Running away....well maybe shuffling off

#2 has been determined to get over to the toaster oven and keeps leaving the towel! Looking at that fat little body you would not think he could move anywhere very fast! I wonder how mama parrots handle this in the wild? I imagine her sharp beak is able to teach a recalcitrant baby to listen to mama pretty quickly. Here is a video clip so you can see how well he is able to move himself!

This is a picture of all three, which is hard to get without having someone moving! Typical children, aren't they? It is fun to compare them at the three different stages of development. They continue to have great appetites and seem like bottomless pits! How do the parents do it? I am talking to them constantly as I feed them and they seem to be quite attentive. I assume that at this stage they are beginning to comprehend the value of speech and like a human baby have a receptive language capability much larger than their ability to express themselves. They have one sound down pat at this point, and that is the sound they make as they beg for food!

I love the strength and personality of the youngest one! I really debated whether to leave him a week longer in the nest box, but I was not sure how Coco would handle the loss of her babies and I did not want her to take it out on the one that remained. But I am glad they all got to spend their earliest days with mama and papa who gave them such good around the clock attention and nurture. It is much easier at this stage when they do not need to be fed night and day and can go a little longer time between feedings. I am feeding them every two to three hours at this point. I watch for their crops to empty and then feed them. I have been careful not to stretch the crop to full at a time and they are emptying their crops really well. Given their grown, nice fat little bodies and activity levels, I think they are doing beautifully. I tend to be kind of a worrier when it comes to the babies. They are so vulnerable at this age.

Look at #3 lift up that big bottom!! You almost have to hold one at this stage to imagine the weight that they have on their hind ends! Of course, he is making maximum benefit of big brother to keep himself from tipping over. They are never still when they are awake, they are constantly moving, stretching, pushing. I have a video clip that I took today that I will try to post on the blog. Just think, #1 was that size and coloring just one week ago!!

#2 continues to head toward "Stanley' the pet rock. I work hard to keep the babies on the towel where they have good footing. If they get on a slippery surface they can hurt themselves when their legs splay out in all directions. I also watch their feet to make sure they are moving the toes well, and not keeping them clenched all the time. They still like to sit like this one a lot of time time, but seem to becoming more aware of managing their feet.

With the growth of pin feathers on #2 it is going to be harder to tell them apart. So far it looks like the markings on the head are going to be distinctly different! I have found with all of Coco and Charlie's babies they have more of the blue front coloring with the beautiful torquoise blue on the head and bright yellow on the head, and brighter colored feathers over the whole body, with the darker edging. None of them really have a lot of yellow on their napes and a far more colorful than Coco!

I took lots of pictures today!

This is a picture of #2 who continues to be the most curious of the three babies. It is really incredible that at this age, all three babies have such distinct personalities! The oldest baby is the most independent. He is the least likely to be found in the "huddle" with the others and will often go off on his own. The second baby seems to be the most alert and curious at this point. He is interested in looking at everything! He seemed particularly fascinated by Stanley, the pet rock that Alissa made for her dad in ceramics class. The youngest baby, not surprisingly is the most "needy" at this point and more interested in cuddling and being held. But given his age difference I think that is totally to be expected for his age.

It is hard to believe it has just been a few days since we took the babies from their nest box. They are alert and curious and showing an interest in their surroundings. They change every time I look at them!

This picture is of the oldest baby, and a comparison of the feathers from yesterday shows the incredible growth that is occurring in the emerging pin feathers. He is getting more completely covered with a soft gray down as well. They are able to walk "E.T." fashioned, and I have to keep a close eye on them every moment.

The yellow on his head is much brighter now thanit was yesterday! The beaks are also changing shape and color. When they first hatch, their bottom beak is like a large flat shovel... or like a spoon, the better to receive the food regurgitated by the mom and dad. Beaks are initially pink, but now are turning gray and will eventually turn black. Baby Amazons have black beaks which are very attractive. As they get older their beaks turn a dark gray or "wood" color. You can still see the shovel shape on his baby, but his beak is starting to look more like a parrot's beak!

At this stage the feet look enormous! I compared them to Java and Kiwi who have full grown adult feet and they are almost the same size as #1's.

Exercise Buddies

The babies use one another constantly for resistance exercise. In this picture #3 is exercising is wings! See the blur!! In a few short weeks, he will be flying around the room! Hard to imagine at this point! But an inner clock is telling him that he needs to be getting ready! I doubt anyone prepares for the Olympics any more intensely than these babies work to get ready to leave their nest and fly!

He is getting more fuzzy!!

This is baby #3 who was hatched on August 8 or 9. He is really starting to show a lot of growth of pin feathers and a little down is appearing. He is very strong and a good eater. Of the three babies, he seems to want me to hold him the most and resists being put back into the incubator with his siblings. I just have to admire his strength and the way he pushes his way to where he wants to be in the huddle of babies! If there had been a 4th egg, this one would have had a baby brother or sister even larger in size! It always seemed odd to me that the babies hatch over such a long period of time. One would think it would be easier to have them all the same size, but then the would all leave the nest at the same time which would make it very difficult for Mommy and Daddy to watch and protect the babies on those critical days. This way, they can focus on each baby by itself when it takes its first flights! God thought of everything!

Look at the pin feathers!

I had to reduce the resolution on this picture in order to post it, but I if you look really close on the tips of the pin feathers on the wings, you will see a little bit of green feather beginning to emerge. This is a picture of #1, the oldest baby. It is also possible to see the pattern where the yellow is going to emerge on the top of the head. Here is a close up and if you look close you can see the green on some of the tips. I always thought the way the rows appear to create patterns that the feathers emerge in was interesting. They certainly aren't as cute as the little ducklings who emerge from the egg covered with a sharp down, but if everything happened the same way life would not be so very interesting!

Look how big they are!

If you don't have a point of reference, it is hard to tell just how huge these babies are at this point! My parents used pop cans in their early pictures of Jolly and Kermit, so I decided to keep that same standard of measure! If I had any concerns about weight gain or growth, I would weigh daily, but these babies are definitely eating well and corn is not the only thing in Iowa that you can watch grow if you sit real still!

Suma Wrestling Baby Amazons!

The babies are already so strong! The youngest one is just as strong as the oldest one, which always amazes me! I took this video clip this a.m. and you can see how they use each other for their calesthentic exercises! They are hardly what you could call cute at this stage! I have always thought they look like little aliens at this stage, but in this case, I think they look like little alien suma wrestlers! Some have commented that they looked cold and were huddling together to keep warm. This was taken in a room that was very warm, and the babies were not cold. I am sure that they do like to huddle together to preserve warmth, or for security, but in this clip they were exercising!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEJUSLBm0wU

#2 is simply enthralled

I moved this baby away from the toaster oven several times and each time he shuffled his way back in is little "ET" manner! The babies are incredibly alert considering that they are not even quite two weeks old! They are so curious and interested in what is going on around them. I am always struck by how much they seem to be like human babies, only growing at a very accelerated rate!

What a Difference a Week Makes!!

This is not the best picture! I really apologize #1 for cutting your cute little beak out of the picture... What can I say, they move....slow shutter speed? Actually what happened was that as I took the picture #3 and #2 pushed #1 really hard and he slipped out of my carefully framed picture! I put up the picture anyway, because I think it is so amazing to see how much they change and grow in a week! They are in order of hatch dates and you can just see the transformation that is taking place in these babies!

I love how I look!

Of all the babies, #2 just loves to work his way over to the toaster oven and gaze at his reflection in the glass! Is he vain or is he trying to figure out what kind of creature he is?

I sent a friend of mine some pictures of the babies today. She was appalled at how "ugly" they were and told me to wait to send her more pictures until they had feathers! Well, I know they are not in their full stage of beauty yet, but I think they are kind of adorable. Maybe it is just because I am their mother at this point.

Seriously, I have always been fascinated by seeing the perfection of the development that occurs in such a short time in these little birds. Their feet must be nearly full size at this age! At this point, they have the biggest rear! One can hardly imagine how in a few short weeks these little guys will be able to take to flight! But right now, all of their weight is in their bottoms. What a perfect plan!! It keeps them from moving around very much, and it certainly makes them so bottom heavy that they are unlikely to take a tumble out of their nest up in the canopy of the rain forest. But their leg muscles are really developing as they seek to stand up and lift that big bottom off the floor! They remind me of those "weebles" they used to advertise back in the 70's... "Weebles wobble but they don't tip over."

Contrasts in Development

What an incredible difference a week makes in the lives of these baby birds! Baby #3 is even showing more gray on his wings than he did last night when taken from the nest box!

Determined to snuggle

I took this video the morning after we pulled the babies from the nest. This is baby #2 and he was determined to stick as close as he could to my hands!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i10o0Ou0fQg

The youngest baby #3

The youngest baby in every batch I have raised has always been the most remarkable! The are hatched at less than half the size of their oldest sibling, but it seems as if God gives them a special courage and tenacity to hold their own! The youngest baby always seems to be the strongest and can stand up taller on his little legs than the two older ones! When it comes to competing for food the youngest shows that he is not going to be pushed aside! This #3 is so strong and so alert! He is definitely a little "bird person" in his own right! Look how small he is in comparison to his oldest sibling! But amazingly, in a few weeks they will be almost virtually the same size!

Coco's Sorrow

Coco did not see us take the babies out of the nest box. It broke my heart when we got upstairs and she discovered her loss. We heard the most mournful cry of anguish. It haunts me! Coco cried and cried. She said "I miss...and then cried" just as Peggy taught her to say when Peggy left for Alaska. This has got to be the worst part of raising parrots! I would love to leave them with the parents, but the only life they can have is as pets, and it is so much harder to handfeed and tame them if they are left with the parents until they are weaned. I left Sunny with Coco and Charlie longer, and Coco attacked Sunny and began pecking her head, so I did not want that to happen again. Plus Sunny was far more afraid for the first few days when I started handfeeding than the ones who were taken earlier. I am so sorry, Coco, but I will do my best to take good care of your babies and make sure they go to good homes!!

The babies are my responsibility now

I snuck the babies out of the nest box tonight with Alissa's help. She distracted Coco and Charlie with treats while I moved the babies into a little basket I had prepared. They did not make a peep when I picked them up which relieved me. Coco and Charlie did not notice until we left the room and Coco went back up to the nest box to check her babies. Oh, I felt so bad to take the babies from Coco as she has been doing such an awesome job of taking care of them. They are so nice and fat, though this picture does not do justice to see their fat little behinds, since they are pretty deep in paper towels.

The babies are very calm and responded positively to our stroking their heads and beaks. Alissa cuddled them while I moved the incubator. She wants to call them Larry, Moe and Curlie.

They ate really well for a first feeding, and showed good strength to stand up and even the youngest baby held his head up nice and tall!

I had the incubator set at 90 which proved to be too warm so I dropped the temp to 88.5 and that seems to be comfortable for them.