SRSeedBurners

Oh boy. So is this the first time Sully has begun flying? He looks quite proud of himself sitting on the stove. I'm not sure where Greys learn the way to call to their human is with the fart noise. Are we really that bad? Greycie does the same if she's not using her dog whistle on us. I wonder who's the pet here.

I watched this two nights ago. I did not know that the Corvids (don't remember what island they were studying) show an ability to adapt and learn to create more effective tools - teaching to their young. Pretty amazing.

A vet should be able to take it off. I took one off with a set of small bolt cutters so it's possible.

I've got to find a way to get this on video - it's a real tear-jerk for me. She makes this very sorrowful 'coo' noise and she only does it when she knows I'm leaving. Basically she'll do it when I put them in the bird room because she knows it may be a while till she sees me next, likely all day. She'll also do it when I put them in the aviary, another all day affair. It's the same noise that haunted me in my dreams when we lost her to the great outdoors for several of days. I try everything I can to get her to NOT do it because it really bothers me and makes it where I have a real hard time leaving. You never know when is the last time you'll see someone or somebirdy.

Mommy is out of town for two weeks. So I have my feathered brats for company. Late afternoon and I'm sitting at my computer dialing in my workout which will be getting underway in the following 30 minutes or so while we wait for the workout room to get down to 58 degrees. Greycie is quietly sitting on my shoulder after a nice pecan treat. Everybirdy is being good while they bake in their nut comas. Suddenly I hear two squeaks and feel the shirt on my shoulder pulling back. I look and Greycie is leaning back onto her tail and staring me down. This is her way of trying to get me to start playing with her. I completely ignore her - I'm busy, gotta get this workout programmed in. Greycie gets back on my shoulder and then flops forward off the front of my shirt and crooks her head looking up at me. Way too cute, I can barely resist the temptation to start playing, but I'm serious about this workout. Next thing I know she's back on my shoulder and is flopping off the back of my shirt and she's gently nipping at my ear as she crawls back on my shoulder all the while doing her clucking/kissy noises. So I give in, cup my hands and she flops right into it and off we go bouncing her around. She loves to be bounced on her back. I did get the workout done. She rides on my back while I sit on the trainer. Loves the loud music. What a fun little birdy.

How did you manage to find a way to leave all them birdies? We only have three and are stuck.

It takes a while to get the birdy used to the harness. Even ultra-tame hand fed babies like mine put up one hell of a fight the first time they are introduced to being harnessed. As a prey animal their normal instinct will be to fight that harness. It can takes weeks to months to get it accomplished but I find it very rewarding to be able to take them with me outside. Worth a try - the aviator has very good instructions to adapt a birdy to their harness.

All looks good except for that peanut. There is some concern over peanuts and aflatoxins and aspergillosis. Some here will bake their peanuts before giving to a bird to kill the fungal spores within the shell. I avoid them altogether. To many other good choices like almonds and pecans. I also never give my birds a nut with the shell intact unless I've had a good look at it. I've come across to many off looking nuts that I crack open and find a hideous version of what was supposed to be in there.

Chipmunks are cute. Used to see them a lot when we ran cattle in Colorado. We don't have them here in N.Texas that I've seen. Are they as big a pain in the butt as squirrels?

When me and the spousal unit are fighting - in separate rooms not talking. She hates it.

I do have one suggestion which I use around unknown birds or known biters: When they are acting as Alex is in the video, I use the back of my wrist with my hand clenched and turned away from the bird. The idea is to not give them any loose skin to grab hold of and bite yet keep inside of their bubble. Once they tire of trying to get a hold on you and make you flinch, that's when I will start to use more vulnerable parts of my hand to work with them.

I believe it is an aggressive posture. We see this all the time just before Greycie will attempt a blatant attack on Toby. Here's another shot of the same posture, although the head feathers are not perfectly flat. As you can see, the Caique is NOT being welcomed into the club house. Not sure if there is a difference between the two. Greycie does both and they never turn out well for her displeasured target.

True true. Mine is a rowdy little hooligan and my wife blames it all on me and the way I handle her.

Definitely up to something. I know the look on that cute little face.

That first pic - "So we gonna hang this or what?"

A flying can opener. Excellent.

I thought maybe you had room for one more on the countertop to the left but I looked harder and...there's a Grey there.

I think mine likes wood because ever damn spot in the house that has wood easily reachable by a certain Grey has been chipped. I ended up hanging wood boxes, wood toys and reinforcing the wooden gates in the aviary because I have a full time chipper at work.

I found that I have another use for my Grey: a backpack. Rearranging couches and cages and pulling stuff out of some cupboards requires the use of a good backpack. Every now and then it's nice just to reach back there and give my backpack a little squeeze and a tickle tickle and then carry on with my work.

Try using some thin strips of balsa wood. They can easily destroy that and just keep making the strips thicker than substitute some thin strips of pine mixed in.

I grab mine by the belly and hold her back to my ear. She then crooks her head up to my lips and lets me talk into the back of her head, as if I'm on the phone. This makes my wife think I'm very busy and she leaves me alone. It's teamwork. I usually make calls to the parront abuse society and file complaints about the way I'm being treated. Funny thing is, they never do anything about it.

Ditto. And having lots to do like getting tossed into an aviary where they have lots of toys. GreycieMae spends most of her day doing 21ft pterrordactly sorties, wood chipping, trawling upside-down the top of the aviary, snacking and napping. In that order.

Lots of baby faces around here this time of year.

I know several people who facetime with their birds. I only have the option to talk to them on my cam - no video so I'm unqualified to comment. However, I want to do it too.

GreycieMae gets a very stern and loud 'GREYCIE' when she does that high pitched whistle crap that drives us all bonkers.