Parrot Lovers Community

I was watching cute parrot videos on Youtube with my fiance, and we ended up with a debate. You see, my fiance's dream bird is a blue and gold macaw. While I wouldn't mind keeping a large macaw, my dream bird list includes instead a large cockatoo, such as an umbrella or Moluccan. We know we won't be able to have any large bird for quite some time -- our parrot resources are currently limited to our mini-macaw and budgies -- so this is still in the purely hypothetical stages.

The question is whether a large macaw and a large cockatoo would get along.

We're not talking about sharing a cage, but interacting during play. I think it would depend on the individual personalities of the birds -- a more reserved than average cockatoo and a more playful than average macaw -- but that ultimately they'd be similarly sized and able to work out their differences and arrive at some kind of understanding without killing each other. My fiance thinks that the trends in behavior would strongly work against this arrangement and the macaw would very much dislike a cockatoo as a companion. He thinks the only appropriate companion for a blue and gold is another large macaw, like a scarlet or greenwing. I'll admit that's a more ideal arrangement, but I don't think that means a cockatoo couldn't work.

Does anyone have practical experience with an arrangement involving a macaw and a cockatoo interacting? How did it go?

My fiance was also surprised to hear me say that I'd want a large cockatoo and not a Goffin's. "I thought they were the clever ones," he said. "All cockatoos are clever," I said, "but Goffin's come across to me as distinctly sociopathic." "You also want an African grey," he said; "are you going to tell me that they don't have sociopathic tendencies?" "It's like the difference between Holmes and Moriarty," I said. "Holmes was addicted to cocaine and regularly shot holes in the walls of his apartment," my fiance reminded me. So let me amend my statement here: Goffin's = Moriarty, umbrellas = Sherlock, African greys = Mycroft. All of them are geniuses, but Moriarty deliberately sets out to make trouble, Sherlock doesn't so much mean to make trouble as he can't be bothered to not make trouble, and Mycroft just doesn't see the point of leaving his club when he can arrange everything he wants to be brought to him.

One of my cockatiels has been sitting at the bottom of the cage in the corner lately, which is unusual for her. Everything else is fine, as she still comes out of the cage to play, still makes noise, still eats, and so on. Sitting at the bottom of the cage (in the morning only) is the only problem. I thought that maybe it's because I recently got a new cage and she may not like the new perches.

I was wondering if I should take her to the vet anyway, or if I should just keep careful watch over her for the time being. Any help would be appreciated.

Not parrots, but for anyone who's interested, my local university has set up a live streaming video feed of the peregrine falcons nesting on the roof of their library. The three chicks are getting pretty big!

Here's the link. Enjoy!

Hello guys!

I'm starting to train my cockatiels and I was wondering if anyone had any experience or advice. My ultimate goal is come-when-called and go-to-perch but that'll be a long ways away. (I'm also trying to get Gideon to combine head bob with kissing noise but that's mimicry). It's funny because Gid knows how to say "come here" but not what to do.

I know the basics of clicker training and that it'll most likely just take a long time to get results, which is fine.

The problem comes that my two birds don't want anything shoved in their faces, even a treat, let alone a target stick! So I've been rewarding them for even tolerating a stick a little bit but then I try and give them a treat and they scurry away.

They're only kind of afraid of my hands, since they step up just fine and let me pet them a ton. But when they think I'm going to put them back in their cage they stay just out of reach.

I know they want the treats I have, I see Gideon thinking reeeally hard whether he wants to come over to where the millet is or not.



The boys in my new pak-o-bird, for adventures!



Radio fluffin



Gideon eating mustard I grew :)



Eating a menu...

He's settling in well and getting along with myself and my two sons, and my cockatiel.

He is adapting to rowdybush pellets, and fresh veggies, and we have figured out that unsalted organic almonds are his favorite treat, so that will be the ongoing training tool.  He likes taking showers with me and whistles happily as the spray bounces off me and onto him.   He is still scratching the back of his head but often now will just raise a claw as if to gesture to me as he cranes his head around, "hey how about a head scritch please".   I see some little downy feathers trying to grow back, but this next Friday I will be taking him to the vet to make sure he doesn't have a skin rash and to see if there is some sort of balm that can be put on the back of his head.  Its not red or irritated looking, it appears to be healthy grey parrot skin,    His poop is of pefect consistency and I try to say "pooped" every time I catch him doing it, and praise him so he eventually will learn to poop on command.  

My sons know not to acknowlege bad behaviors and just wait until he does something nice before praising or transferring him to his cage or a perch. He takes head scritches from anyone.  The other day we were having a staring contest and he bobbed his head a little, so I mimiced him and now when I do it and say "dance dance dance" he bobs and rocks back and forth for a treat.

After his morning bath today I caught him playing with his newly installed toy so that was a win, and I am teaching him to climb the ladder to get back into his cage.  Eventually I will be able to set him down and tell him and he will walk to his cage and climb back inside.

The other day, I offered him a piece of bananna and he acted like he had never seen/tasted it but when he saw me eating it he took a tentative nibble, and then nom'd a several enthusiastic mouthfuls.

He has not shown any hostility toward my female cockatiel Sweet-Pea, just mild curiousity.  She wants nothing to do with him so she flys back to her cage.  Stewie is not flighted, and his tailfeathers, and flight feathers have not grown out yet.    He has muttered hello a couple times, but has been more of a chirper and whistler.   That will come with time.

Hello,
I'm concerned about my bird's drinking.
At first it was just 1 or 2 drinks to unwind at the end of the day.
But now he's always hammered, and falls off his perch.
Is this normal? I thought about a 12 step program for him,
but that would be stupid because he is a bird.
Thoughts?

Can anyone give me info on what its like to live with caiques?

I met the most precious caique today at work and I fell in love. Since the end of my shift, I've been googling and reading back on caiques. I mainly want to inhale information about caiques right now.

I don't currently have any birds of my own, nor do I plan to get one anytime soon. I know that sometime in my life I would love to own a parrot of some sort. Caiques are the only bird in my mind that hold competition with conures as favorite species.

Also, would a caique be less than ideal for a first time bird owner? I have lots of experience with handling small birds (mostly small parrots; cockatiels, budgies, conures, and the occasional parrotlet) and caring for them, but no experience actually OWNING birds. I do have a LITTLE experience with large parrots, but not much. Again, I don't plan on getting a bird any time soon. I'm just constantly trying to find a bird that might best suit me for when the time comes for me own a bird.

I adopted a new bird, who were were going to name Chewie in honor of the day we got him (May the Fourth) but as my son and I were heading home, my son Lars convinced me he should be called Stewie.  We're going to teach him how to say "Victory is Mine!"

He was adopted from a foster family that already had 6 happy healthy birds.  The poor guy was bored and neglected and picked all the feathers off the back of his head.  I was not looking for a bird, (I actually was there to buy a perch for my Cockatiel, Swet-Pea.

But he took an immediate liking to me, and 2 weeks later he is here in his new home.  My son loves him too, and we have both been giving him lots of head rubs and attention.  We were warned he was a hard biter, but he has not so much as nipped either of us.  He is whistling and happy, and mutterring.   Here are a couple pictures under the cut.

My GCC, Dizzy, has her hatch day coming up (she will be three years old!) and I wanted to get her something special - but my go-to toy place, Birdy Booty, is closed at the moment.  Does anyone have sites/stores that they go to regularly for great, safe toys?  Thanks!

Does anybody else have a bird who likes to - very gently - scratch your skin with their beak?

You know how, if you scratch yourself or trace your nail over your skin, it sometimes leaves a white mark? Well, Molly, my YSGCC has discovered that if she gently traces the tip of her beak over my skin, she leaves little white lines. They fade after a minute, but she is utterly mesmerized! She's like a little painter. :D She's so gentle, too, it's adorable.

Ah, the funny things birds notice.

this pillow cover is cracking me up....IRN + Cockatiel? IRN + Cockatoo + Cockatiel + Dove?

My little Princess!  She's been feeling neglected since I started my apprenticeship at the shop; poor baby.  Her gram spends a lot of time with my flock while I'm working.  But after I get home, it is SERIOUS SNUGGLES time.

Hello hello! Long time no post.

This is just a video of my little Green Cheek, Fremont, breaking cardamon pods open for me. It takes far less time with his help than it does when I use a spoon. Thank you, Fremont. Stop eating the cardamom, Fremont.



<3

It has been quite a long time since I have been on LJ so please excuse me if I don't get this posting business quite right. I recall this being one of my favorite places to get bird advice back in the days when I had first acquired my two eclectus, so it's to you I turn as I mourn the passage of my male SI Ekkie, Kiwi.

He was born in 1997, which makes made him 15 years old. He was a wonderful bird who got along with everyone, never had any health or behavioural issues, until I found him on the floor of his cage dead about two hours ago. I have no idea what happened to him.

But in addition to being completely devastated about him, I am worried about my female eclectus Rosie. They lived together in the same cage for the last...6+ years. They never bred, probably because Rosie has hepatic encephalopathy, which makes her rather disabled. It's not a contagious disease, but it does get worse and the vet gave her 6 months to live.

That was years ago. I have attributed her longevity on the fact that Kiwi positively doted on her; bringing her food, grooming her, fawning over her. With him gone, I am not sure she will be able to function.

So now what do I do? I am at a loss. I work full time hours at a vet clinic now and I can not be home to hand-feed her. I am not sure if she will go to the bowls to eat on her own. I am of course taking her to the vet to be checked out to make sure whatever killed Kiwi is not affecting her also, but after that, what then? Do I find someone with more time than me to take her? I don't know if I can bear giving her away. Do I try to find another male and hope that they bond as well as she did with Kiwi? Do I just do my best and hope she doesn't die?

What would you do?

I know this isn't going to be quite a 'parrot' post, but I don't know where else to ask.

We have a wild mockingbird building a nest in our backyard in a crape myrtle. Our crape myrtles are all short, and her nest is about head height (~ 5ft 6-8inches). While I REALLY want her to nest there for the photo opportunities, I don't want her nest to nest there because my large dogs spend most of the day outside (as is their preference) and they have been known to catch the occasional bird. I don't want to put her babies in jeopardy. I also don't want her to get defensive and peck at my dogs every time my dogs go to that area of the yard.

While I REALLY don't want to destroy her nest, is this the only way for her to go build her nest elsewhere? Is there something I can do to discourage this?

To make this at least a little more appropriate for this comm:
I do volunteer work at a zoo with exotic birds :) I figured some pictures of some of the larger parrots I work with would be nice.

Murphy, african grey
Pepper, sleepy scarlet macaw (Norma, his mate is in the background, she's a military macaw)
Chester and Hayden. I can never remember which is which, but they're a blue and gold and green wing.
Close up of b&g.
Pepper again.

Hi, I know I don't post here often but I have a quick question: can cockatiels eat mixes made for large parrots/conures (specifically the fiesta parrot mix)? My parents are taking care of my birds until I'm home from college, and they somehow bought the wrong food. They really don't want to go back out and buy more food if they don't have to. It'll only be used until I can get home in 2 weeks. Thanks~

**This adorable little GIRL (a pineapple conure) Will be coming home with me around the fourth of july!**

This summer (probably August) I am going to be moving by car from Massachusetts to Wyoming, so I will need to plan where to stay along the way. If anyone here has stayed at a hotel with a bird, how did you choose where to stay, and what did you tell the hotel/housekeeping beforehand about your bird and your bird's needs?

I responded to a CL ad this weekend on a whim, looking for a stand for my Cockatiel to perch on when in the living room with me. 
It was a 2 stand deal, but the main stand was an enormous one, big enough for any large parrot.  Overkill.
So I negotiated a deal on the smaller cheaper stand.  The folks I bought it from, well, they had 6 birds, all in good health and well cared for, and one additional bird, a Senegal they had adopted and was now looking to adopt out to someone else.  They have a pair of other birds they wanted to breed, but this bird was being agressive and disruptive.   He had his nails freshly trimmed, as he had been scratching the feathers off the back of his head with his longer claws before adoption. 

I know you guys have had that moment when you meet a bird and the bird checks you out, and decides you'll do.


They warned me, he was a biter.  A hard biter, one that latches on bulldog style.   I went to his cage and he was standing on the top of the open cage.  I talked with him for a minute, and then asked him to step up.  He did, and promptly cocked his head to get it scritched.  After talking with the owners for a half hour about the stands, their birds, this bird etc, I decided I would come back in two weeks when I get paid, and adopt him.  I live in an apartment, but I have room.  Senegals are not as loud as some breeds, and this little fellow was a chatty bird, making whistles, cat mews, and other sounds.  He was bobbing his head happily on my hand, and once when he tried to climb to my shoulder he obediently stepped up to my other hand to put him back where he belonged.  He panic'd and fluttered to the ground, once when a new boing perch was brought near him and he stood on the floor, whistling as you would call a dog, to get me to come fetch him.   I put him in his cage, and also reached in and took him back out, and he never showed aggression to me.   I have owned Parakeets, a Conure, Cockatiel and a Quaker, so I know birds, and I guess this bird knew I was a bird person.

I was not looking for another pet, but looks like this one decided to adopt me.

Hi guys!

I was wondering if you had some advice to help me get my parrotlet to play more when he's in his cage. My fiancee and I spend lots of time with him (2 or so hours a day, spread out), and I work at home, so he has no shortage of company, nor is he lethargic, when he's out, he climbs, explored our desks (with supervision at all times of course!) and flies to his cage and back to us. But when I put him in his cage he just sits around a lot and calls us to let him out (he knows how to say "Come here!" and employs it liberally when he wants us) I would love to have him out more, but we can't let him out when it's unsafe. As in we're cooking, or working and can't watch him carefully.

I put toys in there and rotate them, about once every 3 weeks, but he never pays attention to any of them. He really doesn't even play much with his swings, of which I have a few that I change around. I try to rotate the type of toy, the colors, the position, but the only one I can see him playing with sometimes is an orange toy that has a lot of holes in it that I can fit unshelled unsalted peanuts into which he enjoys breaking open and eating. When he's out he likes to nibble holes in our shirts too, not that that's a "toy" but it hopefully might help with suggestions?

I've been keeping that orange one in any time I rotate because he just snubs everything else! Even though I want to encourage variety I can't bring myself to take it away. I know he's not afraid of the toys, he doesn't gives them the time of day at all, they just hang there while he sits and asks to be played with or takes a nap/preens waiting for one of us to walk near him. I feel like a bad mom! What can I do to keep my little guy more occupied when my fiancee and I can't play with him?

To make this less boring, have a video of him chattering before bed:

Ingredients:
-Favorite Person (for holding)
-Clipper Person (obv.)
-two pairs scissor-style nail clippers
-unruly bird

Favorite person holds bird in one hand, offering extra pair of clippers to play with (holding so clippers cannot be thrown into head of person clipping (learned that by experience). Clipping person... go to town.

Will not necessarily work for all birds, but this method turned pedicure time into semi-enjoyable time for all of us (or at least a much less dramatic and stressful procedure). Keeping the cockatoo quiet and happy attacking the decoy scissors also minimizes the chances of me nicking her quick, as she is much less squirmy (and seems so focused on the decoy clippers that she's oblivious of me trimming her nails).

YMMV. Proceed with caution. :)

Skylar, my rehomed U2, has aggression issues with older women.  We've been working with her about a year, and thought we were beginning to make progress.  My mother was getting confident enough to begin getting Skylar to step-up on a dowel, and could give her treats without fear of being ravaged.
Then, the other day, Skylar shot up the dowel and tore my mother's arm open from elbow to wrist-- along with five-to-seven punctures on her hands(caused by her frantically trying to protect her face).  It was awful.

To explain the extent of her hatred towards elderly women:  Skylar is clipped; if she is on her crawler net, ceiling fan, playstand.. and an older woman enters the room? She will LEAP off the stand/fan/net no matter the fall and charge them across the floor. Injuries be damned.  The only time she can be safely approached is if she's on me, and even then, the tolerance is low. (This IS a huge improvement over what she was before-- do not think I am belittling the progress she has made.) 

What makes this even worse, is that Skylar is large for a U2; over 700g.  That is a lot of angry psittacine.

With me, Skylar is a totally different animal:  Sweet, adoring, cuddly, charming. She has taken to trick-training like a champ and will sing and dance and do all sorts of things for me on command. She also adores children, and will do all sorts of cute things for their attention. But now I'm having to step back and think about my mother's safety, and it's tearing me apart.  I LOVE Skylar. I made a definite commitment to her, and she's given me her trust fully in return-- but my mother is elderly, and while she hasn't demanded I rehome the bird, I feel it's unfair that she should be on constant alert in her own home.

Suggestions and feedback are totally welcomed; I could use some comfort right now.

I've become terrified of my lovebird lately.

I got her a few years ago from a breeder and we had a good relationship for the most part, up until maybe a year or two ago when I adopted a cockatiel from my former boss.

Over the last year or two she's become very aggressive, very horny, and very bratty. I no longer feel comfortable giving her a finger to hop onto when she's in her cage, since it's all but guaranteed she'll latch onto it and bite into it with every ounce of strength in her body.
This same rage manifests every time I change her food or water, or when I try to remove her from whatever piece of paper she's ripping up when she's out of her cage.

She incessantly chases after my cockatiel (presumably for sex), who will have none of that. It's to the point where I have to cover his cage if I even want her out. Some combination of hormones, jealousy, and boredom I think is driving her to this state of being psychotic.


Tonight was sort of a breaking point for me. I opened her cage to let her come out, and she just kept bouncing from perch to perch, attacking one of her toys as she did so. The ways she responded to me made it very clear that she was going to attack me if I came anywhere near her.

Using a few layers of towel as "armor" I rearranged her perches and toys so perhaps she doesn't get so bored in there. Not only did she attack and bite the towel with such force that I heard her breathing hard with every clamp of the beak, but she actually followed it out of the cage, flew up onto my shoulder, and began attacking my face with the same energy.


I'm now absolutely terrified of her. I want to repair our relationship and work with her, but it seems like there's absolutely no way of doing so without incurring physical harm. I live with my folks at the moment, but plan to move out in a few months time. I really hope my dad wants to keep her (he likes her and birds and general) because if he didn't I just might have to surrender her to a rescue or something (along with a LARGE donation to offset my massive guilt and sense of personal failure).


Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm really really saddened by this.