Some pictures

Some pictures taken this week-end.

Shade fighting off an itch



Joey and a very obsessed look



Zuri sitting pretty



Piper undecided where to stand

Peachface Lovebirds can be nice!

Lately I've often read that Peachface (PF) lovebirds have a bad reputation.

Like any other parrot, if you don't manipulate/handle/socialize a lovebird enough, it might revert to a less human-friendly stage. Daily interaction is key for keeping an adorable lovable lovebird.

With that said, I've also read a lot in the last few months that eyering lovebirds (masked and fishers) are "better" pets than PF lovebirds. True? Not sure...I'm not saying that PF are better, but I don't believe they are any worse either.

Example #1, my little Piper.
She would be happiest spending her whole day on me. She loves giving kisses, she loves rubbing her beak all over your face, she loves head scratches and doesn't bite. I mean if that is not a perfect lovebird, I don't know what is.

Here is a little video of her lying on my hand, getting her head scratched and slowly falling asleep.



Example #2, Bijou, a PF lovebird which my mom has kept while her owners were away.
This bird did not meet me before this video was taken; it was happy to get some attention, even from a stranger and even started to "vibrate".

Here is a video of Bijou on her back in my hands (talk about trust), enjoying a head scratch (again, I did no know this bird for more than 10 minutes before this was taken).



Finally, #3 is Arthur, a PF lovebird who actually got less and less attention from his former owners. They actually decided it would be best to find Arthur a new loving home and trusted my mom to do so. When I went to visit, all he wanted to do was to be on people. Loved kisses and not once did he bite.

Here is a picture of little Arthur.



PF lovebirds can make great pets; they love to love you and love getting attention back.

The hanging play gyms

Here are a couple of pictures.

Above Joey and Petey's cages. This is where Shade and Zuri hang out most of the time (it's next to my big windows). Shade is there a lot more since the big evil purple Jolly Ball made it's appearance on the gym above her cage...she had no problem with the red Jolly ball (was intrigued with it from the beginning) so I have to assume she has a problem with the colour purple...









Here is the park above Shade and Piper's cages.
Petey spends a lot of her time, when not on my significant other, on that park.

Bird boarding

I haven't posted in a while.

Not sure why that is, but it's now time for an update.

Last week-end (Labour day week-end), my SO and I went camping, which means the birds had to be looked after. I don't really trust that many people with taking care of them, as it seems to me slightly more complicated than looking after a cat or a dog (well that is if you want the bird to have some time out of the cage, which I do). Luckily, my mother is also a parrot fanatic and is willing to look after my flock of 5.

Piper got to see her two friends, Nicky and Sydney (my parents' lovebirds). Having heard how it went, it seems like the did some major catching up.
Petey was well behaved with the other birds..I guess being put out of your element will do that. She didn't eat much, but her weight did not seem to have shifted too much from the usual. She was happy to be back home, or rather to have my SO giving her attention.
The others seemed to have been ok with the whole experience. Even Zuri, for whom this was her first time "away" from home since I got her. I guess having the others with her helped.

One of those days...

The birds have been driving me nuts today.
Flying all over the place, chasing each other, squabbling over nothing.
Getting in each others way.
Not staying put for 5 minutes.

Might be the sun.
Might also be the lack of sleep that makes me a bit more irritable.

They have not been out as much as they could have been today (seeing how it's a week-end), but at one point I just ran out of energy to deal with them.

They'll have an early bedtime tonight.
I think I'll do the same.

The Strut

Petey has this little walk, where she stands all tall, takes big steps and it looks like she's almost hopping along.

Most important thing is to keep the head held high of course, but she'll occasionally bring it down if she wants to accentuate a particularly larger step..but then the head comes right up :)

It's a hoot to watch.

Oh and August 3rd was the 1 year-here mark. Can't believe I've had her for an entire year already....

And down the slope we go...

Petey was making progress. Seemed tolerant of myself, definitely more tolerant of the other birds.

However, the last few days (last three to be precise), she's relapsed. Right now, she is in her cage whilst the others are out, beating the crap out of her toys. Better her toys than anyone else.

But why is she in her cage? For the second time today (fourth time in 3 days), she's managed to jump on me and, if I wasn't fast enough, would have taken out chunks of skin off my arms and neck (she is aiming for the head, kinda scary).
The first few times, my boyfriend was a bit careless...having her within jumping distance and she just took the leap. Needless to say he got more of the blame than she did. This last time though, she leaped from quite farther away. She is clipped because of this (well this and her going after the other birds, which she has not done in a while).

This is why she has been going through so many homes. Total unprovoked attacks (trust me, I've been trying to figure out what I could have been doing that would start these attacks and nothing seems to fit, no two situation have been identical or even similar other than she being close enough to leap). My SO has also noted she's been a lot more restless with him.

Hopefully this is a bad week or two. She is still beating up toys and I doubt that she'll come back out anytime tonight (definitively not before she calms down and they are all going to bed soon).

Sigh.

3 wet Pois

Saturday was shower time.
The best wet bird pictures, in order:

#3, Shade who felt the lure of food overcome her desire to pose nicely for the camera (resulting on her being on my hand for one shot as to not have her head in the bowl)


#2, Joey who always cracks me up when wet


#1, Zuri because this is just a really nice shot of her (caught in mid-fluff too!)

A week after...

..well more like a couple of days really.

Tully went back home last Monday evening. I haven't really continued with the posts, because it was more of the same. She has settled in quite well.

But what happened after is maybe something to note.

Shade had been her independent self while Tully was there (Shade has moments when she'll be more needy than others, but she's fairly good on her own). Since Tully left, she's been a bit more clingy. Maybe trying to prove that she's still bird #1 (bird #2 where Piper is concerned). She's been spending more time on me or close to me.

Zuri...Zuri was being possessive of me while Tully was there. Then Tully left and that had a weird impact on her. She regressed as to how she was in the beginning..very shy and nervous around myself and my boyfriend. She's getting over it and slowly becoming more like herself of late.

Wonder if she was afraid that she would also have to go soon?
After all, she is the last one to have moved in to the flock and might be frightened of Tully's short stay here. It's all assumptions really, but I do wonder what went through her mind.

Day 4 & 5

Yesterday and today were pretty uneventful.
Tully seems to have adjusted really well and the others are accepting her more and more.

Yesterday, Tully showed a preference for my boyfriend, today it was for me. Maybe it's because I shared a peach with her...she definitively likes food :)

She didn't squeak as much today either.
I don't think she made the sound because of being uncomfortable; it seems that today she was more in a whistling mood.

Day 3

I have found a nickname for Tully during her stay here.

Squeaky McGee.

Seriously, she's a squeaker. It's so cute.
(Don't ask about the "McGee" part, I don't know myself, it just came out that way..)

Birdsitting - Days 1 & 2

So for a little over a week I will have a third Meyer's here.
I am birdsitting her for a friend.

Tully has been here since yesterday. Her owner dropped her off around 12h30. It took no time for Tully to adjust to her new surroundings. Soon, she was out with the rest of my flock (and yes all birds are healthy and they have been hanging out in close proximity before, at Parrot meetings Tully's owner and I both go to). Tully, being an only bird, had to learn some parrot-socialization skills. She was a bit of a bully at first, but quickly learned to share bigger play gyms/areas. I also got to hear the cutest wolf whistle to have ever come out of a parrot (surprisingly none of mine do it...). She ate and drank like she was at her own place. She has no issue with the "up" command, a little more difficulties with the "down" (specially when it involves going back in her cage). Overall, the first day was a good day.

Day 2

She got out of her cage the moment I opened it. She went back and forth between my boyfriend and I, showing a slight preference for him, which can be somewhat of an issue at times since Petey spends a lot of time on my boyfriend and she doesn't really tolerate other birds on him at the same time (she's come to tolerate Joey if he's far enough from her), so extra precautions are taken when Tully might want to jump on the boyfriend if he has Petey.
Also, on day one, Zuri was a little afraid of Tully (I never thought Zuri would be afraid of another bird), but, in what is probably an effort to regain her reputation, Zuri changed her attitude today. I had to intervene on a number of occasions where I think she would of wanted to show Tully who is boss...maybe it's a jealousy thing, I'm not sure. However, I do make sure that I give my regulars their daily dose of one on one before doing the same with Tully. Just to remind them I haven't forgotten the flock order. Tully has also shared a smaller stand with Shade with no trouble (Shade is cool with just about any bird). This happened during Nutriberry eating time, and Tully actually stole Shade's half of a Nutriberry when she wasn't watching (Shade takes pieces off, deposits the bigger piece, and proceeds to eat the smaller one, starting over again when she's done).
So really, Food = Peace, at least when sharing a small tabletop perch.

It will be interesting to see tomorrow's dynamic, as it's back to work for me and less out of cage time for them.

Reflection gazing

I sometimes wonder what goes through my birds' heads.
This occasion was such an occasion.

I really wonder what he was thinking of the reflection...

Couple more pictures

From last week-end or two week-ends ago, I can't remember..

Changing allegiance?.. - Part 2

Joey's idea of "favorite person" really seems to have changed, or at least it's moved on to "favorite people".
He is truly becoming more needy for my attention and slowly letting go of my significant other (which I don't think SO minds too much, specially in the morning).

As happy as it makes me, it's also a little troublesome. Having to deal with 3 other birds that show some preference for me, including one very needy Lovebird, I have to make sure I give them all equal time..which to them, doesn't always mean enough. Luckily, Shade and Zuri can be somewhat independent and do enjoy playing on the play gyms a big deal which makes it easier to manage but Piper on the other hand seems like she would be happy living on me perpetualy. Still, I have found myself at times with the 4 of them around/on me and the occasional jealous bickering was relatively easy to stop.

The only relieve is that I know I won't have to deal with Petey going to same route as Joey any time soon..meaning I'll probably have time to get a system going for sharing myself in four and be quite comfortable with it before she ever really likes me enough to leave her treasured(and deserted)shoulder on my SO to come over and see me ;) This doesn't mean I didn't wish my relationship with Petey was, how to put it, easier and I will still work at it with her (she does love me when favorite food is involved).

In any case, the one thing that this has shown me is that birds who start off with a preference for a specific gender can really come around to liking everyone.