Elvenking

What you describe makes me ask if he is now blind for some reason? I am really grasping at straws but it was a significant question i cam up with while reading that. If someone left for a few days...does that mean he was left alone for all those days? Earthquakes can also set off a grey flying into the bars of a cage. But i don;t know...there is a big piece of a story missing here.

Always feel free to take ownership of your bird. If you see something being done to your bird that you don't like.....stop them. Also, if it's not an avain vet, call it off right then and there. (Of course if yer bird is really ill and you have no other choice viable...that is different). I know it's late now..but keep your bird safe. More often than not, I hear about what a 'hack' an avian vet is than I do about really good caring ones.

Great stuff Shanlung, I will read over your articles when I have some time off of work this evening. This is good stuff. It is going to take a little time with Issac, as he does not like things going over his head very much. And in order to create a positiver relationship between him and the harness, i have to get him in it once to show him that it means getting out to fly about. Like you say though, it is no race...so if time it takes, then time it will get. Thanks for all your helpful information.

Shanlung....ohh I hope you don't think that I would ever consider 'Free Flight' training Issac. At most..out on a harness if i can ever get one on him. I have seen your home-grown harness and am curious. Issac will not let me get the Aviator over his head...he just will not have it. So I am wondering if there is another solution. What do you think?

Awweee Spock...thank you so much. Issac does dive to my feet every time I kick them up on the table. For some reason he loves to be massaged by my toes. He is so silly because my hands can do such a better job. But I still let him have his fill. I do love Issac a tremendous amount and I hope he enjoyed his day in the trees.

I hope you will read Part 2.....much better.

Wow...those are som beautiful free flight photos. I reminds me of when Issac was circling me in the open field while I was so worried about him. Had I not been so scared for him, I might have enjoyed the majesty of his flight at that time. I do think back about it though. He was beautiful in the sky.

In light of recent events, I will be employing some sort of netting on my patio. I like the hanging beads idea as well. I am going to do some combination of thise for my new place that I am moving to at the end of the month.

Remember when your children were 2 years old? That is how an African Grey will be. Some may laugh but I think it is a close parallel. If you are stressed in your day-to-day life as it is having children around, it is probably not a good idea to jump into a relationship with a Grey. That's right...a relationship. I live alone most of the time with my grey, and let me tell you, that little guy puts me to work. He is the most rewarding pet I have ever had, but a ton of work. It sounds as if you already have your hands full, so take these comments you hear on this thread into careful consideration. The story you heard sounds extraordinay. It sounds like the conure had some issues that are hard to nail down. Most birds don't go off the deep end like that unless they are teased and frightened a lot. But yes, birds do make noise. Greys are not the loudest birds in the world and are often quite pleasent to hear. But to the suprise of many, they will pick up the occasional unpleasent loud noise, and you cannot blame them..they are birds. They do not assimilate to human requirements for noise levels and behaviours. They will be birds, and they must be allowed to be birds. You cannot punish them like you do dogs or children. Behaviors can be molded but it can be difficult and take a ton of work. Greys do not like a ton of running around from children. I have a 7 year old daughter who comes over sometimes and I have to make sure to keep reminding her to not flail about by the birds cage, stick things in the bars, or tease him. She has come around and understands why I need her to behave around my Grey, but it can be an effort to remind her sometimes. As others have mentioned, a Grey is a responsability not to be taken lightly at all. Even going in fully expecting all the requirements of owning a Grey, you'll still be suprised. Read the sticky (I think it is in the Grey Lounge) titled 'Ten Reasons Not To Own A Bird'. That is a start. http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?189315-Ten-Reasons-Not-to-Buy-a-Bird We don't want to scare you off from owning a Grey, but these are the most rehomed birds of them all, and it all starts with underestimating the requirements of owning an African Grey.

What I would do is answer Issac with a 'Yooo Hoooooooo' kind of whistle when he would contact call me from out of sight. After a while, I could just do the 'Yooo hoooo' whistle and he would contact call back. Sort of like a challenge\response kind of behavior. I am a noise maker by nature as well so I just like to make noise as well as talk to him. Maybe in another life I was a bird. I think the key is to make your noise when he makes his contact call. Be consistent with that and then try to initiate the 'game' by doing it first sometimes. Eventually, and rather quickly as I remember, your bird will follow instead of just leading. I haven't a clue as to what I would have done to find him without that. Even when I heard him multiple times, it would still take a few minutes to actually see him. they are nearly impossible to locate on sight when they are in trees. They blend incredibly.

Wow...I just read this post completely and somehow in my frenzy missd it last night while I was loving my birdie up. But I want to send a personal thanks for your encouraging words and accurate assessment of the situation. I was touched by how close your response was to my exact feelings. I am moving soon and am going to employ more protection mechanisms to make sure that he is safe. Thank you for such meaningful and kind words. You give me faith that there are still good people left in this world. And let that not minimize anything else that was said. You all as a community helped me make it through one of the most difficult times I have ever had. To let you all know..I read this post over and over just to relive the wonderful ending. I love you all and thank you soooo much for your wonderful support. You are all the best humanity has to offer!!

The funny thing is that I don't think he thought that anything was wrong. I believe that he was happy I was there close by, and just being a bird. I blame him for absolutely nothing. Since he has been home..he has been very, very affectionate and sweet. I feel so lucky. I hope he had a great day and I am glad he didn't have to go hungry for more than 24 hours. The images that pass though your head in these moments are horrifying. If he wants to fly like that again...it's going to have to be on a harness. I am going to try to get him used to it again because there was something very majestic about him flying about. It was really beautiful. The amount of love I carry for this bird is more than I could ever imagine. I just really cannot put it into words. All I can say is that he fills a huge hole in my life, being a single person living alone. He;s the first thing I see in the morning, he's there for everything I do at home. I am about to tuck him in his cage for a nice sleep. He gets a ton of kisses. He has this new habit of diving for my toes when i kick them up on my table. He wants them to love him up and scratch his head. He loves it!

By far...the contact call was what saved the day. Playing that 'game' with him all along, was establishing our flock communication. I highly recommend contact calling your bird as well. Not just responding to him, but findoing out how to make him do it as a response, and not just a request. If I had to rely on finding him with my eyes, I would not have my baby today, I guarantee that. I found his location in 3 hours with that. And many more times the following day the same way. Ultimately leading to me having him home in the first 24 hours. There are no words for how grateful I am. PS: He is on the floor getting horny with his Babble Ball. Wings all drooped low and panting.

The emotions were so powerful, that scribing it to the forums was pretty natural. Although my eyes were welled up the whole time typing it. And I lose my breath every time I envision the scene of him gently flying back to my hand finally. Thank you all for your kind words, these threads have been the warmest ever. I cannot thank everyone enough for thier wishes and prayers, it made me feel less alone in those super sad moments.

Thank you for taking the time to read that story. My nerves are finally returning to normal. I just can't wait to get home to my birdie again.

Nope....having his wings clipped never crossed my mind. It is more about what I can do to prevent this from happening again.

My baby just got done flying away yesterday, and I still stick by my decision to never clip him. If I wasn't so stressed out about getting him back, I would have thought it was amazingly beautiful the way he was soaring while he was doing circles around me was gorgeous in retrospect. Also, the way they can go where they want lets you know more about them and gives them confidence. While Issac was gone yesterday, I missed him immensely...I know what you mean about not having your bird to cuddle and love. Anyway, make sure that breeder does not get any ideas.

Ohh my gosh...I love the coo's. I almost can never hear them without going, "Awwweeeeee baaaby"

The story of Issac is up. Take a ride with me and read that when you have some good time. It will take you there. Sorry for any punctuation errors and whatnot.

At 4PM, I charge up the back hills again by the tree line again to try once again. This is after having gone to the streets of the neighborhood and the back hills at least 4-5 times prior. I get a response from some of the trees. It took a few times of hearing him to locate him, but I did it...I got line of sight on him and he was relatively level to the hill I am standing on. At this point, I am thinking, 'I am going to be here for one of two events, he flies to another tree, or he comes to me'. So I begin calling him and doing microwave noises to him. He was doing all the noises back. He was just not flying out no matter how many times I asked him if he wanted to eat. I kept regetting his attention untill he finally took flight. Then he flew large circles around me. I was standing on an open hillside with no obstructions and he was garcefully flying circles around me. A couple times I though he would just come and land on my extended hand. He just kept flying an contact calling. Then he landed once again in a tree that was lower and close to the same area. I started calling again because I could not see him anymore again...but I could hear him calling back. The people who live in the house where the tree was, notice my attempts and ask, "Is that your bird up there?" I told them that it indeed was and asked if they could see him, they could. I hopped the fence to get into the their yard, and again...I could see my baby. He was sitting in a pine tree...preening....yes...that's right PREENING. Again appearing to just be enjoying a lovely day in the sun and trees. He is totally ignoreing me and preening away, not making a sound. So i wait out his preening which lasts about 25 minutes. This time, I take his forumla cup out and and say, "Hey baby...wanna eat boy?? Wanna eat??" This time I can see that I have connected with him and he was responding. He gently flys lower branch by branch until he finally lands on top of a swing set in the back yard. Now this is the point in the story where I cannot tell it or type it without totally crying, but here it goes. I look at him, now about 10 feet away from me and say, "Yes boy, come on down and lets eat baby." He then gently flies to my hand and looks at me as if nothing is wrong at all. I curled my other arm around him and hugged and kissed him in tears whaling out the words, "Ohh thank you baby thank you so much I love you...thank you!!" It was such a loud and joyful cry that I am sure half the neighborhood heard me. The people of the house I was at, allowed me to quickly get him inside. I held him so close to my chest and kissed him constantly. I didn't care if their family saw the breakdown I was having for my bird. It was uncontainable. So I had to put him in a temporary box to get him home, and the lady of that house drove me to my apartment. All the while I am peeking in on his curious little self to reassure him that everything was okay. He was doing just fine. I was crying with joy, I couldn't believe it. Calling my mother who was crying with me at the incredibly joyful news. I got my baby home and it was like the life and spirit came back to my house. My baby was home again. All the joy I was missing came rushing back and I cried some more. And yes, it was time to eat for Issac. I brewed up a batch of his formula that he still loves so much and fed my baby. He appeared to not have any concept at all that anything went wrong. He was his playful self. However that night he was tucking his head into my neck and hands for scratches and being extra loveable. Or maybe it was just my perception. I cannot tell you what an exhausting experience that was. I am so glad that we have the contact calls for each other. It is the only way I could find him. The fact that he still loved his formula so much is how I got him to come down. In the final moments when he was coming down. I was reassured that he still had a desire to be near me. He just appeared to be his old self on his way back to me. I have to admit that there were moments that I thought he didn't want to come back. He was probably just hanging out in the trees without a care. But I knew he wanted me involved because he flew by my apartments calling for me. I guess when I was near, he relaxed and preened and thought all was well. I am so grateful that he came back to me. The whole evening was surreal. Just a few hours before, I was in the worst place of my life, and then quickly rushed back to the magic that it is of having Issac in my life. I am going to take more action to make sure he never gets away again. He is so much of my life, and we have such a good time together. This bird is my best friend. It is in tears I write that Issac makes up the spirit and happiness of my life. Of course I have my daughter too, but he is there when everyone else, is not. He defines me. When he was gone, I felt loss like I have never felt in my life. Now that he is back, I am again the happiest guy in this world. Thank you all for your support and prayers through this difficult time. It was rather surreal to be posting about my baby flying away. Because I had remembered reading about other birds flying away, and shedding tears for them, knowing how I would feel. I hope no one has to feel that kind of pain. Thank you all again for the kind words and celebrating my baby's return. It was the toughest 24 hours of my life.

(This had to be split into two threads because the limit on a thread is 10000 characters. I got going and couldn't help it) So how did this all happen? It only takes a second. This last Sunday, my daughter and I were at my apartments having a wonderful day of swimming, playing on the Wii, and BBQing hamburgers. The day was going great! Until the moment I was holding a plate of hamburgers on my way outside. I stopped for a second to recognize what my daughter was acheiving on the game she was playing. So I was talking to her and still heading out. Unrecognized by me soon enough, Issac had landed on my shoulder, the curious little guy he is, to see what I was up to. He flys to me and lands on my shoulder a lot so it was easy to have happen in the background without my immediate notice, especially since I was distracted and not used to being distracted at home. I am usually by myself so that doesn't happen much. Anyway, before I realized it, I had passed through the screen door with him on y shoulder. The very instant I relaized what I had done, Issac bolted! I can tell you, never before had such a distressed "NOOOOO!!!!" come out of my mouth. It resonated throughout the complex, and my heart dropped slowly. I couldn't even fully appreciate what had just happened. I dropped everything and tried to run out to find him. He flew due north then banked left toward the west. I had totally lost sight of him after that. Running aound the complex whistling for him and hoping to hear from him. Nothing. I cried and cried "No not my baby..why...why". This scared and saddened my daughter as she had never seen her father fall apart like this. I was incredibly crushed and I have never felt such heartache. I kept looking at his cage in disbelief. The life was completely sucked out of my apartment. Total devistation set in and my daughter comforted me by holding on to me and hugging me. She is the sweetest little 7-year-old ever. So after that, I had someone pick my daughter up, because the hunt for baby was on. I had a friend come over to help me spread fliers and drive around looking for him. The one saving grace was that I had a way to find him without spotting him physically. Over the months I have had Issac, I do the contact call game with him all the time. If he wants to know where I am, he can call out, and I will say that I am there. If I want to get his attention and have him come to me, I can whistle and he immediately responds with his call back, and will come to me as well sometimes. So I am going all over the place whistling for him. Hoping for anything. At about 8:30PM, I get a response from the trees about 100 yards from my apartment. It was still slightly light. I think he tried to see if he could come to me, because after a few calls, I saw him take flight, but he ended up heading away in the other direction and I lost sight of him again. It got dark and I had to call off the search for the night and hope he was going to hunker down in the nearby trees for the night. Me, I drank enough beer so that I could sleep some during the night. The mood in my place was extremely sullen and low. There was no fluttering of wings, no poop to pick up, no little firend to play with. I realized that there was not really anything that I had been doing for the last 7 months, that did not somehow invlovle Issac. I cried and cried. I closed my eyes in bed and thought to myself, "Please come home baby, please don't go far and know that I need you baby. Please, please, please". The next morning I got up at 6:30AM and went out the door to track him. Didn't bother to shower, just grabbed my lost-bird supplies and went. I was walking through the neighborhood where I saw him fly to and finally got a response call at about 8AM. He flew a couple more times, I suppose trying to figure out what to do. He ended up landing in a tree where I could see him. Finally, I could see my baby! He was probably about 75 feet up, and there was no way to climb this tree. So I got his forumla cup which always send him flying to me at home. I quickly realized that I didn't have all the triggers of my home environment to work with. Because mixing the formula invlovles more than just the cup. I walk into the kitchen, operate the microwave and such. So it was more difficult. He was up there preening and making his cute noises like nothing was wrong. I think he was enjoying himself. While I was down on the ground, worried to death. He ended up flying off. It looked like he was trying to get to me, so i ran out in the middle of the street, held out my hand and was saying, "Wanna eat boy? C'mere, c'mere" He was just flying large circles overhead. He got pretty low, and it looked like he was coming...but no dice, and he escaped my view again. I had lost him again with no responses to my calls. So I went home to eat because I was about to pass out from being so hungry. I fed myself and showered and then got back out there. To keep it slightly shorter, I had no luck with responses between the hours of 12 and 4. Just a ton of going to every house by the strip of trees he was flying within and handing out posters. Then climbing the hills behind those houses to check for him in the trees. When I would return home, I would see the toys in the same position he left them before he flew away and it would break my heart. I stared at the area where he last pooped and I had cleaned it and just wished he would come back, and poop some more all over the place. I had taken a quick nap in the afternoon because I was completely exhausted and sore from all of the tracking. When I dosed off, in a dream I saw him in his cage and I felt like the whole thing was a dream. When I woke up I ran to the room and was quickly reminded that it wasn't a dream at all. Super sad.

Ohh don't worry...he will remain flighted. I am typing up the whole story and will post it soon. It might take a little bit cause I am working it in at work.

Okay....so no one can give me any guff about my bird not getting enough out time...okay?

Thank you all for your support. He is sitting on my shoulder now preening away. I could not be happier. I am so relieved. I cried like a 5 year old when I got him. Joy redefined for all time. I love my baby sooooo much. Nice full tummy now...super happy. He seems to be zero worse for the wear. We will sleep so good tonight. I will relay the full story of the last 24 hours tomorrow. He was gone for exactly 24 hours.

I will do that in the morning after I have spent a lovely evening with my bird. I am too emotional right now.