Speech is getting clearer!!

When I took out the babies this a.m. #1 hopped up on my hand and said, "Hello!" It was very clear but #1 was not satisfied. She said it over and over, experimenting with vocal quality, tone and prolongation of different sounds in the word. She ended up saying "Hello" about ten times and each time sounded different from the time before. Not to be outdone, #2 immediately started saying, "Hello," too. But in a totally different way, this baby sounded like a neighbor sticking his head in the door with a really prolonged, "Hellooooooo!" As I sit down to write this one of the two babies said, "Peek a Boo!" very clearly. I have noticed that they are the most likely to say words when they are out of the cage. Are they rewarding me for taking them out of their cage? I think our best speech lessons are when I have them sitting on my arm, they make eye contact and really concentrate. Of course, Java and Kiwi are in the background praising their efforts.

My youngest "baby" is in his new home!

The first thing I thought of this a.m. was to wonder how "Baby" is handling going off into the world and leaving behind his siblings and friends, and his "Mama Tami!" It seemed like the birds were really quiet this a.m. I am sure that they all are very aware that one of their number is gone. One has to wonder what they think. Knowing that they are social birds who live in a flock, I would guess that in the wild, the loss of one of their members is never good news! Java and Kiwi stayed close to me when I let them out, and Kiwi kept telling me that she is a "good bird!" She says that when she wants reassurance. I was personally most reassured when I got this message from Nikki this a.m.!!

"Good Morning!! The baby is doing great. He came out of the carrier last night and stepped right up and sat with me for about 45 minutes. I wanted it to be longer but I knew he was tired. He came right out to me this morning and already let me pet his break and seems pretty comfortable. He is exploring his cage as I write. When I put him in it last night he pretty much went to sleep- I don't blame him. We are still deciding on a name. It is between Tegan and Jaden I think. I will get to know his personality in the next couple of days and go from there. He truly is wonderful and I cannot wait to countinue to bond. I will pick up some hand feeding formula today. I really want to take him to work today but I am going to give him a few days to adjust. I will talk to you soon. Thank you so much for such a wonderful gift! Nikki"

Commentary on Bird Tents, Nest and Snuggle Toys

Sleeping tents & other snuggle toys are not a good idea for adult birds. In the wild, birds do not use nests to sleep in & they would only be snuggling with a mate. Nests are only used during breeding season. Providing anything that resembles a nest will at some point trigger hormonal & breeding behavior. In the case of female birds - especially small species like parakeets, lovebirds & cockatiels - sleeping tents/nests/etc. can stimulate egg laying & can lead to the bird becoming a chronic egg layer, eventually endangering the bird's health.

Sleeping tents & such can be great for baby birds, but should be discarded as soon as the bird has grown out of the baby stage. A wild baby parrot would not survive if it was allowed to hide in a nest once it is old enough to be on its own. Leaving a tent in the cage for too long can cause a bird to want to breed at too young of an age. Again, the risk is greater for female birds because it can trigger early egg laying.

Triggering hormonal/breeding behavior in a pet birds can result in unwanted egg laying, aggression, or a constant state of heightened hormones - something that is often linked to feather destructive behavior. In the wild, environmental changes are key in birds going in & out of breeding condition. In captivity, we tend to provide a stable environment year round & therefore need to be aware of possible stimulants that we accidentally provide.

(name withheld by request)

Bird in Weight Training Program

My mom took this picture of Jolly when she was a baby. It is one of my favorite pictures! Jolly loved to lay on her back in her food dish so she could better play with her foot toys! This one shows her lifting weights to tone up those thighs!!

Kermit... or is it Kremit?

Kermit was the second baby that my parents handraised from Coco and Charlie. He did not get a lot of handling as a baby because shortly after weaning my mother was hospitalized and then not able to do a lot with the birds. I got Kermit when he was 4 years old. Of all the parrots I have known, Kermit has been the most brilliant talker! He constantly amazed me with the things that he said and their appropriateness. When we were packing the birds up to move them to Iowa, my dad opened the big door in the bird room, which the birds had never seen open before. Kermit immediately said, "Shut the door, it's cold in here!" When I was handfeeding Java and Kiwi, he loved to eat the left over baby food. One day he was anxiously hopping from one foot to the other saying his name over and over as a reminder to me that he was waiting his turn. Finally, in an exasperated tone of voice he said, "Why do you think it's taking so long?" The next day, when Alissa brought him over to see the babies while I was feeding them, he said, "Why don't you just get them off the table?" He always seemed to know what he was saying, and would come up with the most appropriate things, entire sentences that we had never heard him use before or probably not ever use again! One of the baby's landed on his cage on day, frightening Kermit. He flipped upside down on his perch and cried out, "Oh No! What do I do now?" He loved to play peek A boo with company, ducking his head around the corner of his cage. One day, when my niece came to visit he stood on top of his cage and said, "Look up" and he twisted his head to look at the ceiling, he followed with "Look out" and he swung his head to look out the window, and then he said, "Look down" and he bent over his cage to look at the floor. I have no idea where he learned that but his words definitely corresponded with his actions.

Kermit had not been handled a lot, and at four years of age had a reputation for giving some fairly good bites. We worked with him and he became the most loving bird of all. He went to live with Maxine who had recently lost her Amazon parrot who was about 65 years of age. She had known him since she was a little girl. Sorry the camera was sideways. I don't know how to straighten out a video clip. You can see what a sweet bird Kermit came to be!!

Baby Listens carefully

I should have labeled the pictures immediately. Now I don't remember which baby is which. You can see Java and Kiwi in the background. They always paid close attention when I worked with the babies. They never seemed jealous, just helpful! Java always had comments and helpful suggestions. When I reach to pick up a baby, he tells them to "Step up!" He praises them when they do what I want! He tells them to come to me with his cute "Come here!" When I give them something to eat, he says, "There you go!" When the baby's were just learning to fly, he said "oh oh!" when they landed badly. One day when #3 was heading straight for the wall, Java could see that the baby was going to crash, just before he hit the wall, Java cried out, "Oh no! Oh no!" I call Java my assistant and my commentator. It seems that it is his job to make comments on everything that happens!

The Youngest Baby