Domestic Birds

[swmorse]

A few months ago I said I was going to start a topic for our ‘house’ birds, so here it is. I hope some of us have birds and let the rest of us get to know them here. Here’s mine

This is Rio a blue and gold macaw. I’ve only had him for about 3 months. He was my older sister’s and when she passed my brother and his wife took him in. I think he’s in his late 20’s. I know he was young with my sister and she got him before 2020

He’s not a talker which I’ve found out is typical of macaws. If anyone has any bird tips I’m all ears. I have to join a parrot forum where I hope I’ll get a lot of good advice (like CoTH )

IMG_0546

[RJC]

He’s beautiful! How did you end up with him after your brother? He seems to be doing really well the human caretaker adjustments. I used to want a Macaw or African Grey, but I worried I wouldn’t be able to commit to their lifespan and I know they can struggle with feather plucking and other emotional issues when their people change. Is he bonding well with you?

My best friend’s dad growing up owned a vet clinic and specialized in domestic birds. They always had an assortment of rescued parrots wandering around the house with the GSDs. I also had parakeets in high school and worked at a pet store selling birds.

I brought a cockatiel (acquired in high school) into my marriage, but when he passed in 2020, my husband declared a strong preference for “no more birds” and we’ve since adopted more cats.

I’m processing my DH’s terminal illness diagnosis still, but a tiny part of me is telling myself I can get a love bird or sun conure when he’s gone to keep me company. Their little parrot faces are so cute and I don’t want a quiet house.

[Larksmom]

he is a beauty! I had a pair of I don’t remember what kind of Green parrots for about 6 months while their owners got their lives in order. I had cats, and although I worried a bit about the cats, they sized up the situation quickly. I had carpeting at the time, and although I vigorously vaccumed I had pin feathers for a year after they left. They were absolutely wonderful. I loved spraying them with a spray bottle. Their faces would just open with delight!

[chestnutmarebeware]

Here’s my crew:

Parakeets

Lovebirds (Dutch Blue)

Pacific Parrotlet

Bourke’s Parakeets

Parisian Frill Canaries

Fife Canaries

Gouldian Finches (I have red-, yellow- and black-head varieties)

[Larksmom]

wow! you must live in a very large house, or have to hop sideways between the cages! nice birds tho.

[chestnutmarebeware]

Not a large house, but I converted one of the bedrooms into a bird room since I live alone. The cages line the walls nicely, with room for a work table and shelves for food storage.

[endlessclimb]

@RJC

I’m processing my DH’s terminal illness diagnosis

I’m so sorry.

[CanadianTrotter]

@chestnutmarebeware

Here’s my crew:

I’m in awe of your number and collection of birds and can relate to how much work and dedication goes into having such healthy birds as yours.

I was once like you and had many different types of birds, but never that many at one time!

My last bird was my rescued European Starling Bummy Bird who passed 2 years ago on Xmas Eve. He was 13 years old, talked more than most parrots and cursed like a drunken pirate since he was a few months old.

When Bummy passed a huge part of my heart went with him. I can still hear him and it still hurts.

[CanadianTrotter]

@RJC

I’m processing my DH’s terminal illness diagnosis still,

Sending you positive thoughts and strength for your journey and best wishes for your husband.

Take your time and do some research to decide what type of bird you would like and that would best suit you and your lifestyle.

[swmorse]

That’s a lot of birds! Are you a breeder, or just a collector? I love all the colors. I’m imagining the room sounds like a Disney movie? Are their tweets melodious?

Rio occasionally comes up with a musical sounding sound, but usually he’s ranting and when he screeches, my ears hurt! I’ll post some of his sounds in a later post (for your enjoyment )

[swmorse]

Thanks. Most of my family (including sister and brother) lived in South Florida, east coast. I lived in the Tampa Bay area (central Florida, west coast) and had a horse farm so didn’t get down for visits much. When I met Rio in 2020 I was actually down there for a Hanoverian inspection and stayed at my sister’s.

Anyway, she used to let him get out of his cage and walk around on the counters, etc (as one does). Brother’s wife seems shocked and disapproving at that. They all lived in the same community just about 5 minutes away from each other. So, when she passed, my brother took Rio. If I’d lived down there I probably would have researched and suggested he go to a parrot rescue, because we’re not bird people.

Brother kept him in their garage! in my opinion not the best place. (I know birds like parrots/macaws need and enjoy human companionship) but I guess his wife (who seems to think their house in in the running for a spread in House Beautiful, it’s not, it’s just a regular home but she seems to have delusions of grandeur) did/does not want him in the house. He did get some interaction and was able to get out of his cage (this I know because my brother told me he tried to fly away once but since his wings are clipped he didn’t get too far and flew into the fence ) Then they moved him to their screened-in back area where there is a pool so he still got some interaction, probably not as much though. My brother is a car guy and has some around that he works on; at at the time he was quite a heavy drinker so he and his buddy would be in the garage getting drunk most of the day.

All this I just learned of when I spent part of 2020-2021 living with them (due to life circumstances) except I know about the drinking part from other family members (and I’ve had my time of heavy drinking so no shade from me).

Anyway, they have a dog and have had one ever since they move to that area, some time mid-90’s. But they still aren’t animal people. they didn’t intentionally abuse Rio but as I observed he really didn’t have any people interaction and probably only got out of his cage, which was 3’ across, 2’ deep, 3.5’ tall twice in the months I was there. So I told them I’d take him when I found a place here in NC. And that’s how I ended up with this noisy, mean bird whose cage take up 1/3 of my living room! (I live in a single wide mobile home).

I leave his door open all the time and I’m trying to set something up so he can get from the cage to the floor so he can walk around on the floor some, but I take that away when I go to bed as he’s unsupervised then. I’ve had him for only 4 months so far. When I first got him, I did close him in the cage usually between 7-7:30 PM and cover him up. He’d grab at the cover and seemed unhappy to be covered up, sometimes once covered, he’d say a sad little ‘hello’ which was enough to break my heart. So, after about 6 weeks I stopped covering him. He sleeps on the top of the cage and seems happy.

@RJC

I don’t want a quiet house

I will video Rio when he’s in a noisy mood so you can play it. When he’s not shrieking, we have some pretty good discussions (in macaw talk), at least with him around I use my voice daily

That’s all I feel like typing now. I’ll add more as the days go on. He is mean, but if I offer him a treat by hand takes it very gently.

[chestnutmarebeware]

I used to breed the canaries and finches, and still have an occasional nest of Gould babies, but basically my whole bird room is birdie assisted-living housing now. All the birds are elderly, except for a few of the finches.

But it’s nice to hear them all peeping away. Thankfully none of the little parrots are shriekers—in fact Bourkes are almost silent. Every once in a while they all get collectively loud and I have to go speak with them but most of time I barely notice. I don’t have neighbors, though.

[CanadianTrotter]

You’re the BirdMum from Alcatraz or “fill in_____ where you live”

[Red_Dust]

many hugs to you.

[Red_Dust]

these types of parrots have very strong beaks. They can crack brazil nuts without a problem.
They likely need something to exercise them and wear them down. Or they will find something and you won’t like it. I saw in a video ages ago where the parrot had chewed off the corner of an antic wardrobe! They are also very smart and need stimulation for their little brains. I have seen aficionados making shredding toys and puzzles for them. They use their beaks to climb, so you can get very creative with the bird play corner. Like a thick rope, or a branch off a tree (just make sure they are ‘food safe’) Also make sure any houseplants are safe for him.

Personally I’d cage him for the night, but that is my preference.

Not sure whom to congratulate on this new partnership. He looks impressive.
https://www.talkparrots.com/ might be a resource for you. I used to be a member of the parakeet forum years ago.

[swmorse]

Thanks Red_Dust! He’s not the friendliest, I doubt he’ll ever get onto my arm (or any other part of me). I am very respectful of his beak. I get him (from Chewy) various wood toys. He’s enjoyed one big one which has all wood balls on it. Decimated in 1 day. I was getting 1 of those and 2 of these other wood toys per month. He seems to not be as interested in that one so I’m not going to get it for a while. The other wood toy I get is long with a bunch of wooden pieces going from short to long to short again and he really enjoys that one. Next month order will have 4 of those. I take the pieces he picks and put them in a bowl on the bottom of his cage where he can continue tearing them up and also pushes them around. I keep them in a container so when the ones he has get too small, I toss them and give him some others. I have a lot of oak trees around me and thought I could put branches in his cage so he could tear those up. Of course, once I googled it, that’s a no. If you want to go that way, you have to strip the branch and who knows if I’d do it right or not, so buying toys is the way to go. I always google stuff I think I might feed him or anything else I might do before doing it.

He stays on his cage or in it and it’s got a seed catcher around the bottom which he can’t get past to get on the floor so I’m not really worried about him wrecking things in the night, but, you never know. When I leave I put him in the cage with the door closed.

He’s so weird about new things in his cage. He won’t go anywhere near any new thing for days, then he’ll start using it. I have a corner perch that I need to put up but that’s going to take some gymnastics on my part as I want to put it in a back corner but I can’t get in the cage with him. I’ll take a picture of his set-up and post with more info later. I use my desktop when I’m going to type a lot like this and don’t have his picture on here. They’re on the phone.

I’ll check out that forum. For anyone looking for a bird fix, there’s a poster on tiktok - Zeb - who has a ton of parrots, large and small that you might enjoy viewing some of his content.