katana600

Today I saw a different side of Gilbert and it was refreshing for a change. He has been a hooligan for days. He will try to bite me in the same breath as then tucking his head for a long scratch. He has been sassy and saying a lot of obnoxious things. All I can figure is he is getting relaxed and settled in his home environment and is showing tensions that he didn't know what to do with while we were traveling. So, today I was rummaging in the basement when I heard the doorbell. I came out the back door from the basement, finished with my visitor in just a few minutes and came back inside. As I passed Gilbert's cage he said "moooom". At that moment I realized he was not in his cage. His voice was close, I looked and looked. I branched out and looked upstairs, in the dining room, under the sofa, his usual go-to safety zones. My bedroom and bathroom are connected to spot where his cage is located. I looked in my bathroom, under my bed. He was quiet as a churchmouse after the initial call out for help. Finally I saw him. I have a decorative iron plant stand with a wicker top. He was clutching the wires of the frame but was under the wicker and couldn't quite figure out how to get up. He wasn't about to go down. He was hanging on sideways like a flag blowing in the wind. When he realized I could see him, I heard the cutest little "Ahhh" like he was soooo relieved to be found. He couldn't let go from the position he was in so he couldn't step up. I leaned in close and he used his beak to hold the front of my shirt for some stability and then waved his little foot looking for a hand to grasp. It was such a sweet gesture. I know he must have gotten into a panic when he saw someone standing at the door and heard the doorbell. I know he was in a pickle and needed me for a rescue, but it was still really sweet that he called out for "mom" when he was scared.

As a young teen, I saw my first hummingbird and thought it was some kind of mythical creature it was so tiny with brilliant irridescent colors. When I met my husband's grandparent's, they had multiple feeders. Many hummingbirds came back every year and recognized Pop and he could stand outside and they would land on him. I was captivated. To this day I have yet to see a hummingbird nest. I have a lovely book about hummingbirds and it shows a nest. There is a passage about baby hummingbirds digging their long beak into the cocoon-like nest to propel their little backsides over the edge to poo outside as to not attract preadors to the nest. Watching this young man take the time and energy to rescue and care for this little hummingbird tugs at my heartstrings. Well done.

I have had my yellow "rubber" gloves melt and deteriorate... come to think of it, it was when I lived in Houston I noticed it last. It seemed more like the fingers would stick together and I would notice when I tried to put them on so I would toss them. I'm not thinking it was the Houston heat because we have lived in hotter climates and because my kitchen is usually graced with AC. I wonder if there was a cleaning product readily available there that I haven't seen on this side of the Mississippi? Now that Dan chimed in, he has helped me tremendously. I can't say that in 35 years with David I have ever seen him wear a pair of gloves. So, I will ask if he thinks not wearing gloves had made his hands look old. If so, I will suggest he wears rubber gloves every time he does dishes and will award him the honor of being the new designated dish washer... If not... then he gets to do the dishes from now on since his hands are impervious. Works for me either way. LOL. Thanks Dan.

Happy Hatchday to Dear Gracie. I think her mama said a prayer the day she hatched and wished for someone like you and all her dreams came true.

Its nice to read of the enthusiasm of Radar coming back for more. These are wonderful days of building a bond and trust with your grey and family members. Congratulations on finding what motivates him. It sounds like such fun.

Someone sent this to me recently and although it is three years old, I had not seen it before. Hope you enjoy it as much as I have:

This weekend when I was connecting his tall puzzle toy, I had a moment where I thought he was going over my head and down my neck and I thought of you Dan. I really thought I was going to get a neck pinch. It amazes me how he is becoming so much more playful and yet brazen where it comes to predicting what I might do next. When we first arrived to my sisters on the most recent visit, Gilbert was in a bad mood. He never would come out of his large travel cage to play in the room as he had on the first trip. He was determined to keep his cage closed and that made it really tricking to attempt to put food and water in for him. I put a set of food dishes on each end of his cage and a set attached to the front door. I arranged it that way to make certain I would never need to open a cage door during the travel because an escape at that time for a bird I believe to be flightless would be heartwrenching. I could fill his bowl with water and dry food without a fuss for the first few days. When the day came I needed to get inside to get fresh food cups in place, he was having no part of that. I opened the top and attempted to coax him out to keep from having a confrontation. He was on to me. I finally laid a small brown wash cloth over my hand and very very slowly would reach in with the other hand. I have never needed to towel Gilbert, usually just showing him a towel is enough to have him running to do what he is asked, I use that very judiciously only in dire times. This time with the wash cloth diversion worked fairly well with little stress on his part. The second time was different. He rushed right up to me and he snatched the corner of the wash cloth and he revealed the "little wizard behind the curtain". His occasional fury is only surpassed by his brilliance and cunning. My neck pinch is getting closer and closer... step by step, slowly he turned. LOL. I laughed so hard at you, I know I deserve it when it comes.

You can give us a book review once you have read the new book. The first video was too noisy and distracting and even knowing it was promotional, so there would be no bloodshed, I felt my stomach in a knot. Maybe it isn't my parrots who are reluctant to be in large noisy groups... maybe it is me. LOL. We gain insight in so many ways, I have learned so much from this forum and feedback helping me with Gilbert that any new knowlege has a potential for helping understand our parrots just a little more than we do now. Gilbert is underweight and he isn't much for taking treats. He is wary and since I really don't know his history, its hard to tell if that is his innate trait or a learned behavior. I look forward to seeing what you glean from the new book. My experience with a bird with a past is not necessarily going to coordinate with a person training a trusting young bird or even an older parrot in its original environment. I am definitely looking forward to learning more.

Slowly things are getting back to normal with a week at home. One by one Gilbert's larger toys have been cleaned and returned to his cage. One of his favorites is that acrylic foraging toy that rotates with four clear boxes, each with a different lid type. He can immediately open all the boxes. Sometimes he stands up and just pulls the next one to him. Sometimes he gets on top of the toy and uses the bars to propel himself merry-go-round style. Sometimes he hangs upside down and swings that thing so fast I think it might come apart. It never fails to delight me as I think back to just a few short months ago when he had spent years in a scared, locked down state and would not look at or touch anything he was offered. His change seemed to come overnight. Once he started playing with things, it just made him blossom. If I remember right, it was when I removed everything exept perches and food dishes from his big cage that he started getting a little more curious and outgoing. He has lately been offering his head for a scratch and a long session of sweetness. Some changes have been immediate and a total turn in his behavior that have left me in wonder of what key clicked in the locked chambers of his heart and mind. Others have been so imperceptible that I didn't recognize that he has changed. As I returned toys to his domain, I noticed how quick I have to be to catch him at the right time and to plan ahead to move things just so to protect myself. This morning as he cooed and surrendered to a warm and cozy head scratch (still through the bars, on his terms) I came to realize he was no longer looking furtively, eyes darting, ready to snap at the slightest change in the room. He has not spun around to bite me in months. That is some good news for my fingers. On the other hand, he is much more confrontational, up close and personal. When I added a hanging toy to the top of his cage, he immediately climbed up there ready to hunt a grizzly bear with a small stick. When I used a wash cloth to block him from reaching my fingers as I tried quickly to screw the quick link together, he ran to the back of the cage, climbed a wire bridge to come up over the top to get at me from another angle. I used the top of my head to block him from my fingers and he pulled my hair and tried to get to my fingers. The little pip! This was for a favored toy filled with his coveted pine nuts. I was more careful and locked him out of his cage when I added his acrylic merry-go-round. Still he puffed up and came right at me and kept his mad on for over an hour. I feel like this is a victory, even if it isn't desired behavior, it is a bridge and step in the right direction. He has stopped being fearful and frozen in place, he has moved away from his tendency to mutilate himself and pull out feathers and he is showing emotion. Sometimes I have even noticed his eyes pin just a little bit. I know we can't put grey time on our calendar but I am willing to predict that at this time next year, he may be over his angry stage and prepared to broaden his horizons and happily take himself to new levels in home. I love this little guy no matter how long it takes.

Gus was certainly working off a lot of energy with his skate on the floor. Having something to hold in his beak helped prevent him from going after toes until he lost his hold. From the beginning I was watching those bare toes and flinching just a little wondering if he was going to go after them. It is a joyful playing he is doing across the floor and getting him to focus on something new is probably a big help in changing some unwanted behaviors... neck pinches and such.

That was just precious. How lucky your parrots are to come to such a fun loving, playful home. Tell Pat it will be so much easier on his back if he gets something like an IV pole to wheel Oliver around on for his flight simulations. I loved the sound of the bump bump bumps on the tile lines in the floor, sounded like the freeway.

One thing about our travel has opened my eyes just a little more to Gilbert's preferences. At home, both large cages are in my living room, in the hub of the house and the cage doors are open when I am home. Out of an abundance of caution, with large, somewhat unfamiliar dogs in the house, Gilbert was upstairs away from the activity. Also, I spent many many hours away and he was on his own quite a bit. He seems to have thrived in that quiet, secure atmosphere. There are moments when I consider moving a cage upstairs and giving him a change of scenery here, but I am the one who can't bear the sense that I am "locking him away". His caretaker most recent to his coming to us had four very young children, lots of noise and activity and that seemed to shut him down completely. I will be getting back to some marathon sewing days and he will be on the main floor, separated from me. It will be interesting to see if that makes him more lively and vocal. When he is calling out to me at home as I work on a different floor than he is he sounds pitiful and beseeching. When he was upstairs at my sisters, he was chattering happily, talking to us from the upstairs window while we were outside and every evening when everyone came home from work he was engaging and hooting and talking from his safe place upstairs. I know a lot of greys prefer talking when people are looking the other way, or out of the room. I haven't really noticed that in general with him. There were numerous times we would put the dogs in confinement and bring Gilbert downstairs and he was a chatterbox then as well. I may experiment a little with change of scenery with him and see how he does now that he is getting more comfortable. Previously if I took him to the main sewing room, he would hunch up and get vigilant and still. I wonder how he would do on the same floor, one room removed so he can hear me and see me occasionally but not up close. He is certainly being way more active since our time away from home. He gets on the floor every day now and he plays with every toy he has and accepts new small foot toys on the first offer. Slowly, slowly, he is making a transformation. I still see in his eyes he has NOT made up his mind yet on whether we are acceptable as house mates. LOL. At least he has been getting out and about and has his choice and still comes home with me.

That was just adorable. When they really know who they are talking about and use their name, it is a surreal moment. I am still in awe of Gilbert exercising the use of just two names and each time it was when he wanted more of her presence.

After reading about gentle and sweet Brutus, it makes me wonder if the treachery is directed only at those who are not the significant-special-chosen one? Java never has behaved with treachery to me but takes great delight in sweetly leaning forward eliciting a finger and a chomp for my husband. She also does the garage door and inside door squeak to get the dogs stirred up. Gilbert has those Jeckyll/Hyde moments and has no one in the household he cherishes above all others. He is as likely to lure any one of us in with a head scratch posture and a spin and chomp. When he is grumpy he is grumpy without regard for bias or preference. He does seem to like me a little and he will trick the dogs and ask them if they want to go outside if we get all warm and cozy with a blanket on the sofa. Although it has been nearly two and a half years with him, I do believe he is just getting the lay of the land and carefully choosing his alliances.

I keep coming back to see if there have been any sightings or news and just hope and pray that Kiki finds her way back to you Nancy. I picture her partying and exploring and think she will wake up some morning after a long dark night to think about looking for you.

Good that Jake is quick on the wing and he is wise to Dayo. He sure sounds like he wants Jake to be his friend and to console him with "what's the matter Jake?". When our dogs were just small puppies, we had Kopi. He took great pleasure in flinging out a morsel of Harrison's and when the pups would come to investigate their treat he would splash water on them and scream the pterodactyl war whoop. They were so scared of him. They would run to my bedroom and hide under the bed. A little while later we would hear "Come here puppy. It's okay. Come on, come on. Wanna go outside?" He would say it sooo sweet and gentle and sure enough, if they came close he was splashing water and scaring the little fellows again. He would even go so far as to use a tool, a small stainless steel condiment cup so he could dip out some water and carry it to the edge of the cage to fling at them. Then he would laugh demonically. I had to create a no-dog-zone around his cage to protect them from his pranks.

Now you have done it, I have never before considered looking up parrots on Craigslist, and now I am wanting to scour the internet. I will hold off since Gilbert needs so much patience and attention, but now I know where to look. Hope you get a call back about Charger.

Gilbert has had a much easier time adjusting to this cross country travel than I have. It is a tougher adjustment each time. He, on the other hand has been charming. He has started something new. Each day for the past three days, he climbs down the outside of his cage about half way to the floor then attempts flight. He flaps and bumps and jumps. The first time, he hung out with David as though that was his original intent. We have been home alone the next two times and once he comes to a skidding halt, he will walk around on the floor confidently, then make his way back to the travel cage to climb up into his cage. He seems pretty good about his experience. I have noticed he has a bouyancy about being home again. We have come and gone a lot since he came into our lives and it does seem to reassure him that different places and new people don't necessarily mean a permanent change of homes. We are having severe storms tonight. Usually the thunder and lightning will make him so nervous and he will reassure himself with "Gilbert okay", but this time he jumped a little at an especially loud thunder that shook the windows and otherwise just continued his business and disregarded the tornado sirens and other emergency vehicle sirens tonight. When it would seem he would be most vulnerable at time of change, he is instead oddly more calm cool and collected. I fear I will never live long enough to figure him out, but it will be worth the price of admission.

It was amazing that the raven not only sought help, but stood on the fence to permit each quill to be plucked out. Heartwarming reminder of our symbiotic relationship with other creatures.

You have a beautiful flock and it is a treat for us to have you share them with us. I am very interested in having more parrots but have been very conservative since having illness in my flock. I can live vicariously through yours. Thanks for joining us and thanks for sharing.

Even though she is gregarious, outgoing and people oriented by nature, she is out of her element. She may have gotten carried by the wind and gone farther than you expect. Or, she may be so thrown off guard by the change in her familiar surroundings, her instinct may be to hide quietly from predators. That would be a good thing. She may be watching and waiting for the right moment. If you are feeling up to it, maybe you could sit outside to read as your recuperate, you may see or hear something that will give you the idea and connect to her. As much as any of us would be scared and self recriminating, you don't have the time or energy for that right now. Push that out of your head. You really do know better, don't you? Nobody can really look into a crystal ball and avoid every possible scenario to prbleotect our loved ones from every possible perceived harm. That would involve creating a very restrictive bubble, and a very unhappy family. If you think of your words and visualize them coming out of someone you didn't like very much, they would be fighting words. Don't give yourself permission to think negative things or accept that from anyone ever. Take a deep breath, get a good night of sleep and think good things as you drift off. Visualize yourself tall and strong as you go out and rescue your friend. Ideas will come to your mind, new areas to search, new people to contact. There is something they teach in motorcycle riding. Freezing up will definitely get you hurt in an uncontrolled situation. Breathe and move, don't lock up. If you are not doing "something" you will definitely crash, don't panic, keep your head about you as you forge ahead. You can get through this.

As we packed the car in the early morning yesterday, Gilbert chewed off three flight feathers and a handful of fluff. Once we got on the road, he was so relieved that he was going that he forgot all his anxiety. I can't recall if I mentioned, he has a new word. "Mom". He repeats it over and over, louder and more insistent. It is obnoxious. One would think it is better than LuLu, but no, no it is not. It is the particular tone, of insistent demand, bordering on alarm with which he delivers it. My daughter thought it was hilarious, she started that after a scene with Will Ferrell in "The Wedding Crasher". Not cool. I finally said "What. Do. You. WANT?" He returned my sarcasm with "What. What. WHAT?" and he laughed hysterically. Then "Mom!" It was a long seventeen hour trip. Actually, just kidding with that, knowing he was comfortable enough to talk, whistle and laugh in the car was worth the confinement. We didn't get to bed before two am, so when he slept in past noon, I was kind of smiling about it. I don't know when I have seen him quiet that long in the morning. He has been really happy to get home again and has been very active today. He didn't take any time at all adjusting to being home again. He is in good spirits and is cooperative. One good thing about arriving home exhausted was I just slid his travel cage in front of his home cage so he could climb out on his own. It fit right under the open door of his big cage. I had never thought to put it there, but it is the perfect height and provides a much better "drop cloth" for when he perches on top of his door. His food dishes are also affixed to his door, so now when he drops food, it is contained and locked up from the dogs. I would have never considered putting it there, but it works like it was meant to be there.

So sorry to hear you have been sick, being heartsick counts as much as pneumonia. The weather is in your favor and Kiki may have found good things to eat outdoors too. Don't listen to anyone telling you it is too late, keep your faith and keep your outlook strong to find Kiki. Many have been reunited over longer periods of time.

So sorry to hear you have been sick, being heartsick counts as much as pneumonia. The weather is in your favor and Kiki may have found good things to eat outdoors too. Don't listen to anyone telling you it is too late, keep your faith and keep your outlook strong to find Kiki. Many have been reunited over longer periods of time.

Gilbert is weathering his travel schedule. He is slowly warming up to everyone again. My sister and I were recalling how many weeks I was here last time before she was brave enough to approach him. In all fairness, he isn't being any worse than usual as he takes a long time to transition for one place to another. To us, there seems such a contrast of a month ago when we had been here for four months or so and he was calm and approachable. Now he is wary, watching and waiting for then moment he gets left behind, starts a new life with a new family's and strange changes in his food and routine. Every time we go someplace new, then return home Gilbert seems to get more curious and outgoing. We are heading home Sunday and I hope things are quiet again until Thanksgiving. I don't like change and transitions any better than Gilbert. I just usually don't try biting anyone, although it does seem very effective as a stress buster. I may have to think about it. LOL.