Birdnut

My birds seem to enjoy music, so I sometimes leave a radio on in their room tuned to a good music station. As far as video goes, they seem to enjoy children's programming. They probably like the cheerful, excited voices and simple, happy music. My lovebird's favorite show was Teletubbies until they quit showing it here. I think she liked the faint bird chirping sounds in the background. Gwyneth the cockatoo enjoys nature programming on PBS and any type of program with people laughing. She found the show about raptors very exciting, except the part where the hawk flies right at the screen, that part was just too much for her. LOL!

Maybe it was the phase of the moon or something. My Moussa was a bit grumpy yesterday, too.

We went through this a lot with our little lovebird. (Very different kind of bird, but the principles have got to be the same.) She went through a couple of spells where she laid several eggs. She had to have some vet assistance with a couple of them, so it was kind of rough on her. She was put on a calcium supplement for a time, but, as I said, she had laid several eggs. The supplement was to help ensure that any eggs she produced would have good hard shells. If the shells aren't good and firm the bird can become egg bound. Fortunately, she has not tried to lay in quite some time now. I'll share the advice we were given to help prevent this. Limit the period of light during the day, as katana mentioned, to fewer than 12 hours. Remove any access to "nesty" places or potential nest building materials, like shredding toys, as Dave mentioned. Izze sleeps in a tent, and we still let her have a tent to sleep in, but only a small one that she can barely get into and her tail sticks out. Back off on soft and fresh foods, as this creates the perception of abundance, something that seems to stimulate breeding activity. (I don't know if you'd want to do this -- we didn't want to either -- but just sharing what we were advised.) We did leave the eggs for her to sit until she no longer showed interest in them, as Dave advised. With Izze, we were advised to disturb her environment by rearranging her cage furnishings and/or relocating her cage. This kind of thing is supposed to decrease her level of "bio-security." Now, this was a good idea for Izze, but I can appreciate that, with your new rescue, you definitely do not want to disturb her feeling of security, so that's a tricky one. Do you have things arranged in Sadie's cage to create a "screen" for privacy, as is sometimes done? If so, you might try moving some of those things around, if this does not upset Sadie. Good luck with this. Hopefully you can get some good advice from your vet tomorrow. This can be a worrisome issue to address, as we experienced with our little bird.

Thanks for sharing this important reminder. I have a little sun conure and can empathize. They are such sweet little birds. How is Chilly doing?

Rylie is precious. I have no experience, but I understand that hand feeding can be fraught with risks for the babies. It looks like you have some successful experience with your other fids. (Love the pic of your daughter with Gremlin.) Please continue to share pics as Riley progresses. It's really fun to watch these babies grow, and they grow so quickly.

Apparently, if a grey gets startled and panics like that, and then you swoop down from above to catch or pick them up, in their fright they can perceive you as a predator attacking from above. This can result in a phobia, as you are experiencing. To prevent this, it is best to leave the bird on the ground for a minute to collect its wits. Then you can crouch a short distance from them and allow them to come to you when ready. Karcar has given good advice. I know you want your friend back asap. But it will just take some time and patience.

I don't have any experience with the heater you're looking at. I use a sealed oil radiant heater similar to this one. I got mine at Home Depot. http://www.compactappliance.com/MG7307CM-DeLonghi-Portable-Oil-Filled-7-Advanced-Fin-Radiator/MG7307CM,default,pd.html?mtcpromotion=GoogleBase%3EAir_Quality%3EHeaters%3EIndoor_Space_Heaters%3EMG7307CM&src=FROOGLE It does a really good job of keeping the bird room warm in the winter. It doesn't get really hot. I can put my hand on it for several seconds except when it's at the highest setting. I set a wire cage stand over it. That way the birds cannot light directly on the heater. There is no exposed heat element to catch a feather that might burn and no fan. It is very safe.

Thanks. What a fun video!

Happy Hatchday, Isaac. And Isaac certainly does look like a happy bird!

Jay, Maggie, Spock, and the flock: You are always in my thoughts and prayers. I have missed you. From Cathy, Dave, Moussa, and the rest of the flock, our best wishes at Thanksgiving.

Aaron, it sounds like you have a wonderful rapport with your fids, and that is anything but a failure! The behavior you describe is actually pretty normal. I don't often see my birds play with their toys much. I always wish I had a one-way mirror in the door to the bird room, so I could watch them acting normally. As soon as I open the door, they drop what they're doing and look at me and want to fly to me for attention, just as you describe with your birds. You have been offered some excellent resources for training, but don't get too stressed or pressured about training. Your birds can pick up on your stress. Keep it fun and relaxed. You mentioned teaching them words. With my birds that talk, if I set out to teach them words or phrases on purpose, they tend to just ignore it, or it takes a lot time for them to pick it up. But they will quickly pick up a phrase that is associated with some fun or exciting activity. My conures love to swing on things, so if I swing around a dishtowel, they will fly to it and grab hold and swing around, and we'll all say, "Wheee! That's fun!" Have you tried playing with the toys yourself? Or playing with the toys with the birds? My birds love foot toys. They love to throw the toys on the floor and have me say, "Uh oh!" and make a big fuss about it and then bring the toy back to me to throw again. They will play that game for as long as I'm willing to. Often the birds teach me the games they want to play.

Thankful for family and for all my friends, avian and non-avian. Thankful for every day that I wake up alive and for all the gifts that I have: to be able to walk, to hear, to see, to work. Thankful for my darling husband. Thankful for my drums, my drum teachers, and my sisters of the drum.

I feed both fresh and frozen and the occasional canned, like the salt-free beans or the canned sweet potato puree from the health food store. When I make a big batch of mash, I freeze it in serving portions. Some foods are actually more nutritious when they're cooked a little. Our birds have also enjoyed a few items from the garden, like chilis and squash. This summer they loved the okra. I don't think there's anything wrong with frozen fruits and veggies. I have read that their nutritional value does not suffer much with freezing, and, as >^..^< noted, there are plenty of high-quality organic frozen options available.

Hi Squishy. Thanks for starting this thread. This is the kind of discussion that is really helpful for us with young greys growing up. It gives us a good heads up to what we can expect. Moussa is 9 mos old, and he goes crazy attacking toys and screaming. My husband will think he has gotten his foot trapped, the way he goes on so violently screaming and flapping. So far, he has been a very calm and confident bird, but it certainly makes sense that they would become more hyper-alert as they mature. I'm wondering how these frights would be affected by whether the bird is clipped or flighted? I know Dayo is flighted, and from what Dan has said, it sounds like he also gets a fright and panics at times. But perhaps the fright can be dispelled more quickly if the bird can react by taking to the air. I'm also wondering how this would be affected by the company of other flighted birds in the household? (I'm doing a lot of wondering, aren't I? ) It would seem like the presence of the other birds, who are calm, would be reassuring to the grey. So is this a stage they pass through, or is what Squishy is describing pretty much what a mature grey will be like?

Thanks, guys. That's all reassuring. Like I said, I'm just more nervous with Moussa than I have been with the other birds. He just seems so much more like a "person."

Lucy is a beauty. Those green wings are impressive birds! I'd be anxious to get her home, too.

Thanks, Dave. There's no blood there. It's not a flight feather. It's one of those feathers at the leading edge of the wing. As you say, with my other birds, broken feathers have just fallen out or the bird has pulled it out. I guess I'm just a little more fussy and anxious about Moussa. Since there's no bleeding, I guess I'll just leave it alone.

While giving Moussa a bath this afternoon, he got a broken feather. It is the wing feather nearest the shoulder, I think it is called an alula feather, and it is sticking straight out, away from his body. What attention does this require? Does the feather need to be pulled? Or can I simply clip it? Should we have a visit at the vet to help with this?

Should we ask the parrots what to do?

Are you breeding her? Are they fertile eggs?

Moussa's cage is in the dining room -- just around the corner from the living room. I do cover his cage. First I turn out his full-spectrum light; then after a little while I turn out the lights in the dining room. Then when I see that he seems to have composed himself on his perch for sleep, I cover his cage. He will be still and quiet after that, except for some sleepy beak grinding. I uncover him in the morning when I hear him begin to stir around. After Moussa has gone to bed, we are usually up watching TV for a while, but I try to keep the volume low and the lights down low. I would recommend covering Mr. Grey's cage with something a bit more opaque than a sheet. We have found some light-weight, inexpensive table cloths that cut the light a lot better than sheets. They come in various sizes, and if necessary, you can use more than one, sewing them together or clipping them together with clothespins. They are easy to throw in the washer occasionally to keep them clean. And thank you for taking Mr. Grey into your heart and your home.

How smart would they need to be?

OMG! That is amazing! It's just bewildering what these little bird brains can do. For Marcus to take his observations, manipulate them around in his brain, and come out with something creative like that..... Well, it's just amazing, that's all.

Could you teach us how?

Moussa enjoys a sip of orange juice now and then.