Birdnut

wzhang: Good to hear you're staying after it with persistence. It hasn't been that long, as lost parrots go. As far as weather goes, if Mino is pretty tame, there's a very good chance that he's already in shelter in someone's custody by now. The trick will be to find that person or help them find you. More flyers is a great idea. Can't have too many flyers. BTW: Is it "My-no" or "Me-no"? Thinking of you and wishing you the best.

Gee, it sounds like you can't really afford to make any assumptions about what direction Mino may have gone. You would probably do best to distribute your flyers in an ever widening circle in all directions from your building. Please do contact all veterinarians and pet stores, especially any that may have "bird" in their title or description. Anyone who might recover Mino is not likely to know how to take care of a parrot and is likely to contact one of these for advice. Also, don't forget the Town Lake Animal Shelter in your area. Someone may call them to report a found parrot and asking what to do. If Mino is fully flighted, I don't think he'd have any trouble crossing Town Lake. You have a good point about the noise and commotion in downtown. If he wasn't able to relocate you pretty quickly, there is a good chance he moved away from that area. I would still try to get access to the surrounding rooftops for a look. I can only say that members of this forum have recovered lost Greys that remained very close to home, and also that were found miles away. One escaped Grey was recovered when she flew down to a group of children on a soccer field. This makes me think that Mino might tend to approach people where they are out in the open where he can see them. This would suggest schools and parks. I can imagine he might also approach people that he can see outdoors and handling food and eating. I'm thinking of places like Schlotsky's or Taco Cabana there on Lamar close to Town Lake, or other such places. Even though it's been cold at night, it's warmed up enough during the day that people might be seen there. Another escaped Grey was recovered by a neighbor after it had hung out on their porch railing for a couple of days. So it does seem these guys are smart enough to seek out people for help. Do you have any other birds? I'm just asking that because I do have several parrots, and if one of mine escaped, I would be opening windows or putting some other birds outside in their cages during the day when it had warmed up, so that my lost bird could hear them and perhaps return to his flock. Or perhaps some other sound that Mino would recognize as coming from home? It really disturbs me to think of one of these precious creatures lost and scared. I do wish you all the best in your search. We are all thinking of you and hoping for the best.

Hi wzhang, Sorry to learn Mino is still missing. Don't give up. These guys are often found many days later, and folks here on the forum who have had Greys escape have had a pretty good record of recovering them. When it's nighttime and dark, parrots are not going to tend to fly at all. They're going to tend to stay put wherever darkness overtakes them, until morning. Sounds like the window he went out must face toward Shoal Creek. That's probably a good thing, as the area that direction would be less hostile to a lost parrot than the other. When Milo gets hungry, he will probably seek out places where people are. Keep putting out your flyers everywhere. He will probably show up on someone's balcony or back porch. More flyers!!! It's going to be someone else who finds Mino. They're going to need to know you're looking for him and how to contact you. Hit those neighborhoods between West 6th and Enfield. Go door to door. Don't be shy. Be sure and put some flyers out around the ACC Riverside campus. Those folks are coming from all around town. Don't just focus your flyers on places you go. Not everyone can afford to shop at Whole Foods. And get flyers out in a wider area. Mino probably didn't go far, but these Greys have been known to travel for miles before being found. Be sure to put out flyers all over the UT campus; those students live all over. Try calling the radio stations and see if you can get them to mention your lost Grey. And offer a substantial reward. You don't want somebody who finds Mino selling him for Christmas money! Hoping for the best for you and Mino. Do PM me if I can help.

A highly respected bird trainer, Barbara Heidenreich, has said that there is nothing to the height dominance issue. I would not worry about height dominance. Whether you can allow Mort on the shoulder depends on Mort and whether he can behave properly there. So far, it sounds like he's doing fine with it. If he shows any tendency to bite or threaten ears or face, you will, of course, have to bar him from shoulders. It would be ideal if you can manage an invitation only discipline .... good luck

No response. I'm gonna cross my fingers that Mino has been found.

Hi wzhang, I know you are looking everywhere and calling for Mino. Be sure and look low and well as high, in places where a frightened parrot might hide. Make lots of posters with pictures of your bird (or at least of a grey), description, contact information, and offer a REWARD. Make your poster with bold letters and easy to see. Put your posters out at pet stores, veterinarians, stop lights, telephone poles, building lobbies, supermarkets. It sounds like you're in the downtown area. Go in shops and restaurants in the area and leave several posters. People may come into the shop talking about having seen a parrot. Visit those parking garages and talk to the attendants. See if they'll put your poster up at the attendant's booth. If someone sees your bird in a parking garage, they're likely to mention it to the attendant. Visit the downtown churches and ask to put up a poster. Talk to the people who are the eyes and ears of the community and who are dealing with the public: security guards, parking lot attendants, valet parking, hotel doormen. Use your imagination. You're not far from the animal shelter, so be sure they know about your grey, as if someone finds it there is a good chance they will take it to the shelter. Go by the capitol and talk to one of the rangers on duty there. Put up a poster at the main public library and the courthouse. Put up posters around Zilker Park. You won't be far from the University of Texas. People come to the university from all over town. Put up posters at the main building, the libraries and the malls. Take your posters to pet shops and veterinarians all over town. No telling where your downtown neighbors go for these services. Run ads in the lost and found of the paper. Be sure to run an ad in the Chronicle. Check with the building management for the buildings in the area. See if you can arrange to get a look around the rooftops of buildings. Tell everyone you see about your lost grey. Register your bird with 911parrotalert.com and birdhotline.com. I am in your area. PM me if I can help.

Well, I know Quakers must be pretty hardy birds, because there are several colonies of feral Quakers living wild in the Austin area. Our winter temps often dip well below freezing, but the Quakers have been thriving here for many years.

Nice playstand. They really do enjoy being out of the cage and hanging out with the folks.

Something katana said gave me an idea. I don't remember how long ago you acquired Sadie, but I wonder if Sadie actually is being stimulated to lay by improved conditions or improved diet in her new home.

Moussa hasn't shown much interest in meat, so far. But then I seldom prepare meat at home. He loves hard boiled eggs. I will have to try the chicken bone thing, as it sounds like it's really good for them. So there's no problem with splinters from those chicken bones?

birdhouse: yummm!

Thanks for the update. Poor Chilly. But sounds like she's getting all the love and care that could possibly be had. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

I let Moussa out of his cage as soon as I'm up in the morning. I am home most days, and Moussa hangs out with me all day, unless I have to do some work outside or hazardous activities in the kitchen. Most of the time I sort of follow his lead as to what level of interaction he wants. Sometimes he wants to sit on my shoulder and supervise whatever I'm doing, sometimes he's feeling affectionate and wants scritches and beak rubs, and much of the time he just enjoys hanging out on one of his perches and watching what's going on or napping. When I'm home, he's often out of his cage from the time I get up until bedtime. Of course, when I am away from the house, he is safely in his cage. When I am away from home much of the day, I always feel guilty that Moussa is stuck in his cage all that time.

Wow, Jill. You have really been through it with the snow and harsh weather! I guess I would have also expected that northern England would be better prepared. Is it unusual for it to snow there? Here in central Texas, it snows so seldom that two flakes of snow hitting a car window shuts down everything. Well, it's not quite that bad, lol, but almost. Our worst winter hazard is ice: makes roads treacherous, brings down tree limbs on power lines, etc.

Really cute. I love the way she ends "beak" with that hard "k" sound.

Yes, I have seen that. Doesn't it look like fun? I will definitely want to see that.

Wow! That sounds like a lot of snow to this Texan! Yeah. When my birds are ornery, I try telling them that there are birds outside in the cold and rain, and they should be grateful, but they remain unimpressed.

Very good discussion. I have left the band on my grey so far. I think it can be an excellent identification tool. However, I can share a first-hand, personal experience of a closed band becoming caught. We had bought our two blue crowned conures, and they were in the bird store completing weaning and getting accustomed to their new cage. We had bought a very pretty corner cage. The bottom grate of this corner cage was roughly triangular shaped and had converging bars on it. The grate design did have a solid plate toward the point of the "triangle," well before the bars were close enough to catch a foot or anything like that. However, in one spot, the bars did come close enough to catch a band. We came into the store one day to find that there had been a big commotion. One of our conures had apparently reached through the grate for something he saw on the bottom and then shifted his foot enough for his band to become caught where the bars came closer together. He had screamed and struggled before someone in the store had come to his rescue. He may have eventually gotten himself loose by shifting his foot the same way he got caught. But it was rather unsettling and led us to have the bands removed on the conures. At the time, our vet commented that he was not a big fan of closed bands. It also taught us a lesson about being very careful to inspect any cage for converging bars of any kind. I think this lesson about converging bars is the most important one that we took away from the experience. We all need to be very careful of this, whether our birds are banded or not.

Hi ermal. A grey is not an appliance. You can't bring it home, plug it in, and expect to experience the full features. This bird is an intelligent creature that knows that it has been taken from its home and finds itself in strange surroundings with strange people. Think of relocating a small child like that. It's very much like that. He's going to be nervous and hang back for a time, waiting to see what is going to happen and whether this new environment is safe. You need to give him that time. Don't push him. Walk by the cage and hand him a treat. Sit near the cage and talk to him. Let him get to know you. Treat him like another sentient being.

We also use the Avitech heat panels, and we got the deeper mount attachments. We have s sealed oil type space heater in the bird room, but the birds outside the bird room get the Avitech panels in the winter. We have been lucky not to have a really sick bird so far, just some egg laying issues where we did use the heat panel, as well.

We had the closed bands removed from our two conures at the vet. It turned out to be quite a job, especially one of them. If you have an assistant who is really good at holding the bird, you could try to see if you can wiggle it off without cutting it. Our vet tried that first and said it sometimes works. But if the band has to be cut off, I'd probably bite the bullet and get the vet to help you with that. They're pretty hard to cut through. The tool the vet used to cut through them was a lot more robust than tin snips. And you really need to have the bird well restrained during the process. Have you had a problem with the band? Or do you not like the idea of a band? I ask because our grey has a closed band and I've been on the fence whether to leave it or have it removed. If he were to be lost and recovered, knowing the band number would be a sure fire way to identify him. But I know that bands can sometimes be a safety hazard. We had our conures' bands removed because one of them had a freak accident and got his hung in the bottom of his cage.

Even though we already had several parrots, I did feel nervous before getting our grey. I had read a lot about greys, including about the famous Alex, and I'll admit I felt a little intimidated about it. We got our grey as a baby, and we handled him quite a bit in the shop before we brought him home, so at least we all knew each other. He was barely weaned when we brought him home, so I had to give him some supportive feedings of baby-like food with a spoon at first. I was sooo nervous about doing the right things by him. Moussa is 9 months old now, and we are much more relaxed with him. We have learned each others habits and preferences and have been getting along great.

Lucy is beautiful. (And beautiful name you chose, by the way.) Can't wait for the big homecoming report!

Well, I have to pretty much go along with Dave007 on this one. I have never hesitated to rush one of our birds into the vet if I think something seems to be wrong. But our vet does not recommend regular checkups. He says, "You know your bird better than anyone. You will sense if there's something wrong." Now, if I had a bird with a chronic condition or deficiency that needed to be monitored, you bet I would have it in regularly for checks. I also do take a new bird in for an initial visit for a checkup and to get a chart established at the clinic. I am blessed to have a vet who does not push unnecessary services or special foods.

Poor Cricket. She looks like she's pouting.