Muse

LOVED this!! MORE MORE MORE!! We love all your birdie videos. GreycieMae is adorable. Toby just cracks me up. You can just see the attitude oozing out between those feathers. We need to see more Rio! And the narrator is hilarious, too!

I think this was an excellent idea. When introducing a Grey to a new food, if at first you don't succeed.... well, there's always next year!

We try that. One step ahead of Megan seems to be more than I can do. As I was reading this, she just landed atop the fridge (AGAIN) and is after the magnets. She's determined to play with them, I am determined to leave them there and convince her to leave them alone. I strongly suspect this is a battle I will not win, lol.

Thanks, Nancy. I hope Marden watches over them. I hope they understand the love I had for our son. And having them is spurring me to continue to press on towards getting flighted solutions for the birds here. Because truly, they deserve nothing less. Ripped from the sky decades ago, by human greed, any happiness I can give them will never be enough to make up.

Thank you!

Thanks so much. Adom is in perfect feather. Even his facial expressions look like Marden. It's a bit of an emotional rollercoaster at times. Ife, on the other hand, is a little plucked but has the most amazing, gentle soul. I love both of them deeply.

God bless you for looking out for them. Some people think "breeder bird" means a vicious, mean, wild bird. I have to say out of the 75 birds in our care, the "wild" ex-breeders and wild-caught "pet" birds are often the easiest to deal with. It's the "hand-raised" baby that we've had since she was weaned that bites me the most, and the hardest. The wild birds show erratic, fearful behaviors that make them see "wild" or "vicious" but if shown respect, (which is really all they ask for) they can be amazing friends. And they don't have that "needy" aspect like a hand-raised (human-socialized) bird.

We have a temperature sensor in their playroom. It's designed to mount on the wall and looks like a small thermostat, however I foresaw problems with landings, chewings and poopings. So we got one of those acrylic boxes that are designed to house a thermostat in a community type setting so it can be locked so that only those with the key (presumably management, building owner, boss, etc.) are able to adjust the temperature. It works like a dream! Romeo is remodeling the French doors to the playroom and the solid mahogony front door. I'm with Sterling on the "can't have nice things." We need to make a meme, lol.

We've (our rescue) helped with searches for two clipped birds in our area, just in the past six months or so. One owner states in her email: "Sadly we lost him out from our back patio, as I was giving him a bath. His wings have been kept clipped, but apparently that had little effect on his flight. I feel duped, as I believed the clipping was to prevent him from getting any "lift" and would make any real flight impossible." The quaker, fortunately, was found and returned to his family. A friend of mine had a bird that was scared and flew up in a tall tree, and fell trying to fly downwards and broke his back. He was completely dependent on full time care after that. Birds that don't have flying skills often want to come back, but just don't know how. We advocate building a solid relationship with your bird and letting them learn to fly well, while teaching and reinforcing recall training. A skilled flier is more likely to evade predators, and be able to fly back to you to return. And a bird that has been repeatedly reinforced for returning upon request to do so is much more likely to do so in stressful situation such as being startled into flying up into a tree or the top of a building. Clipped or not, recall training is your best option for safe retrieval. Congratulations on your new baby and enjoy the baby time - it goes by way too fast!

Happy Belated Hatchday, Sully!

Hi, tankaray. I run a companion bird refuge, and we, too, hear the reasons people rehome, ranging from allergies, to biting the children, to the most common "I just don't have time for them anymore." Through our Outreach and Education program, we try to work with bird owners to solve issues with their birds in order to help them keep the birds and to foster the best possible relationship between human and bird. Where are you in VA? Have you ever considered a "sitter"? Does your guy respond favorably to attention from others? Would he accept someone else being his entertainment? If not, it may help to look into other forms of entertainment such as a TV or computer. When I worked full time, I had a "nanny" come in twice a week to let the birds out and play with them. The rest of the time, they had a computer that would play a mixture of bird call recordings, songs and bird videos. Their favorite was (and still is) the little Indian Ringneck - Marnie - on YouTube. It gets them all going! Add to their "tv time" some foraging and shredding opportunities like goodie bags - a paper lunch sack with almonds in the shell, small foot toys, etc, wrapped in tissue paper to make it a challenge to get to each little prize. We are in the process of starting a program for volunteers to come socialize (play with!) the birds, since we've taken in a lot of very human-social birds. You could probably find a student or someone else to do this - even when you are home but busy with homework, cooking, etc. - fairly cheaply or maybe even free. I know some of our volunteers just love to play with the birds here and gladly show up each week to do so for free. If he's not open to new friends, or to electronic entertainment, and you decide that placing him somewhere is your only option, I would recommend looking into Project Perry, in Louisa, VA. They do have a Lifetime of Care program, where the owner pays a fee that covers the bird's upkeep each year - this includes all food, veterinary care, toys and supplies, and their share of the 'upkeep' - but it's truly cheaper than what we spend on our own birds when we count toys, vet visits, and all the fresh food we feed. The birds at Project Perry live in a paradise, in huge outdoor aviaries where they can fly and live in flocks. The aviaries are very natural, like being in the woods. I know if I were a parrot, this is where I'd want to be. The Lifetime of Care for a Grey, I believe, is $1000 per year which is a little less than $84 a month. I know for sure we spend more than that on Megan for toys and food and that doesn't count the massive vet bills we racked up when she began plucking. And they are happy to send updates along, they even do a "face time" with owners of some of the birds. I'd reserve that as the absolute last resort. Greys are far more resilient and adaptive than we give them credit for and often we can find solutions to giving them the attention they crave even in our busy lives. If there is anything I can do to help you with your bird or your situation, please don't hesitate to ask. You can email me via the contact page link on our website - which is in my signature.

I'm sorry I have not been around much. Life with 77 birds keeps me pretty busy. We've gone from 1 volunteer to seven, and a couple of groups wanting to come in for big projects so it's not just me carrying most of the load any more. There's still an awful lot to be done as far as day to day care, though, and all the stuff that goes along with moving us forward and growing as an organization. I invite everyone who is on FB to check out Marden's Ark. You can find the link on our website on any page near the top in about the middle of the page. I know a few of you are already following us on Facebook, so this is not news to you, but for everyone else - I bought Marden's parents from the breeder who had them. They are now officially EX-breeders. They are adjusting very well to being in close proximity with humans, although the whole vet visit set the trust-building back a few notches. We have given both African names. Marden's mother is called Ife (ee-FAY) which means "love", and his father is called Adom (ah-DOME) which means "grace". I apologize for the poor quality. I try not to use the flash so most pictures are dark and grainy. Adom is the one in front, Ife is behind him in the picture. She's done some plucking, but I haven't been seeing feathers since she's been here. The red is a large fleece blanket that gives them privacy. They are both eating like champs and are already eschewing the nasty Mazuri pellets in favor of all the fresh foods offered. It's easy to see that Marden got his disposition from his mother. She will often remain on the perch at the back of the cage while I move the cage out to get behind and open their window on nice days. I've had my hand inches from her. She watches everything with a look of cautious curiosity. Adom is a little more high-strung but not so much as Megan is. Marden was the spitting image of his father. The first few days here I could not look at him without bursting into tears. It is almost like seeing a ghost. They've been to the vet and both had very thorough physicals. Both were microchipped and the bands that were clamped on their legs years ago when they were brought to this country removed. Adom is not "too thin" but "thinner than" their doctor would like so they are being offered a wide range of delicacies and double portions of all fresh foods. We talk a lot. I tell them about our son, and how much I loved him, and how much I love them and want to see them fly. I don't know if they are ready to believe me just yet, but eventually, the trust will happen. It took several days, but they've been introduced to toys and at least Ife has been observed playing happily. The first toy was destroyed in just a couple of days. If you are wondering why this wasn't posted in the rescue forum - these are not "Marden's Ark" birds. I purchased them with my own funds and they are a part of my family. Although they are undeniably linked to Marden's Ark, as if it were not for them, there would have been no Marden, and thus no Marden's Ark. But to me they are honored Grey members of my family and my flock. I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving. I try to pop in here as much as I can when time allows!

Happy Thanksgiving! Here's how our prep went: The feathered version - cut up pumpkins, place chunks with seeds intact in bowls. Add fresh chopped veggies, pomegranate, sprouts and nuts. Serve. The human version - drive to Waffle House, order, eat. I suspect there will be wine (or hard root beer) in this plan somewhere, later, once the mess has been cleaned up.

Well, I missed the contest but here are some pumpkin pictures. These were taken in 2013, the last Thanksgiving I would share with my boy, Marden. He and Megan got a whole pumpkin on a large plate, in the playroom. Here are some from last year (Thanksgiving 2014) of Rasa and Megan enjoying some pumpkin together. Rasa's just not sure about this. Megan is eager to show him how it's done.

I am sorry I missed this way back in March, but I am sorry for your loss. Please accept my belated condolences.

Good thinking!

That's what we did. Replaced the chandelier with a flush mount light. Their "playroom" was the former owner's formal dining room and had a very nice chandelier in it. But the first thing the birds did was perch on it. So down it came, that night, and up went the flush mount. Because it's their playroom where they are often unsupervised, it has to be safe. Amazing how these little creatures can change our lives and even our decor!

Happy belated hatchday!

Yeah, what he said! Also, most pellets contain a toxic synthetic vitamin called menadione. It is cytotoxic (cell-killing) to the liver, is linked to liver cancers, and causes hemolysis (bursting of red blood cells) that can lead to anemia. Pet food manufacturers use the excuse that the amount is too small, but as a nurse I believe that constant exposure to very small doses over long periods of time present a significant risk. We have a 'human edible' rule for food here. Nothing goes in a pet's mouth that I wouldn't put in mine, and since menadione is banned in human foods, we don't feed pellets that contain it. (It's also common in other animal 'kibbles'). I only know of three pellets - Harrison's, Goldenfeast Goldn'obles and TOPS pellets - that do not contain this toxin. We only use Harrison's for birds at risk of nutritional deficiencies because as Steve said, it's nutritionally dense. I don't like it because it's full of peanuts. Steve is right, most pellets are mostly corn (Goldenfeast is mostly quinoa). If you are on Facebook, I recommend searching for Jason Crean's group "Avian Raw Whole Food Nutrition." They have lots of members who are very well educated in nutrition and all members are seeing to feed the best diets they can to their birds.

Marden's feathers Peck's feathers Everyone's feathers - the full container on the right is a 1-gallon bowl.

We are going to announce this on our Facebook page later today, but our board has decided to award Masonry Designs the contract to construct the block wall of our first aviary. It's been slow going (mostly because the vet bills siphoned off some of the building fund) but we are ready to move forward. To paraphrase my fellow Wapakonetan Neil Armstrong, it's one small step for us, one giant soar for the birds!

Thanks to all for the kind words. It's almost two months (tomorrow) now and it still cuts me like a knife. My relationship with Marden was more of a mother and baby. My relationship with Peck was more like an adult friend that I loved very, very much. Mar loved me because I was a parent to him from babyhood. Peck loved me because we bonded to each other by our own choices. He taught me more than I ever taught him. I hope he's teaching Marden now.

- Build Marden's Ark into a sustainable foundation that will give large, flighted homes to its residents where they can live in as close to natural settings as possible. - Change the hearts and minds of as many people as I can to encourage compassion and RESPECT towards the animals we share our lives with. - Promote fostering positive interactions, trust and better relationships between humans and their animal companions Everything else I could think of pales in comparison to that first "bucket" goal.

If you are on Facebook, this is a great group to join that advocates a raw, natural diet: https://www.facebook.com/groups/AVIANRAW/ It's run by a biologist and aviculturist, Jason Crean, who has done a ton of research. Patricia Sund contributes frequently and there are many others who practice natural feeding. We've been feeding natural for years now. Maks came to us on a seed diet and wouldn't touch a pellet from the beginning and he's now over four years old (probably closer to five) and the vet gave him rave reviews at his yearly physical. He's a handsome male cockatiel. His blood work and fecal were both perfectly normal. Our vet supports this but I have been to another vet that nearly froths at the mouth when we discuss the subject of diet. We support natural diet and flighted birds (exercise promotes cardiac health) as being in the best interest of a healthy and happy parrot.

To add to what others are saying: Clipped birds are actually in more danger outside than unclipped. I know that sounds insane, but here's what I have seen. Just recently, someone posted about a lost bird in a bird group I belong to on Facebook. They had the bird outside and something startled it. It flew away and they were asking for help and people to share so the bird might be found. Sadly, it was found. It tried to fly down from the trees and evidently flew into a fence, which caused injuries that later proved to be fatal. I am a HUGE advocate of recall training. It's something you do and then reinforce constantly so that if your bird DOES fly off, you can call them back. Flighted birds have the skills and confidence to fly, navigate and land. Even with a harness, I recommend working on recall training, just in case. Love the video!