Muse

Okay, I decided to put together some foraging for Mar, since he's abstaining from play on the big stand and generally avoiding the playroom as much as possible (long story - will post later to Grey Lounge). So I took some of his favorite 5 oz paper cups, 3 oz paper cups, a strip of leather, a piece of wood with a hole through the center (hardwood from a previously destroyed toy) and goodies to fill. This time we used pine nuts in shell, roasted organic edamame (no salt), and pistachios in shell (no salt). I punched a hole (using one of those little plastic flossers) in the bottom of each cup. I threaded the bottom cup from the bottom so it would hang with the top up, and the smaller cups in between, threaded upside down, so that they went into the bigger cup, hiding the contents. As I threaded each of the bigger cups, I put a few treats in. When I got to the top, I attached a book binder ring for hanging. These are stainless steel and snap easily on the cage bars. As you can see, Mar immediately went to check out his new toy. I think it took about twice as long for me to assemble it as it did for him to destroy it. But that's only because I am all thumbs.

I found parrots in the boudoir to have the opposite effect. Very hard to be romantic with the husband when Megan's yelling, "Oh no, eat my finger!" and making both of us crack up laughing.

I am betting that parrot posed for his portrait on a perch, and not with all that fruit. Or the picture may have taken a decidedly messier turn for the worse. We used to lay out fruit and veggies on platters for the Greybies in the aviary. They loved it but the end result was NOT pretty!

Great post, Nancy, and great advice.

I am sorry you are getting bitten. I hate bites and do all I can to avoid them. I know how frustrated you must be. As I said, Mar did his first "humpty dance" at about a year and a half old. His first real hormonal outburst was over this past summer (he was two and a half). That's when he got downright vicious with Daddy (who was and now again is his MOST favored person). He got a couple of nasty bites to the point where he was using only a step-up stick to get him off the shoulder, and doing his best to not let him up there in the first place. I suspect they may not be of breeding age, but they still have those hormonal fluctuations, earlier than what most sources claim. I am not a scientist, but I do know what I have witnessed, and it was definitely an early showing of hormones here. Whatever is causing yours, I hope it is a phase and your baby settles down. Mar came out of the hormones and is back to being all sweetness and light. One of these days I will have to catch Daddy, Mar and Meg at playtime. The bonds they have are amazing. At times I am a little jealous. But someone has to ride herd here, and by default of sheer personality, that would be me. Daddy's a marshmallow, LOL.

Very cute. Love the personalization.

Wow. Hearing stories like this, I realize how lucky I have been with my two. The terrible twos were extremely mild here, I guess. Although Mar had a bout of similar behaviour but it was linked to his hormonal actions. I was not expecting this because everything I had read says they mature much later. At about a year and a half old, he began to do what I call the "humpty dance" for Megan. I'd seen this with a particularly oversexed adult bird who was on consignment at the bird store so I knew what he was trying to do. It's adorable, and he sounds like a whining puppy begging, but he got very persistent with it. He also got defensive over Megan and began to bite my husband to whom she is very bonded. Hard. And apparently out of the blue, though later we reconstructed some of the incidents and realized they were precipitated by actions of affection between my husband and Megan. Mar may not know how to say "revenge" but he evidently understands the concept. Once the "humpty dance" went away (thankfully after only a few weeks!) so did all the other behaviours. Megan is inherently stubborn (a mark of the intelligence, I suspect) but never went through anything other than her behaviour improving with age and lots of work and patience. He was only "rough" with me a couple of times. I have to say, he's only really bit me maybe three times in almost three years - one a panic-bite and two protest bites during his stubborn phase (what I called the terrible twos but it was mercifully short). This coincided with the flights coming in so I blamed it on the new found sense of independence. He decided he was NOT going to go back and he was going to show me what happens when trying to put him back. I showed him that I am more stubborn than he is, and I started doing the same thing with him that I do with Auna when she must go back (bedtime, leaving for work) - I hold out a step-up stick. He has learned that no matter how hard he bit that stick, he still ended up going back. Once he realized he couldn't win by biting, it stopped. I guess I have just been really lucky. And all bites to me were fingers. He has bit my husband on the ear. My ears are covered with long hair, so maybe he just doesn't know they are there. As for shiny, I found that out the day we met. He LOVED my glasses! Pulled them off my face several times. Once we spoke to the breeder and put the money down on him, I began to firmly redirect him with a stern "No, that's not yours!" using "the mommy voice." The breeder laughed and said "Yeah, well, good luck with that." A few minutes later, Mar was leaving my glasses alone. He's a smart bird. He's one of the few I can usually "remote control" with the mommy voice. If I see him doing something and I tell him to stop, he usually does. I don't wear jewelry, but after work I typically came in wearing a badge lanyard and sometimes a stethoscope. He investigated both, but all it took was a "That's not yours" and he no longer bothered them either. I have been so blessed with good birds so far! He's almost three. Maybe he got hormones and terrible twos mixed and did the hormones early and will do the terrible twos late. I am hoping not. LOL

You know, I had a thought - you said she lived 12+ years in a home with smokers. Perhaps it is the smoke you are allergic to? I am highly sensitive to smoke, especially cigarette smoke. And I smoked from age 20 to 31. My doctor at the time said it wasn't an "allergy" because allergies are reactions to proteins and called it a non-allergic rhinitis. One tiny whiff and my nose runs, eyes water, sinuses swell - and the next day I will have a sore throat all day. Many times I have "run the gauntlet" trying to get inside a restaurant past smokers at the door to try to save myself lots of suffering. One can only run so far and so fast while holding their breath. But I know I have had objects (some that were packed for years) that had the faintest bit of residue on them that triggered a reaction. Was the cage also from that home? It could have residual nicotine in areas you can't get to. All I know is that it takes a very minute amount for me to have a reaction. This might explain why it seems to be just this one bird out of all the other birds you have contact with. As for dander, I have noticed it takes two forms with the Greybies. A white powdery substance that ranges from fine to fairly coarse, and flakes that appear like dandruff when they are preening on my husband. I tease him about needing Head & Shoulders, lol.

How adorable. What a beautiful and intricate contact call. Mar's is loud and harsh and can be described as an impatient shriek. I don't shriek back. My answer is "I'm right here." I notice he will also continue to shriek while flying if he is not sure where I went. Tonight, while "we" were working around the house, I indulged in way too much hot tea and as a result had to quickly duck in to the bathroom (off hallway). As I headed for the doorway I heard the call, but knew I couldn't stop. There are curtains in the doorway to discourage flying into the foyer but they were most of the way open as I was home alone, had the front door locked and was carrying stuff in and out of the foyer preparing to put up the Christmas tree (which he had to supervise....). The curtain must have hidden the bathroom door enough that he didn't see where I went. He flew through the hall and into the foyer and heading upstairs, shrieking all the way. I called to him "I'm in here!" (good thing I left the door open!) and he did a beautiful 180 that looked like he was pivoting on a wing tip and flew straight to me and landed in my lap. Yes, they are just like a three year old. When the girls were that age I couldn't use the bathroom alone either.

Is that an edited version of Rockstar? Dayo's such an adorable bird! I am going to show these videos to Mar tomorrow. Maybe he will get the idea. Hehe.

Megan likes to sing along to music. I have really bizarre tastes in music, very much tempered now by what I will allow little ears to hear (my Tool playlist has gotten VERY short). There is a song by Mike Oldfield called Moonlight Shadow, with Maggie Reilly on vocals. She loves that song and sings along with it every time I play it for her. She doesn't sing the actual words to the song but she has the sweetest little singing voice and it sounds like she's just making up words as she goes, trying to keep up with the melody. We are trying to teach her to sing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and she is FINALLY starting to sing more than just "Twinkle STAR!" Mar was dancing during music time today but instead of singing he was making loud bird noises, wild Grey sounds and meowing like the cats. Tonight, the "Twinkle" song seems to have gotten the cockatiel wound up for some reason, and he was singing (whistling) his little heart out in between the "You're so cute! Pretty bird! What are ya doin'?" routine. Hehe. I found a version with a real pretty soprano voice singing it. Birds really seem to like those higher voices. Megan also seemed to like the Loreena McKennitt I added to the playlist (Stolen Child) but even though she bobbed her head she did not sing along with it.

So sorry to hear. Regardless of the cause, allergies are a bummer. Sometimes there are ways to get around them. It does seem strange that one Grey triggers them and another does not. I agree with others - I'd see an allergist to be sure before I'd give up my bird. That is very difficult to do. I wish you the best, and hope you can find something that gives you relief.

Megan is the picky one of the Greybies. She can be very hit and miss on trying new foods. Mar just loves food, period, and all the more so if it is MY food. He "helped" me make cornbread tonight (the mixing part - he had to go in the playroom when it went in the oven). We won't mention that not all of the almond milk (I don't use cows' milk) that went in the batter made it directly from the carton... he had to add several drops from the cup he got. He also wanted to taste-test the oil. I put a tiny bit on the end of my finger. One lick and he made a face I have never seen on a bird before. You could almost hear him thinking "Eww! That was nasty." Of all the birds, Little Budgie is the WORST. Maks, the cockatiel, was a stinker, too. I think breeders of these birds wean to seed because it's so cheap and they know that for a 'cheap' bird, that's likely all they will be eating anyway. Maks took forever to eat anything but millet but now ADORES birdy breakfast, and even took a crack at the remnants of the pumpkin today! The budgie just does not want to try anything. I am currently mixing quinoa, millet and the tiny Harrisons that looks like tiny grey grains of something. So far he's done a GREAT job of picking the real grains from the fake ones. I can only hope he accidentally ingests a pellet of the Harrisons once in a while. He won't touch birdie breakfast unless there is something grain-based (like cooked quinoa) in them. Alex and the Green Cheeks love breakfast and eat just about anything I offer them.

Wow. Maybe he just doesn't like pumpkin. Everyone in my family loves it, but my niece. She just has her own tastes, I guess. So perhaps Timber is the same way. Has he tried Butternut squash? We cut that up in our chop sometimes.

Thank you! My husband is the photographer. He's got a very nice (read: expensive) camera outfit, and is thus expected to perform as family photographer. I have a little point and shoot and my cellphone, and am pretty pathetic with either. Heh. I definitely think we will be buying more organic pie pumpkins, and planning a pumpkin patch for the garden!

I found with watermelon, cutting it into wedges made it less scary. Maybe get a small pie pumpkin and cut in quarters, or even smaller wedges. Megan shied away from the whole pumpkin until I coaxed her to eat some of the 'lid', which was much smaller. Mar? His thought process goes like this: "Is that food? Can I eat that? Is that for me to eat?" He wants to taste-test everything that looks like food and isn't shy about doing so. Usually if I am offering a new food item, I offer it to him first, then Meg sees him eat it and is okay with it. (Megan taste-tests the non-food items like furniture.. >.< hehehe). I suspect once Timber gets over the fright of the big scary orange ball, there will be much pumpkin destruction to follow....

Oh, Dave007's post is so funny!!! And so true! Although we no longer have turkey. But everything else applies.

Nancy- I don't know about "great" - I still have so much to learn. That's one of the reasons I am glad I found this forum. We did have a pretty good breeder who was working at the store where we got the Greybies, and he gave us a LOT of information. However, it's impossible to learn all you need to know in a month or so - which was about the amount of time we spent bonding with the Greybies before bringing them home. I learned very fast just how much I DON'T know. It amazes me sometimes how much different life is now, and how differently I actually THINK. Even nursing school didn't change my thought processes this much. I'd already had a "critical thinking" kind of mind-set. But now I find myself looking at life so differently than I did before the Greybies. Buying a houseplant takes HOURS instead of minutes, because you have to research every single plant. Shopping for food becomes a nightmare of trying to decipher labels and search for natural, organic, and pure ingredients. We recently bought an electric heater for my 'office' to keep it warmer in here because Little Budgie has been sick. Instead of just going to the store and buying what looked best, I did DAYS of research on bird safe heaters. Here's another example. I saw Jiffy-Pop at the store. On impulse, just for the nostalgia, I picked it up. When I got home, I noticed the pan is now BLACK. Could that be a non-stick coating on the aluminum? I don't know. I emailed ConAgra and got no response. I am going to give them a little more time, then it goes in the trash and I stop buying their products. But I won't even think about using it if I can't be sure it's PTFE-free. I have friends that think I've lost my mind. I don't care. I love my babies and want the best for them. If it means altering my lifestyle, so be it. All in all, the changes have been better for me. I eat healthier. I am more active. And when Megan says "I love you" or Mar flies over, lands on my shoulder, and proceeds to give me an unsolicited kiss, I know it's all worth it. And I need to get my husband signed up here. He's been on the "Bite Me" list this week. Several pretty hard ones, and even some blood loss. From both Greys! (Better him than me, I say!)

It almost sounds like you are describing the high-pitched "wooOOOoo" sound. I think that is a natural Grey sound. Both our birds do that and I know no one here taught them that. It is usually either an exclamation of excitement or a warning when they want someone to get out of their way. (Unheeded, it is followed by a lunge and bite, if it is given in the warning context). I have heard them do it while playing, and when offered something that they really like. Mar was doing it tonight while hanging upside down on the play stand in the kitchen, attacking some dried apple and pasta I put on a skewer for him. I think they were around 8-10 mos. old when they started making that noise. It sounds like the birdsitter DVD is a good thing for them. Ours all love to listen to other birds. I made a long (1 hour) sound file with layers and layers of different bird sounds so that it sounds like you are in the middle of a busy jungle or forest. Our birds go absolutely wild when I turn it on. They love it! I don't have the birdsitter DVD but it sounds like something similar in concept.

I guess it could have ended up as a pie, but this little organic pie pumpkin had a special mission for Thanksgiving. It became the sole focus of two energetic Congo African Grey parrots! First the pumpkin was given a thorough bath. Then I cut open a "lid" so the Greybies could see the tempting insides. I thought we'd put it on a platter on the floor but they did not want to be on the floor with the new scary thing. So I put the platter up in the big stand, kind of wedging it between branches. After a little coaxing, they began to tentatively test the pumpkin. Then they attacked it with great glee! They absolutely LOVED that poor pumpkin to death! I debated on putting this under the bird food forum, but with the exception of stripping a few seeds to get to the beloved "pepitas" there was not much eating going on. A lot of biting, chewing, throwing, shredding, and flinging... but not a lot of eating. There was pumpkin EVERYWHERE, but it was in their playroom, so that's okay! A good time was had by all. The little birds got a crack at the pumpkin, too, but with the exception of Alex, who was mainly in it for the seeds, they were unimpressed. I did wrap the leftover for a rerun tomorrow. You can see the evidence of the Greybies assault on their pumpkin on our flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/59819856@N05/sets/72157638166958786/

Adorable! What a sweet flock!

Hahaha... what a mental image. I hope your guests were understanding! Our Greybies love cold water to drink. In fact, Megan will demand "Want some water" if the water in the bowl is tepid. As soon as I give a fresh bowl from the fridge dispenser, she guzzles it down. Both will rush to us for a drink of water if we are drinking it. After all, it always tastes better from somebody else's glass. So far they seem to prefer to bathe in room temp water. I guess just like humans, they all have differing likes and dislikes.

Excellent article! Thank you for sharing! The case studies, while heartbreaking, might save future lives. I had never even thought about children hiding chocolate before. Of course, we don't have children of our own, so many of these things are not something that would easily come to mind. It's always better to read things like this and learn from the mistakes of others than to have to suffer through it first-hand. I hope everyone has a safe holiday season!

Fid is a portmanteau of "feathered" and "kid." It refers to the adopted avian offspring of parronts. My husband calls our Greys our "Greybies" but soon they are going to be a bit mature for that, I think. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, Shane, and everyone here!