Blizzards, brrrr!

Yesterday was pretty blizzardtastic, geepers. 

I managed to get some cute shots of Kai as he napped in front of the window.  My sister commented, "Isn't it awfully cold by the window?" Well, I keep my room in the mid-70's during winter, due to my arthritis being icky.  I close both my doors to keep all the heat in, which is probably why I have all the fur-kids gathered in my room most of the time, actually.  We have really nice double-paned glass windows that were just installed last year, I believe it was, so it's very comfortable by the window.

Kai's skinning nibble showed up a little better today.  I decided the little flap of skin was annoying last night, because it kept catching on things, so I just tore it off.  When I was little, my family called me Nurse M, because I loved taking care of wounds.  I was the only one in my family who wasn't grossed out by having to clean my mom's stitches after her surgery.  Hubby and I can watch CSI, Bones, etc on television while eating dinner and not be phased, too...but the second someone starts barfing?  Ugh...I can't do barfing.  Fortunately, my cats or dog barfing doesn't make me barf!  I clean up a lot of hairballs from both species when they start shedding and blowing their coats out.

I made Kai some tasty Continental Cuizine this morning and ate a little with him.  It's really tasty!  All I'd need to do for myself is sprinkle a little brown sugar on it!

Such a handsome profile!

We took a shower today and got all nice and clean.  Kai loves to sing in the shower with me, though he tends to sing and talk more after I've stopped showering him to wash my own hair.  He also really loves it when I pour a stream of water over him very close to his back and wings.  I think it must feel like a luxurious silk blanket being drawn over his body.  I probably won't do this in the future during mating seasons, though, because I don't want to make him frustrated.

I've started reading "Alex and Me", and the beginning talks about Alex dying, so I began crying right off the bat... Sue warned me that the ending was sad, but I've come to understand that any book about animals and their people always ends sadly.  People don't tend to write about their animals so much when they're alive.  It seems more cathartic to write about their animals after they've just died, so they can relive all the happy and meaningful memories.  I think that's why I like keeping a journal about Kai and the rest of my fur-kids, so I can look back on the entries later in life.  I think that's also why I take so many photographs of them, because later on, when they've gone on without me, I can go through the myriad of images and remember them.  My memory often fails me, but images and words linger with more permanency.

The difference is that I'm not writing for other people.  I'm just writing for myself, though I do invite my sister, family, and friends to read :)

Bathtime with Kai, and other fun things.

 

Kai really enjoys getting baths :)

As planned, I'm having Hubby give Kai baths once or twice a week so he can bond with him a bit more.  Right now, Kai is sitting up with Hubby in Hubby's room atop his wicker basket so he can bond with him visually, if not physically.  The last thing I want is for Kai to think Hubby is a threat if I'm away on vacation and he needs Hubby to care for him.  To keep Kai from biting Hubby, I give Hubby a piece of papaya - Kai's single most loved treat ever, aside from soy beans - to show Kai, who gets all excited and steps up easily and eagerly.  It also kept his beak occupied while I tied some toys to the basket...

To discourage Kai from biting Hubby's finger, which he did last time, I had him step up onto Hubby's arm instead.  Kai doesn't seem to be able to latch onto smooth surfaces, so sometimes I fall back to my reptile days and treat him a bit like a snake.  (A snake can't latch onto your palm if you hold it flat out in front of his face.)  I tell Kai, "You're getting nowhere, son, now be a good baby."

Kai has quickly learned the phrase, "Do you want to come out and play?" as meaning, "Oh boy, mom's going to take me out and we're going to go somewhere awesome!"  He is SO incredibly adorable in his excitement... He squats down and puts his wings out slightly as he practically hops up and down with an excited look on his face.

 

Kai was doing something REALLY cute!

He napped for half an hour holding onto the little chewie ring!

He's still developing strength in his feet, though, and sometimes he slips or falls off.  I've taken to weaving a bit of leather through the bars of the cage, or wind them around his stand perches to give him a bit of a grip.  The branches on his stand in particular are absolutely smooth with no texture, so they must be really slippery!  Kai really loves the spirally rope thing with toys hanging from it.  I gently swing it back and forth for him every now and then so he can have a bit of a ride.  You can see here that I tie fruits and vetties around the cage so he can forage a little, also.  I hang grapes from the top of the cage so he has to go up really high and work to hang on up there to get super tasty things.  I stuff his various toys with food, too, especially the toys he has to learn to tear into.  He's still learning how to play and how to use his beak, which is really cute.  Hiding pieces of papaya in the straw toys is working really well!  When ever I put him on his playstand next to my computer desk, I also rearrange his cage a little and hide new food for him.

This week when I go grocery shopping, I'm going to get some organic almonds, pistachios, and see if they have any unsalted shell-on pistachios.  I've seen places that sell the unsalted shells to use as foraging material, which I think is a great idea.  The idea is that you mix the shells in with the food and the parrot has to pick the shells out, thus, "foraging" in his food bowl.

Also!!  My friend Sue, Kai's Fairy Birdmother, sent me a package, and I was so excited to get it today!!  I opened it up, and was promptly confused by the scent of cinnamon!  The other paper pamphlets and articles distracted me, however, and Hubby took that as an opportunity to sneak upstairs to play with The Other Woman...I was so excited, because seeing The Bird Lady's familiar literature, I knew what the scent meant!

Opening up the padded white envelope, I discovered a 1.5 lb bag of Continental Cuizine! I haven't been to the store yet, but I was going to look into finding some grains and lentils to mix together, but this is so wonderful!  It's like nutritious birdie juk (congee/porridge), except way better tasting, I'm sure.  I can't wait to make it tomorrow morning, I think Kai will love it!  He's not very fond of oatmeal, as I found out earlier today while I cleaned most of it off my desk, wall, and floor.  Hee... I tried giving him a bit of unsweetened almond milk and some organic, unsweetened fruit juice, but he wasn't too thrilled with either of those, either.

Thank you so much to Sue!!! The pamphlet also had new food that Ms. Anderson's site doesn't list, so I'm so excited to be able to order some great food for Kai!  Enclosed within was also book:  "Alex and Me", by Irene M. Pepperberg, which I'm going to start reading tonight when I go to bed!

This morning as I prepared Kai's breakfast, I thought, "Making small amounts of birdie cereal is silly, if I had more birds, I could make larger portions!"  *cough*  No, one parrot is enough for me!

 

Z...z....z.....

Oh my god...it's time to go to bed as I write this, and I'm laughing so much, because I put Kai back up in his cage...and he went nutsos for the almond...but then he spotted the papaya.  He promptly tucked the almond into the bottom of his beak and climbed up the cage, then tried to free the papaya...and wound up dropping the almond.  He looked so disappointed and filled with contention!  Geez...anyway...bedtime!

Foraging fun and scars...

I got some great ideas to keep Kai active and foraging for food through the day from various sites!

http://foragingforparrots.com/

http://bestinflock.wordpress.com/category/parrot-enrichment/

http://www.parrotenrichment.com/

On another note, Kai bit me pretty good twice today.  My pain tolerance is pretty high due to dealing with arthritis and what I suspect is fibromyalgia, so I didn't really feel him bear down as hard as he did.  I'm so used to being bit, scratched, mauled, even flung from horses and trampled by a pissed off cow that hated me, I stuff like that doesn't really register to me anymore.

I was trying to get him to step up onto my finger so I could carry him to his play stand, but he was up high on his cage and didn't want to come down.  He sure told me...I know I'm supposed to push on him to get him off balance, but uh...the platform he was standing on was flat.  I tried turning my finger towards him, instead, and gee...I see how how they're able to "skin" things.  It was pretty impressive!  Kind of how lions being able to lick the flesh off carcasses is impressive.

At least there was a little flap of skin left for me to press back down.  Now, it didn't really "hurt", and I sure didn't scream or yell, I just told him, "That wasn't very nice..." and left the room for a few minutes while I disinfected my bites.

I like having scars from my animals, they're like little badges that help me remember them.  They last even after my beloved children have gone on.

"I got this scar from when my rat was protecting his mate when I went to change their food bowl...I couldn't get the bleeding to stop for two hours!  It was pretty cool!  He must've punctured my vein."

"This one is from where I was going to drop a mouse into my arowana's tank, and she leapt up a foot and a half, latched onto my hand, and hung there for a second..."

"This scar here is from when Spot decided to scale me like a tree to get up to the top of the recliner..."

"These are from the damn roosters on the ranch..."

"That one is from when Chuerio didn't want to stay in the shower and climbed up my arm so I would hug him, he was fine after that..."

They all have stories.

My most recent scars, Kai-bites aside, include where Sacha startled Mia when he came up behind her while she was checking out the tree stand for dropped goodies...and she leapt up onto my left arm, clawed her way up and over my shoulder, and perched there with her claws buried in me like a parrot.  I told Sacha to back up out of the door, then crouched down so she could hop off once she was calm, but then she had gotten her claw stuck in my shirt and the flesh of my back...and started flailing/twisting... That hurt pretty good.  She clawed her way back down my back, and since I couldn't reach my back, I just showered off and drizzled soapy water over my shoulder.  Later on, I asked Hubby how bad it was, and he said it was pretty bad.  It just looks awful while it's all puffy, but once the swelling is down, it's no big deal.

So now I'll have little Kai-bites :)  I'll never forget them, and it'll just be another way to remember him if I do manage to outlive him.

Kai says what?

Kai makes a lot of really cute birdie noises, some of which he learned while living at the bird shop :) 

To date he says/makes:
Cockatiel calls
Caws like a Pied Crow
Various whistles
Wolf-Whistle
Whistles for my dog like I do
Oooooh!
He barked at me once...
Pretty Bird

I'm trying to teach him:
The "Charge!" trumpet call...
Wow!
Whee!
Hi, Kai!
You're so beautiful!
Nigh-night

Poop...

Just posting this to my blog, because I'm always looking it up again for reference!

Bird illnesses: http://www.santaclarapethospital.com/722698.html

from: http://www.avianenrichment.com/health_poop.htm

Get the Scoop on Poop

Your bird's poop is valuable in providing insight into your bird's health status. A change in the droppings can be your first gauge that something is wrong with your parrot companion.  

Observation and determination of what is a normal range of variation in your bird's droppings will help you assess when the situation becomes "abnormal".   You should note such factors as the frequency, volume, color, texture, shape, and smell of your bird's droppings.   The use of white paper, newspaper or wax paper as cage liners for your parrot’s cage will visually display droppings the best.   Making a habit of checking your parrot’s droppings daily will serve as a great early detection system for illness.

"Normal" droppings are seen as a long tube in the shape of a coil with clear urine surrounded by white or off white urates.  Poop consists of three different components:

• Feces are the dark, firm portion which are usually tubular in shape.
• Urates, the result of digested and metabolized proteins, are typically off-white to yellowish in color.
• Urine, the liquid waste from the kidneys, is the clear liquid portion.

It is important to note that some variation in poop characteristics are natural depending on diet.  For example:

• Large amounts of fruit will result in an increase in urine content
• Colored pellets will often result in colored poop.
• Uncolored pellets will result in brown poop.
• A diet high in greens or seed will create green poop.
• Blueberries can result in dark poop.
• Urine output will vary with water intake.
• Urine and urates can pass independently from feces and an all liquid dropping shouldn't be mistaken for diarrhea.

However, some changes in droppings are due to illness:  For example,

• The volume of solid poop is an indicator of the volume of food consumed.  If the volume of feces drops this may be an indication your bird is not eating.
• If the volume of urine is consistently low this could be the result of dehydration.   An increase in urine output often occurs when a bird is stressed.
• The shape of feces is normally tubular (the shape of the intestinal tract). If the feces are unformed this indicates a case of diarrhea.
• The color of the poop is largely influenced by the bird's diet but:
  
  • dark, tarry feces indicate that your bird has stopped eating
  • red or dark brown poop could be the result of blood which indicates either internal bleeding, the presence of parasites, poisoning, or tumors
  • red or brown urates are indicative of metal poisoning
  • green or yellow urates or urine can be an indicator of liver disease or infection.
• Parrot poop typically is not very smelly.  If a strong odor is suddenly detected then this could be a sign of illness.
• Unusual texture changes or the presence of undigested seeds can indicate digestive tract problems.  Bubbly or foamy looking poop often indicates a clostridium infection.

If the observed changes are cnsistent for more than 1-2 days and they are not readily explained by dietary variations, then you should consult your avian vet as soon as possible.   Be prepared to take fresh samples of your bird's droppings in a plastic bag to your vet's office for further examination.  

Squirrels...and Sadness.

Grr.....they ate all the chickadee food in the sky cafe!  I should've known they would, but... I put some chili suet up in the suet basket and the squirrels are leaving that alone for now, thankfully.  I put cobs of corn and other squirrel-attracting items closer to the squirrel tree, but they still insist on coming over to the feeders.  Grr, grrr, I say! 

Kai was having strange, super soupy poops yesterday and I was worried about him.  I think it may have been the winter melon I gave him, though.  He really liked the edamame that I gave him today, and he got some peas, zucchini, red lettuce, brocolli - which is one of his favourites, banana, a grape, and a piece of my soft pretzel.  The soft pretzels are great - unsalted, soft, tasty, and you just zap them for 30 seconds in the microwave.  Wegman's really does have a great variety of just about everything.




Kai is a bit upset, because Murdock keeps laying on the back of my chair.  I think Kai is gradually learning that the big, poofy white cat isn't going to try to eat him.  That's Murr's spot that he likes to sleep on, because he's so big now, he doesn't really fit on my lap anymore.  It's really sweet, though.  Every once in a while, Murr will reach down and knead my shoulder, or lick my ear and "crunch celery", which is a strange sound he makes somehow that sounds like he's crunching celery.  I think it's a residual nursing habit that he maintains.  He doesn't suck on his tail or blankets, though.

I haven't read the latest books on Raptors just yet, I've just been in such a depression since I found out my Godfather passed away.  I wake up and I don't want to do anything.  I know I have to take care of my animals, though, and I do that at least.  The rest of my life suffers...I started trying to clean my desk up so I could put a little basket for Kai to sit in on my desk and I just got overwhelmed with sadness.  It's just awful...

And Kai issssssssss........!!

I just got the call from Mr. Lewis today about the DNA sexing!  Kai is a boy!  YAY!!  See, women's intuition :)  The girls at the shop and I all knew!  I certainly wouldn't have felt any different if Kai turned out to be female, though.

This morning, I brought Kai out and set him on the edge of the trashcan so he could watch me "groom".  He was bewildered and fascinated by me brushing my teeth, but I told him birds didn't have teeth to brush.  I took a shower with Kai after setting him up on the little suctioncup perch and filled the sprayer bottle up with water.  He was quite hesitant at first, understandably, but soon, he was spreading his wings out, fluffing up, and shaking out, having a total blast.  I had read that some blowdryers have teflon coating in them, so I just turned the heat up in the house and kept it warm until he was dry. I was worried about his frayed tailfeathers, but with each bath, they seem to improve.  I think it has to do with him preening them properly to "zip" them. 

He loves coming out of his sleeping crate after we get up, and it's really made a difference in his attitude.  I'm not sure he would step-up for Hubby if he was in a bad mood, though.  I've learned that if he doesn't want to step-up like a good boy, all I have to do is walk away and leave him alone for a bit.  When I come back, it's like he says, "I'm sorry, I really want to go with you!" and steps up right away.  I've also learned that if he's playing with his toys, I shouldn't try to pick him up, because he's still in play mode and he wants to bite everything.  That does make sense to me, because I'm accustomed to my dog being particularly mouthy when he's playful. It's just an instinctive drive.

The parrot book I read and leant to Peaches really helped with understanding what I should and shouldn't do, body language, and other behaviour-related things.  There are a lot of really great things I learned to facilitate Kai bonding better with Hubby, also.  Having him be the one Kai depends on to take him to different perches/stands will teach Kai that Hubby is necessary if he wants to travel to fun places.  Hubby bathing him will also teach him that Hubby is also the one who makes it rain to have a fun bathtime.  I think the bathing part will be a really easy way for Hubby to bond without having him touch/hold the bird, which Hubby is intimidated/nervous about (and Kai realizes).

I read that "birds love psychological games", which cracks me up.  I find that's true of a lot of animals, but it's understandable.  They get as bored as we do, afterall.  What would be more fun than to pick on the person who's the most afraid of you?  :)  One of the neat things I read included filling the cage full of branches and obstacles for an aggressive bird, or bird that was plucking itself.  The point was to keep the bird occupied with chewing the branches to carve space for itself to take its mind off plucking, which I found most enlightening.  Of course, you wouldn't literally fill the entire cage full of branches, but enough that he would have to chew some to get them out of the way.

On another, extremely depressing note, my Godfather, Jim, has passed on.  I don't know the details yet, but he died on Friday.  I'm going to call his wife tomorrow and find out when the funeral is so I can make plans to fly out to DC.  To honor his memory, I'm renaming Tamerlane "James", and Kai's middle name will be Griffin.  I leave you now with a cute picture, which mostly serves to cheer me up a tiny bit...

Murdock hugging Ollie's hand, with Ollie hugging Murdock over the shoulder.

He's so smart!

 

Well, he wins the messiest eater award in our house, but I'm sure he's not as bad as bigger parrots, which must leave proprotionally larger messes!  Kai amazes me.  Just last night, I had started training him how to wolf whistle.  Well, after we came back from running around in Henrietta and having dim sum with Peaches and Thor, I brought him out to play with him - and to my surprise, he wolf-whistled to me!  He has two versions, the actual whistle, then he goes, "Woo woooOooo!"  It's just incredible!  I'm trying to teach him Choo Choo! and other cute things.  Even Hubby was impressed and amused.

Hubby still doesn't particularly care for him, but he didn't like Sacha in the beginning, either.  A cat person till the bitter, catty end - maybe.  Hubby does love Sacha now, though; when he meets other dogs, he says, "They're not Sacha."  :)  Kai keeps nibbling on him, sometimes very hard, which makes Hubby pissed off, but I'm trying to work with both of them - I basically have to train Kai AND Hubby. 

"I'm preening myself to look pretty for you!"

"I'm not scared of the camera at all!"

(Maybe some day he'll make the clicking sound!)

"Why wouldn't you wolf-whistle at me?  Aren't I pretty?"

Kai's Kasa-obake impression!

(A Japanese spirit of an umbrella, which animates after 100 years, and has one leg, one eye, arms, and a tongue that sticks out)

"I'm giving it a ponder..."

"I do like what this bokeh does for me!"

The fact that Kai is able to learn words so quickly makes me excited, but also a little worried.  What if he picks up something....well, inappropriate?  I stream Pandora over my phone while we read in bed, and I realized that NIN's uncensorted version of "Closer" was playing.  I fastforwarded, and White Zombie's "More Human Than Human" started playing, complete with moaning woman.  I told Kai, "PLEASE don't pick these words up!  Don't listen!"  Haha, oi.

Parrotal Advisory...Explicit Content!  You know how it goes when you're learning a foreign language - you always learn the expletives first.

Another note on Kai's awesomeness?  He really seems to love metal!  We've been watching the Metalocalypse boxed set that Sister H gave us for Christmas, and he chats up a storm, particularly when the songs are playing!  I'm playing Moonspell for him right now and he's singing/talking while puffing up excitedly and wiggling his tongue, which is really cute.  I'm not sure if it's the guitars or the drums that do it for him?  One of my kittens is in my lap, and he's not afraid of her, nor is she particularly interested in him, which is really good - that doesn't mean I'll be leaving them alone together, though.

On another note, between the sparrows and that naughty squirrel, all the suet in my suet feeder is gone.  We also found some sort of animal track coming up next to our feeders, which looked like either a cat or a fox, which is a big disturbing.  I had to take the Sky Cafe down for a while until we can get the pole mounted into the ground.  It's just too low hanging from the shepherd's hook, and it turns into a squirrel buffet instead.  Time to get a baffle!  Doh.  I keep seeing an adorable little American Tree Sparrow mixed in with the Europeans.  He stands out like a sore thumb with his red little head! 

Hubby and I went to Barnes and Noble yesterday and I picked up two parrot books, a really cool raptor identification book, a book on ravens, and...I forget what else.  I mostly just stayed in bed and read, because I caught a stomach bug that parked me no less than 10 feet from the bathroom for emergency purposes... I'm still feeling icky now, but with a little sleep and hydration, I should be good to get up early tomorrow and deliver my friend's super late Christmas present x.x

Kai Comes Home!

I should mention that I've taken to calling my birdie, "Kai", which has many meanings: sea, beautiful, and Keeper of Keys.  It is special to me, because the first thing that he played with when I picked him up was the key on my necklace.  In fact...I didn't realize it until one of the employees pointed it out, but my necklace is a great bird toy... If Kai turns out to be female, then she'll be "Kaia".

The weather was pleasantly warm when Mr. Neighbour and I drove out around 4pm to go pick up my Pionus at the bird store.  Mrs. N was exiting her own car as we were about to pile into the old farm truck.  She laughed, because I told her, "Good morning!", and the sun was beginning to set in the west.  After shopping around a bit more for perches and toys, which the girls tucked into my bird's cage in strategic places, we were finally all set to go!  I also paid to have my bird DNA sexed, and picked out a few more toys that I thought might work well in the cage.  There was just so much to look at...!  I also picked out a carrier with mesh front and backs, which feels very sturdy and not flimsy at all like some of the ones I examined.  It took me a while, but I also wanted to give the girls a bit of time to say good-bye.  There was one girl in particular who really loved him, but I promised them I would take wonderful care of him and bring him to visit occasionally.

After Mr. N and I got the cage out of the truck bed and into the house, I thanked him and gave him a big hug, then let him get back home.  I was going over later to watch Ghosthunters with Mrs. N and Lauren, so I'd see him again in a few hours.  Mr. Lewis said that I should let my bird get used to his cage and surroundings for an hour before I tried to take him out, so I waited (im)patiently and tried not to fall asleep before I had a chance to bond with him a little.  My poor baby looked absolutely petrified sitting on the perch, and once, Ollie (my ginger kitten) walked through and startled him.  I went in and comforted him, and he calmed down.  I put him back up on a perch after I was sure he was okay and let him calm down a little before I brought him back out to play.

He still hasn't completely gotten the hang of climbing the bars of the cage yet, but I knotted some leather strips that he can use to climb up if he needs help.  I'm going to look around for some parrot-safe rope that I can knot into a ladder and hang over his perch on either side like a V, just in case he gets stuck on the bottom.  It's apparent that he's more comfortable in the cage now, but he still likes coming out to be on the tree stand better.  I had him out last night and he actually began talking with me :)  He likes saying, Week-eek? when he's not certain about something, and a kind of Meep-meep sound, along with some Kee-kee sounds that are more parrot-like.  Kai also has a cute sound he makes that sounds like Ha-ha! as if he were laughing. 

This morning, he was extra talkative, and I looked around to see what he was telling me (or asking me) about.  The feather decorations I have up all around the room were of particular interest to him, as well as the carved wooden Raven I have sitting up on my computer hutch, and the stuffed owl and other owl decorations that my sister has given me as gifts.  It's really funny, because I actually will talk to myself semi-often, but moreso, I'll talk to my cats or my dog.  I'll tell them what I'm doing as I prepare stuff for dinner and cook, or about the birds I'm taking pictures of outside, or I'll read out loud something I'm reading online.  So talking to a bird is no big deal.  My dog doesn't talk back to me usually, sometimes my cats do, but usually only if I'm hungry.  It's a lot of fun to imagine what they're talking about, or thinking about as they look at me so intently...like they're actually listening.  They're probably thinking, "Feed me...", like my fish always psychically commands me to do every time I walk past his tank.

I actually got Kai to eat today, which is a huge relief.  Being that birds are so tiny, missing meals must be stressful on their bodies, so it worries me if they go without eating for long.  I had tried to offer him food several times, but got no results.  After being turned down multiple times,  I held a slice of cucumber up in front of my mouth and said, "Nomnomnomnom, mmmm!!  This is so good!"  I held it out to Kai and asked, "Kai, do you want some cucumber?  Mmm!"  To my delight, he took it and started eating it, which made me cheer...and Kai responded by puffing up a little.  Which made me laugh as Kai just stared at me.  After that, he remembered he had been hungry and tried just about everything once. 

My friend Sue, who has a gorgeous Great Green Macaw, had written to me, "You guys - you, (your hubby), cats, and Sacha - are now his flock. Unlike the other animals who can follow at will, Douggie needs to be carried when the rest of the flock moves.  OR - she's bold enough that, if I forget and leave the cage door open, she'll climb down out of the cage, down the stairs and march herself into whatever room we're in, almost like with her hands on her hips saying "WTF!  You left me upstairs!" "

Tonight, I also took a big step and brought Kai out to the living room while I finished up my dinner from earlier.  We all sat together as I ate, and after a little initial settling down, all was well.  I had been out with Peaches, who took me to the first volunteer class for the Braddock Bay Bird Observatory tonight.  Earlier, I had brought him out to his stand in my room to have some dinner, then parked Hubby with him to babysit while I dashed around trying to get ready.  I'm having Hubby learn to bond with him a bit more, because I don't want a one-person parrot.  Fortunately, Pionuses are known to be very good birds who are social with many people.  I do plan on sharing him with many people so he will be easily handled, though he'll be spending much of his time with me.  I would like for Kai to learn early on that the cats and dog will not hurt him, and I'll always be there to monitor and supervise them all.

I do feel that it's important for us to all be together, and now my new baby needs to be inducted into our pack (or flock, to Kai!).  The cats and dog get along, but the bird is brand new, so everyone is curious about him.  Sacha is especially curious, which is a bit troublesome, but I just keep him leashed and reward him when he's acting like he should be.  Mia is interested in Kai, Murdock flees at the sight of him, and Ollie is torn between being interested and terrified.  Eventually, the newness will wear off, and everyone will just ignore everyone again :)  I generally have Mia, Murdock, and Sacha all with me, or if I have an extra catbed near/on the desk, Ollie will be with me. 

My friend Sue is sharing a lot of great information with me, and I'm taking lots of notes.  One very interesting thing that she brought up was the idea of having a sleeping box.  After doing a bit more research, I find a lot of people keep their birds in a special sleeping box.  When it's time to wake-up, they bring their birds out, then put them into their cages; this is said to prevent territorialism, which strikes me as very valid.  As I don't want to prevent the use of one of my cat carriers, I'll be buying an extra carrier that's a bit smaller so Kai can sleep in it.  I can keep him upstairs in the bedroom with me that way, also, which will be nice.  I won't have to worry that he might be in trouble, and he'll get used to my odd sleeping schedule.  (My bedroom is nice and dark...it's more like a den than a bedroom.  We just can't sleep if it's bright, so it's very dark and comfortable up there.)

I still have to ask Mr. Lewis about feeding mealworms, which I would behead, of course.  Feeding live things living things is just dangerous, especially if that live thing has big pincer mouthparts.  I'm not certain Kai has even touched his pretty pellets, which look like fruits and smell like Fruit Loops.  He's only been eating since this morning when I woke up to sit and talk with him, but I prepared cucumber, carrot (which I shaved off with a peeler, a habit of mine from when Justin and I used to prepare buckets of veggies for the reptiles at the reptile shop.  Imagine preparing about 20 lbs of shaved carrots, zuchinni, yellow squash, and brocolli by hand.), blueberries, red seedless grapes, brocolli, banana, dandelion greens (which he flung out of his bowl everywhere....so I guess he disapproves!), mixed bean sprouts (which he loves, along with the cucumber!), and a few pieces of white sweet corn, which I was told he loves.  Today, when we wake up, I'm going to make Kai some quinoa.  Speaking of "today", it's almost 6am, so I should tuck in for the night and let Kai get some shut-eye.

A Special Friend.

Yipes...I've been really distracted with various things, cleaning especially, this past week.  I meant to write little updates on the activity at my feeders, but at the end of the day, I was just too tired or feeling too blah to write anything.  I'm working on resizing all of the photographs I take, because I realized that when I clicked on the photographs in my posts, they were ENORMOUS.... Yikes!

I also have something to confess....

I bought a special little bird...

It isn't so much crow that I'm eating as it is a Blue-headed Pionus Parrot...!  I thought that since I've been wanting to have a little birdie friend for so long, it might be time to give another one a chance.  I did a lot of research on the birds that were available at the shop here in town.  I read up on everything from Cockatoos to Cockatiels, Macaws to Caiques, Finches to Lorys.  I was enchanted with the idea of having a Pacific Parrotlet, but I was afraid of accidentally killing it.  I needed something sturdier and larger, which looked intimidating enough to the cats that would make them think twice about going up to sniff it.  (My cats are all very much scaredy-cats, the biggest thing they'll eat is spiders.)

I ruled out any parrot that I thought could be accidentally knocked off the desk and killed while reaching for a glass of water (Parrotlets), was known for lots of screaming (Cockatoos, Macaws, Conures, etc), was known to need lots of attention (Cockatoos, Macaws, Conures, etc), had super watery, projectile poop (Duyvenbodes Lory), was too hyperactive (Caiques), and of course, with the little birds like Finches, were very skittish and were unable to be handled.


After ruling many birds out, there were two possibilities: Pionus and Senegal.  I thought something that was quiet in temperament, calmer, more independent, yet still playful and affectionate would suit me best.  When Peaches asked me what I was going to get, I first said a Parrotlet or a Budgie, but that was before I did my research.  When she asked again, I had thought about it for a while, and I had decided that I would go after I had read up on everything and see if anyone was attracted to me.  I would rather an animal choose me, rather than me choosing someone who might not suit my personality in the end.

When we got to the bird store, we were both very excited.  We mingled and said hello to all the birds.  Wellllll, after lingering at the adorable little Cockatiels, who were all bobbing their heads and making hungry sounds as they begged for food.  I stopped by the Lesser Sulphur Cockatoo, who was reported as being very sweet, but he didn't appear to be interested in me.  I stopped by the Parrotlets and realized, WOW, they ARE tiny!  I didn't trust my clumsy hands at all with something so petite and fragile.  The Caiques were adorable as they played with toys on their backs, but watching them again, I realized they're just too active for me.  I glazed over the Canaries, Budgies, and Finches, which always manage to provoke my prey drive (I want to eat them....*cough*).  We talked with the Conures a little bit, and marveled over their beautiful colours...and at long last, I finally arrived at the Pionus' cage.

To my surprise and delight, he came right over to me as I crouched in front of his cage.  (Note: for the purpose of less confusion, I'm going to refer to the Pionus as a boy :) )  When I meet new birds, I like to hook my index finger over my thumb like a bird's beak, and move it slightly, as if it's a bird.  If a bird is interested in having its head scratched, it may come up and investigate, staring at me from the side to get a good look, then offer its head.  He came over and inspected me, but was hesitant to have his head scratched, which is understandable!  Peaches and I talked to him and I wiggled my finger, then touched his cage to see if he was approachable or not.  After a few minutes, he leaned against the bars and I got to scratch him gently!

My world kind of went tunnel-vision on the birdie after that.  I wandered around the store in a bird-induced daze...and eventually Mr. Lewis came back to us and asked if we were needing anything.  I thought it must be getting late, so I asked about the Pionus.  He brought him out and put him on my hand, and I stared at the Pionus as he stared right back at me!  I've never really held a bigger bird on my hand like that before, the weight was a little surprising!  He's very solid, which is reassuring!  Carefully, I brought my hand to the side and up along his back, because I know I would be startled if someone waved their hand over my head!  Dogs tend to look up and raise their heads when people do this, some may even find it threatening, but I wasn't taking any chances with a bird, either.  I would like very much for him to trust me right from the beginning.

I scratched his head for a long time with my left hand, then Mr. Lewis put him on my left instead when he wouldn't step up onto my left hand.  He laughed and said the bird knew how to step up, but he was just nervous, which is understandable.  My arm got tired after a while and I put him down onto the playstand, but he stayed very close to me the whole time.  At one point, he started regurgitating seed for me, which made me, Peaches, and another employee go, "Awwwwwww!!"  (Later, when I explained this to Lauren, she laughed and made a face.  We all agreed not to barf up food for each other, even though we loved one another...) 

Still in my daze, I realized it must be getting really late!  I didn't want to keep everyone waiting, so I asked Mr. Lewis to show me around to purchase the other things that my bird would need.  As I started to walk away, the bird made a soft sound, and I felt that yes, we definitely had made a connection.  I picked out a handsome cage with an antiqued bronze finish, some toys, and a stand perch.  I didn't want to bring him home without a cage, so I told them I would pick everything up the next day (which is now "today").  He/she will also be DNA sexed, so I'll know for certain what sex he/she is, and I'll be able to name him/her appropriately!

I wanted to finish writing this before it gets much later.  It's almost 9am, and I still have my room to clean and prepare for my new, special friend...argh!

Pretty soon, we'll be able to watch and photograph birds together in front of the kitchen sink :)

I'm so excited...I could barely sleep!  This is him/her...He's so handsome!

An Unexpected Guest!

Today, we had some of the most incredible activity I had ever seen at my feeders.  I counted over a dozen sparrows and finches!  It was just amazing!  These two little guys are a female and male house finch, I believe.  I love this pose where they're facing opposite directions.

They were watching me the entire time as I photographed them.  Mind you, I'm about three feet away from them sitting on/in the kitchen sink.

My little titmouse loves to come to visit my feeders.  Today, he brought a friend!!  He seems more intelligent than the jays and cardinals, who went after food on the ground, rather than the huge baking tray I set up on the pedestal.

Today, Mr. Jay was more interested in nomming from the suet feeder.  He's such a piggy!  Mrs. Woodpecker also loves eating the suet, which is really cute to watch.

Here's Mrs. Woodpecker!  She's eating seeds off the ground.

Our unexpected guest!!  I had never seen a bird quite like this before, it was also due in part because of the weather.  It was really poofed out, making it look larger.

After pouring over internet sites, I finally managed to find out what it was!  A northern mockingbird!!! (Doyyyyy......)  I haven't seen a mockingbird in ages, and this one was more brownish than the grey I'm used to seeing, poofiness aside!  I've named him Mr. Poof, or just Poofy... So cute!  I was told it's not typical to see them down in low brush this time of the year, but I guess he must've been really hungry!  After Poofy came down, all the other birds got up and left.  I guess they don't like him much.

Mrs. Titmouse and Mrs. Woodpecker!

I have to admit that the adorable little titmouses are one of my absolute favourites.  It's something about how cute it is, I guess, with the suiting grey jacket and rusty little dusting of colour under its wings, with a white chest and belly.  The tiny little crest and enormous eyes just slay me...

Mrs. Cardinal is almost always there in my bushes now, and she shares a spot with Mrs. Titmouse today!

Chickadeeeeeee!  I LOVE when the chickadees come to visit.  It turns out that the single chickadee decided to bring his tourbus of chickadee comrades, because there were about six of them in total!!  They were all zip-zooming around, making some of the other calmer birds hyper with their own hyperness.  It was such an "OMG!!!! AWWW!!!" morning for me!

Mrs. Woodpecker, do you need something?

Don't mind me, I'm just taking pictures of you as you look adorable!

Omnomnomnomnom!!  Mrs. Woodpecker is a little oinker, let me tell you!

It was pretty funny, though, because Mr. Jay was waiting, and she just kept hogging it.

O HAI?

There wasn't any activity today, I'm not sure why, but Mrs. Cardinal was there.  She and Mr. Cardinal are faithful birdfeeder visitors.  I took about fifty photos of her as I sat on/in the sink, because she was just being so cute.  She kept staring at me, tilting her head this way and that.  It was adorable.

Where did all my birdies go?

I don't know if it's because the squirrels decided to bother everyone, or if there was some sort of predator I didn't see lurking about, but my birdies were absent at the feeders all afternoon.  I did see Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal closer to dusk when Lauren dropped me off after we visited the antique store, though.  They both stared at us as we drove up, and they didn't fly off when I opened the garage doors so we could pull through, which was great. 

There were a few assorted sparrows picking at the peanut suet, but other than that, I didn't really see anyone.  When it warms up, I'll be able to sit outside to watch the feeders regularly.  Until then, I'm forced to stare from the kitchen sink window as I walk up to it or past it.  I also put up the modified nuthatch house, which features a chickadee portal to make the hole smaller.  Following the directions, I also put some sawdust in so the birds can simulate "excavating" a nest.  I hung the nest from Ladybug Manor, which is a tree that is absolutely infested with ladybugs during the summer, due to the bugs that were attracted to the leaves.  I'm planning on making the tree unattractive to bugs by spraying a bit of sesame seed oil around if I see them this year.

Damn Squirrels!

My feeders were beseiged by a pesky grey squirrel!

Okay, so they're pretty damn cute....

But I don't want them on my feeders!  Hey!!!  (I was tapping on the window trying to get him to quit it, but that wasn't threatening enough, apparently.)

I went outside to chase him away...

He did something adorable and hid in this tree bole.

Then he gave me some nasty looks!  That brat!!