Birdnut

Moussa really shocked me today with his apparent understanding of something I said. He was hanging out in the kitchen with me, as he often does, sitting in front of the stereo (I think he likes the music). I was sitting at the table working on something and casually looked up and said, "Moussa, wanna split a nut butter sandwich?" He immediately fluttered over to the table and climbed up my arm to sit on my shoulder expectantly, where he did when we shared a nut butter sandwich once before. Now this is not a common behavior for him to come to me when I casually talk to him like that. And he's hardly ever willing to sit still on my shoulder when I'm sitting in the kitchen like that. And I had not made any move to get anything out or start fixing the sandwich; I was just sitting quietly at the table. When I got up and took the jar of almond butter out of the fridge, he squealed excitedly, like he totally knew what I was about to do. I only shared a sandwich like that with him once before! And I don't even know if I used those words before. But he seemed to understand what I said and all the implications of it! (Or else, he just plain read my mind, which is also possible) This little guy just continues to amaze me.

Wow! You have taken on a handful. On the lovebird toys: A lot of toys are meant to be destroyed. We have a lovebird, and she likes swings, boings (aka bungees), ladders, and that sort of thing. She also likes toys with little bells. A favorite configuration is a boing with a bell toy hanging into the middle of it. Lovebirds love things they can chew up and shred up, like shredders, toys with soft wood pieces, and paper. Izze likes to have a little tent in her cage where she rests and sleeps. I don't know if you know the sex of the lovebird, but if you do put some shredders or paper in the cage to play with, watch out for nest building activity. If the lovebird starts to gather up shreds in one corner of the cage or some other location, back off the shredding toys, as this could stimulate a female to lay eggs. Lovebirds do tend to be rather picky eaters. Ours will occasionally nibble on some broccoli, if you put a whole stalk in her cage. She will eat some cooked grain and will nibble at birdy bread. Favorite "treat" foods are millet spray or Nutri Berries. Yes, a sun conure can be loud. We have a sun conure, and she has a shrill voice, but doesn't use it often. She does call out when she wants out of her cage and wants attention. Sun conures are sociable little birds and seem to crave interaction. Is Cosmo used to being outside the cage for part of the day? Birds will tend to call out to each other, especially if they can't see each other. Don't know what to tell you there. Perhaps part of the noise and calling was related to finding themselves in a strange location. Maybe it will help when they have a little time to settle down. Please don't succumb to the temptation to cover them just to keep them quiet. Do quarantine them from Yoshi for at least a month or so, as Jayd suggested.

We do use "No" a lot don't we? My husband says the birds probably think their names are No Moussa, No Gwyneth, No Tazo, etc. Moussa is 7 months and not talking yet. I am getting pretty good at reading his body language. There are signals he gives that mean "yes" to me. When I ask him if he wants a scratch, if he fluffs up the feathers around his head and neck, that means "yes." He also does the foot lift to agree to "Wanna come?" He sometimes lets me know where he wants to go by looking and leaning. I think we're beginning to establish a basis of communication and hopefully speech will build on that. Dan, I'll be interested in how the "yes" experiment goes.

LOL, >^..^<!! Not crazy at all. I have had similar experiences. Check out the book Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home, by Rupert Sheldrake.

Oh my. That brought a tear to my eye.

I have seen a similar thing happen at the pet store where we trade, so I will share that story. This was not a grey, but a citron crested cockatoo. Maybe it's fair to give this example, since cockatoos can also be a bit spooky. This baby was in an open pen, surrounded by plexiglass sides, along with some other baby birds. The babies' wings are trimmed after they have fledged (managed to fly out of the pen and around the store). In this shop, customers are allowed to handle the baby birds in the pens that are still available for sale. The cockatoo was very friendly and always begging to be picked up, just like the other birds. Then one day, out of the blue, it started acting terrified of everyone. No one knew why or what had happened. Efforts to handle the bird to calm it were to no avail. When they put it in a cage with another cockatoo, it did calm down somewhat and seemed more relaxed, but still unwilling to be handled. Quite a bit of time went by, and no one was interested in this cockatoo, because it was so unfriendly. Then a couple, who were regular customers and who were frequently in the store, decided to give this baby a chance. The first time they tried to handle the bird, it bit one of them badly. But they persisted, and the bird began to accept them. They took it home to join their flock of greys and cockatoos. We saw them in the store some time after that with the citron crested cockatoo, and the bird was beautiful and calm. They said it had become a very sweet bird for them. I think this story illustrates that you can't really tell what a bird will be like with you until you get it home and spend time with it on a daily basis. Even then, the relationship will develop and evolve over time. I don't think weekly visits are really enough to bond with a bird. When we got all our babies, we were in the store on a daily basis, at least once a day, to visit and handle them. That may not be possible for you, but I don't think you can make much of a judgment of how a bird may or may not bond with you based on weekly visits.

Yeah, Pippa! Tweedle, I don't know how practicable it would be, but I wonder if you could keep a little diary for Pippa and record what went on during the day. Or maybe something like a medical chart type thing next to her cage to note whatever you do. If there are specific triggers for her episodes, maybe you could catch it that way. I know at times I've been able to pin down what has caused certain problems I've had by doing something like that. Just a thought.

It would surely be heartbreaking to lose Pippa when you've formed such a beautiful bond with her. But where would she be without someone like you, who can not only love her, but can give her what she needs? Sure, it could happen that she has an attack one day when you are not there to help her. And it could end tragically. But every time you are there to help her, you can give her more time for that many more fun outings to the park or to the pub, and that many more yummy chips

Way to go, Joey!!! It is quite a sight when several of ours go flying through the house together. When the cockatoo flies through the house, she is like a ghost, silently floating ... beautiful. Enjoy.

MOUSSA from Texas, USA Moussa is also 7 months old and a big handsome boy. He is a little unusual in that he has some red feathers around his legs. His favorite foods are his morning mash and strawberries. He also wants some of anything I try to eat in front of him. His favorite treats are pine nuts and cashews. Moussa's favorite toy is a stainless steel tubular bell. He doesn't really play with it. Instead, he uses it to summon goods and services and to complain when those items do not live up to his expectations. More of a communication device than a toy. The other birds squawk when they want something; Moussa just rings that dang bell incessantly until someone responds. He doesn't talk yet, but makes lots of fascinating noises. He has a special whistle he does when I leave the room he is in. I think it is a contact call and he is trying to call me back. He also does do a pretty good imitation of our sun conure. (I will try to add a picture later when I can find that little plug-in thingy that came with my camera.)

Great pictures! Tui looks so intent on what she's doing.

Welcome texascowboy! My, you have got quite a flock there! I'm impressed! And I sometimes feel a little overwhelmed just taking care of 8 birdies. You must have some property to house all of those birds. Do you live on a ranch?

I put pureed sweet potato into ice cube trays and freeze them and then put them in a bag in the freezer to thaw out later. Moussa is fascinated by ice. I tried just putting one of these frozen sweet potato pops in his bowl to see what would happen. He loves them! He nibbles at the frozen cube and then continues to nibble as it thaws out. I think he actually consumes more of the sweet potato when served this way!

Hi Amy! I think it will help that Archie will have the company of your pionus. It can cause anxiety in birds if it is too quiet, 'cause that's what happens when there is a predator around ... everything goes very quiet. Most of my birds are loose in a bird room during the day, but I still play the radio in the room occasionally. I know the birds enjoy music. I have also played the TV for them. I like to play the PBS station. During the day there is a lot of children's programming which the birds enjoy. Seriously, they will even have their favorite programs. My lovebird used to love that teletubbies show and would chirp happily whenever it came on. Whenever you leave the house, tell Archie bye bye and explain where you are going, that you will be coming back, and that he will be safe and comfortable until you get back. He will soon learn what to expect and that you will be gone for a while. Foraging toys are a great idea. You might also change out toys in the cage frequently, if Archie will comfortably accept the changes. Best of luck in grad school ... sounds like you have some real challenges ahead!

You have really got my curiosity up. I am anxious to learn what this was that you saw.

I think it's wise to always keep in mind that we're essentially sharing our lives with a wild animal. One of the characteristics of domesticated animals is that they tend to retain certain juvenile traits into adulthood. This is not going to be true of a wild animal, such as our greys. They will go through a maturation process during which their character will often change. I think it is fascinating and exciting to share my home with these wild creatures. But I know, in order to do so, I have to be prepared to accept and adapt to their wildness at times.

My husband and I are considering proposing a new Olympic event: the Pellet Toss. This would be similar to the shot put, with scoring based on distance tossed and number of pellets tossed in a timed period. Partially eaten pellets would be given a lower score, with the highest score being reserved for untouched, freshly served, high-dollar premium pellets. Style points could be awarded on such factors as even distribution of pellets throughout the playing field (a freshly vacuumed living-room size floor) and placement of pellets in hard to reach positions, such as behind bookcases. Those owners of cockatoos will especially appreciate this idea.

So sorry about the disappointing results of the implant. Everyone knows you are doing everything you can for Charlie.

Hurray for Yoshi!!! I always find it remarkable how resilient these creatures are. All ours have come to us clipped and have done beautifully in regaining flight. Our most dramatic change was in our little pionus. When we got her, she was not just clipped, but overclipped, overweight, clumsy, and full of broken feathers from falling. Now she's trimmed down, confident, beautifully feathered, and one of our most agile fliers.

I have a sun conure and a peach faced lovebird. Sun conures are usually pretty sociable little birds that love attention and interaction. They are very active and playful and a lot of fun. My sun conure gets along well with most of the other birds. She does not like my grey, though, and will attack him, so I have to keep them apart. It's probably more of a jealousy thing than a sun conure thing. In your case, any jealousy issues would be coming from Yoshi. My main comment would concern the lovebird. A lovebird can be really sweet or a little flying piranha; you'll have to find out which you'll be hosting. But either way, it's wise to keep other birds from lighting on the lovebird's cage or trying to perch there. Lovebirds tend to be really cage defensive, especially the females, and will tend to bite other birds feet through the bars of their cage. I keep my lovebird's cage in a different area from the other birds. I would probably put the guest birds in another room. I also second luvparrots suggestions.

Louie is a very handsome fellow. Congratulations! Sounds like Ana Grey is interested in striking up a friendship.

How about, "My hairdresser swore this was the latest look."

It's funny I should find this thread this morning, as I just got through watching Moussa doing the same silly thing with a tiny (2 inch diameter) bowl of water! He kept flapping and carrying on like he was really getting wet, and he couldn't even get his whole foot in the bowl! I tried putting a larger dish on the counter and putting the tiny one in the larger one. He'd flap around and finally get brave enough to stick a toe in the larger dish, but wouldn't step in. Finished off the whole process with a good spray bath, which he didn't really appreciate. Kim, do you like that hanging bird gym? I'm been looking around for a good one for Moussa. He loves to play on the hanging toys in the bird room, but the other birds give him such a hard time when he's in there, I figure he could use his own gym. Re Edward: I am a big vampire genre fan and really glad to see some decent entertainment coming out lately in that genre. Edward is a cool character. I can't abide the "Oh, poor me, I'm going to live forever and I so want to be mortal and die" vampire characters.

These are all such wonderful pics. Cocoa is such a good-natured, trusting sweetheart. Thanks for sharing.

I have been under treatment for generalized anxiety disorder for some time. It's pretty well controlled now, so I can't say much about how the birds react to that. I know they do react to my energy, and I can handle them a lot more successfully when my energy is calm and happy. We have a bird room with 6 birds in residence there, so they also play off of each other's moods, so that kind of complicates the issue. Moussa's (my grey) cage is in the living area. I haven't had him long enough to really learn how he will react to moods, emotions, and so forth. I am going to be interested to see how that goes. I will say that the presence of the birds in my life has been very healing for me. I know how I react to them, and they bring so much life and energy into the house. They make me laugh out loud just about every day. And taking care of them and looking out for them gives me something much better to occupy my mind than myself and my worries.