crossfit

Yep, Hawkins does this too.

where is it too big? around the body? around the neck? It might not be the size but how your putting it on.

Well, its been a few weeks since Hawkins came home with me. He is a real love. He had a vet visit and did very well. Vet signed off that he was in great shape. He has gone out with me in his carrier and in his harness and done very well. He even went to a friends 60th birthday party. He loved all the live music as our friend plays in a band with my husband. He particularly like the three part female acapella group though. Right now he is eating some lettuce in his cage. I have started putting food around in various places for him to forage for. He loves our dogs though the big one and him seem to not be sure how to get along. So far, he only gets to see them when he is safely in his cage. I want them all more reliable before I trust a mixed pet scenario in the living room. He already loves to mimic. He likes to play whistle games, whistling to us and we whistle back. He has said things that are almost words. He gets the cadence and rhythm of the speech right but not all the sounds. I would swear he has almost said, "hello", "Sam", and "I love you". Sam is my son. Since we are always calling him to do his chores that name gets said the most around here! He also adores when my husband practices bass. He will listen very closely then start calling back. The other day my husband noticed that hawkins was calling the first four notes of the melody in the correct places. I think it will be quite amazing if he ends up singing music along with Jonathan! I can't think of anything else at the moment. He is such a joy. This was a very, very, good thing for me to do. I love my baby.

I adore your captions. Very funny. Poor Beau.

Very funny. Very smart birds. I came into the kitchen the other day to see my son eating breakfast with Hawkins. Hawkins was trying to get his food and son was eating while holding his plate up above his head so Hawkins wouldn't grab anything. I thought it very silly of both of them.

Emma is so funny. Tell her that Hawkins loves it when I play Emma videos. He gets very alert and listens and listens. Sometimes he starts whistling at her as well.

The red palm is the one they eat in their natural habitat. And Dan is right, they don't eat the seed, only the husk. The husk itself is full of oil. If you buy oil, try and make sure it come from the fruit, not the seed to be accurately replacing what they eat in the wild. And yes, jungle, the queen palm nuts are great too. Maybe you should start a small business? lol

Okay, got more info on the clay. Its not bentonite. Its montmorillonite. Here is what wikipedia says about the health use:

Harrison's pellets include clay. It is not just any type of clay. It is particular. I think it is called bentonite but its too late for me to look it up. I will try and remember tomorrow. There is some research that clay can work similarly as charcoal absorbing toxins as well as providing some nutrients itself. This research is in humans. I don't know about parrots.

I don't know if there has been a single moment with Hawkins and I. I do sense that we are building trust daily, even from moment to moment. He hung upside down from my hand today and will let me put the harness on him without trouble. And I know he won't bite me as I seem to be able to read his body language well. He does get annoyed with me but tells me with this sweet chittering sound that I do back at him and then we both sort of mellow out. I would say we both laugh but it isn't a laugh from him like a human one, just clearly we both relax after we chitter at each other for a second. I do find myself falling more and more in love with every moment. And he is clearly learning so much here at the house.

I understand what your saying. I was in the Amazon jungle in February. Before leaving, one of the forum members said that I should tell you all about it. I haven't yet. Mostly because it was so life changing that I can't yet put it into words. We saw a lot of parrots. They were beautiful and amazing in the wild. We saw a lot of festive parrots and quite a few macaws. I think that by having our Greys, at least in the United States where importing wild caught is illegal, we can actually help in some ways. I am hoping when Hawkins is older to take him to the local schools with me along with my video and pictures and talk about the rainforests and how important they are to us. The Congo region is in dire need. It takes a huge amount of work to help them there as the people doing the damage are usually poor who really have no choice but to cut the forests or capture animals in order to feed their families. The only way to save our Greys and the other parrots will be major systemic change throughout the world. We can each do our part. In the meantime, I can make Hawkins life as awesome as possible. We start a unit on Ancient Greek philosophers next week. I expect him to read the writers in ancient Greek as well. After all, he is a very smart bird! (giggle)

Its been a few days and he is fine. Good to know though.

He seems to have been fine all day and getting ready for bed, as am I. So all is well. And hubby knows not to do it again.

OH NO. I woke up late this morning and came out into the kitchen to find husband had fed Hawkins some fresh favas. Is this toxic as in, I should be worried all day and rush him to the vet? or toxic as in, I shouldn't do it again but it should be fine as it mostly causes long term things?

Good Luck. I found the cages aren't as heavy as they look so hopefully that won't even be much trouble. Can't wait to hear more tomorrow when he gets home finally.

I don't know Jill. He is looking at that car like he is thinking of going off somewhere with it. Whatever you do, don't let him get a drivers license. I hear these guys are really bad drivers.

Emma is very silly. Hawkins has started doing this too but not on me. He likes to hang upside down from his toys and "kill" them. Its very funny. Upside down parrots are really funny. I didn't expect them to like that so much.

HI, I filmed this a few nights ago. Sorry it is so dark. My husband plays bass and is practicing with a recording of Stevie Wonder. Hawkins loves his playing and always wants to sit on his shoulder. As you can see:

Spinner, if you find a source, please let us know. I was doing some searches and came up with nothing as well. I am glad to know you did a lot of this already. Elvenking - tell me how the palm nuts go with you. I am thinking of getting some too but would like to hear about how ripe they are by the time they get to California.

I think he will be fine. It will be a new enough scenario that just being there will be very interesting. I have heard of biting parrots that stop biting after going visiting so maybe this will even help in the long run. And if he does start to pick at his feathers, its a very short time and you have time to get him back to normal when you return. Enjoy your trip. We do need our own lives too.

So, why does she say, "want to go to Washington"? Are you guys going on a trip? Lol. She is amazing. Hawkins says, chirp, chirp chirp, whistle, chirp. However, in his first week here I have noticed all this chirping and whistling is starting to follow the rhythm of my speech patterns. So who knows? Maybe he will have something to say to Emma one day!

That is awesome. Congratulations Joey. They are so lovely when they fly. Its what they were meant to do.

We got some really really cheap paper blinds on ebay that are meant to be temporary. They stick up with adhesive (nothing toxic - like an envelope that self sticks). So my plan is to introduce Hawkins to the window after he has learned what is safe to perch on in the and what is not. From there, I will show him the windows and show him they are hard. I will gradually cut off the bottom of the blinds and use some decals or stickies on the windows until I know for sure Hawkins understands that there is a wall there. I have no idea if that will work but that is the steps I have taken to make it safe for him to fly in the house and not crash into a window or mirror. I am not an expert but I have poured over these forums and others for months and months and this is what I came up with for my family and my bird. Since you clipped his wings, he may need to relearn to fly. For that you will need to pour over these forums for yourself as I haven't studied that in much detail and can't point you towards a link or a person. I know they are here though. This place is full of highly knowledgeable people.

"oh no, oh no, oh no, bye" I love it. I think your just as cute as Emma.

Hi, This is me, Beth, with Hawkins in our kitchen.