Muse

Thanks, Dan! I posted a few pics that his current family sent me earlier in this thread. I will take lots of pics, I promise.

My new camera does record video. I will probably do lots of both. I am not really too sure about how long. He has not been around another bird for over 15 years. He does not go out of the house. I am thinking we may give him a couple weeks, then his first physical with blood work and a fecal smear, and then I will ask our vet what she thinks. I don't see there being too much risk here.

Will do! My husband got me a really nice new camera, so I will have no excuse for not taking lots of pictures. Here are some of the pictures that his current family sent me.

My struggle is going to be making sure I do not compare him to Mar. I don't want to shortchange my relationship with Peck. I want to love him for who he is.

Mar and I used to watch the wild Grey videos on YouTube, and I loved the natural sounds. He learned to do that real haunting, hollow hooting sound, and I loved it. It will be nice to have one that speaks native Grey, perhaps he can teach Megan. She was never too interested in the Grey sounds. She also refuses to say "Congo African" and has truncated it to "Grey parrot" whenever she uses it. I sometimes think she does not see herself as a bird. I did get to hear a lot of those sounds at Project Perry. I assume they come from the number of wild-caught ex-breeder Greys he has there. It was breathtaking. How lucky you were to have a companion that could make those sounds. I can only hope Peck remembers them.

Oh trust me, I will get lots of pictures. Maybe even video. I am betting on the very spoiled Miss M being a complete stinker. But she may surprise me.

After Marden's death, I grieved. I have not stopped grieving. I still cry every day. I did not even want to think about getting another Grey. However... Megan started acting different. She does not want to go in the playroom any more. Of course, when she is in there, she is by herself. Even if I am there with her, she has no one to play with. All of the other birds here have companions. The green cheeked conures are a family. Alex and Maks have each other. Aria has Anya, and though they have their little spats, they get along fairly well most of the time. Megan has no one but humans. She adores her daddy, don't get me wrong. And she still tolerates me, but has gotten considerably more aggressive as of late. When she bites, it has been vicious - hard and fast. I think she is frustrated at being alone. It's really the only thing that has changed. So, we started to seek another Grey. I knew we did not want to get a baby from a breeder. We wanted to adopt a bird in need. So I spoke to Matt, at Project Perry. He, in turn, set up contact with someone who is rehoming a ~22 year old formerly wild-caught Grey, who has been in the same family all his life. She said he does not like to be handled, which is fine with us. We are just hoping he and Megan can make up. They are going to bring him to us, as they feel that will make the transition easier for him. It sounds as though he has had a fairly good life, and they want what is best for him. They plan to move out of the country, and cannot take him with them. They have also stated that if it does not work out, they will take him back and keep looking for a home. Of course, I really do not see that happening. Even if he and Meg don't get along, I would not send him packing. If we got rid of every bird Megan does not get along with at this point, we'd be a one bird household. She can be a real stinker. All I can do is pray they will hit it off. For a while, he will be in quarantine (which is in our dining room). This will give him a more quiet space, and allow him to acclimate before being thrust in the middle of a giant flock. Up to now, I think he's pretty much been an only bird, except for a time when they had another bird that unfortunately died of an enlarged heart. From what she has told me, the other bird hated Peck (his name is Pecker but they call him Peck). We will see how he likes it. I have a feeling he will be happy here. Only time will tell. And then I will be back here asking for advice on how to deal with him! LOL Wish me luck........................

That means a lot to me, Nancy! You have so much wisdom to share. I may need you REAL soon..... (see the new post just after this one.....)

Thank you very much for your kind and inspiring words!

Thank you! If you are on Facebook, feel free to like our page and you will see a daily update. You can find a link on any of our pages at avianrefuge.org. I post updates just about every day. Sometimes it is almost the next day (as the sun sneaks up on me) but there is always something each day.

Wow. It is almost like you are reading my mind! That is exactly how we are planning. After we got the Greybies, and I fell so deeply in love with them, I found a whole new respect for these creatures. Their intelligence amazed me. The more I saw, the more I realized I was sorely lacking in what I could give them vs. what they deserve. There were nights I would just cry because I wanted them to have freedom but knew that was not a reasonable option. That was when the obsession to give them the biggest aviary we could build was born. And the whole thing snowballed from there.... Are we wrong to keep them as pets? I don't know. I know I could not love human children any more than I love these birds. I know I grieve the loss of my dear boy every day. Not one day passes that I do not break down in tears. The only time I have ever grieved so hard was upon the death of the woman who raised me - my beloved Grandmother. Mar was truly family to me. Not just a pet. Not just a bird. He was my son. There was so much I wanted to give him. I would give everything I own to have him on my shoulder again. Just to hear his soft little good-night 'coo' once more. Just to kiss his little beak. And then I look at birds who have never had that kind of love, or any love for that matter. Seeing the joy in the birds at Project Perry was the clincher for us. Those birds live as birds are meant to live. They have the things they need - flock, flight and foraging. They sing like wild Greys. Like I taught our Greybies to sing, so they would not forget they are birds. That is what we want to give to birds who need love. A place to fly like a bird. A place to be with others of their kind. A safe place.

Thank you! I will definitely try to keep you all posted on our progress, slow as it seems to be!

Thank you! I will try to be a bit more regular about stopping by here!

Thank you for the kind words. We are just north of Raleigh, outside of Youngsville.

I understand what you are saying. This is also something that Matt (of Project Perry) said. We aim to attack this in several different ways: we want to recruit people to fund-raise. I don't like using pros because donors money goes to a for-profit business, and that has never felt right to me. We also want to create enterprise along with the rescue, using volunteers to make safe, natural toys for sale to bring in money. We also would like to start designing and making playstands to sell. All monies would go to support Marden's Ark. Hopefully with enough volunteer labor, we can establish a good reputation and solid customer base - enough to support the birds. We would also probably have programs where owners could fund care for their birds to guarantee them lifetime homes here. We have already built 4 4'x8' raised bed gardens and have plans to build a greenhouse right next to them, in order to raise our own organic, chemical-free crops year round. There is a nursery here that is organic and they gave us a ton of good information. The owner is a great guy and is more than willing to share his wisdom. We are planting a blueberry bush (already bearing in the pot!) and two raspberry and two blackberry. I am pretty good at propagating, and hope to be able to turn these into a nice hedge full of fruit. We planted an apple tree in Marden's honor. Apples were his favorite fruit. We also plan to add a pear tree, peach tree, and some paw paw trees. I also have a brown turkey fig that is just budding out, but probably will not bear for us this year. We would like to try to grow a significant portion of the food for our birds. We plan to start small, and work our way up. We have no children. All that we own will transfer to the organization upon our deaths. All our life insurance money will go into Marden's Ark. We hope through screening volunteers to find at least one who is trustworthy enough to follow in our footsteps and take over our flock and the reins of the organization. All I can do is pray that God sends us that person. We are as of Friday, incorporated as a NC non-profit corporation. Now we have to obtain a license to solicit, and apply for both state and federal non-profit (501©3) status. Once we get that, we plan to seek the help of our Facebook friends and others to start a crowd-funding campaign to begin the aviary fund. I have a couple of family members who are really good at this. One managed to raise a couple thousand dollars in two days to pay for surgery for a cat that the vet wanted to put down. We hope to not have to depend too much on donations, as we want to get the toy and playstand business going. Hopefully, God will watch over our efforts and bless the work of our hands. We are starting with just what we can afford to support, right now on just one income. Once I am working, we will be able to do more. We plan to grow only as fast as we think we can support in a worst-case scenario. That is all we can do, right now. That, and pray and have faith. Thanks for the advice. I will keep your rescue in my prayers.

Thank you! Sorry it took so long to reply, the last few weeks have been a blur! Our website is http://www.avianrefuge.org and our Facebook page link is on every page, just under the banner. Thank you very much for your kind words.

I am a nurse. I worked in a busy state (psych) hospital. My shift was 3-11, which meant at a MINIMUM I was there from 2:45pm to 11:15pm - the 15 minutes being the time allotted for taking report coming on shift and giving report at shift's end. If anything unusual happened (say an assault or restraint) there were endless pages of paperwork to be done, and this often made it impossible for me to deal with patient care and paperwork ("charting") during the allotted time. There were nights I got home at 2am, 3am, once even later (that was a night I would love to forget...). When we got our Greybies, we planned on one, and ended up with two. My husband travels for his job so that left me to be pretty much the full time caregiver and he was the weekend visitor. We spoke to our vet, and he affirmed what my gut instinct already told me - that having two makes them far less dependent on their humans, plus it gives them things we as humans cannot. Imagine living with as a prisoner (even a well-treated one) of someone whose language you did not know. No matter how well they supplied your needs, life would be a lot better if you had a friend of your own that spoke your language and had the same culture as you. It is much easier to get two as young babies than try to mix two adults. We had *no* - repeat ABSOLUTELY *no* - issues with not having a relationship with both birds. Megan tolerates me but adores her daddy. Marden was bonded to me, but also adored his daddy. The only time he got nippy with daddy was during his hormonal bouts. As soon as the hormonal behavior (displaying, trying to regurgitate for Megan) ceased, he reverted to being mister sweetness and light again. He really was a perfect bird. Unfortunately, he contracted aspergillus, most likely from some contaminated food product. We did not let them have peanuts, so in going back after the fact, we are thinking it may have been field corn. We are now eliminating dried (field or "dent") corn from our birds' diets. We are now in the process of adopting a new (to us) Grey - I will post more about him later. All we can do is hope he hits it off with Megan. She can be kind of hard to get along with at times. I personally believe having two birds is far more healthy mentally. But that's just my .02 cents. Good luck in whatever you decide and I think you will be a splendid parront, either way! (I play .mp3s for our flock when we go out - because the thought of what gets said on radio or TV scares me these days. I saw part of a sports program in a pub we ate at (we don't have TV) and was shocked to hear them say a word I don't use in front of our children. Eeek!)

Those are my favorite videos - the ones where they are making the wild, natural calls. So beautiful! I play these types of videos for the birds so they know what they are supposed to sound like. Thanks for sharing!

Megan only bites my hand in the cage if I am filling a food bowl, oddly enough. If I reach in for a step up, she will either politely decline or come to me, but she doesn't bite. If she *needs* to step up (as in we are going to the vet or to bed) and she declines, I add the phrase "right now" and she knows that changes the syntax from request to command and she complies. I have yet to figure out what the deal is with me pouring food into the bowl or why that triggers a bite. And I have tried different methods. Using a cup, pouring the food from my hand, changing the whole bowl (usually when I am doing this it is one of those 'locking crock' bowls, that you MUST reach in because they don't have a 'door' in the cage - they just have a holder that is bolted to the side. I learned quickly that the bowls with doors get opened from the safety of OUTSIDE the cage. The other day she actually let me reach in an fill a foraging toy while she was in the cage without a bite. That surprise me as I figured it would be viewed as similar to putting food in a bowl. Evidently not. But if I am trying to put her INTO the cage? It is ON! If she does not want to go, then there is a good probability that a bite will happen. What I have started doing since that last forearm chomp is quietly explaining WHY I need her to go back, in a quiet voice, and reassuring her I will come back to get her as soon as I can. I am not sure how much she understands, but so far this is working. Mar was so sweet, I could go in to his cage by opening the front panel and kiss him and give him scritches. He had not one bit of cage aggression in his body. And if I reached in to fill his food? It wasn't a bite I worried about, it was how to pour the food into the bowl with his head in it. I always said he was a puppy in a bird's body. He did bite daddy for putting him back, but never me. Which is odd, because he preferred to spend time on daddy more than me. Today we did some recall reinforcement using the model/rival method with Alex, who pretty reliably recalls, as the model/rival. Megan did great after some coaxing, but then when we finished, she decided she needed more rewards, and flew to my SHOULDER and leaned in for a kiss (something she does that also earns her a pine nut). After the bite to the lip, I have been a bit spooked and had to catch myself from pulling quickly away. I gave her the kiss, and the pine nut, but told her she was not allowed on my shoulder because she bit me in the face. She flew back to her veranda almost as if she understood what I said. But without a bite! That made me happy.

The lip healed up nicely. And she has not bitten me since. I think the tone of voice and the infamous 'not-happy-face' scared her, lol. Afterwards we had some time together in the kitchen, and even shared a snack. We are looking for another Grey now. I notice her missing Mar in little ways. She looks unkempt, especially her head and around the neck, which she never did before as he always preened her. She has no one to preen her now. And she does not want to stay in the playroom, because it means being alone. I am praying we can find a friend for her that she will accept. That is going to be the difficult part.

Today is exactly three years since I first met Marden. I remember being so depressed going through my OB clinicals and seeing all the women having babies and knowing I could not. It was my husband's idea to get a bird. I had always mentioned wanted one "someday" and he decided that it would fill my need to mother something. And fill it did. The cockatiels I'd fostered and the doves I had were long before I had the Internet and I knew very little compared to what I know now. I dove into information on birds with a passion. These were my babies. I wanted to give them the best I could. He was the center of my life for almost three years. We spent the better part of every day together. And today, the memories came flooding back. I just keep seeing those little dark eyes meet mine, and him literally running across the shallow enclosure to jump on my hand and climb to my shoulder. Love at first sight is not limited to being between humans only. Many days I wake up and look over, expecting to see him sleeping in his cage, and instead I see Megan, alone, sitting on her play stand. My day then starts with a flood of tears. It's hard to believe that a little pound of feathered love could entwine himself so deeply in my heartstrings. We have decided to start a bird rescue. We have talked about it for quite some time. It grew out of the plan to build a flight-worthy size aviary for our own babies. Our train of thought followed these tracks - we planned to have a structure put up, similar to those carport buildings that are extra tall that folks use to shelter their big Class A motorhomes. The plan was to only partially roof it, so that one section was the frame covered in wire mesh. Our original plan was to link it to the house, so the birds could have at-will access to go in and out as they pleased. As discussions went on, we realized with something that big, we'd have room for more then just our small flock. We have rescued many animals over the years. At one point we had six cats and two dogs - all but two of those were dumped near where we lived. And we have taken each one in and given them a loving, permanent home. Why couldn't we do this for birds, too, we thought. In researching 'how-to' plans for aviaries, I ran across a link to the YouTube video of the Grey Aviary at Project Perry. I wasn't so sure I liked the quonset hut style, but it was certainly big enough to fly around in! I sent an email to the founder, Matt Smith, who kindly replied to my questions with an invitation to come and see the facility in person. Last month, we drove up and Matt not only showed us around, but gave us some fantastic tips and information including vendors where we could find the materials. The structure is still in the planning stage and we are playing phone tag with the lawyer to try to get paperwork filed to obtain our 501©3 status as well as incorporating so that the organization can have a legal framework to allow it to continue beyond our time on this earth. We have some small plans for now, and bigger plans for the future. Right now, we are building garden beds so that all birds here will have fresh, wholesome organic food that was raised here at home with absolutely no chemicals at all. We are vermicomposting in each bed using 'worm towers'. We are starting with four raised beds and hope to expand each year. We are also planting fruit trees - a pear, a grove of paw paw trees, a fig tree, and an apple tree for Marden (that was his favorite fruit). My dream is to someday have an onsite vet clinic that will be open to outside business to help support itself and the organization. We have named our endeavor Marden's Ark in honor of our beloved feathered son. We registered the domain "avianrefuge.org" and I have been working many late nights building a small website, as well as a Facebook page. I know this is going to be a lot of work, but work has never scared me. I want to build a place, as Matt has in Virginia, where birds can be birds - flying, spending time in a flock, and interacting on their terms, not those of humans. Those birds at Project Perry seemed so happy. And after the lives of suffering many have endured, they surely deserve that. It gives me a positive outlet to channel all this grief into, and I think it will be an important part of a very slow healing process. I know many of you have done rescue work with parrots, and I welcome any and all bits of advice and wisdom. Thanks to all! Muse (Dee)

Well, I guess she felt that wasn't enough. Tonight, she was on daddy's head, and he was joking around with me and leaned forward as I was kissing her. I am not sure if she was losing her balance and grabbed for a hold, but it looked like a fast lunge to me. She got me by the lower lip. I go for my first appointment with my new doctor tomorrow. Healthcare providers are trained to look for signs of spousal abuse. LOL. I suspect I am going to have to convince him that my husband isn't beating me up. She did get a short time out in the sleeping cage, then I made her get in her downstairs cage when she should have been in daddy's office with him, or out of the cage with me. She was not pleased but oddly enough, did not try to retaliate or protest going in. I think she knew mama had that "not happy face" on, and generally when that happens, every living thing in the house moves to get out of mama's way. It also bled profusely, even with immediate application of ice and pressure. It may be a while before she gets a kiss from mama. >.< Here's the damage: [ATTACH]25019[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]25020[/ATTACH] It smarts a bit. Daddy came downstairs about an hour later and was surprised to find us both in the kitchen, cooking birdie muffins (actually human muffins but being made for birdies). He seemed surprised that she was out of her time out. When I took her in the kitchen she kept saying "I love you." To which I replied, "I don't believe you. You just bit me in the face!" And her reply? She CHUCKLED! Evil little bird....

Well, I guess she felt that wasn't enough. Tonight, she was on daddy's head, and he was joking around with me and leaned forward as I was kissing her. I am not sure if she was losing her balance and grabbed for a hold, but it looked like a fast lunge to me. She got me by the lower lip. I go for my first appointment with my new doctor tomorrow. Healthcare providers are trained to look for signs of spousal abuse. LOL. I suspect I am going to have to convince him that my husband isn't beating me up. She did get a short time out in the sleeping cage, then I made her get in her downstairs cage when she should have been in daddy's office with him, or out of the cage with me. She was not pleased but oddly enough, did not try to retaliate or protest going in. I think she knew mama had that "not happy face" on, and generally when that happens, every living thing in the house moves to get out of mama's way. It also bled profusely, even with immediate application of ice and pressure. It may be a while before she gets a kiss from mama. >.< Here's the damage: It smarts a bit. Daddy came downstairs about an hour later and was surprised to find us both in the kitchen, cooking birdie muffins (actually human muffins but being made for birdies). He seemed surprised that she was out of her time out. When I took her in the kitchen she kept saying "I love you." To which I replied, "I don't believe you. You just bit me in the face!" And her reply? She CHUCKLED! Evil little bird....

Oh so adorable! Great pics! That second one has "BUSTED!" written all over it. You can see the look in their eyes. LOL. What adorable birds.

That is absolutely great. I know how you must feel. Megan and I were not close. But she has been warming up to me since we lost Marden. I guess it is because when daddy is off traveling for work, she has no one else left to turn to. She has actually been flying to me - something she never used to do. She's landed on my head a couple times but doesn't stay there because I think she knows it makes me nervous. She has had this thing with my hair and has given me a couple of bites to the head when I have been bent over in the cage to clean something up before. Except for this Wednesday, she's been extremely gentle towards me. Wednesday must have just been "Bite Mama" day here, I guess. Hopefully Gracie will continue to want to be close and get cuddly. Best wishes!