Inara's Flight Log

[Inara]

For 7 month update click here

 

For 1 month update, click here.

 

For 2.5 months update, click here.

 

 

 

First update is below:

 

Stardate: 4113,2

 

 

Inara trying to decide what, exactly this guy is all about.

 

 

Inara must have bit of Ferengi DNA, she loves cool shoes and drives a tough bargain.

 

Her feathers are a bit amiss, because she had recently finished a morning shower.

 

I thought that a flight log would be a good way to give periodic updates on HRH Inara. Tomorrow will mark three full weeks since her arrival.

 

Inara has done so well, and it's as if she never looked back. In the past three weeks, she has settled in, been successfully weaned off of southern comfort food and onto a more healthy parrot appropriate diet, and will now 'work for carrot shreds.'

 

Her vocabulary has grown by leaps and bounds. She absolutely associates "Joe" with Joe, "Dezi" with Dezi, and "Woooo" with me. When she hears the garage door open in the evening, she says, "It's Joe-oh." She does this sweet little chant, "doop-doop Dezi doop doop, good girl." When Dezi is near her cage and I'm out of sight, Inara will say, "Go lie down." or "Dezi down."

 

She will go to Joe easily, but does want to (too firmly) beak his cheek and/or mustache/beard. So to curb that, Joe began to slip the 'fist of iron' in between her beak and his face and she has stopped the behavior. It was not grooming behavior (also his beard is really kept very short) nor was it aggressive behavior, but it was more pressure than just exploring, so was/is unwanted.

 

We have her on a good daily rhythm with lots of quiet time as well as interactive time. She has not shown much interest in her cage toys, even when rotated. Interestingly, neither did my first CAG. I don't know if it is something about the rhythm/vibe in my home or what. She is very content, and a very happy girl, so no boredom issue there. My first CAG was a much older wild caught, neglected and abused rescue (see my intro post) who came to me completely plucked except his head and a few other places he couldn't reach. He purportedly did not talk. After a lot of time and lots of patience, he became a beautifully feathered, calm, and chatty guy. But again, was not interested in cage toys plain nor fancy. Each bird is different, just interesting to me that neither of mine seem(ed) interested.

 

Inara does like to play a little 'one on one' game that she invented a few evenings ago, though. She likes to hang out on the couch next to me in the evenings after she has 'read the news' with Joe. She forages for tidbits among a couple of toys that I remade for her. One of them is just a ring of coconut shell with some wooden beads on twine that is tied in a circle. She likes to pick it up and toss it toward me, then I toss it back toward her, wash - rinse- repeat. When she's done playing, she tosses it off of the couch onto the floor and then wants to just perch on my knee for a bit before bed time. Eventually we'll move on toward more interesting games, but she has a lifetime to be exposed to more challenging activities.

 

At some point soon, I'll update with a current vocabulary list. She and I have begun working on a targeted new word per week. Last week was "coffee" and I can now say, "Inara, what do smart girls drink?" and she will reply, "Coffee," or "drink coffee." This week's word is "carrot." The other day, I saw a light bulb go off, and she now knows and appears to really enjoy our twice daily language sessions. She likes to perch on a lower side bar of her mobile play perch, and she will start the session herself with "coffee." Then she moves on to other words. "Carrot" began as 'graat' and now is a fine, clear 'carrot.' Natch, I don't give her coffee, but "carrot" does get her carrot shreds, and other words get her small apple bites or small bits of nutriberry popcorn. As much as possible, as we move along, I would like words to be identifiers of the object to which they are related.

 

Inara now says "Up" when she wants to come out of her cage. She will say "more" in the late afternoons if she only has "untouchables" left in her coop cup in her cage. She distinctly dislikes banana in any shape or form (dried, mashed, pieces, etc). She enjoys looking out the windows (we live in the mountains so lots of pine and aspen) and doesn't seem disturbed when seeing the ravens, jays, and magpies fly by.

 

She truly is my midlife karma bonus. When time permits, I'll post in the rescue/rehome thread about the vast difference in experiences between my rescue birds of the 70s wild caught era and the experience with rehoming Inara who was a well loved and well socialized, hand raised fid. Both types of experiences are rewarding and wonderful, in their own distinct ways.

 

Candy corn, and tricks and treats for all,

Inara's Human

Edited April 15, 2014 by Inara
add link for update

[Luvparrots]

Beautiful update! Thanks for sharing Inara with us. She is lucky to have found you and your family!

[danmcq]

Grey Post on Inara's progress. She is doing wonderfully under your love and care. The photos are great and show a very brave grey that is not fearful at all it seems of the new digs or crazy seasonal items you place around her. Thanks for sharing this.

[Mistyparrot]

It's a Greyt idea to publish your Flight Log Thanks.! Inara is settling in really well. Loverly pictures. Nevertheless I have to point out your armchair is not really appropriate! If I had one of those Misty would demolish it in seconds.

 

 

Steve n Misty

[Timbersmom]

I enjoyed reading your update. Thanks for posting

[katana600]

Nicely done with your Flight Log and with Inara in general. I enjoyed your outlook tremendously. I have had my mind so focused on hoping and praying for Miss Gilbert to gain flight, I was naturally expecting to read about a fledgling, LOL. My kids have me well versed in the sci fi flight log too though. Clever and interesting report. I would love to read more in the rescue room about your experience with an older wild caught grey when you have time. So much has changed in our realm of experience and things are quite different in many ways and similar in others. I would love to read more from your perspective. My karma looked pretty much opposite of yours. I had the joy of a well socialized, well loved, hand fed baby Congo African grey and lost him to illness while he was still a baby. Then I took in a rehoming challenge and it has been a different but as you say equally rewarding experience. Actually, as much as my other experience will be forever young, never destroy my house, never bite me, was sweet and enthralling, this one is more rewarding because I have had to work a lot harder to get a positive response.

[Inara]

. . . <snip> . . Beautiful update! Thanks for sharing Inara with us. She is lucky to have found you and your family!

 

Thank you, luvparrots. We are so lucky to have found her, too. A good fit all the way around, and one that at this time in my life was done with a checklist, as I we went looking for/at birds. Although, the element of surprise was/is that she is a Timneh rather than a Congo, which was who I was originally searching for. As I've come to learn, those TAGs.... they'll getcha every time :D

 

. . <snip> . .The photos are great and show a very brave grey that is not fearful at all it seems of the new digs or crazy seasonal items you place around her.

 

Hahaha, Dan. She is a very brave and relaxed girl for sure. Mr. Pumpkin Man has been known to strike fear in the hearts of some adults with that semi creepy smile of his!

 

. . . <snip> . .Nevertheless I have to point out your armchair is not really appropriate! If I had one of those Misty would demolish it in seconds.

 

Indeed, Misty's human, are you saying that candy is dandy but wicker is quicker? (OK sorry, I'm a punster from way back, and at times can't help myself!). I do have to say that so far, she is not the least bit interested in the pair of chairs, however, there can always come a time.....and yes, she could make short work of them! :)

 

I enjoyed reading your update. Thanks for posting

 

Awww. Thanks, Timbersmom. I love reading your posts, and am so enjoying the opportunity to get to know you better.

 

. . . <snip> . . My karma looked pretty much opposite of yours. I had the joy of a well socialized, well loved, hand fed baby Congo African grey and lost him to illness while he was still a baby. Then I took in a rehoming challenge and it has been a different but as you say equally rewarding experience. Actually, as much as my other experience will be forever young, never destroy my house, never bite me, was sweet and enthralling, this one is more rewarding because I have had to work a lot harder to get a positive response.

 

Am just so sorry, katana600, that you lost your little baby Congo. That had to be such a huge heartbreak, and I'm sure his little beak left an indelible imprint upon your heart. Yes, your Gilbert is a challenge, but from what I continue to read as I catch up on history, is so fortunate to have found you. My LeStat really strengthened my approach toward life back in those days. I believe in the zen saying, "When the student is ready the teacher shall appear." I view(ed) LeStat as my teacher, and he taught me some very practical and somewhat mystical lessons along our looong journey together. One was definitely, "Pulling at the shoots won't make the grass grow faster, Grasshoopper." I can laugh now when I read that!

[Luvparrots]

I have both a CAG and a TAG and I find that my TAG, Ana Grey, is much more fearless than my CAG, Sterling Gris. And she is just a wisp of a bird (300 grams) and he is a big brute (505 grams). Got to love them both for the different personalities.

[Sanveaz]

Wow what great progress. Escher doesn't like bananas either. He will eat anything I give him from my fingers except bananas, those he throws on the floor.

[JeffNOK]

Wow--Inara does seem very curious and intrepid. Those pics of her perched on and investigating that doll were great. My CAG Gracie would be far too suspicious to get within five feet of it let alone climb around on it. It took four days to get her to play with her latest toy.

[Inara]

 

All you need is love! OK, well maybe in the shape(s) of a new chewing/preening cage toy. Since her arrival, Inara has been completely uninterested in any of the toys that arrived with her, despite my having swapped them in and out, rearranged, and rebuilt, etc, other than one small one that I remade that she likes to toss back and forth with me. She has, however, been very happy and content, so I was not too concerned about her lack of enthusiasm.

 

Well, Katie bar the door, because as of yesterday morning one would have thought that I had brought Her Royal Highness the crown jewels. I had ordered a colorful blocks and knots toy that I thought would be perfect for chewing and preening-type activity and upon showing it to her, she began a super happy dance complete with a lot of cooing. Her excitement was so evident, and quite charming to say the least.

 

After I let her beak the toy several times, and was hanging it up in her cage, she began to happily hop along her top perch and then in her excitement became so completely lovey-dovey with me that she danced over to me, said "thank you teeko keeo (tickle tickle)" then regurged a little drop. I let her know that her thanks were much appreciated, albeit a bit over the top.

 

It was just so fun to see her so jazzed. Afterward she had her morning misting (she now *loves* this! I spray the mist down through the top of her cage, and she fluffs and shakes and bows and dances the whole time) she sat contentedly preening.

 

We also have a new game, "Hang on! Swing swing!" I took one of the old cotton rope toys that arrived with her, and sanitized it. I keep it on the couch near me and now for a few minutes during our usual hang-out-together times, Inara will grab it and I'll say "Hang on!" and then I gently swing her on it back and forth and around in circles then she goes upside down. She will now let me move it with her in the upside down position, onto my lap on her back with her feet hanging onto the rope. This lasts about 10 seconds, and then I gently pick the rope back up and then manipulate it so that she can step down onto the couch. She loves it.

 

She is intentionally initiating training words now during our evening and morning training sessions. Last night's word of the day that she chose herself was "thank you." This morning's was her version of "grape" which currently sounds like "gwwwrp." She was saying it last night when I was giving her little bits (while telling her it was a grape), and then said it this morning when she saw the grapes in the fridge while perched on my shoulder. As I would give her pieces this morning, she would say "gwwrp," and act very pleased with herself, as I assured her that she is indeed brilliant.

 

This last week her newest words are "thank you" "tickle tickle" "happy girl" "want some corn" "roll" (for flock and roll) "boo" (for peek a boo -- she pokes her head around and under her play perch), "wanna go out" (we ask our dog this), and "gwwrp" for grape. Her vocab is growing at light speed, and she recognizes, "coffee," "carrot," "gwwrp," "Joe," "Dezi," "Woooo," "coffee seed" (sunflower seed --she got these for rewards when learning "coffee") and applies them to the correct objects. Her basic vocab of clear, recognizable words is at about 38-40 and she combines some of them into phrases.

 

Prior to Inara coming to live with us (and from past experience of 20+ years of having lived with an Amazon and a CAG), I put the microwave beeps on mute. Too late. She had already learned them at her old residence. However, the very cool thing that speaks to her cognitive abilities, is that when she hears the door to our microwave open (even if she cannot see it) she begins a microwave beep sequence, thus providing sound effects for me!

 

More interesting is that in the late afternoon, when she figures that it is supper time (likely due to the waning sunshine level) if I am not in close proximity, Inara will say, "It's Joe!" and then proceed to do the microwave beeps. She has figured out that when Joe comes home, I warm her mash in the (beepless) microwave and we all have supper. So I go get her, and we have some language training time while we wait for Joe. We now also give each other "High 4's" when she says something particularly new or clearly.

 

She's completely weaned off of her old diet, and welcomes most new foods. I usually introduce a new vegetable or fruit after she has had about a 3 day run of loving some type of food. This, to some degree simulates a natural behavior where parrots will seek out fruits in season, and eat them for a few days before moving on to the next thing. I make sure that she sees me eating whatever it is (and she won't be faked out) so that she knows it is safe to eat.

 

She continues to thrive, and is a very affectionate little gal. I work every day with handling her toes, feet, wing edges, and upper chest, and little cheeks. She is now comfortable with towels, and with going in and out of her new travel cage (acrylic). I've successfully handed her off to two people who were strangers to her and she did quite well. All of this has been in preparation for a visit to her new avian vet tomorrow morning.

 

Inara calls me to her cage when she wants to socialize, by calling "Woooo, Woooo, up up." She still calls me "Woooo" and says it in a myriad of ways from demanding to lovey dovey. The other morning as I walked toward her cage she said, "Woooo loves Inara." I say that to her when I put her to bed at night.

 

This morning, Joe was busy and was getting ready to rush off to work, and when Inara heard the bells on the door (our dog rings them to go out) she called, "Joe, Johhh-oh," luring Joe back to pick her up and say good morning before he went to work.

 

Oh, the new toy? She likes brushing up against it, but shows no interest in playing with it (or her other cage toys) even though she was so thrilled when I brought it in. Perhaps she views it as simply something colorful to feather her next. Perhaps it is because she gets a lot of interaction during the day when she wants to socialize, and she also has a fantastic view of the little woods and the wildlife outside of our home. She appears content just to forage around, come out to play and have language sessions, hang out with Joe to "read the news" in the evening, talk to herself during her private "closet practices," and just kick back the rest of the time.

 

I feel so deeply moved and honored with the depth of our bond, and am in awe that I get to spend what I hope is the rest of my life with this remarkable girl.

 

 

Teeko-teekos for all!

Inara's human

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

I LOVE that you are called woo woo! I'm called rom. She is growing in leaps and bounds. The developing trust is evident, and thats what its all about. Nancy

[chezron]

Keep the updates coming! Love to hear the progress. My guy, Brutus, eats bananas almost every day. Not a lot but some.

[Inara]

I LOVE that you are called woo woo! I'm called rom. She is growing in leaps and bounds. The developing trust is evident, and thats what its all about. Nancy

 

Nancy, "rom" is darling! I love it!

 

Chezron, your Brutus is gorgeous!

[danmcq]

What a wonderful update on how Inara is blossoming in your loving home. There is no doubt she is in love with you and her new home as you are with her. The cognizance abilities and quick word/phrases she has come up with are clear indication she has master the concepts of human language. I love the descriptors she uses for you, toys, swinging etc. Just to darn cute!

[Inara]

 

Age 28 months

Weight 284g

11 weeks since our gotcha day

 

Nose/beak scratch still apparent but no longer angry red.

 

Since last update, we've been working on flight capability. Inara never learned how to fly, so would just dive bomb to the ground and didn't know how to stop or maneuver. So I began assisting her in the development of her flight muscles by my holding a ¾ “ diameter cotton rope with large knots in it, and swaying it so that she could feel her balance, then swaying it a bit higher with a little drop that would trigger her instinct to flap her wings. This was an extention of our “Swing swing, hang on!” game. She has now figured out that while I'm gently swaying the rope, she can initiate her wing flapping and drive the rope in a forward direction. She really enjoys this, and it's great wing and chest exercise.

 

Inara really enjoys playing on her small PVC perch that I made. It sits close to wherever I am at the time. The other day, I was “occupied,” with my laptop, heard a flurry of wings, and then felt two little feet land on m lap! This was the first time that she initiated a very short flight without coaxing or encouragement and naturally I was delighted that it was to come to be with me. Yesterday Inara figured out that she can leap from her little play perch onto the floor by using her wings. She intitiated contact with Joe while he was on the floor by doing so a couple of times. She has yet to figure out how to fly up from the floor once down there, but has tried hopping and adding a little flap. She did take flight from the floor and head for her cage when she was startled by the arrival of “the package man,” so it's apparent that she can by instinct.

 

We're now working on counting 1,2,3. She can say all of the words, and she appears to grasp the concept of one and of two when I ask her, “How many toes?” as I hold up my fingers. She now will say three after two, but is unsure of three fingers vs. two fingers. She does hold up her toes, though, and says “tee” when she wants to play 1,2,3. She appears to really enjoy it, and gives lots of fluffs, and excited tail wags when I ask her, “Are you ready?”

 

Inara will “tell on Dezi,” by giving a couple of barks if Dezi is heading into the kitchen or going to Inara's cage to scavange for dropped tidbits. She also will give a little bark as a warning if she is feeling beaky – so she understands that barking means warnings.

 

She was nippy with Joe when she first arrived, and had bitten one of her previous people hard enough where they will have a scar. Other than the initial nippiness with Joe, she has not displayed any biting behaviors. She is now very comfortable with Joe and will give him a happy whistle, fluff, and tail wag whenever she steps up for him, or when he comes home from work, and has not evidenced any nippiness with him for several weeks. Whenever Joe laughs at something on his computer, she will join in laughter mimicing him, which makes me laugh, which makes her laugh all the more. I usually say, “That's funny!” Now she will say, “Thats fun!” She now will say, “Just Joe,” when Joe is coming up the stairs after exercising. She also is great (unfortunately)at imitating his belches, and his “oomph” type of sigh as he sits down after exercising.

 

Inara has at appropriate times said, “Thank you,” to me: when I've given her food, or when I've brought fresh water. She is now in the habit of telling me, “Good girl,” when I change her water in the morning and in the evening, and when I'm cleaning her cage. She loves her new cage, and twice now has flown towards it when startled. A good sign that she feels secure there. She enjoys being busy on her small PVC table perch that I made for her. I change up the toys and I stuff paper to shred and dried out toast with a bit of palm oil on it, and a precracked almond into a piece of paper towel tubing that is fitted over one of the uprights on it. She likes to forage around in there and get some shredding time in. She now actually chews and preens the block/knot toy that I got her a few weeks ago, she enjoys the wicker ball/knot/yucca toy, she enjoys swinging on her new rope toy and using it to maneuver her way from her roosting perch down to her lower rope perch, and she is liking her new leather/cardboard bagel/balsa hanging toy.

 

Inara's confidence is so much greater! She can now bank left and right when she flies, and can now execute two point landings that are predetermined by her. All are short, and happen when she's been startled by a loud noise (doorbell, dog bellowing at the package man – she joins in the barking for that one!) something different (Quaker Oat Man!). She also appears to have the layout of the main floor mapped out in her brain. She is not nearly as jumpy now, though, as since the beginning, when I'd see her body language “alert,” I'd simply say, “It's OK, just a noise, or just Joe, or Just Dezi.” It takes a major noise (or the Quaker Oat Man0 to startle her into taking flight.

 

 

Inara adjusted to her new cage without incident, especially once she became used to the enclosed feeders, and realized that she could not flip the dishes in them. The one shown in the photo above is not one of the enclosed ones, and is simply an extra water dish.

 

She continues to chat up a storm, and I love listening to her when she's having what sounds like a one sided Grey T&T phone conversation. I take time daily as she's practicing alone, to jot down in a log what she's saying both in English and assorted sounds that I've begun to match up with things like a floorboard squeak in the kitchen, etc. She will reproduce the noise that my throat makes as I swallow my coffee, when she sees me filling the teapot with water. So I say to her, “Yes, that's water to drink, like my coffee.”

 

Inara and Dezi (our Rhodesian Ridgeback) are completely relaxed with one another now, and neither pays much attention to the other, unless Inara is tattletaling on Dezi.

 

Inara will now eat nearly anything presented to her, and has come a loooooong way in the food department compared to her arrival. She has been going through a normal molt, and as her new feathers appear they are in excellent shape and her newest tail feather is so much brighter in color, likely due to the increase in vitamin A in her diet over the last 11 weeks. She can be a bit of a rough preener, and I'm wondering if this is true of other birds who were not raised by bird parents, or if it's just her young age.

 

Inara continues to add her own special kind of magic to our family, and we just can't imagine life without her!

 

Until next update, Inara's human.

Edited November 30, 2013 by Inara

[Timbersmom]

Inara has made so much progress! Thanks for the update, I enjoyed reading it.

[katana600]

Inara is quickly training you just the way she likes it. I am enjoying her progress very much. What a lucky little girl she is to have found you. Also it is remarkable to me the way she is integrating into your family in such a short time. Good timing all the way around.

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

I LOVE hearing stories about Inara..Keep them coming! She reminds me so much of Sophie. Sophie is 13 now... she is adorable, MASTER manipulator and my best friend. Nancy

[Inara]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can't believe that it's only been about 7 months since HRH came to live with us. To us, it feels as if she has always been here. She continues to flourish and is so deeply bonded to us and we to her. She talks up a storm, she flies now with intent and control, and never ceases to charm us with her sense of humor and her imperious antics.

 

HRH Inara decided to go on a walkabout this morning; 283 grams of intrepid soul that she is. Apparently I had dawdled too long for her liking over my first cup of coffee so she decided to take matters into her own talons and head to the kitchen to "go cook the cookies."

 

She now will say, "Let's go to the kitchen. You go cook." Last night, while I was boiling a pot of water, I had put her back home into her cage which got her little beak out of joint. Natch, I explained to her that boiling water is great danger for birds, (just ask those chickens) but she was having none of it. After a few irritated squawks, she switched tactics and called out from her cage, "Love you, kiss kiss. Want out, help you cook!" Sheesh -- pretty hard to resist, but no dice. Fortunately she does not hold a grudge.

 

Since in the wild, most of her focus would be on 1) finding food, 2) hanging with her flock, and 3) avoiding predators, it is interesting to see those behaviors translated into our more domestic realm. Recently, she flew off of her perch and began walking. I asked, "Where are you going?" She replied, "Kitchen. Get the cookies." (all dry food to her has been deemed 'cookies'). Whenever I put her back home in her cage I give her a teeeeeeeeeeeeeeensy, barely bigger than the head of pin piece of cheese for which she would sell her soul. That is the only time and place that she gets this particular treat. Now, the moment I say, "OK, it's time to go home," she does a little happy dance on my arm, says, "Cheese! Let's go go go!!!" Upon arrival at her cage, she gives me a quick kiss and hops happily onto her boing. Joe laughs and says she's the only bird he's ever seen so thrilled to go back to a cage, and then says not surprising since we have a dog who comes running with her tail wagging all excited when I say it's time to clip her nails (She sells her soul for marshmallows). Everyone has their price. . . Inara also now really enjoys her daily misting and showers and is good at letting me know when she has had enough. She used to walk up to my shoulder from my forearm when she was done, now she has taken to flying off my arm onto a shelf and saying, "That's good."

 

Inara's communication skills continue to grow. The other day Joe headed off to work (Inara enjoys telling him, "Get to work.") to a fanfare of "Bye-bye"s from HRH. He had driven off and realized that he had forgotten something. When he came back through the door, it rattled HRH's sense of schedule and she yelled at him, "Get to work! Go out the door, you!!" Joe's response? "I guess she sure told me!" Inara has come to know rhythms to our days, and she prefers to keep everyone on task. She knows the difference between "you" and "I" and uses them correctly.

 

She does become a bit confused as to why the outdoor birds do not respond to her overtures of, "peek-a-boo," "hey there," and "hello." After their silence offends her, she will hit them with her Death Ray, a sound saved usually for The Squirrel.

 

I've begun tucking some of her dried foods into the little wooden shoes on one of her toys. She absolutely loves foraging about inside of them, and will order me to "Get the cookies," between 2 and 3 in the afternoon, after which she will say, "Coffee."

 

Nice of her to let me have my own afternoon treat, wish I could tell her -- "You go make cappuccino, you!"

 

She did get a bit cranky for a couple of weeks while going through a full molt, can't blame her. She is great at communicating her wants, needs, and frustrations through body language. She had given me a couple of hard beak thumps during her cranky period (no bites) and it dawned on me that those happened when I was putting her back into her cage. She was on my hand both times, where usually she is on my shoulder. When upon my shoulder, she simply scoots backward or turns her back when she does not want to go into her cage. Upon my hand, she did not have that option so did the only thing she knew out of frustration and that was to give me a beak thump. The instant I went back to her on my shoulder upon approaching her cage, that behavior completely disappeared. I also resumed giving her a choice tidbit when she goes home, so that it is always a pleasant experience for her.

 

I send off periodic photos and updates to her original humans. They are happy to know that she is so happy, but I know it is also poignant for them to see her flourishing. Sometimes, though, I do have to admit to having selfish feelings of, "Well, you shouldn't have given her up. If you would have stuck it out with her, you too could be enjoying such a wonderful companion." Then, I sigh, and remind myself that if they hadn't gotten rid of her, we wouldn't have her, so all's well that ends well.

Edited April 15, 2014 by Inara

[danmcq]

What a wonderful update. Inara is making progress by leaps and bounds. I truly enjoyed reading this. Thanks for posting it.

[Luvparrots]

Great update. Inara runs your household beautifully. Good job!

[Muse]

Your little girl continues to just amaze me. She is so intelligent. I love hearing stories about her.

 

I know what you mean about the updates. Peck's 'mommy' cried when she left him. I think it is entirely possible to love an animal but yet be ignorant of their needs. The problem with her keeping Peck was of course, their eventual move to Europe. Since he's not banded or chipped, he can never leave this country because of the export laws. So though she did not have to rehome him right now, she has been looking for some time because she knew she would have to give him up eventually. I think she also wanted to leave a 'way out' in case he was adopted to someone who felt he wasn't "working out" in their home. I am sure she misses him, as she has said so in her emails, but she is also happy for him because she knows we love him and will give him the best home we can. I am betting it is the same with Inara's original humans. I don't know under what circumstances they felt they needed to part with her, but I am glad she is with you. As my stepmother always tells me "Things always happen for a reason." I feel you are the best mother she could ever ask for and I think she really was meant to end up with you.

[Timbersmom]

I really enjoy reading your updates as well. Inara's verbal ability is amazing. Timber says several words and phrases, but he doesn't interact with us verbally like that very much. I think he has the ability to do so because I've seen him manifest his intelligence in many ways, but he chooses not to for the most part. It's a pleasure to read about how others here interact with their fids

[Inara]

Thank you, danmcq, LoveParrots, Muse, and Karen. Inara really is a sweetie. I do believe that we were meant to find one another. Muse, I loved what you said about, ". . . it is entirely possible to love an animal but yet be ignorant of their needs." Inara's humans cited economic reasons and the "we can't give her the attention she needs," reason. I strongly suspect, however, that as she grew from a cuddly little hatchling into an independent 2-ish year old (according to them biting and "throwing tantrums") that like many others they just couldn't/wouldn't cope with increasing demands and frustrations. To their credit, she was very well loved and they took a great deal of time in finding an experienced home to sell her to. She got a great start in life (in comparison to my birds of the past), and for that I am very thankful.

 

Karen, I love reading about your sweet Timber. I think so much of whether or not there is a lot of bilateral speaking just has to do with personality. Inara doesn't chat with Joe when she is perched upon him, and she won't talk at all with friends of ours who come over and go up to her cage even though she knows them. She goes into "airplane mode." haha