The Flock's Photostream

[Muse]

Here is a link to the pictures of the fids on Flickr. They are in an album (Flickr calls it a 'set') called "The Flock".

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59819856@N05/sets/72157637294412743

 

Hope this works.

[SRSeedBurners]

Wow. Neat pics. I can't imagine what it's like to have two Greys. I like the pic of the three conures. Trouble right there

[danmcq]

Very nice photos. You have a beautiful flock. I love the photo of your two greys on his shoulder. They obviously get a long very well. You are blessed to have them all. I would love to hear many stories and see more photos and videos. Thanks for sharing these.

[judygram]

Nice bunch of fids, thanks for sharing them with us.

[Luvparrots]

Loved the fid photos. Your flock is very nice. Looking forward to seeing/hearing more about them all.

[JeffNOK]

Quite a beautiful flock indeed! I bet your home is always interesting....to say it least!

[Timbersmom]

Yes, beautiful birds! Thanks for sharing

[BaileysPapa]

Two Greys together on your shoulder at one time! A very well adjusted flock, indeed.

[Muse]

About the two Greys: they came from the same breeder, who had two pairs of parents. One produced several babies, the other produced only one (Marden). Megan was the first hatch of the other pair, who have continued to breed to this day. As far as I know, Marden's parents have not produced any other offspring as of the last time I spoke with the breeder who has them. They are unrelated but they grew up together and have never been separated. When my husband bought Mar for me as an "early graduation gift" (really more of a "going through OB clinicals and seeing all the mommies with new babies blues" gift), I spent every single day except for clinical days at the pet store bonding with him until he was finally weaned and ready to come home. During that time, my husband played with the other babies, and Megan bonded with him, so we really kind of had to buy her as well. She chose him. Mar has bonded to me, loves me, follows me from room to room, cries if I get out of sight, but when daddy comes home - all bets are off. Both birds turn their full attention to daddy. He travels a lot for work, while I worked a normal schedule so perhaps it was just missing him. But he is so good with animals. All our pets love him. The smaller birds (especially Alex, our Sun Conure) prefer me over daddy though. I guess because I spend more time with them than he does as he tends to favor the Greybies.

 

Megan is a little high-strung and stubborn and pretty much fit the profile of what everyone told us a CAG would act like. We went through a rocky period where I bled daily from at least one finger. She would actively lunge and sink her beak in. I don't know if it is jealousy or just the fact that I expect her to behave. Mar started out more calm, confident and fairly compliant. The first day with him, he decided that my glasses looked like great fun to play with. We went through a few repetitive "Not yours!" discussions before he decided it was best to leave them alone. Now he only grabs them as 'hand hold' to steady himself when shoulder-riding. Meg has turned out to be less willful and will usually cooperate with I break out the "mommy" voice. Mar just flies off. Megan has not bit me in a long time unless you count her attacking my hair. I am not sure what is up with that, but if I do something like bend down into her cage with her sitting on the door or veranda, she lunges out and grabs a beak full of hair. She doesn't hurt my head, so I don't think it's truly a 'bite' but it is discouraged, nonetheless.

 

She is the talker. She started talking at only three months old. She has a huge vocabulary and uses sentences and can change inflection to use them as statements or requests. She is also very demanding. "Ready for breakfast" and "Want some water" are her favorite phrases. Any food that isn't poured from a bag is "breakfast". She has daddy trained to play a game we call "Fly, little birdie!" She grips his fingers and he swings her in an arc. At the top of both ends of the arc, she flaps her wings. At the bottom of the arc she holds them close, flips upside down and often goes "Whee!" She also loves to do my job. If one of the other birds is bad, she's the first one to admonish them. Maks bit me one day, and I picked him up and walked towards the side of the room that his cage is on. She said "Get up on that boing!" She also loves to tell the other birds "Bad bird! Don't bite!" and "Step up, step up RIGHT NOW!" She also carries on one sided cell phone conversations. Evidently I say "Uhhh. Umm." a lot when I talk on the phone.

 

Mar rarely talks. He can. He just doesn't. He is great with sounds, though. He gets the dog in trouble often by perfectly imitating the bark. He also does a perfect blue jay routine. He's learning to caw like the crows now. He can be a cuddle bug, but only with daddy. I guess I don't sit still long enough for him.

 

I could tell so much more, but it's been a long day. I was up half last night with a sick budgie, and today we took the budgie and the Greybies to the vet. The budgie for a respiratory infection, and the Greybies got badly needed nail trims. I will share more later, and thank all of you for the kind replies!

[Muse]

Wow. Neat pics. I can't imagine what it's like to have two Greys. I like the pic of the three conures. Trouble right there

 

Hehe. Not too much trouble though. Of course, they aren't 'trained'...in the sense of hand-raised birds that step up on command. Mama (Auna) was severely neglected. She was a year and five months old, and had grown up in a little display cage in a chain pet store. We only got her because it killed me to see her in a tiny plexi-glas enclosure every time I shopped there to buy supplies for our spoiled Greys. She'd been there so long her flights grew out, and no one there knew what to do. She escaped a couple of times in the store and I think they traumatized her catching her. She's very afraid of hands. She will step up, but ONLY on a stick, though with much patience I have gotten her to accept gentle touches and neck scritches. We got her a friend because we worried she'd be lonely, and unfortunately, he turned out to be more. We were then blessed with the three grand-fids. We lost daddy to a tragic accident. We believe he fell from hanging upside down from the top of the cage and hit his head on the way down. They raised the babies with no help from me (except for keeping the nest box clean) and were excellent parents. The babies fledged with the parents' encouragement, are not banded, and have never been clipped. They don't 'step up' on command, though they do "Go back" when asked. They are also pretty good about accepting redirection when they get into something they shouldn't. I absolutely adore all of them!

[Muse]

Interesting is a good term... at times. Chaotic also comes to mind... hehe. Especially just before breakfast, or when watching Marnie the Indian Ringneck parrot on YouTube.

[Timbersmom]

Yikes! I can barely get Timber to the vet by himself. I can't imagine taking three at one time! You go girl...

[Talon]

What beautiful photos!

[Muse]

Yikes! I can barely get Timber to the vet by himself. I can't imagine taking three at one time! You go girl...

 

I must admit, Daddy helped. He handled the Greybies and I handled the little budgie (who is doing MUCH better after only 2 doses of antibiotic!). The WORST vet visit ever was all five fur-babies. Four cats and a dog for yearly exam/vaccinations right after moving here. Ugh. I will *NEVER* do that again. I thought I was saving time, but it was just too much.

[Muse]

Thank you very much!