Thursday, December 25, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
parry has been a doll! i don't know if i've stated it here, but she and i have had a breakthrough a few weeks ago. with parry in her cage, she allowed me to actually give her a good head scratch...and on more than one occasion! i have been so thrilled by that.
she also plays the games, which she plays with my husband, with me....the "turning your head quickly to one side and parry mimics" game, or the "head bopping like night at the roxberry's" game. i just call her name and we start playing.
parry is a very inquisitive and interactive bird. she LOVES attention and her favorite place in the house to be is in the bathroom because of all the nice soft towels that she can chew on. we have had to stop her from going in there because she can get very territorial and aggressive.
she also plays the games, which she plays with my husband, with me....the "turning your head quickly to one side and parry mimics" game, or the "head bopping like night at the roxberry's" game. i just call her name and we start playing.
parry is a very inquisitive and interactive bird. she LOVES attention and her favorite place in the house to be is in the bathroom because of all the nice soft towels that she can chew on. we have had to stop her from going in there because she can get very territorial and aggressive.
Friday, September 5, 2008
You think owning a parrot (or two) is for you? Have you ever thought about whether you would be able to take the chatty "contact calls" that happen every morning and every evening? Play the following movie with your sound up all the way. This is in a house with 8 parrots, just after breakfast. (We cover the ground with towels to catch the poop.) Enjoy!
PS: I look forward to these conversations...:-)
PS: I look forward to these conversations...:-)
Monday, September 1, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
parry is really a great bird. she still plucks, unfortunately, but we do use various foraging toys and let her out of her cage a lot to dissuade her from this. she still works very well with my husband, stepping up when asked. for me, mostly because i am very intimidated by her beak, i only interact with her by handing her treats or talking with her. i don't really show her my fear just because its not really a fear anymore since i've lived with her for a couple of months (i do stand my ground, which she just decides she can walk over my lap like a small road-block, lol). i just rather have a good living relationship with her without putting more stress on her and me.
things are going well. she likes to rip up towels, which we have a few old ones reserved for her.
things are going well. she likes to rip up towels, which we have a few old ones reserved for her.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Parry just received some really great toys donated by the wonderful people at Parrot Toy Angels! They are absolutely beautiful and well-made. We have introduced her to one of them...here is Parry playing with her new toy.
Parry loves her foraging time, even though this time may be short. why short? because she will visit ALL foraging "stations" once she gets into her cage at night and digs out her treats all at once. we try to change the places and which place has a nut and which just has pieces of wood or paper in it, but she's just quick.
She does continue to pluck herself, but i'm still positive that she will someday stop. she has started to really enjoy her multi-weekly baths so maybe this will help stop the plucking as well.
Parry loves her foraging time, even though this time may be short. why short? because she will visit ALL foraging "stations" once she gets into her cage at night and digs out her treats all at once. we try to change the places and which place has a nut and which just has pieces of wood or paper in it, but she's just quick.
She does continue to pluck herself, but i'm still positive that she will someday stop. she has started to really enjoy her multi-weekly baths so maybe this will help stop the plucking as well.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Parry is definitely a character! she has found her newest playground (which we are certainly trying to discourage for many reasons!) in our bedroom closet. we usually open her cage and let her walk out into the living room, where we place her on a playstand. i close the bathroom door since she has shown much interest in tearing up our bathroom rug to pieces. but we have left our bedroom door open a few times and twice, so far, she has walked straight into our bedroom and into our warm, soft, dark closet.
during once instance, i actually SAT in the doorway of our bedroom and she was so determined to get into our bedroom, that she climbed over my leg to get into the room! (she was very polite about it too, and didn't pinch any skin). what a goofy girl!
Parry loves preening sessions with my husband and doing her own thing. we still fill up foraging toys around her cage to keep her busy during the day, but occasionally we find plucked feathers (even some drops of blood) around her cage and playstand. its disheartening, but we are trying. the next thing to try is changing her diet a bit. but i think this is probably more of a habit than a skin irritation - i could be wrong.
during once instance, i actually SAT in the doorway of our bedroom and she was so determined to get into our bedroom, that she climbed over my leg to get into the room! (she was very polite about it too, and didn't pinch any skin). what a goofy girl!
Parry loves preening sessions with my husband and doing her own thing. we still fill up foraging toys around her cage to keep her busy during the day, but occasionally we find plucked feathers (even some drops of blood) around her cage and playstand. its disheartening, but we are trying. the next thing to try is changing her diet a bit. but i think this is probably more of a habit than a skin irritation - i could be wrong.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
I just wanted to share a moment with parry which shows her intellect and playfulness.
I have been working with parry on targetting. her treat upon successful targeting is a pumpkin seed (a little smaller than I am comfortable with, but she is GREAT at gently taking it out of my fingers). Recently, I offered her the target and she took it out of my hands. She was gently biting it and playing it with her foot, but I couldn't possibly give her the treat for removing the target out of my hands...
At this point she held the target stick in her foot. I showed her the pumpkin seed and as she reached out for it with her beak, I showed her my other opened hand, which was strategically placed under the foot which held the target stick. I said to her "can we make a trade?". Parry looked at me, my open hand, looked at the target stick, dropped the target stick and I promptly gave her the pumpkin seed. some kind of coincidence? a show of intelligence and understanding of cause-and-effect? hm....
I have been working with parry on targetting. her treat upon successful targeting is a pumpkin seed (a little smaller than I am comfortable with, but she is GREAT at gently taking it out of my fingers). Recently, I offered her the target and she took it out of my hands. She was gently biting it and playing it with her foot, but I couldn't possibly give her the treat for removing the target out of my hands...
At this point she held the target stick in her foot. I showed her the pumpkin seed and as she reached out for it with her beak, I showed her my other opened hand, which was strategically placed under the foot which held the target stick. I said to her "can we make a trade?". Parry looked at me, my open hand, looked at the target stick, dropped the target stick and I promptly gave her the pumpkin seed. some kind of coincidence? a show of intelligence and understanding of cause-and-effect? hm....
Monday, July 14, 2008
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
parry - although she still lifts her head and neck feathers when i get close (which means she is trying to warn me to not get any further), has not bitten me or lunged at me. (keeping fingers crossed!) anyways, i move backwards when she does this and just talk to her. if i have a treat for her, i show it to her and ask her if she wants it. i take a few steps closer and if she doesn't lift her feathers again, i approach her all the way to give her the treat. she still wonderfully takes the treat from my fingers.
and the way she takes the treat from my fingers is very thoughtful. she will approach my fingers with her beak to one side of my hand and stretch her tongue out side-ways to receive the treat - so she is not going directly with her beak towards the treat, but will go to the side of the treat and reach out with her tongue to guide the treat (in my fingers) to her beak. cute, huh? i haven't seen an amazon parrot do that.
she has started to make more sounds...nowadays, she would start the morning calls for the rest of the flock. she says "hello" and a word that sounded like the name of one of the other foster birds - "cocoa". (we'll have to keep an ear out for that one again).
one thing that we did this weekend is to move her into the bird room, where she is sharing a room with 5 other birds. she made a lot of noise during the first two days (it sounded like she wasnt very comfortable with the new placement) but then eventually calmed down. i think being with other birds, she (hopefully) will be more interested in looking at other birds than picking her feathers. she is also away from the window that looks outside (so she won't be startled by any quick movements outside) but she can still look outside.
and the way she takes the treat from my fingers is very thoughtful. she will approach my fingers with her beak to one side of my hand and stretch her tongue out side-ways to receive the treat - so she is not going directly with her beak towards the treat, but will go to the side of the treat and reach out with her tongue to guide the treat (in my fingers) to her beak. cute, huh? i haven't seen an amazon parrot do that.
she has started to make more sounds...nowadays, she would start the morning calls for the rest of the flock. she says "hello" and a word that sounded like the name of one of the other foster birds - "cocoa". (we'll have to keep an ear out for that one again).
one thing that we did this weekend is to move her into the bird room, where she is sharing a room with 5 other birds. she made a lot of noise during the first two days (it sounded like she wasnt very comfortable with the new placement) but then eventually calmed down. i think being with other birds, she (hopefully) will be more interested in looking at other birds than picking her feathers. she is also away from the window that looks outside (so she won't be startled by any quick movements outside) but she can still look outside.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Something has changed in Parry towards me...i think it might have been while at a bird care class we visited (to show off some of our foster birds) while i was trying to calm her, i tried touching her toes which she didn't really care for, but didn't really move away from me. after that, whenever i approach, she lifts all of her feathers on her head and neck as if she is going to attack. not 100% sure that this is attack mode, but i respect her space and move away anyway. oh, and she also pins her eyes at me.
im hoping it wasn't because i tried to calm her by touching her feet...maybe its the time of the year? anyways, im pretty much going back to square one with her. just spending time with her with some distance, and offering her a treat everytime i go and visit her. the last thing i want is for her to be in a situation with me where she feels she needs to attack me.
but she is a good girl, nevertheless. my husband is still able to scratch her all over her face and neck. she loves to forage in her toys and also make some contact calls in the morning and evening with the other birds.
im hoping it wasn't because i tried to calm her by touching her feet...maybe its the time of the year? anyways, im pretty much going back to square one with her. just spending time with her with some distance, and offering her a treat everytime i go and visit her. the last thing i want is for her to be in a situation with me where she feels she needs to attack me.
but she is a good girl, nevertheless. my husband is still able to scratch her all over her face and neck. she loves to forage in her toys and also make some contact calls in the morning and evening with the other birds.
Friday, June 6, 2008
we are waiting for the results of parry's last check up. she was on some stronger medicine than cipro to eliminate the infection she has been fighting inside her. im hoping everything is clear.
yesterday night was the first night i have allowed her to come out of the cage without my husband around. i've never done this, nor have i ever tried to have her step up onto a stick. and i have not been able to touch her yet (her swishing her tail in my face as she climbs around her cage - because she doesn't know the length of her own tail! - doesn't count, i think). i think she would step up onto a stick for me, i think its just my own fear and hesitation that stops me...i guess im just not a macaw person - but parry is sure a great starter macaw for me!
anyways, i let her out because when i went to see her after coming home from work, she was bouncing her head up and down, making noises that sound like a whimpering dog but bird-like (does that make sense? i have to film it) and she really looked like she needed out. so i did. she has never bitten me, nor has she lunged for me outside of her cage - she has been actually quite well-behaved with me around - so i felt confident. i called her out and as i was busily going in and out of rooms to clean cages, parry would follow me. if i needed to go in her direction, she would bow her head down and take about 10 steps backwards (makes me want to make the sounds of a truck going backwards...beep....beep...beep) and she would make room for me. she did this all while i cleaned the cages.
parry seems much more interested in her surroundings, more curious and more happy when people are around. when the other birds make their morning and evening calls, she now joins in with her own calls (still not as loud as you would normally expect from a macaw - she has never screeched!). parry also says "hello" and "hi" alot more nowadays. she also tries to mimic words and noises. she tried to match to pitch/tone of the conure calls yesterday. cute!
she loves brown bread, animal crackers, carrots and strawberries from the garden, and birdie bread that i make either out of cornmeal and stuff high in vitamin A or with the harrison's birdie bread mix.
parry has found the bathroom to be her favorite hang out spot. why? i really don't know. its not like a dark room - its very well lit, either from the sun through the window or from the lights in the ceiling and around the mirror above the sink. she likes to chew on towels...well, i try to keep her out of there just because...well, its a bathroom.
parry doesn't seem to like the other birds too much...i "visited" her with my amazon on a stick and she looked like she was about to lunge at him, so i moved him away. same for my conures.
unfortunately parry is still plucking herself. *sigh*. it will be a long battle. i am going to try putting a little aloe juice (organic) in her water and see if that helps.
oh, and parry continues to LOVE to forage. we bought this huge coconut husk (coconut removed, but husk completely intact) with holes on three sides. so i put that in her cage with a nut in the middle of it. she has chewed on it and i think its a great foraging toy. also, every night i fill her 2 buckets and other foraging toys with stuff and a little nut here and there. usually i have to do this 2 - 3 times before putting her to bed because once i'm done filling it up, she goes to work. she just loves it. and she makes those whimpering sounds as she's foraging - i think its because she is so excited and wants to find what's at the bottom! its so cute. i make the sounds with her and she gets more antsy! i have to film that too.
going back to letting her out last night, she helped me also wiping down the bottom grate of the conure cage, since i took it in the shower to give it a good scrub. i wiped it down with a towel and parry pulling it one way, and i was pulling it in the other direction. teamwork! after that, she decided she had enough and walked back to her room and waited on top of her cage until i cleaned out her cage (and filled up her foraging areas). so she did what she wanted, went where she wanted and definitely kept me in good company. she was very well-behaved. if she did something i didn't like, i gave her a slightly stern look and a "no" and she stopped.
yesterday night was the first night i have allowed her to come out of the cage without my husband around. i've never done this, nor have i ever tried to have her step up onto a stick. and i have not been able to touch her yet (her swishing her tail in my face as she climbs around her cage - because she doesn't know the length of her own tail! - doesn't count, i think). i think she would step up onto a stick for me, i think its just my own fear and hesitation that stops me...i guess im just not a macaw person - but parry is sure a great starter macaw for me!
anyways, i let her out because when i went to see her after coming home from work, she was bouncing her head up and down, making noises that sound like a whimpering dog but bird-like (does that make sense? i have to film it) and she really looked like she needed out. so i did. she has never bitten me, nor has she lunged for me outside of her cage - she has been actually quite well-behaved with me around - so i felt confident. i called her out and as i was busily going in and out of rooms to clean cages, parry would follow me. if i needed to go in her direction, she would bow her head down and take about 10 steps backwards (makes me want to make the sounds of a truck going backwards...beep....beep...beep) and she would make room for me. she did this all while i cleaned the cages.
parry seems much more interested in her surroundings, more curious and more happy when people are around. when the other birds make their morning and evening calls, she now joins in with her own calls (still not as loud as you would normally expect from a macaw - she has never screeched!). parry also says "hello" and "hi" alot more nowadays. she also tries to mimic words and noises. she tried to match to pitch/tone of the conure calls yesterday. cute!
she loves brown bread, animal crackers, carrots and strawberries from the garden, and birdie bread that i make either out of cornmeal and stuff high in vitamin A or with the harrison's birdie bread mix.
parry has found the bathroom to be her favorite hang out spot. why? i really don't know. its not like a dark room - its very well lit, either from the sun through the window or from the lights in the ceiling and around the mirror above the sink. she likes to chew on towels...well, i try to keep her out of there just because...well, its a bathroom.
parry doesn't seem to like the other birds too much...i "visited" her with my amazon on a stick and she looked like she was about to lunge at him, so i moved him away. same for my conures.
unfortunately parry is still plucking herself. *sigh*. it will be a long battle. i am going to try putting a little aloe juice (organic) in her water and see if that helps.
oh, and parry continues to LOVE to forage. we bought this huge coconut husk (coconut removed, but husk completely intact) with holes on three sides. so i put that in her cage with a nut in the middle of it. she has chewed on it and i think its a great foraging toy. also, every night i fill her 2 buckets and other foraging toys with stuff and a little nut here and there. usually i have to do this 2 - 3 times before putting her to bed because once i'm done filling it up, she goes to work. she just loves it. and she makes those whimpering sounds as she's foraging - i think its because she is so excited and wants to find what's at the bottom! its so cute. i make the sounds with her and she gets more antsy! i have to film that too.
going back to letting her out last night, she helped me also wiping down the bottom grate of the conure cage, since i took it in the shower to give it a good scrub. i wiped it down with a towel and parry pulling it one way, and i was pulling it in the other direction. teamwork! after that, she decided she had enough and walked back to her room and waited on top of her cage until i cleaned out her cage (and filled up her foraging areas). so she did what she wanted, went where she wanted and definitely kept me in good company. she was very well-behaved. if she did something i didn't like, i gave her a slightly stern look and a "no" and she stopped.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Friday, May 16, 2008
Parry is really a great bird. she has been needing some mediction (she was on cipro for an earlier infection they found, but they saw that the infection was still there so we are using a different antibiotic) and although we do have to towel her (towelling her is not difficult at all - my husband plays peekaboo with her for a bit then towels her for her meds) she takes the meds without a fuss. she's a really good bird.
oh, we also took her into get some xrays done. Dr. Chris Sanders wanted to see if there was anything that was causing her infection to continue. He found nothing that would prolong this infection, but he found some hardened arteries due to her previous diet of mostly nuts and seeds.
and although she still doesn't really trust me as much as my husband, she tolerates me well and doesn't lunge at me or go out of her way to try and attack me. i have cleaned her cage with her perched on her cage and she has been wandering on the ground in her room, as i sat on the ground near her cage. she has never shown any aggression towards me and she has calmly walked around me.
she continues to LOVE to forage...great reinforcement for her is the yummy nuts she finds. this weekend is a bird mart where i can find really great toys and toy making parts at great prices. i think i will look more for great foraging materials and toys for her.
oh, and she is starting to "talk" more. i have heard her say "hello" more often and she does chime in on the morning and early afternoon calls that the other birds make (Parry is still not anywhere near the loudness you would normally associate with macaws, but she is a bit more vocal than when we first met her.
oh, we also took her into get some xrays done. Dr. Chris Sanders wanted to see if there was anything that was causing her infection to continue. He found nothing that would prolong this infection, but he found some hardened arteries due to her previous diet of mostly nuts and seeds.
and although she still doesn't really trust me as much as my husband, she tolerates me well and doesn't lunge at me or go out of her way to try and attack me. i have cleaned her cage with her perched on her cage and she has been wandering on the ground in her room, as i sat on the ground near her cage. she has never shown any aggression towards me and she has calmly walked around me.
she continues to LOVE to forage...great reinforcement for her is the yummy nuts she finds. this weekend is a bird mart where i can find really great toys and toy making parts at great prices. i think i will look more for great foraging materials and toys for her.
oh, and she is starting to "talk" more. i have heard her say "hello" more often and she does chime in on the morning and early afternoon calls that the other birds make (Parry is still not anywhere near the loudness you would normally associate with macaws, but she is a bit more vocal than when we first met her.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Parry has just gone through 2 weeks of cipro medication (.3cc twice a day) and after a recheck from the vet, they found that she still has elevated levels of white blood cell count - which means that she is still fighting some kind of infection. we have been asked by the vet to have her x-rayed to see if there is anything internally going on that is causing this prolonged infection. we are waiting for more direction from the macaw coordinator, but im sure that will be coming shortly.
Parry continues to enjoy her time with my husband. she enjoys scritches from him. i have not been able to touch her yet (except on the toes through the cage bars), but i have been able to give her nut treats to her outside of her cage. (i think that is due to my own personal hesitation to try this than parry's fear of me).
I also allow her out of the cage (only if my husband is around though...i have not yet tried to have her step up on to a stick in my hand - again, probably due to my fear of being bitten by such a large beak). i don't flinch back when she tries to crawl around her cage to be near me. i just talk to her very softly and not give her full eye contact for longer stretches of time (i don't want her to think that i am either challenging her or thinking of her as a meal).
She LOVES to forage. we do make it a point to fill up her "foraging stations" that she has around her cage (there are about 3, but i will hide a nut in new places to just have her roam around her cage). she will go to each one, fling out all the stuff i put in them (SO cute and funny!) and go for the nuts. she thinks that she knows where all the nuts are so if i were to hide a nut in a cardboard cylinder, she usually doesn't think to look in that and just flings that to the bottom of her cage with the nut inside - oh well...
she has gotten VERY good at unlocking the plastic foraging treasure chest i have in her cage. it took her a while to get to know how it worked, but that lasted about a week. now she can get it open in a blink of an eye. (and that thing has two "keys" you have to manipulate to open the chest!)
Parry likes strawberries! we have strawberries growing in our veggie garden and she eats them with gusto. oh, and we also have her on pellets. she has really taken a liking to roudybush, but we now mix those with harrison's. so far roudybush continues to be her favorite.
Parry also is getting a little more vocal - no noises longer than a second or two, and nothing as loud as what you would normally think a macaw would make, but she has started to make honking and short whining-type of noises - especially if she is in the midst of going through her foraging stations.
I do think she is still plucking, but that will take a while, if she ever gets out of the habit.
Parry continues to enjoy her time with my husband. she enjoys scritches from him. i have not been able to touch her yet (except on the toes through the cage bars), but i have been able to give her nut treats to her outside of her cage. (i think that is due to my own personal hesitation to try this than parry's fear of me).
I also allow her out of the cage (only if my husband is around though...i have not yet tried to have her step up on to a stick in my hand - again, probably due to my fear of being bitten by such a large beak). i don't flinch back when she tries to crawl around her cage to be near me. i just talk to her very softly and not give her full eye contact for longer stretches of time (i don't want her to think that i am either challenging her or thinking of her as a meal).
She LOVES to forage. we do make it a point to fill up her "foraging stations" that she has around her cage (there are about 3, but i will hide a nut in new places to just have her roam around her cage). she will go to each one, fling out all the stuff i put in them (SO cute and funny!) and go for the nuts. she thinks that she knows where all the nuts are so if i were to hide a nut in a cardboard cylinder, she usually doesn't think to look in that and just flings that to the bottom of her cage with the nut inside - oh well...
she has gotten VERY good at unlocking the plastic foraging treasure chest i have in her cage. it took her a while to get to know how it worked, but that lasted about a week. now she can get it open in a blink of an eye. (and that thing has two "keys" you have to manipulate to open the chest!)
Parry likes strawberries! we have strawberries growing in our veggie garden and she eats them with gusto. oh, and we also have her on pellets. she has really taken a liking to roudybush, but we now mix those with harrison's. so far roudybush continues to be her favorite.
Parry also is getting a little more vocal - no noises longer than a second or two, and nothing as loud as what you would normally think a macaw would make, but she has started to make honking and short whining-type of noises - especially if she is in the midst of going through her foraging stations.
I do think she is still plucking, but that will take a while, if she ever gets out of the habit.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Parry, unfortunately, continues to pluck. But after 2 - 3 years of plucking, I doubt just a week and a half in our care would cure that. It helps that Parry is so curious! I got her yet another foraging toy - this one requires here to turn 2 stainless steel "keys" and to pull BOTH out (not at the same time) and it opens up (its in the shape of a see-through treasure chest) and she gets the goodies inside. i left home (to go to work) with just one of the keys "unlocked"....when i got home from work, she managed to actually unlock the other key! amazing. i thought it was more of a possibility that she would break the thing to get at the nuts inside. we really have to keep this gal busy and put more foraging toys up..or just homemade ones as well. making her "work" for her food might also be an option instead of just for treats...i just want to make sure that she does eat something!
i also bought her a large boing. i've placed it outside of her cage just to get her used to it. i think we will rearrange a bit of her cage this weekend so that we can get that boing in - if she uses it, i think it could really release alot of her energy.
i have started doing target training with her and she has been doing great. i thought she would be more nervous about the target (which is a round wooden ball atop a straight wooden stick, slightly thicker than a wooden chopstick) but she touched it the very first try. i think i will continue this through the bars, or have my husband continue with maybe working with a wooden ring outside of the cage...we'll see.
i also bought her a large boing. i've placed it outside of her cage just to get her used to it. i think we will rearrange a bit of her cage this weekend so that we can get that boing in - if she uses it, i think it could really release alot of her energy.
i have started doing target training with her and she has been doing great. i thought she would be more nervous about the target (which is a round wooden ball atop a straight wooden stick, slightly thicker than a wooden chopstick) but she touched it the very first try. i think i will continue this through the bars, or have my husband continue with maybe working with a wooden ring outside of the cage...we'll see.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
Parry had her first actual shower with us today (she got wet, as you can see). my husband put her on a step stool in the shower and used one of our spray thingies on her (you have to pump in the air and you have a nice steady mist of water for a while). she didn't do much...from what i heard from my husband, she just stood there and took it all in. she didn't go all silly like i thought she would. i think its because it was a new bathroom and its something to get used to.
we've only had her for about a week, but a few days with us, we did have concerns about her health with more than occasional sneezing and some weird bright green poop. i thought it was due to stress, and i think it is. after the first week, her poop has become more normal in color (dark greenish..but of course depending on what she has eaten) and my husband and i have noticed less sneezing - we rarely hear her do this (if any) now when we spend time with her.
my husband has been able to scratch parry's head and under her chin inside and outside of her cage. i think its wonderful that she has gotten used to someone in our home so quickly. from what we see, parry loves the person who has and exhibits a LOT of energy. my husband will act crazy with her - dancing all over the place and singing or whistling - and she would actually dance/bop along with him and make occasional noises. parry also allows my husband to easily transport her on a short stick from/to just about anywhere.
i am taking things slow...she doesn't "ask" to be scratched by me, even when i offer so i don't push the subject. she does still take nuts nicely out of my hand, though, and im completely happy with this interaction we have.
parry has become quite inquisitive lately...she has been pulling out toys out of her green bucket i've given her (i've placed a nut in there as well, and she knows it)..i've put up a coconut foraging toy with a shelled walnut stuck in the bottom of it and she's found and eaten that...she has another foraging toy where she has to lift the top up to get at the treat inside. and she has been nibbling on the wooden and plastic toys hanging around her cage. with all this activity, i hope she has decided to stop (or at least limit) her plucking issue. we should keep up with changing around her toys to keep her mind stimulated.
on saturday morning i fixed up various veggies and fruits - bell peppers, long green beans, slices of raw carrots, grapes, blueberries, bananas - and mixed in some birdie bread. parry seems to really like the green beans (still) and the bell peppers - which she started off with first. my husband cleaned out the breakfast bowls so i couldn't see what else she liked. im thinking about using a birdie kabob in her cage to hang from the top or the side of her cage and just put some fresh veggies on there for her breakfast or dinner and see if she has fun with that...
Friday, March 21, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
my husband has made some major progress with Parry! he has been able to give Parry scratches on her head and under her chin through the cage bars...this started on tuesday.
Parry has not yet given me this honor, but i'm not pressuring anything. a bird this size needs complete respect. she has been happily taking treats very nicely from my hand through the bars. i even opened the cage once to give her a whole walnut and she took the walnut nicely.
I try to sit down with her and talk to her everyday. she likes to eat with company so I have had dinner with her. I ate the same veggies as she did for dinner and I made some "yummy" sounds which made her a little curious, so i let her see me as i dumped a bit of my veggies into her food bowl and she came right over. not sure how much she ate, but she ate some. we bought some long green beans from the farmer's market this past weekend and she just LOVES to take those, snap the top off and bite pieces of it off. with those pieces she opens it up carefully and eats the peas inside while discarding the rest of that piece.
She also showed an interest in tangarines (which we were told she likes).
Because she shows some curiosity, I am going to try to target train her and see where that takes us.
Today my husband - for the first time since she came here - took her out of her cage. he said that the first thing she did was clamor to the top of her cage. Then she moved onto the cage door and started "testing out" (tapping it with her beak) the window near her cage. - we definitely need watch that!
Parry seemed to have been okay with stepping up for him on to his stick (which we also got from his former owner), and my husband tried to take her into the shower. he first put her on the handle-bar of a step stool and tried to take her into the shower, but she stepped back on to the handle bar of the step stool. i told him to try and put a plastic chair that we have into the shower and have her perch there and turn on the shower...i think he is doing that now since i haven't heard from him in about 10 minutes (i guess its going well..?) i'll keep you posted!
Parry has not yet given me this honor, but i'm not pressuring anything. a bird this size needs complete respect. she has been happily taking treats very nicely from my hand through the bars. i even opened the cage once to give her a whole walnut and she took the walnut nicely.
I try to sit down with her and talk to her everyday. she likes to eat with company so I have had dinner with her. I ate the same veggies as she did for dinner and I made some "yummy" sounds which made her a little curious, so i let her see me as i dumped a bit of my veggies into her food bowl and she came right over. not sure how much she ate, but she ate some. we bought some long green beans from the farmer's market this past weekend and she just LOVES to take those, snap the top off and bite pieces of it off. with those pieces she opens it up carefully and eats the peas inside while discarding the rest of that piece.
She also showed an interest in tangarines (which we were told she likes).
Because she shows some curiosity, I am going to try to target train her and see where that takes us.
Today my husband - for the first time since she came here - took her out of her cage. he said that the first thing she did was clamor to the top of her cage. Then she moved onto the cage door and started "testing out" (tapping it with her beak) the window near her cage. - we definitely need watch that!
Parry seemed to have been okay with stepping up for him on to his stick (which we also got from his former owner), and my husband tried to take her into the shower. he first put her on the handle-bar of a step stool and tried to take her into the shower, but she stepped back on to the handle bar of the step stool. i told him to try and put a plastic chair that we have into the shower and have her perch there and turn on the shower...i think he is doing that now since i haven't heard from him in about 10 minutes (i guess its going well..?) i'll keep you posted!
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Saturday, March 15, 2008
My husband sat with Parry later today and he started to play the radio a little louder...he also started to move with the music and Parry started vocalize a bit with him as well as move her head side to side or up and down to the music. we have some of this on video which i will post right after this.
we have also been told that Parry does know how to say "hi" or "hello", but not very often. we have not heard any of this yet, but from her short vocalizations (which were not - by any means - loud or ear-piercing) i think she would be able to say some words. Parry's former owners also noted that she usually mumbles a lot, especially if Parry thinks she is alone.
Parry has continually been taking nuts from my fingers through her cage bars very nicely and eats them. i think that is a prety good sign so far, since if a bir does not feel comfortable with someone, they may take the nut but drop it promptly after taking it.
i put a full roll of toilet paper in her cage as something to bite on and she has done some work on that today. i saw a pile of shredded toilet paper on the bottom of her cage. She is also aware of a foraging toy in her cage that is holding a full walnut. its in one of those contraptions where you just lift the top lid and there's the yummy treats. i also have a small plastic bucket in there filled with foot toys and soft balsa pieces and one large walnut.
she has been moving around a bit more in her cage. i think she is a little intimidated on the size of the cage and what all the toys really are. so far she knows where the food and water bowls are and she has ventured to the back of the cage (which is where the toilet paper roll is). i think she is starting to realize that nothing in there is going to hurt or attack her and some of those things are actually fun to play with.
it seems that at times she is testing (or tasting) the cage. she will put her beak and tongue on the cage and kinda stand there - either moving her beak against the cage or just licking it.
she also has already let a tail feather (i believe, or could be a wing feather) go. im just hoping its not a plucking thing and more of it having to do with being in the travel carrier as we transported her home to us.
we fed her some fresh food which consisted of asparagus, english beans (in the pod), grape tomatoes, birdie bread that i made this morning, a 1/4 of a tangarine, banana pieces and a bit of broccoli....but we don't think she touched it much. we'll keep on trying. from what i see, i think she has only eaten seeds and nuts today. at least she is eating something! im happy about that.
we have also been told that Parry does know how to say "hi" or "hello", but not very often. we have not heard any of this yet, but from her short vocalizations (which were not - by any means - loud or ear-piercing) i think she would be able to say some words. Parry's former owners also noted that she usually mumbles a lot, especially if Parry thinks she is alone.
Parry has continually been taking nuts from my fingers through her cage bars very nicely and eats them. i think that is a prety good sign so far, since if a bir does not feel comfortable with someone, they may take the nut but drop it promptly after taking it.
i put a full roll of toilet paper in her cage as something to bite on and she has done some work on that today. i saw a pile of shredded toilet paper on the bottom of her cage. She is also aware of a foraging toy in her cage that is holding a full walnut. its in one of those contraptions where you just lift the top lid and there's the yummy treats. i also have a small plastic bucket in there filled with foot toys and soft balsa pieces and one large walnut.
she has been moving around a bit more in her cage. i think she is a little intimidated on the size of the cage and what all the toys really are. so far she knows where the food and water bowls are and she has ventured to the back of the cage (which is where the toilet paper roll is). i think she is starting to realize that nothing in there is going to hurt or attack her and some of those things are actually fun to play with.
it seems that at times she is testing (or tasting) the cage. she will put her beak and tongue on the cage and kinda stand there - either moving her beak against the cage or just licking it.
she also has already let a tail feather (i believe, or could be a wing feather) go. im just hoping its not a plucking thing and more of it having to do with being in the travel carrier as we transported her home to us.
we fed her some fresh food which consisted of asparagus, english beans (in the pod), grape tomatoes, birdie bread that i made this morning, a 1/4 of a tangarine, banana pieces and a bit of broccoli....but we don't think she touched it much. we'll keep on trying. from what i see, i think she has only eaten seeds and nuts today. at least she is eating something! im happy about that.
Parry came to our home today after a hard split-up between his long time owner. We did allow them to spend as much time as they felt comfortable till moving her to our home since I know that is important for both the bird and the people giving the bird to Mickaboo. This exchange is really is all about the bird and if the people giving the bird to Mickaboo is not fully decided upon surrendering the bird, the bird will pick up on that and possibly retaliate and not take as easily to the foster family as how normally the case would be.
I fully respect the family who surrendered Parry - it is by no means an easy decision, but they had the best interest of the bird at heart. I dedicate this blog to that decision and to the continuation of the happy, healthy life Parry is meant to have for the rest of her life.
A little background on Parry:
What we know of Parry is that she is at least 27 yrs old, and she is indeed a SHE (she has laid eggs in the past!) Her former father had her for those 27 years, and he thinks she was a year or two when he bought her from a south californian pet shop.
Parry is a wild caught bird, possibly from Bolivia. She has been loved during her life and she has loved her favorite male person. Parry has known to take a liking to a few other people she has met along the way (men and women).
She has been known to seek out a warm, dark place somewhere in the home to be nesty and territorial over. Because of this fact, we were easily able to have her walk into the travel carrier on her own. The carrier has a few holes on each side, but the plastic material covered enough that it created a darkened area inside. she went right in and explored. I am thinking we can't keep her in there for too long otherwise she will get very hormonal and nesty, but its good to know that she is okay with that carrier. We will do some travelling around in that cage for sure!
After coming to her quarantine room, we opened up the carrier right in front of the entrance of her cage and she stepped right up to one of the manzanita branches. She has been keeping toward the front of the cage so far, and moving across the front between the water and food bowls (they are on opposite sides of the cage).
We put a stainless steel chain around her door and put a padlock on it because we have been told (and are witnesses to!) that she can open up her cage by manipulating the basic locking features on a typical cage. Also, if a padlock is not completely closed, she can easily open it completely and out she comes!
She has been picking at her food - I have all kinds of things in there just to see what she is interested in (harrisons course, zupreem fruit blend, some nuts/seeds) - and she has also been taking nuts from my fingers (nicely too) as well as from my husband. I hope she continues to be this nice to both of us :-) but i know it is way too early to tell yet since she is in the honeymoon period for the next two weeks at least. so far she has been great. rather quiet. she has been sneezing a bit off and on. I will keep an eye on that.
Parry is plucked on her chest and back area - from what we know she has been plucking for the last 2 years. I am keeping an eye on her and if she is continually plucking. As i write, she is preening herself. so im a little worried. she took a shower yesterday, so we'll hold off on that till next weekend perhaps. (i really dont know how we are going to do that yet..) plus i think she needs a wing and nail trim.
Well, that's it for now. I hope you like her pictures, below.
I fully respect the family who surrendered Parry - it is by no means an easy decision, but they had the best interest of the bird at heart. I dedicate this blog to that decision and to the continuation of the happy, healthy life Parry is meant to have for the rest of her life.
A little background on Parry:
What we know of Parry is that she is at least 27 yrs old, and she is indeed a SHE (she has laid eggs in the past!) Her former father had her for those 27 years, and he thinks she was a year or two when he bought her from a south californian pet shop.
Parry is a wild caught bird, possibly from Bolivia. She has been loved during her life and she has loved her favorite male person. Parry has known to take a liking to a few other people she has met along the way (men and women).
She has been known to seek out a warm, dark place somewhere in the home to be nesty and territorial over. Because of this fact, we were easily able to have her walk into the travel carrier on her own. The carrier has a few holes on each side, but the plastic material covered enough that it created a darkened area inside. she went right in and explored. I am thinking we can't keep her in there for too long otherwise she will get very hormonal and nesty, but its good to know that she is okay with that carrier. We will do some travelling around in that cage for sure!
After coming to her quarantine room, we opened up the carrier right in front of the entrance of her cage and she stepped right up to one of the manzanita branches. She has been keeping toward the front of the cage so far, and moving across the front between the water and food bowls (they are on opposite sides of the cage).
We put a stainless steel chain around her door and put a padlock on it because we have been told (and are witnesses to!) that she can open up her cage by manipulating the basic locking features on a typical cage. Also, if a padlock is not completely closed, she can easily open it completely and out she comes!
She has been picking at her food - I have all kinds of things in there just to see what she is interested in (harrisons course, zupreem fruit blend, some nuts/seeds) - and she has also been taking nuts from my fingers (nicely too) as well as from my husband. I hope she continues to be this nice to both of us :-) but i know it is way too early to tell yet since she is in the honeymoon period for the next two weeks at least. so far she has been great. rather quiet. she has been sneezing a bit off and on. I will keep an eye on that.
Parry is plucked on her chest and back area - from what we know she has been plucking for the last 2 years. I am keeping an eye on her and if she is continually plucking. As i write, she is preening herself. so im a little worried. she took a shower yesterday, so we'll hold off on that till next weekend perhaps. (i really dont know how we are going to do that yet..) plus i think she needs a wing and nail trim.
Well, that's it for now. I hope you like her pictures, below.
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