kins2321@yahoo.com

I think it is a GREAT idea, to start a thread... sexual maturity vs terrible two's.I nominate taco333! Nancy

TWIX... Sophie trusts me with her life. She HATES to be on her back. Trust has nothing to do with anything. It is a bird preference, has nothing to do with the relationship between a bird and parent. Nancy

Oh, how Kiki LOVES Opera! She is always on key! If you watch a movie, where the girl is being murdered and screaming... Kiki will scream perfect pitch. She has the " best ear", for pitch. Nancy

Sophie WAS clipped when we got her . I DO believe in trimming, after a baby has learned to fly 100%. They need to develop chest muscles. I can only say, Sophie has NEVER been the best flyer, since she never learned. We have always practiced with her, but she still prefers to walk. she is 100% flighted, and thinks she can do anything. Occasionally, I forget to close basement door when doing wash, she has flown down and scared the crap out of me. Her flight is marginal. Kiki our Amazon, whom we've had since a baby, can fly with perfect accuracy. I did trim her when she was going thru the terrible two's, so she could focus on learning. It never affected her negatively. Kiki flies quite well, Sophie loves to see her fly. At the end of the day, Sophie still rules, but appreciates the beauty of Kiki flying. She is not jealous, and is happy, but sometimes I wonder... " what if"... if Sophie had learned to fly as a baby. Nancy

I am very grateful, Sophie has learned to love all of us. When it comes to Sean my youngest, he's not so easy to win over. Sophie's favorite game for him, is biting thru the holes in his crocs. She laughs and runs! She hide's in plain sight, Sean pretends he doesn't see her. She's got her little butt sticking up, head down. It is such a riot! He pretends he can't find her, then does. TAG! Your it! He runs laughing with Sophie in hot pursuit. I amuses me everytime they do it. Nancy

They can be very clumsy. Flying when fully flighted, does take practice. I would find an avian vet or groomer, to let you know the status of your birds wings. When teaching our birds to fly, we had two people involved. We are lucky to have a huge family room. One to start the flight, another person on the receiving end. Sounds like a game of football, but it worked for us. Nancy

Whenever Sophie would " stare at the wall". I would try to enter " her world!" What do you see? I put a crystal in the window and created a prism off the wall and told her what I saw. She thought it was amazing! Nancy

They are soooo much like children! What do we do as parents? We reassure them, they are " fine!" Talk softly, let them know " I am here and will keep you safe." One of Sophie's favorite phrases is " I am fine!" She knows what it means. Nancy

Funny guys! Sophie LOVES our kitchen floor. She LIVES in the kitchen. Walks everywhere. It is her favorite room. Nancy

I suggest, looking at that wall with her! whats she seeing, that you are missing? Nancy

murfchck remind me again, how old is Bongo? Nancy

Sophie can open any cage, no matter what I do. No big deal... I no longer close their cage doors. They took over my living room, I turned it into a bird room. She can't open main doors thank goodness! When I take her to the groomer, it is a five minute drive, so she behaves. Five more minutes, she would open the door to her carrier. Her patience goes only so far! Nancy

They are resilent! Its not the amount of time out, but the quality. Nancy

They actually CAN be trained, to NOT chew nice clothes. When Sophie starts to chew, I let her know... NO!!!! She stops! As far as pooping on me with my scrubs that I wear daily, it is hit or miss. My coworkers will let me know if I have been " nailed!" Nancy

Dear Darwin... " Your mamas got the power!" You are never going to be one step ahead of her!LOL! I LOVE... when a parent is one step ahead of their bird. There have been times, when Sophie was one step ahead of me. I quickly made sure we reversed those roles. Nancy

Sophie also groomed me. Sure, some of those hair pulls hurt. I don't have many greys, but I told Sophie.... " get the greys!" LOL! Nancy

Biscotti is a riot! VERY intelligent too! I noticed he " missed" grabbing the front of the cage once, to speedup. He got it the next time! Picking up his foot, I think he was pondering... " will this help speed me up?" My audio is dead... kids planning on fixing it, but it actually helps me focus on the visual. I'm seeing alot! Lots of cognitive thought. Nancy

LOVED the pictures of Darwin. What does the A stand for... middle name? Anthony maybe? Nancy

Its funny how quickly they adjust to a new routine, when it works in their favor! When Sunny see's his spoon coming... he climbs upside down across his cage, has to get in the right spot on his rope. Then he's ready! BRING IT MAMA!LOL Nancy PS I give very few sunflower seeds. Sunny will eat around ten in the evening.( of course his healthy diet has been consumed.) Is that too much? Nancy

I never heard of birds having night terrors, but it certainly makes sense as we all dream. Zoey my dog sleeps with me. I KNOW she has bad dreams. When she whimpers in her sleep, I wake her up. nancy

LOL! TOO funny! Does Misty know how crazy his daddy is? Nancy

LOVED the video! LOL! Kiki our Amazon, loves to go in the refrig as well. I wonder if they think were holding out on the REAL goodies! Nancy

Toweling, may work for some. I don't believe in it. It should be for " emergencies" only.( in case of fire!). If bird won't stepdown, drop them off on front of floor, in front of cage. Let me know, how it worked. Nancy

Sophie and Kiki( amazon), argue at times. They hold their own! I have never had to intervene. They have never hurt each other. They have worked out " boundaries". Nancy

Its always a better scenario, if you can remove birds for at least three days, while painting. If you can't, remove birds to a separate part of the house, close doors to painted room, wait five days. Refinishing hardwood floors, is even harder! Birds lived upstairs for four weeks. Rooms refinished, were shut off. They did fine. Nancy