Posts Tagged ‘cag’

My morning missive from home:

Subject:bird breakfast bulletin

Charles Burck to me
8:27 AM (1 hour ago)

Mix of yogurt, mango, strawberry, blueberry, and blueberry jam pretty much a hit after a cautious approach?I think he wanted to be settled securely on the crossbar first. Blueberries rejected, all else consumed w/pleasure. Lapping up the soupy yogurt-mango mix, he made those little gargling sounds he does when drinking water.

In the wild, parrots spend most of their waking hours searching out and prying loose their food; having it just plopped into a bowl leaves a bird with a lot of free time on their talons. A bored bird is a terrifying thing- your furniture, your woodwork, your fingers, your eardrums- all are in jeopardy.

So lately I’ve started introducing foraging and more complicated puzzle-type toys, where you’ve got to work for it. He’s still young, so we’re starting simply- these are wadded up water cooler cups with dried fruit inside.

This, obviously, isn’t much of a challenge- the idea is that he comes to understand that one thing can be inside another- and that the reward is worth the effort.

Not much doubt here- this is a boy happy in his work.

…um. Lots, actually.

We traveled, and hosted travelers. Read much, wrote some. Geared up for the political season. Got stood up by Mayor Nagin. Toured vaunted institutions of higher education pretending to be mature so as to fool the admissions people into thinking she comes from people of class and allow her to attend.

Along the way I took nearly 1,000 photos, so they’ll have to suffice as the rest of my Vaca Essay.

We’ll start by introducing the newest member of the family:

I still miss my Zulu terribly, but there’s such a world of difference between an abused bird and a baby who’s known nothing but love and safety.

After much backing and forthing, he was dubbed “Pratchett.” (I’d already chosen Havelock Vetinari, but he’s just too sweet to be a despot.)

Somebody who doesn’t have a name yet is this little guy, 5 weeks old in this pic and safely in his breeder’s hand:

Alison also got her way, and our new Senegal should be ready to fledge in the next week or two. Baby hadn’t been sexed yet, and the saints alone know what she’ll want to name it, but I’m sure it’ll all be most interesting.

I’ve noticed that I get several searches a day of people looking for information on whether or not Andrew has found Tui…sadly, no.

He said that people have called him and said they heard ‘things,’ but so far she hasn’t been sighted.

Of course in the meantime, Andrew’s been very pro-active. He’s been on TV, the newspapers and all over the web. He’s written a fantastic, in-depth piece on what to do if you bird goes missing on GreyForums.net, as well as being very open about the emotional roller coaster he’s been on.

At this point, he’s likely going to move back to New Zealand at some point. Tui was one of the main reasons he hadn’t gone home previously, as he wouldn’t have been able to take her with him.

If I find out anything further, I’ll be sure to post it.

Alison is in the “get another bird” camp, with a few caveats:
1)She wants to be involved in choosing the bird
2)It should be “friendly”
3)It should be “fun.”
4)She wants to be involved in choosing the bird
5)She’d like it to be more colorful.
6)She doesn’t think I should be so hung up on intelligence
7)She wants to be involved in choosing the bird.

To sum it up: Not a Grey.

And she should have oversight. Obviously.

Read the rest of this entry »

I saw this CNN headline and knew it was a grey:

The poor boy got lost in Tokyo and was first taken to the police station, but I guess he didn’t want to be a stool pigeon (har har), so he wouldn’t talk to the cops. A few days later he was transferred to a vet and:

“I’m Mr. Yosuke Nakamura,” the bird told the veterinarian, according to Uemura. The parrot also provided his full home address, down to the street number, and even entertained the hospital staff by singing songs.

I love the “Mr.” in the name. Very proper and Japanese, no?

A few days ago I put up youtube videos of the amazing Tui, and I’ve since found out she’s lost, having been caught in a crosswind and swept away when Andrew began flight training her.

He told me he has a substantial reward offered and is relentlessly walking the neighborhood and getting as many people as possible to keep their eyes on the trees…people have been very kind and have heard odd noises, so here’s hoping.

I’ll post Andrew’s video of the event below with full disclosure that I’m a wuss and couldn’t bring myself to watch it. Read the rest of this entry »

At great risk of loss of limb we began training Zulu this week. In the same packet that held his beloved caterpillars (only 3 left!) was my secret weapon- a clicker and training book!

Very dutifully I read it cover-to-not-very-distant-cover and felt fairly confident at trying this.

It came with a handy-dandy lucite stick to start with, and it was clear from the outset that he was a pro. Somebody, somewhere, has started this program with him. The first step is to get him to gently nip the end of the rod, click the clicker and give him a treat.

Well, clearly, he belongs in this household. He’s a praise whore who already knew all about grabbing the stick. But the food can disappear for all he cares, just sweet talk him (“Who’s a good boy? A very very smart boy?? Well, YOU are, of course!”) and he’s all yours.

All of this comes, however, at a point where his clipped feather wings are growing in, sparking great debate within the household. There are resources that say birds are happier, calmer, being in their natural state and able to fly.

Then, naturally, there are those who say the first group are crazy, and it’s far far better to keep them calm and clip their wings.

So we’re at an impasse on that one, and at the same time ready to move on to our hands being much closer on an ongoing basis. I have bandages and peroxide at the ready.

I know I cannot show fear.

I am firm and resolute.

Perhaps a small glass of wine before we begin…

So our vet suggested this site to keep the lad occupied. I wasn’t sure at first, but put in an order that just had to include the toy they swore every Grey loved.

Sure enough, here he goes, one second after it was put in the cage:

Somebody better tell him to be careful extending his neck with Thanksgiving around the corner.

And THEN he found the caterpillars. Read the rest of this entry »

Zulu has all kinds of foraging toys to keep him occupied, and usually they take him a day or two to figure out, but then there’s this treasure chest.

Damn that treasure chest. Two ‘keys’ have to be turned and then pulled out keep it ‘locked.’ It’s a clear yellow lucite, so he can see the nuts and things in there, taunting him. Once the bird’s pulled the keys the bottom drops down, allowing access to the goodies locked up inside.

Well, sorta. As it turns out, it’s made for a bird with a smaller head than Zulu…he can’t fit his beak in there to get at the treat. He tried valiantly for quite some time, stubbornly not allowing me to get my hands in the cage to try and help. HE was going to do it.

But if the beak don’t fit, you must submit. With a mighty PEEP! He came barreling out of the cage, and over to the outer door of his food (making sure I was watching, of course):

Ripped open the door, and flung the entire dish out, onto poor Kassie, asleep by the cage. Not that she cared much, she started eating it up straightaway.

Mission accomplished, he swung the door shut again as if it’d never happened and feeling much better about the whole episode.