Our feathered friends, birdbrains, and wingnuts

[Changing4Best]

I have to tell you a story that I was reminded of this morning while sitting outside watching the birds and listening to them.

My husband and I went to Argentina on our honeymoon in the early 1980s. He was born there and so we wanted to have me meet his relatives. His sister had this unique doorbell that sounded like a bird. It was loud and called out repeatedly for several chirps.

We loved it and decided to buy one for our house. So, we hooked it up when we got home and enjoyed it for a few weeks. It was summertime and so I had the windows open. All of a sudden one day I heard what I thought was the bell, but it sounded like it was a ways from the house. The bell was of an Argentinian bird, so no American bird sounded like it! So we were puzzled as this went on.

Finally one day I saw a mocking bird nearby our house and put it together. He had learned how to mock our doorbell!

 

[littleoc]

Aww! That’s really cool!

 

[shatter eyes]

I am an albatross. Brush by my feathers and be blessed. Painted by my giant birdbombs and be forever young.

I am a turkey and thanksgiving aggravates my ptsd because yall humans just want to eat us. Take us down. Down into your stomach and down into the toilet because we are nothing but shit. I am a turkey. Thanksgiving ptsd.

I am a chicken i love turkey pot pies and steamed albatross wings. I am chicken and i am hiding from Kentucky.

I am a frog... this aint my section.

 

[gealach]

Cicero had an adventure yesterday.... he's getting brave enough to try flying. He doesn't seem to know how to bird, so he watches Pippin. And Pip flies everywhere. So yesterday Cicero practiced & practiced & practiced flapping his wings, then flew around the living room, then explored some furniture & ran around on the floor, and practiced more wing flapping, and when mom brought him back to his cage for a snack he actually flew in to the cage (normally he can't figure out how to do that).

And Cicero has started letting Pippin groom his head. Intentionally.

It's only been 6 months.... we're moving at the speed of Cicero, lol

 

[littleoc]

That’s adorable, Hahahaha

I accidentally got my cockatiel sick, and I feel so bad about it. Her water bowl was clear so I was changing it out daily with just a rinse. The vet had me smell it, and it smelled terrible! Like a water bottle that’s been closed for days without being washed. Poor baby!

Vet taught me to wash it with bleach occasionally. Makes me nervous, but will do. And then lots and lots of airing out and rinsing

 

[gealach]

oh, poor Dove!!!! is she better now?

I don't like to use chemicals on the boys dishes, just in case because birds are sooooo sensitive, so I have a stack of dishes and rotate them. And I sterilize the hand washed ones in the dishwasher every few weeks. Lol the boys have as many dishes as they have toys!!!!

 

[littleoc]

That’s a great idea! She usually has stainless steel bowls, but she’s been in her tiny cage lately for safety and it has plastic bowls that fit into the doors. And I have to use tiny bowls for a while because she’s on antibiotic water and it’s expenssssive

But surely the tiny cage company has backup bowls for people who want extra, or broke one... :0 Too bad they’re probably plastic :/

I feel the same way about the chemicals. I don’t want her breathing anything questionable!

But yes, she’s okay! She’s still a bit droopy and I’m worried about that, but she’s back to screaming at me when I walk away :D Doesn’t want to be held much, maybe because she needs all the sleep

 

[gealach]

does she have a heat lamp? or an air heater? When Pippin isn't feeling well I turn his lamp on by his little cage, and he sits in front of it all day. And it's colder now, so most days I turn the air heater on by the big cage for the boys. Pip will sit on my finger and his feet are all toasty warm ?

It's good that she feeling well enough to be a sassy girl!!!!!

does she like flavored millet? Cicero can't get enough of the blueberry flavor.

 

[littleoc]

She doesn’t have a heat lamp, but she has a heated perch! Which stays not too hot just in case she falls asleep on it. :p Thank you for saying that, because it’s currently in her conure cage and not in her tiny cage! She’d probably love it in there about now!

She seems to prefer plain millet!! She’s so weird, she’ll ask for treats but won’t eat most of the normal things. No bananas, no citrus, only wants to tear up the skin of grapes, but yes to lunchmeat turkey (she snuck it and claimed to want another bite D: ),yes to tuna (my ex gave her some because she was stupid I guess?), yes to a beakfull of potato chip, and I have to leave her in her cage for corn flakes because she will jump on my bowl and STEAL even if it’s already in milk D:

She’s so weird, lol

 

[Changing4Best]

I found a book in a catalog that has images of common wild birds and it has recordings of their calls. I think I might buy it. I do know some of them, like the robin, I know her call. The blue jay too. I would love to learn more. The book also has info about the birds too. I want this book! It is called THE LITTLE BOOK OF BACKYARD BIRDSONGS by Andrea Pennington and Caz Buckingham. It costs around $20.00 (US).

Today (my) the mocking birds were really singing and having a grand old time! They were mimicking song birds and flying around flirting with one another. They actually are quite active birds! Even though they seem rather plain in appearance, I find them to be beautiful.

 

[littleoc]

I love mockingbirds :) I love how their wings are held.

And that’s book looks so great for that price!! Thank you for sharing!

There’s an app in North America (probably not South?) from Cornell, a bird identifying app. Can’t recall the name immediately... but it has recordings of birds, and lets you search by size, color, where you saw the bird, etc. Really useful!

 

[Changing4Best]

I ordered it so I should have it in a few weeks. I will let you know how it is. I can't wait!