SunnyBird

Here are some photos I took in our caravan trailer while we were on vacation. Since Sunshine's vacation cage is small I try to let him out often. Sunshine can do a full split and I'll try to get him on camera doing that later Sunshine coming out of his cage. He always shuts the door on his way out... (notice Selini watching) I hang some toys from a hook in the ceiling for amusement and to keep my wood paneling... Hey mom, so your taking photos again? Let me have a closer look at that camera! (Notice Simba fat cat who has woken up by now from the commotion watching lower right.) No, mom, you can't get rid of me that easy!! :laugh: Cheers! Renate and Sunny

Hi Everyone! We are back from vacation and I'm trying to catch up on e-mails. Happy 2010 to everyone, once again, and looking forward to an exciting and inspiring year!! My Sunshine (Sunny for short) got his name because a) I'm not very good at thinking up names; b) Our 2 cats names both start with S accidentally - Simba and Selini; and 3) when I looked at Sunshine and admire him, the "inner glow" of his feathers really impressed me. That glowing warm green reminded me of leaves in a forest when the sun is shining through them. It's an amazing effect, in places his feathers seem iridescent or even neon! <br><br>Post edited by: SunnyBird, at: 2010/01/06 12:00

Congratulations Jill!!!!!! Looking forward to your quick wit and imagination. I will be sure to pester you when I get back from vacation next week! {Communicate-00020110}

Thanks for all the karma :blush: Now can you please stop calling me SunnyBird? It's me, "Happy" Renate from Greece. I changed my member name last night..... to something more serious

Words in Flight A brief exploration of parrots' intelligence--especially contextual speech--as well as the challenges of living with them and caring for them responsibly. <br><br>Post edited by: SunnyBird, at: 2009/12/29 13:37

I am owned by Sunshine, an 8 month old yellow crowned amazon male. He has 2 kitty cats who are 9 months old and Selini, the female Himalayan cat follows him everywhere. Sunshine prefers her to Simba, the male Persian, probably because he's also a male and let's face it, males are more "act first and think second" lol :laugh: Anyhow, Sunshine hasn't learned a lot of words yet, he's practicing though. So far I have deciphered what seem to be the words "good boy" (his favorite) "ella doe' (come here - in Greek) "hello" and my daughter's laugh - that always brings on a chorus of laughter from all of us. I sing to him a lot since amazons love music and he's all ears - especially with "You are my Sunshine, my only Sunshine" and "Sex Bomb" by Tom Jones which I've converted to "Wet Bird". That song is reserved for showers and it always gets a big reaction (bobbing and strutting). We have lots of fun every day and he craves interaction. Since I get home late I let him sit on my shoulder or on his boing in the kitchen while I'm preparing dinner. Lately he has discovered, when he sits on my shoulder and sees something interesting in my hands, that he can grab onto a lock of my hair with his beak and do a Tarzan swing onto my bosom to have a closer look! It's really funny but I have to be on my guard to keep him safe. I hope to take better pictures but for the time being I can share these: Hi I'm Sunshine! Here's my old cage and my cats! Here's my new cage - much better!!! Of course, it's full of toys now. This was the first day I got it. Here are my pets, Selini and Simba Selini likes to stick to me like glue. I love her, but sometimes she can be a bit annoying, especially when I'm trying to tickle my moms' toes... That's all folks!!<br><br>Post edited by: SunnyBird, at: 2009/12/29 12:03

Thank you Penny!!!!!!

Dear Jayd and Maggie, Congratulations! I'm really happy for you. You deserved a place where you could shine B) , share your experience and knowledge and show your fun personality! Thank you, Penny, for the initiative to open a room for us amazon owners. Although my grey died almost a year ago, I kept coming back here to see what's new and for support and advice which was always forthcoming. As you mentioned, Penny, and as Jayd and I well know, the other amazon forums out there cannot compare in terms of giving good advice, showing respect for member diversity, discretion and maturity and just plain interesting topics! Although I have always felt welcome here, I now feel like I have my own little friendly corner to call home! I hope that all you grey owners will also join in and check out what's going on in this room! If ever you or Penny would like any extra help with this project this please don't hesitate to ask me. By the way, I changed my member name but it's still just little old me.... Warm wishes, Renate and Sunshine YCA Athens, Greece P.S. As of tomorrow, I will be on vacation for a week (without internet) - bad timing!

Thanks! I put the Pak-o-Bird together today and tried to get Sunshine to go in but I guess he was grumpy cause it was past his bedtime and he didn't cooperate to well.... I'll try again in the morning when he's all for scritches and upside down wrestling . Hope to have some good pictures to post after the 6th! Happy New Year to you all! Renate and Sunshine

Unfortunately our lead singer hasn't been working out so well - keeps showing up late a the studio so we had to give her the boot. She wants to know if she can try out for your band. What should I tell her?

And here's our guitarist -

So do I! When my lazy persian cat gets his paws on it he actually gets up.... and tries to slap it around a little.

What a brilliant idea, Bernie. No more messing up the hairdo when you have to take off the guitar strap over your head!

Well, where I'm going is in the mountains near the sea and it's currently fluctuating between 6 and 16 Celcius (42 and 60 Fahrenheit) in the daytime. Not as cold as by you, for sure, but still, Sunshine's not used to it and often we can't get our car back up the hill when the road is wet so we end up leaving it at the top of the road and carrying our stuff down and back up. I tried that once with Sunshine's heavy travel cage (24 X 18 inches) and I don't want to do it again! {Feel-bad-00020066}) In the Pak-o-Bird, however, I can zip up the panels if it's too cold and I'm sure he'll be alright for a short time, plus I'll keep my arms in my sockets! LOL Here's a photo of our "home away from home". This was taken recently - there's rainbow in the distance if you can make it out! Those are clouds rolling in from the sea which is underneath... Yes this was one of the perks for moving to this country. There's a ski area at the top of this mountain where I hope we'll be having a snowball fight and sledding in a few days!<br><br>Post edited by: HappyinGreece, at: 2009/12/28 14:55

Hey check out what I got for my birthday!!!!!!! (related to thread if you look below....) Anyone have one of these? I can't wait to try it out on Wednesday when we will be going on vacation to our trailer in the country! I also got this really nice wristwatch with an amazon on the face - the strap is leather, it looks quite elegant, actually... my friend Ginnie got the CAG watch below... Lastly, I got the Amazon parrot Christmas tree ornament (actually that was a Christmas present). I wanted to show it off only because it's hand made and really pretty. Unfortunately at this time they don't have an African Grey ornament. I got the watches and the ornament from Avian Enrichment. They were really helpful in fulfilling an international order. Cheers!

Yea I know.... a least they used to celebrate my "nameday" to make up for it, which is on May 21st. It's a tradition in some european countries. Did you get your stuff from Northern Parrot too?

and another (OK I'll stop now!) Amazon motto, if I can chew it, it's for me. He loves this one, so many different textures.<br><br>Post edited by: HappyinGreece, at: 2009/12/26 23:20

and another Haven't managed to install this one yet.<br><br>Post edited by: HappyinGreece, at: 2009/12/26 23:19

and another so far he's ignoring it.....<br><br>Post edited by: HappyinGreece, at: 2009/12/26 23:18

Here are some that Sunshine my YCA got. Tomorrow is my birthday so I'm getting something special for us too!!

And here is Sunshine and me when he's dry!

Sunshine is my 8 month old male yellow crowned (or fronted) amazon - Amazona Ochrocephala. Double yellow headed and yellow naped are all part of the same sub species and considered to be the best talkers along with the blue fronted. The YCA is not supposed to be quite as adept a talker as the others, but the YCA's temperament is said to be sweeter. During the time I've had Sunny so far (4 months) we have had only good experiences, although it's true what they say, an amazon can get over-stimulated during play. At that point just don't touch him and let him calm down a little. They really love to have fun, and do all kinds of acrobatics like hanging upside down by one leg from your finger and foot wrestle with you while on their back. I'm lucky to have a trusting bond with him and it's fantastic. I hope it will always be that way. He preens his tail feathers and stretches while on my shoulder or hand without a second thought. He's also very curious - that can get a bit tough sometimes because amazons are voracious chewers. It really surprised me how much this bird can chew without getting tired. Always looking for something new to try out....and persistent, too! As for the showers, those are great fun. The sillier you are with him, especially singing to him, the happier he gets. He loves music, which is also common with amazons, and lots of different noises can get him chirping, like the sound of running water, or singing loudly, like the vacuum cleaner. He's starting to talk and I really hope he manages to learn a decent vocabulary. It will really add to the fun. Here's a photo of him today during a spray shower on top of his cage (which I was washing). You can see how much fun he's having. <br><br>Post edited by: HappyinGreece, at: 2009/12/26 22:52

Merry Christmas everyone!

My husband just bought me a quart bottle of aloe vera juice (organic - lillyofthedesert.com)from the health food store for Euro 25.00 (USD 36) {Feel-bad-00020063} I sure hope it was worth it! How long can it keep in the refrigerate before spoiling? Is it better to spray him a little with pure juice or mix it with water and soak him?

Penny, that's fantastic about your Nilah being so proficient with language at such a young age. Do you think that it has to do with her learning from the other birds? My Sunshine is experimenting with words now, the most common ones I use, such as "hello" and "good boy" of course, said in a very "thick" voice, i.e barely understandable, but I guess it's a matter of practice. One of the things that I love about him is how he gets all excited when I talk to him - his pose changes and his pupils pin, it's really inviting! Shows that he's interested and has potential I hope! He's a YCA so not as genetically disposed to talking as well as a YNA or DYA, but I'm hoping! As for the showers, he gets them twice a week approximately, although he would probably like one more often, judging by the way he behaves. I've got to make a video of that one day. Aloe Vera juice I haven't seen here in Athens but truthfully I haven't thoroughly searched the health food stores either. I guess I have to add that to my "to do" list as well. What about adding some grapefruit seed extract to the water? I always blow dry him afterwards and will do until the summer - he loves it just as much as the water. Jayd that's a great picture. I remember you posted another one like this once on awesome amazons and called it Salsa and the Supremes or something LOL! <br><br>Post edited by: HappyinGreece, at: 2009/12/24 10:01