Birdnut

I like the second one best, as well.

A fellow in a pet shop told us that female Eclectus are unfriendly and can't be handled. I'd never heard this before. Any experience with these/opinions? I'm not looking to get another bird or anything ... just curious.

Sometimes I have felt like a lax bird owner because I have not "trained" our birds to respond to commands more. I have preferred to just let them be birds and come to me when they want to most of the time. I have "understandings" with the different birds, and we all know what to expect from each other and what we cannot expect. I don't force them to do anything except where their safety or the continued existence of some valuable object is involved. But then I worry about how they would fare with a different owner, if something were to happen to us. These discussions reassure me somewhat that my approach is not wrong.

Oh wow, Teresa. You must really feel like heck today from lack of sleep! Keep in mind Diva did have an exciting day yesterday, with spending time out of the cage and all. Maybe that got her all keyed up. Maybe you could check with your friend you got her from to see if this has been a problem in the past and what kind of sleeping arrangements Diva is used to.

I think most any parrot, from a parrotlet to a macaw, is going to like to be around you everywhere in the house. Once they accept you as a member of their flock, they will like to be around you. That is a cool thing about parrots. What size bird are you thinking of? An important thing to consider is what kind of space you have in your home to dedicate to the bird for cage, playstand, etc. For example, the Yellow Nape Amazon will require a much larger, sturdier, and therefore much more expensive cage setup than the conures you were considering before. Have you spent any time with parrots? It's great if you have a bird shop anywhere close where you can visit and handle some parrots.

Happy hatchday to you! Happy hatchday to you! You're a cute little monkey, And your momma loves you!

@luvparrots: I almost got an orange wing once. I love that triceratops thing they do with their neck feathers.

Teresa, It is really funny looking when they do the house cleaning thing! May I suggest that you use something like newspaper in the bottom of the cage, rather than the cob bedding. It is my understanding that the cob bedding is prone to developing mold when exposed to moisture, and the mold can be dangerous for your birdie.

Daisy does talk a little, but not very clearly. I think she has mostly learned things from the blue crowns, since she is around them all the time. She says a couple of the same things they frequently say, and with similar inflection. It's kind of like a second-generation xerox ... not as clear as the original. I am probably the only one who would understand what she is saying! Sun conures are not known to be great talkers, but can sometimes learn a few words or phrases. She says: Can I have a kiss? (Makes kissy sounds.) Wanna sing? (The blue crowns say this, and then will sing the "John Jacob Jingleheimer" song. Daisy will say this, and then when I sing the song, she will immediately start dancing, bobbing her head up and down, and will mouth sort of a beat-box version of the song while I sing it. She doesn't articulate the words like the blue crowns do.)

I agree. Conures are great. I also have a sun conure, and she is so friendly and affectionate. She wants to be with me all the time. I also have two blue-crown conures. They are good natured birds and wonderful talkers. Whenever I go in the bird room for something, I come out with conures on my head and both shoulders. I call them my "conure posse." They want to accompany me wherever I go. There are many different types of conures. And don't pass up on some just because they may not be flashy looking. They are great pets and I think an ideal first parrot. (My 2 cents on conures

Hi iEgg, That is really a cool video. The yellow napes are wonderful talkers, that's for sure, and very beautiful birds. I'm sure some of the Amazon folks can give you some good feedback on what they are like. Since you are looking about, as you say, for birds you might like, what kind of characteristics are you looking for in a bird companion? Do you have any birds? What kind of experience with parrots?

Thanks for the updates. I am enjoying your adventures with Diva.

This all makes me wonder if there is some kind of relationship between baby begging and sexual begging.:confused: I thought it was kind of interesting that my male blue-crown conure attempted mating behavior with his sister at 6 mos., and I haven't seen that sort of behavior since, even though they are over 2 years old now.

Wow! I've never heard of imping. Could you tell more about it, please?

My Moussa did the wing-drooping, panting, oh, I love you, I love you, I love you s-o-o-o much thing to me when he was just about 5 months old. Surely not hormonal yet! I think he's just been watching too much TV; it's such a bad influence on the kids!

Good luck with your move. Moving is a big job, even without working around birds. We didn't have our grey yet the last time we moved. We moved the little guys in their cages, once the movers were done at the new house. For the larger birds, with the big cages, we boarded them at a place we trust for the day while all the moving commotion was going on; then we brought them to their new home with the cages all set up and ready, just like they left them. That seemed to go pretty smoothly.

Just starting to try the TOPS products with our fids. So far, they're not impressed. We'll see how it goes.

Those sound like some good ideas for Diego. I really like the idea of working with the bird's instincts and adapting to them whenever possible, rather than trying to force them to adapt to us, sometimes against their instincts. I think the more we can arrange things to allow them to be what they are, the less stress they experience. I'll be interested to learn how things go with these new adaptations. That's an interesting point about how Amazons tend to fly straight. I wasn't aware of that.

Good question. I have wondered about some of these things, myself.

Boy, this is a really good heads-up for people to be prepared for an emergency! We have made sure we have enough travel cages for each of the birds, but getting them all in there and out quickly in an emergency? ... it's kind of a scary thought.

Thanks, Dan. I hadn't seen these. In our flock, it's the conures that rule the roost!

Wow! Impressive bird! Did I see somewhere that these were very rare?

Yikes! Gee, I hope your father was just mad and distracted and wasn't doing that on purpose. A couple of friends dropped by for a brief time yesterday. They hadn't met Moussa, so I introduced him. He was very shy and nervous and wanted nothing to do with them. He was a brave boy and stepped on my girlfriend's hand for a minute, but he kept looking back at me like, Please take me back. So I did take him right back. I was proud of him for being willing to do it at my request, even though he was nervous. I would like to think that he would have relaxed if they had been around awhile. I worry about our birds not getting enough socialization with other people. We are not big socialites, and they see very few strangers.

I'm so sorry this had to happen. I know it was hard to see Billie suffering, and hard to take this step to set him free. My condolences to you and to your mom.

Not sure about how the size of the branches would work for Diego, but this certainly looks like nothing more than a really nice perch. I don't blame you for being disappointed. I don't have a java tree stand. I do have a couple of sandblasted manzanita floor stands. One was purchased at a pet store, and the other I purchased online. The price for the two was similar. But the one I got online is much poorer quality. I know that this type of item is a no-two-alike thing. But it left me wondering if the online stores sell the stands that would never sell if they were in a store where people could see them before buying.