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.