptable pattern. I would always use my "teacher voice" and ask for the "step up". Then I would hold her feet firmly as we moved to the next location. Part of the enticement was that she knew we were going somewhere! So we would have a distracting conversation the whole way. "Here we go." "Want to go outside?" "Oh, look at this (a picture in the hallway)."

The secret, if you will, is to have a plan. You have to predetermine where you will go with her and not be distracted yourself with anything else on your mind. They know! If she went to bite my hand, (this only happened at the very beginning) I would gently swoop her a little and divert her attention to something nearby. I would not let go of her feet. No real drama and absolutely no punishment. Make the move to the new location fun and relaxed. If you are tense and waiting for a bite, she will feel the tension and bite. Tension is scary so the conversation will keep you relaxed and distracted as much as her!

You must be calm and positive and one step ahead of the behavior. If you're paying attention, you will be tuned in to the attempt to bite at the moment she thinks of doing it. When she doesn't find success in her misbehaving, she'll lose interest in doing it.

Joshua's First Night

Joshua spent all afternoon with me and became somewhat comfortable. He seemed to prefer being out of the cage. I am not one to allow a bird to be out unattended, but I thought about it!

I set up a small cage with a big door next to my bed. I wove cardboard around it to prevent any thrashing from damaging a wing. You can see from his tall posture that he is not comfortable. In fact, when I left the room, he climbed out to the nearby Atom. He eventually calmed down and was returned to the cage. I slowly covered him without any drama. He climbed around and around by the sound of it and settled down. I even got a deep voiced "hello?" from under the cover. I helloed back. We're bonding.