Manly Men

Every night we let the birds out of their cages and watch TV while we’re holding them. We don’t watch live TV – everything is recorded to the DVR so we can fast forward thru the commercials. We have never watched sitcoms; always hour long shows – usually murder mysteries and the like.

Recently my sister convinced me to watch Two and a Half Men. I caught a couple shows on the internet but when I saw the show about Charlie Sheen’s girlfriend getting a breast reduction I knew that Mark had to watch it too. We began recording it on the DVR – both the new episodes and the re-runs on another channel.

The other day I heard Emelio saying something over and over. I finally realized he was singing part of the theme song from the show! The words weren’t very clear, but the cadence was unmistakable. It’s actually a catchy little tune. I recorded it in case you haven’t heard it.



We watched the new episode on Tuesday night this week. Afterwards Emelio was on the counter as usual and he began to sing. His words were loud and very clear. I couldn’t help myself and laughed out loud. He took that as high praise, laughed at himself and promptly sang it again. It has become his new favorite song.

This morning Emelio and Alex had a little duet going. I recorded it on the video camera, but since I couldn’t go upstairs without interrupting them, there isn’t any video other than the side of the fridge.



It starts out with Emelio singing Men men men men, and then Alex sings his favorite song. I don’t know exactly what it is, but I think it may be God Bless America. Whatever, he’s quite passionate about it. Classy throws in a little of what I call his fan belt noise, Mister goes into a do-do- doo routine, throws in the word “ticklehead” and goes right back into the theme song.

Aaaahhh – I love it. Every time I hear Emelio sing I can’t help but remember the first time I told his breeder about it. She laughed and said “Oh Cathy – don’t you know that grays don’t sing?” I guess nobody ever told the bird!


Cathy

Mischief

OK – Emelio has been driving me a little crazy lately. In fact they all have.

Last week Alex would rather bite me than look at me. This week he’s back to normal – same with Classy and Peeper. Hormones? Your guess is as good as mine.

Anyway – back to Mr. Yo. See the three glass canisters on the counter? Lately he’s been obsessed with them. Earlier this week he stood up on his tip toes and pulled the largest one over; probably just to hear me freak out. He loves that and feeds on the drama. He did it again a little later that night. I can’t believe they didn’t break. I should have known when he first did it that it would become his new thing (musta been off my game).

Now you’re probably wondering why I didn’t just move them. That’s a good question – for which I have a good answer. Those canisters have been there since the time we moved the birds into that room; no problem. If I can wait out the obsession, things will go back to normal once he moves on to something else. I just have to remember not to get upset about it because he can feel it even if I say nothing. (Yup – it’s scary.)

You can see that my solution was to block the canisters in while Emelio is on the counter. The wood thing is Peeper’s cage top play stand. The cardboard box contains a gallon freezer bag filled with rice to make it heavy enough that the bird can’t move it. I use it to keep him on one side of the counter if there’s something I don’t want him getting into on the other side. When I place it at the edge of the sink he can’t get around it and he can’t squeeze behind the faucets either (believe me, he’s tried.)

For the past 2 or 3 days this worked, but Mr. doesn’t give up easily. Tonight he climbed up on the smallest canister and was trying to knock over the large one that way. He still thinks if he pulls hard enough he can do it. I think if given enough time he's right!



When he realized that I noticed him, he tried to step backwards and down, but it was just a little too high for him to feel the counter with his foot so he was stuck there. Mark went to get the camera and that motivated Emelio to find another way. (For some reason he seems not to want his picture taken when he’s up to no good.) He turned and faced the sink, then hopped off the canister and proceeded to monster-walk toward the camera like he was going to snatch it and toss it out the window. Very menacing; don't you think?

Happy Halloween!

Cathy

Machismo

I was just upstairs to change water and give the birds their morning treat. As I walked by his cage, Classy slipped off his perch and was hanging onto it by his beak. It’s not a long fall – his feet were less than one inch from the bottom, but the distress in his eyes indicated he didn’t want to fall even that far. I reached in and rescued him, then hugged and kissed him and returned him to his cage.

He immediately rushed to his seed bowl and began hurling seed at me, then shot me a nasty look and assumed a macho stance while glaring at me. I’m sure he was showing me how tough he is and that he certainly didn’t need to be rescued.

Classy is such a contradiction. He’s either Mr. Macho or Mr. Lover – there’s no in-between. I get such a kick out of him.

Mark, on the other hand, isn’t really that amused. He still has the remnants of the bruise as a result of an incident last week. Mark has to be on his toes when Classy is on top of his cage or he gets nailed. Apparently he let his guard down, because Class ended up hanging from the inside of his upper arm – ye-ouch!

Cathy

Laughter

Last night while we were watching TV Chloe (the shepherd) went over to Mark looking for some attention. Mark started scratching her and Chloe’s leg started thumping.

Spike’s T-stand is right there and she leaned over as far as she could to catch a better look at what was going on.

Mark kept scratching, Chloe’s leg kept thumping and Spike started laughing. For some reason she must have thought that was funny.

It just kills me that birds laugh at certain things. It’s perfectly logical to me that they laugh when we do, but when they laugh at something that I’m not laughing at I think that shows that they have their own sense of humor (doesn’t it?) I’m sure that a scientist would say that it’s just a coincidence of some kind, but it’s happened more than once.

Just something to think about. . .

Cathy

Sunday Craziness

Hi again! Bet you thought I had stopped posting.

Nope – I told you summer was a very busy time for us. Between car shows and parties and all the extra chores to do outside we’ve been either busting our butts or immobile with weariness. And we actually took some time to enjoy the pool. It’s been a great summer. I can’t believe it’s Labor Day weekend already.

Yesterday we spent the day at the NY State Fair. Of course we had to go in the Poultry Building to have a look at the birds. It’s been several years since we were there and we were quite taken with this one kind of bird that was with the doves and pigeons. It had the same face but it was huge – almost the size of a chicken.

One particular bird was acting quite agitated. He was clearly looking at another of his kind that was 2 cages down. He was strutting back and forth and making noises as if to say “I am gonna kick you’re ass! C’mon, c’mon, I dare ya!” The other bird was just casually looking back as if he wasn’t worried at all about the threats. We had a good laugh and moved on.

Apparently that bird made a lasting impression on my husband. This morning when Classy and Mark were having their Sunday morning playtime Mark suddenly stepped back from the counter and stuck his hands in his armpits. He started flapping his “wings” and strutting back and forth while making a loud cooing sound. Classy retreated to the back of the counter as far as he could, stared at Mark for a minute and then turned to look at me and cocked his head as if to say “What the hell is that?” The look on his little face was hilarious. Mark and I burst into laughter, joined after a moment by Classy.

Mark proved once again that he’s a member of the bird family.

Loon, I believe it is ;-)

Cathy

The Bird Whisperer

This was also taken on Sunday morning.

Gideon likes to whisper in your ear, then will turn his head so I can whisper in his. He’s such a cutie!

Cathy

Video . . . Finally!

I’ve been trying to upload video for a while now, without much success. I think they were all too long. I just noticed that they have to be under 100MG, so that’s probably what the problem was.

This was taken Sunday after I gave the birds their showers. Gideon decided to come out of his cage for a little dance session. The bird urging him to “C’mon” is Alex. That pounding you hear when Alex is dancing is Emelio - he's on the counter picking up the edge of the cutting board and slamming it down. He loves that noise!

Enjoy.

Cathy

The Vet Visit

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You already know that Alex had an appointment to get his nails trimmed. Mark took him because I was busy. I wish that I had gone. The following is Mark’s account of what happened.
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When they got to the vet Mark answered the inevitable questions about Alex from the other people in the waiting room. Mark explained that yes, he does talk, but would be unlikely to do so because he doesn’t normally talk in front of strangers. Alex was quiet during the entire wait and even held Mark’s finger to calm his nerves.
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Soon after he was taken into the back the screaming began. These aren’t just normal macaw screams; these are frantic, indignant and blood curdling. The screaming continues for the entire time he is getting his nails cut. This, of course, prompted more questions from the other people waiting. They wanted to know if it hurt him and how long it would take.
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All of a sudden the screaming stopped and everyone heard a loud voice: “OW – SON of a B@*ch!!”
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The door opened and the female vet tech appeared with Alex in his carrier. She looked at Mark and told him that Alex was not happy. (I think people for the surrounding mile probably knew that.)
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Mark inquired about the “Ow.” She expressed surprise that everyone had heard that and told him Al bit the male vet tech as he was being returned to his carrier. Mark got up to pay, then turned and asked Alex if he had bitten someone.
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Alex promptly began to laugh – a low, diabolical and nasty laugh. “Heh, heh, heh.”
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Everyone in the room turned to look at Alex – eyes wide and mouths agape.
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Mark asked Alex if he was ok.
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“Oh. . . Oh. . . Oh God, Oooh God.” Alex moaned pitifully in reply while holding up one foot.
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The place exploded in laughter.
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“But you got ‘em back, right?” asked Mark.
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Alex began that slow, evil laugh. "Heh, heh, heh."
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After a couple seconds Mark said “So then you’re ok?”
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Again Alex went into his Oh God routine.
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One of the people asked if Alex really understood what was being said to him. Mark told the guy that he had to reach his own conclusions about what he just heard.
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As Mark picked him up to leave, Alex grabbed onto a bar on the front of the carrier with one toe. His foot was about the same level as his eyes.
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One of the girls behind the desk noticed and said “Oh look – he’s flipping us off!”

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Cathy

Hangin’ With My Peep

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It’s been a while since I’ve added anything to the blog. If you’ve been waiting, I apologize. This is a really busy time of year for me and time is flying past like crazy. It’s almost mid-June already . . . Unbelievable!
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Today I’m waiting for a guy to come and give me an estimate for a new pool liner. He called last night and said he’d be here around lunch time. That should have been 2 hours ago!! I just hate waiting for anyone. If I start doing anything they show up right at the worst time and if I sit and wait, chances are they won't show. I can never seem to win.
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The birds are all fine. Nothing new, really – same old, same old. Alex has an appointment this afternoon for a nail trim. He won’t like that much, but he’ll get over it.
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Peeper has been sitting with me every night lately. Sometimes she is anxious for me to hold her, other times she bites me when I try to pick her up. I wish she would find a nicer way of telling me she would like to be left alone. Oh well, I’ve learned how to avoid most of the hard bites and to enjoy the time spent with her.
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She is just the cutest little thing. I love how she snuggles in my hand. She will stay that way for hours if I let her, sometimes she even falls asleep. Another thing I’ve learned is that if I let her stay for more than an hour she will poop on me before I can get her back to her cage. She just can’t hold it much longer than that, and I don’t like to be pooped on, so I try to keep track of the time while she’s with me.
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Oh, and if you're wondering if the pool guy showed up while I was writing this - NO he didn't. Guess I'll go do something else.

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Cathy

P.S. It just started thundering (Chloe -the German shepherd - just hightailed it upstairs to hide under my desk). The pool guy probably won't show up now at all!!

Polka Dots??

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I grew up in the 50’s and 60’s. I dislike formality of almost any kind and I hate to be told what to do. I love feeling comfortable and relaxed, so most of my wardrobe consists of jeans and t-shirts. I recently purchased new pj’s; basically a top and shorts. The shorts are quite comfortable and nice for wearing around the house – but obviously they’re not denim.

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I was wearing the new shorts and a t-shirt the other night when we went upstairs to hold the birds. I sat down in the Lazy Boy with Alex and began to talk to him. He totally ignored me. He was perched on my left arm, body arched out and down, with his face as close to my shorts as he could get, just staring!

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They’re called polka dots, I told him. He was fascinated, but eventually he stopped staring and returned to normal.

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Well, apparently Alex wasn’t the only bird shocked by the sight of the dots. Every time I held another bird we went through the same routine, each bird staring at the shorts like they were some alien being.

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Spike is usually the last bird that I hold – the line up usually goes like this: Alex, Rani, Peeper, then maybe Classy or Gideon (but they usually don’t want to be held, just petted at their cages), Emelio and finally Spike. Spikey was not content to just stare from her spot on my arm. Oh no, not that one – she had to get much closer than that.

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As she made her way down to my legs I began to get nervous. Spike is the reason I had the mole on my neckline removed – she will try to remove moles, freckles, stray beard hair. All week she’s been after a particular hair on Mark’s chin and she won’t be happy until that offending hair has been removed. The thought of a bite on my leg just gave me the willies!!

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I frantically scooped her up, almost yelling: “Oh, fer cryin’ out loud, they’re only POLKA DOTS!”

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Yeah . . . I think I’m gonna stick with that denim . . .
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Cathy

Morning Calling

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I woke up to the sound of the birds this morning – or maybe I should say to Alex yelling. The bird room is right above our bedroom so I can hear most everything without a problem and I could probably hear Alex if I was dead! He worked himself up into a deafening screaming session – it doesn’t last very long, maybe 3 or 4 screams, but that’s more than enough!
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Apparently Emelio thought so too, because I could hear him tell Alex to knock it off each time he screamed. When that didn’t work Emelio started to whistle a song. It took me a couple of seconds to realize that Emelio was doing exactly what I do when I want Alex to stop screaming; I distract him by singing – which he loves – and he joins in.
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I know I’ve said this before, but it constantly amazes me how much the birds pick up on what we do. Sometimes I actually try to hide what I’m doing so they won’t copy it. For example, when I was cleaning Alex’s cage the other day I had to lift the top to clean it and I didn’t want him to try to do the same thing. His cage is from a different manufacturer than the other six cages. It had to be assembled; the others did not – they’re welded. The top bars are one piece that just sets on a ledge, so if you move it too far one way, it falls in. I’m not crazy about that part of the design, but in order to get a cage that size up the stairs we had to have one that wasn’t pre-assembled.

Anyway, as I was cleaning it I pushed it too far and the damn thing fell into the cage. There was no hiding that from Alex – he was sitting on the t-stand in the middle of the room watching everything I did. I had to zip tie the top to the side when I was done to try to prevent him from doing the same thing. I’m sure Alex will remove them sooner or later – this isn’t the first time we put the zips on the cage – so this time Mark will have to come up with a more permanent solution. I’m afraid he’ll be injured if he knocks that top in. It’s not an unfounded fear – the lady that I got Spike from had a hyacinth macaw that did exactly that. Luckily he wasn’t hurt, but you just can’t count on that.

Cathy

Mysterious Happenings

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Recently Spike acquired a dark spot above her nostrils – it looked like she’d been playing in newsprint. The problem with that assumption was we never saw her playing with her papers. We just couldn’t think of any other reason for the dirty spot. I kept trying to wash it off her feathers and it would get lighter, then a few days later it was dark again. Weird.
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Finally Mark saw what was happening. Spike likes to chew rawhide. We take 6 strands of leather strips and tie them in to a huge knot ball and she unites and chews it until there’s almost nothing left. The knot ball is hung with a quick link to a plastic chain that’s in her cage. Spike had the ball down to just a few knots and strands and as she was chewing at what was left, she was leaning her head against the quick link – the metal was leaving a grey stain on her white feathers. Mark made her a new knot ball and hung it up a little higher. Problem solved.

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We went out to dinner a few nights ago, then did a few errands and stopped to visit some friends. We were gone about 4 hours. When we got home we went upstairs to watch TV and hold the birds. Emelio was happily strutting around on the top of his cage!

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I had been in the bird room just before we left to change water. Every time I do that Emelio has to come out of his cage and go to the counter until I’m done. It’s one of his favorite things to do. I know I shut his cage door, but I must not have put the latch down properly, which allowed him to open the door. He did stay on his cage – which was good – but it made me nervous anyway.
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There’s a ceiling fan in the bird room because the ceilings are high and it helps keep the room warm. The switches for the lights and the fan are on the outside of the door, so the fan gets turned off before we enter – some of our birds are fully flighted and a collision with a running fan would be awful. We try to anticipate these kinds of dangers and eliminate them, but man, sometimes you just can’t.
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Cathy


PS –If you have a bird please do not use regular leather for his toys. In order for leather to be safe for birds it must be vegetable tanned. It can be purchased on line.

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What’s There?

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I’ve been doing more spring chores. I was cleaning the balcony off the bird room the other day and Alex kept yelling “Look, look there. What’s that?” I kept asking him what it was or where it was, but he didn't answered me, just kept asking. I couldn't tell what he was looking at and I sure didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

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After I had finished cleaning Alex and I were enjoying the view from the wicker rocking chair. I noticed the two dogs in the yard a couple houses down, so I thought I’d give Al a taste of his own medicine. I told him to look and asked him what it was.
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He looked me dead in the eye and said: “Woof.” I wondered if it was a fluke, so I asked him again. I got the same answer. He had no problem at all telling me what I wanted to know but I had failed miserably when he asked me the same question! I had no way of knowing what he was looking at. How did he know I wasn’t asking about the kids in the park, which were clearly visible because the trees still don’t have leaves? Lucky guess? I wonder . . .
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Cathy

Spring Cleaning

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I’ve been spring cleaning the bird cages. That means taking off the aprons, moving and scrubbing perches, washing each bar, and cleaning every nook and cranny with a toothbrush. It’s amazing how much stuff accumulates around the nuts and bolts that hold the perches to the cage.

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I decided to do one cage a day this time, instead of trying to do a marathon cleaning. It took 2 to 3 hours to do each cage and the wall and floor area around it. I cranked up the tunes and the birds and I had a grand old time dancing and singing along.

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I finished the last cage yesterday at about 1pm, then vacuumed up the stray seed on the floor and finished washing that. By the time Mark and I went upstairs to watch TV with the birds you would never know that I had vacuumed at all! Not only that, but Alex had decided to play in his papers and there was a huge ball of them in the corner of his cage and strips of paper on the floor. Ah well – at least it smelled clean! There’s nothing like the sweet, kinda fruity smell of a clean bird room – I love it!

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Cathy

Lizard Puppy?

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Emelio said something today that I haven’t heard him say in a long time. Some words and phrases are used on a daily basis, but there are others that the birds will say for a while, then will either forget about or just stop using.
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Remember when Taco Bell had that Chihuahua on their commercials? I particularly loved the one where the dog was calling Godzilla by saying “Here lizard, lizard, lizard”, then when he sees the monster he says “Oh oh, I think I need a beeger box!” I tried so hard to get Emelio to say that last line – he never would. But he did pick up the first part; it was hilarious to hear him call the lizard. Then he started playing with the word and would call the dog a “lizard puppy” and other such nonsense. When the commercial stopped being aired he eventually stopped saying it on a regular basis.

'The same thing happened after both the cat and the dog died. He stopped saying their names or calling for them. Although a couple of weeks ago I was using the computer right outside the bird room – all the birds were quiet and then Emelio said “Hi, ChiChi girl!” in a really enthusiastic voice. It made me wonder if she was back for a visit!

I remember the time I was cleaning Rani’s cage and she bit me (actually one of many times). I called her a bitch in a very loud voice (not one of my shining moments, but what the heck – it hurt!) Emelio must not have heard me very clearly because he immediately yelled out “Doutch!”, with exactly the amount of growling and threat that he heard in my voice. This became one of his favorite words. He used it for such a long time that one day Mark said “Will you please teach that bird the right way to say that word? “

“Well . . . No, I won’t.” I thought it was much more preferable than having him yelling “Bitch” all the time. He eventually began to say it less and less, but he hasn’t forgotten. It’s just another word in his growing vocabulary now; in storage, waiting for just the right time to be used.

Cathy

Saturday Funnies

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Wow, this week just flew by! Spring is a busy time, at last I actually feel like leaving the house. Not that it's been very warm, but at least the snow is gone. It did snow this week, but nothing stayed on the ground. The cold doesn't seem to deter people though, lots of dog walkers have been going by the house lately on the way to the park.

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This morning as Mark was feeding the birds Alex was clinging to the side of his cage, head jerking back and forth excitedly as he loudly exclaimed "Look, look there!"

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Mark asked, "What is it?"

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Alex: "It's a bear!"
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Mark looked out the front window; there was a lady walking a large black dog in front of the house. "That's not a bear, it's a dog" he said.

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Alex replied "I know it" and chuckled.

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Everyone's a comedian!

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Happy Easter -

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Cathy

Road Test

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Ok – so this isn’t about the birds! Did you really think they could even get a permit??
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I took my niece Jorie for her road test this morning and she passed! [Oh Daddy – our girl’s growing up!!!] It’s just so weird to even see her behind the wheel of a car. Not that it’s anything new – she’s had her permit since she was 16 and she’ll be 18 in July – but now she can go out on the road alone. There’s a scary thought. She’s a good driver, but you have to drive so defensively now just to get anywhere safely.
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We’ve had a lot of near-misses because of people on cell phones, whether they were texting or talking. I used to think that was a load of crap until I almost got rear-ended last year. I noticed that the guy in the Mercedes behind me was on a cell phone. I had to make a left turn into a business, so I made sure to turn on the blinker to let him know. Well he apparently was too busy to notice and luckily I had the feeling he would be, so I kept an eye on him as I braked. Sure enough; he had to slam on his brakes. But he wasn’t quick enough, if I hadn’t aborted the turn he would have hit me for sure. I had to hit the gas, then make the turn into the next driveway. Thanks, Mr. Important – you taught me I have to not only watch the road in front of me and to both sides, but now I have to be alert for idiots behind me too.
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Then there was the young girl driving next to Mark downtown. She was so busy texting that she couldn’t be bothered to look up to see where she was going. She drifted closer and closer to Mark’s truck without even noticing. The windows were open, so he yelled at her. She was so startled that she over-corrected and drove up on the sidewalk. Nice. Luckily, no one was there. Hang up and get a clue, Miss Popular.
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We won’t even mention the idiots out there that are eating (I have never figured out how the hell anyone can eat a Whopper and drive too), reading a book or a map or a newspaper, or putting on makeup, shaving, or smoking and drinking coffee (with both hands while steering the car with their knees.) Or what about the assholes that park so close to you that you can’t get in your car? Oh, dear Lord – don’t get me started!! Just when you think you’ve seen it all you find another mindless nut job doing something even more dangerously stupid or annoyingly rude.
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So, Jorie my dear, PLEASE be careful out there!
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. . . AND CONGRATULATIONS!
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Cathy

Thunder in the Morning

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As I was about to get out of shower this morning I thought I heard thunder. That always makes me nervous; I’ve never heard of someone actually getting shocked but I still heed the old warnings from my childhood. My girlfriend’s mom worked at an insurance agency and would horrify us with stories of lightning incidents. Needless to say, I rushed to get out of the water.
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I quickly realized that what I thought was thunder was nothing of the sort – it was Rani playing with her kitty. The kitty is a hard rubber dog toy that we found while searching for a replacement to the soft rubber pig that she destroyed. (See pic posted March 20th)
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Playing is a relative term. What she’s actually doing is attacking and killing it. The toy is on the bottom grate of her cage. When the mood strikes her she will descend to the grate, stalk and pounce on this toy, then grab it in her beak and smash it to the grate, alternating from left to right. Then she flings it, spins around, runs and pounces on it again and repeats the entire process. This is what generates that thundering noise.

I read that it’s the female eclectus rather than the male that protects the nest. They actually kill snakes. No doubt about that – she is one tough bird.
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Here she's on top of her cage with "Shitty Kitty". It's named that because usually when she's done playing the toy ends up under her favorite perch and it needs washing almost every day!

(BTW - Rani doesn't usually look this bad! She is molting and plucking right now!)
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Cathy

Alex Strikes Again

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It was nice enough yesterday afternoon to finally open some windows. Seems like it’s been a long winter and the fresh air was welcome.
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Right after dinner Alex started in. It began with one long low “Oohhh”, then progressed to “Oh, God”, then both; repeated in a lower, more guttural tone. These noises sound so perfectly like a woman having sex that I often wonder if his cage was in his former owner’s bedroom!
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At first I panicked; the windows were open and Alex is not quiet by any means, and when he does this he’s particularly loud. After a second or two I just relaxed – I didn’t want to shut the windows and he would stop soon (I hoped). As his moans increased in volume I started to giggle. I just couldn’t help myself. Soon I was laughing uncontrollably; the whole thing is just too ridiculous. Oh, what the heck! Where else can you get entertainment like that?
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Cathy

Happy Fool's Birthday

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Four years ago we adopted Alex – man how time flies! It seems like yesterday; but I suppose that just shows that I’m getting old. I have found that time seems to slip quickly away, especially since I retired.
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Anyway, we brought him home the evening of March 31, 2005. He and Sadie were supposedly eight years old when KC rescued them and she had them for about 10 months before we got Alex, so we decided he must have been born in 1996. I like to have a date to mark the passing of years, so I decided Alex’s birthday would be April Fool’s Day. It turned out to be the perfect day to celebrate his birthday just because of his silly personality. Some things are just meant to be.

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Happy Birthday Big Guy!
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Cathy

Another Plucker

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While I can’t pinpoint the exact time that Spike started plucking (it was a gradual thing), I can tell you exactly when and why my eclectus started to pluck.

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There was a tree in the front yard that would lose large branches every time there was any amount of wind, so we called someone to remove it. The guy came out to give us an estimate and told us he couldn’t cut it down – something about the village owning the property so far back from the road – and we would have to call the village DPW about it.

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We did, and they agreed that the tree was damaged and needed to be cut down, but they couldn’t give me a date. I was working 2nd shift at the time, so it really wasn’t a problem; there was only about an hour in the afternoon between the time I left for work and Mark got home. This happened early in June and I really didn’t expect to wait all summer for the tree to be removed, but that’s exactly what happened.

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Late in July we had plans to spend a long weekend with friends in North Carolina. I was worried that the village would show up the minute we left – it would be just the kind of thing that happens to me. I knew that the large trucks and noise right outside the front window would frighten the birds, so I asked my sister to leave the blinds on the windows closed while we were gone. I figured that if the birds couldn’t see the trucks they wouldn’t be as scared.

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It turned out to be exactly the wrong thing to do. When we got home on Sunday Rani had plucked out the feathers around her neck, and of course the tree was still in the front yard. I’ve written about how much Rani liked to look out the window, but I had no idea that she would pluck because she couldn’t see outside! For a long time I thougt that was why she started plucking, but a couple of years ago I got another explanation. A pet psychic told us Rani thought that because the blinds were closed it meant we were never coming home!!!

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Rani has never stopped plucking. She doesn’t mutilate herself like Spike does, but she won’t let a feather grow where she plucks either. Slowly that area is extending down her chest. I just ordered some stuff to put in the water; it’s supposed to help stop plucking. I’m going to give it to Spike and Rani – who knows, it might work.

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Cathy

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P.S. Yes, I did say pet psychic. That was quite an experience. I’ll write about it eventually.

Showering Gideon

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This morning Gideon decided to come out of his cage for a shower (as opposed to remaining inside). When we got him Linda told us he really hated showers, but I right from the start I found that was not the case. Most times he likes it, other times he loves it! There have been times I’ve used the entire spray bottle on just him. He lifts his wings and really gets into it.

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After spraying so much water all over I have to wipe it up, of course. For some unknown reason today Gid decided that the hand towel I used to do it was really scary, but instead of keeping his distance or flying off the cage he raised his wings straight up and let out a scream that sounded like that eagle cry you can hear in one of the old John Denver songs. He even kind of weaved from side to side, like he was showing that towel he would be taking no BS today!
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Mark tried several times to get a picture of that, but (as usual) by the time he got the camera it was over. We had to be satisfied with these.

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Cathy

Feather Plucking

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Spike started plucking out her feathers about a year after we got her. I used to attribute it to the shift change at work. When we got her I was working 2nd shift and Mark was on days. I would take Spike out of her cage in the morning, then again in the afternoon and Mark had her out every night. We had heard the warnings about what happens when people spend every minute with a baby bird, then less as it grows up; the bird gets used to the attention and may resort to screaming or plucking in an attempt to regain that attention. In this case, I had no choice. My job on second shift was eliminated and I was forced to work days or quit. We still spent evenings with Spike, but I’m sure it was upsetting to her.
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We took her to the vet to see if there was a physical reason for the plucking. After numerous tests for known avian diseases it was determined that she was fine physically, it was just anxiety. I had noticed that around the time Spike started plucking she smelled different. She normally had a sweet and powdery odor, but now that was gone. I mentioned it to the vet and I also told her it seemed to me like something was making her itch, but she didn’t seem to think it was anything and Mark didn’t notice any difference in the way Spike smelled, so I let it go. Spike was put on anti-anxiety medication. We gave it to her for almost a year with mixed results – sometimes we thought it was working, other times she plucked no matter what.
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In desperation, I took her to a different vet. He took her off the meds and put her on something else, but it really didn’t help either. I was told that usually when a bird starts to pluck you can never get it to stop. Eventually I took Spike off all the medications. We had tried for several years with no results at all, in fact the plucking actually got worse. She eventually had to wear a collar to prevent her from mutilating her chest. After that she would reach up around her collar with her foot and pull feathers out of her cheeks or stretch her neck down and pull out her leg feathers! No matter what we did she was determined to pull feathers, but at least the collar kept her from making her chest into a huge scab.
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I know people who have gotten rid of their birds when they started plucking. I have to tell you I think that’s appalling. I know it’s not attractive, but I really never see how ugly it is until I see it in a photo. When I look at Spike I only see how cute she is. I do see the damage that she’s done to herself, but her sweet little face and spunky attitude far outshine that. To get rid of her because of the plucking would be like getting rid of a child with a problem – it’s absolutely unthinkable!
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Cathy

Beak Trim

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Every 4 months or so we have to take Classy to the vet for a beak trim. The right side of his lower beak grows up and over the upper beak so he can’t close it properly. It grows slowly at first, but when it gets to a certain point it grows like crazy. Apparently that’s actually how fast the beak grows, it just isn’t apparent because it’s kept at the proper size by the friction created during use.
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Linda, the bird shop owner that used to trim wings and nails, would also do beaks. Rani’s upper beak will grow to a wicked point, so she showed us how to grind it down. It’s not easy (you can’t trim too close to the blood supply) and always makes me nervous, so I have no intention of attempting to trim the lower beak. It’s such an ordeal to get Classy toweled that I’d rather let someone else do it. Besides, the vet does such a great job – Classy looks like a new bird after his trim. This time he was due for a nail and wing trim, so we had the vet do it rather that fighting with him ourselves. Dr. J is much better at getting him into a towel than we are and that’s most of the battle.
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Our avian vet is wonderful. We’ve gone to a few others but I prefer the one we see now – she’s very calm and laid back and the birds can feel it. The only drawback is that she’s about a half an hour from the house, which prevents us from taking Alex there for his nail trim because he won’t ride that far. Don’t get me wrong, Alex’s vet is good too, but I really like the way Dr. J handles the birds. I took Spike to one vet that was so nervous handling the bird that it scared the living crap out of her. Every time he went near her she acted like he was a predator and would go into panic mode. It was so bad she was actually shedding feathers and panting with fear. He may have been a good doctor, but creating that kind of terror because he didn’t know how to properly handle a bird was inexcusable. Needless to say, we decided that a long drive was a better option.

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The pics before and after shots of our little green guy. Poor thing - that must be so annoying for him!
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Cathy

Accidents Part 2

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We took our injured baby cockatoo home from the vet and poured attention on her. We took turns holding her and hand feeding her corn and other veggies. She had been showing a preference for Mark lately, but now she definitely wanted her mom, so I spent a lot of time with her. I felt so bad – if only I hadn’t gone to the store that day! But that really wouldn’t have helped. As I cleaned the blood off her cage I realized that it must have happened early in the day. None of her food was touched and there was no poop on her papers other than a little under where she had been sitting when I got home. Thank God there was a perch within reach of the toy. If she had been hanging upside down all day I don’t know if she would have survived.
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Thank God also that I don’t fall apart at the sight of blood; I know a lot of people that do. For some reason I am able to keep a clear head and do the right thing during an emergency situation. It’s after I’ve done all I can do and everything is taken care of that I lose it!
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The doctor couldn’t have been more wrong about Spike using that foot. After it healed you would never know that there was even an injury unless you noticed the missing toes. She uses it just as she would if it was whole. Spike isn’t the only bird we have that had foot injuries. Emelio is missing the tips of a couple toes – inexperienced bird parents will sometimes bite off the toes or wings of the babies (how awful!) Classy’s right foot looks like it was broken and never healed properly – he walks on the outside of it. They actually adapt to these handicaps very well.
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Peeper had an accident too, but this one involved her beak. To this day I can’t figure out what happened, she must have caught it on something, but darned if I know what. I was holding her one day and noticed that her beak didn’t look right. She was chewing on my finger and her beak was moving oddly. Upon closer inspection I saw that it was ripped from the lower left corner to almost the middle along the edge where it meets the face. I had seen pictures of birds with beak injuries in the magazine; usually inflicted by another bird – they’re awful!

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We rushed Peep to the vet, but there was nothing she could do. She said that it wouldn’t heal and we would just have to wait for it to grow out! I was really worried about it, but the vet assured me it would be ok. She was wrong – not about it being ok, but about it healing. I kept a good eye on it for about a month and the bird seemed to be doing fine, so I relaxed my vigilance. About a month later I noticed that the tear was completely healed! Not enough time had passed for the beak to grow out, so that was the only explanation that made sense. Mark thinks it was the whole cranberries we feed the birds in winter. He read somewhere that they promote oral health and decided that a beak was kinda like a tooth, so maybe that was it! I don’t care what it was, I’m just thankful she didn’t have any complications from the accident.

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Cathy

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The top picture is Mark hand feeding Spike after the accident - notice the blood on her feathers! The next one is Spikey right back at the upside down swinging not long after the accident. Notice how she improvised; she couldn't have the toy anymore, so she found a substitute.

Accidents Happen

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Spike was about 6 months old when something terrible happened. It was November; Mark was doing the annual male hunting ritual thing and staying out at camp with the guys. I was working during the day and home at night with the animals. I had to go to the store after I got out of work one night, so I was about an hour late getting home. It was unusually quiet when I walked in the door. Spike had a habit of climbing up on the side bars of her cage and yelling Hi when anyone came in. I could see her cage from the kitchen doorway – she was sitting on a perch in the top right corner with her back to me. I called her name and got no response.
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I went to the cage and saw that her foot was entangled in one of her toys. It actually took a few seconds for the entire scene to sink into my brain. There was blood everywhere – the cage bottom, bars and even the living room wall were all splattered with it. It was hard to believe there could be that much blood in such a small body. I grabbed the phone and called camp while gathering towels and a pair of scissors. One of the guys was already back at camp and promised to convey the message to Mark when he came in (this was before we all had cell phones).
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I opened the cage and unscrewed the quick link holding the toy to the cage top. Then somehow grabbed the toy and the bird and went to the kitchen counter to figure out what to do. Two of Spike’s toes were completely gone and there was a tendon hanging where one had been; the end of another toe was missing. First I had to get the toy off. It was Spike’s favorite – a piece of branch with holes drilled through and colored cotton rope laced through the holes and knotted at each end. Spike would hang upside down from the rope while flapping her wings and screaming with complete abandon. I cut the rope as close to her foot as I dared – no easy task, let me tell you. All Spike wanted was to be cuddled under my chin and I had to get that thing off of her. I finally managed to not only cut off the toy, but get all the rope off too.
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Just as I finished and was consoling my poor baby, Mark roared in. He must have been flying. He wasn’t even in camp when I called and it takes a good 20 to 25 minutes to get home from there. I don’t think fifteen minutes had passed since I made the call. He called around for an avian vet and finally found one about 20 minutes away. We jumped in the car and took off. The vet just snipped off the hanging tendon and dressed the foot. He told us that there had just been a warning published in the bird magazines about birds getting their toes caught in cotton rope! He said Spike would be fine but wouldn’t be able to use that foot to feed herself.
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Cathy
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(Continued tomorrow)

P.S. The picture is of Spike and ChiChi. She was a box face Chow Chow. She was a wonderful dog, loyal, sweet, trustworthy and really good with the birds. I miss her more than I can tell you.

It's Been One of Those Days

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This morning I needed to ask Mark something. He was upstairs feeding the birds, so I yelled for him. Alex promptly shouted back "WHAT do you want?" That's the first time I've heard him say that - talk about attitude, Jeesch!
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Then our Federal tax check came. Yippee . . . until I opened it. The check was for exactly $6,000 more than we expected. After the split second when my brain frantically spent every cent, I realized that I had to give it back. (CRAP) We had just finished reading the paper and noticed an article about the IRS office being open until 2pm today – just our luck. We got our stuff together, checked with our tax preparer just to be sure we should go there without him, and headed downtown. There's just something about the name Internal Revenue Service that gives me chills – and who in the world wants to spend part of their Saturday there anyway?
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They were actually very nice. Turns out that our tax preparer's writing isn't what it used to be (I know, but we've been going to him for quite a while and there's not even a pc in his entire office!) It's a good thing we went to check it out because if we had kept the money we would owe taxes and fines on it even though it was their mistake!!
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Later we stopped at the pet store to get dog food. Of course I have to visit the puppies and birds. I rarely look at the smaller birds, but as Mark was standing in line to check out a little cockatiel caught my eye. He was the only one paying any attention to the people, the others were busy doing cockatiel stuff. They were in an open pen, so naturally I reached in to give him a little scratch on the head. He promptly got on my finger, ran up my arm and tried to cuddle against my neck. What a sweet baby! He'll make someone a nice pet, but it couldn't be me. As we were leaving I noticed that the customer who helped me retrieve the little guy from the back of my neck was holding him. I think he impressed her. t
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Spikey was acting up tonight. Every so often she gets in this mood where she has to look down my shirt. If it was just that I wouldn’t mind, but she had to stick her whole head in there and it makes me nervous. If she sees anything that she thinks shouldn’t be there she’ll bite it off! I actually had a mole removed from just below my neckline because she used to pick at it and it made me queasy. I had to put her back on her t-stand and refuse to hold her because she wouldn’t stop. She does the same thing to Mark, but it doesn’t bother him much. She’ll also preen his goatee and pull out hair that she thinks doesn’t belong.
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Just before putting Mister to bed tonight I cuddled him and gave him a kiss on the back of his head. He pulled away, looked at me and said “Hey!” in a low voice, like I was bothering him! Another little feathered beast with attitude.
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Cathy

Hungry Bird

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I’ve told you that Alex was one half of a pair of macaws that were up for adoption, and that he and the female Military macaw Sadie shared a cage in their old home. What I didn’t realize until about 6 months later was that he wasn’t getting enough food. When we went to see Alex and Sadie at KC’s the female was much larger than Alex. I didn’t think much of it at the time because in some bird species the male is the smaller of the two (I don’t know if that holds true for macaws or not, but it made sense to me!)
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After we got Alex home I noticed that he never let any of his food fall to the bottom of his cage. This is not normal parrot behavior, they may take a bite or two then toss the food and move on to the next morsel. Parrots are messy for a reason; in the wild they throw their food around as natures 're-germination' mechanism. It was quite a few months before he was sure enough about the food source to trust that he could act normally with his food. I just assumed that he didn’t get many fruits and veggies at his last home. I was wrong. Sadie had not been letting him get a fair share of the food when they were sharing a cage.
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We went to my brother’s house the following December for the family Christmas get-together. Of course I had to visit with Sadie. When I held her I realized that although she had seemed huge to me the first time I met her, she no longer was larger than Alex. In fact, he is now much larger than Sadie! KC had told me that she bullied Alex a little, but I had not realized it was to that extent. At 8 years old Alex should have been at his full size. If nothing else, this proves to me that birds should have their own cages and food bowls.
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Cathy

Bird Talk

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Usually when birds talk they are just amusing themselves or trying to get your attention. But there are times when a bird will say something so appropriate to the situation that you can forget that you’re not talking to a person.

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Not long after we got Alex, I was trying to clean his cage and he kept striking at my face. I was getting nervous and just wanted to finish, so I asked Mark to take him out in the other room. Mark put him on the T-stand and tuned in to Animal Planet on the television. After a few minutes this is what I heard Alex say from the other room: “Look – what’s that? . . . Oh, it’s a bear!” I went out to see for myself and sure enough, Animal Planet was running a show on the Sun Bear! I asked Mark what Alex had just said (sometimes what I hear is so amazing to me that I need confirmation from someone else.) He repeated exactly what I had heard.

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I wrote about going to Eric’s for nail trims. On our second visit Alex was walking around Eric’s kitchen floor. Eric had just gotten a German shepherd pup and she was locked in a carrier while Eric was busy with the bird. Al walked over to the front of the carrier and peered in. He looked up at me and asked “What’s that?” I told him it was a puppy. He replied “Oh.”

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Both Alex and Emelio yell at the dog for barking; usually before I can even open my mouth. Alex screams “Chloe, stop it” at the top of his lungs, while Mister yells “Hey – knock it off.” He may also imitate her bark, and then yell at her to stop!

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One night while we were holding the birds I thought I heard the puppy next door whining. I wondered if maybe they had put him out and forgotten to let him back in, so I got up to check. I went out on the balcony, but there was no sign of Jake. I sat back down and after a few minutes I heard it again. Mark and I just looked quizzically at each other; four of the birds were in the TV room with us and we knew they weren’t doing it. Peeper, Gideon and Classy were in the bird room on top of their cages. I got up again to check and when I walked in the bird room the whining stopped. I went back to my chair and waited. We have windows between the bird room and the TV room so we can all see each other. I had a clear view of Peeper and Gideon and they weren’t doing it either. Classy really doesn’t talk much, so I didn’t think it was him. After a few minutes Mark told me to look at Class – he had his back to us and we could see that every time we heard the whining his shoulders would move just the slightest – it was him! I had been trying to teach him more words, but he chose to imitate the puppy. tt

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Cathy

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I just noticed how odd the picture of Classy and Rani looks. Classy seems to be right up against the window, but I can tell you for sure that is not the case. If the cages weren't far enough away, the wood window molding would show signs of a good chewing!

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Names Part 2

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The birds call us by different names. They know our given names, but have picked up on other names for us also. For example they call my husband Mark or Papa. I have a few more names than that – such as Cath, Ma, Baby girl, Big girl, and so on. Emelio will also call me Hon, Honey Cath, and he may even refer to me (to the other birds) as Your Mother. All of these names they heard at one time or another from us.
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Alex chooses to call me Pat. He does know my name, and will use it if all else fails, but I have learned to answer to a name that isn’t mine (or maybe I should say wasn’t mine.) I naturally assumed that Pat was the name of his first owner, but I was wrong. I asked KC – the woman who rehabilitated Alex – if that was the case. She said that her own mother’s name was Pat and Alex had taken a liking to her.
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Alex doesn’t just call for me by saying the name Pat, he also changes the way he says it. It can be loud and demanding, or inquiring, or sweet – as in Oh, Paaattt. Sometimes he repeats the name quickly in a monotone – Pat Pat Pat. He will say it every way he can think of until he gets a response. If I don’t answer him he calls “Cathy” as a last resort.
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My sister was parked in our driveway one day waiting for us to come home. The windows were open and she could hear Alex calling for Pat. After getting no response at all, he began almost to sound as if he had been crying and the calls became pathetic. Alex is the only bird that does this kind of thing.
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I already wrote about how emotional he sounded when he discovered the swing. He did it another time when we took him for a nail trim. Before Linda closed her shop she gave us lessons on how to trim the birds. We now do all the birds except Alex; he’s just too intimidating. Linda had recommended Eric and we took Alex there a couple of times. After getting his wings and nails trimmed, Alex went to the back of his carrier and sounded like he was sobbing and he kept saying “Oh, God. . . Oh, God” in this mournful voice. It was awful! We had to give up going to Eric’s because it was such a long ride and Alex started banging his head against the bars of his carrier while in the car. I couldn’t stand the sight of his little face bleeding like that, so we take him to the vet now, which is about 10 minutes away.
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Cathy