Fin Sinister

My violet mutation peach face lovebird, Fin, was badly injured when he flew onto a cage and a larger bird bit him. He already had issues with his toes not pointing in the correct direction. His injury made it impossible for him to eat regular food, and we had to clip his wings because he wasn’t smart enough to stay away from those very same parrots.

Local Birds

I live in San Diego’s North County, and have been enjoying walks around a man-made lake nearby. One of the reasons I love walking there is the abundance of wild life, especially birds. I know I have covered these darlings before, but there are a few different species around this time of year.

Eggs-cellent

Give up birds or give up puns, it would be a hard call. There’s talk going around the bird breeder community with which I am in contact that this has not been a good year for breeding. I had a couple dozen eggs spread between two nest boxes, not bad for two pair. But after three weeks with no chicks, I candled the eggs and wept. No signs of life.

The Hazards of Parrot Companions

Our tracking of how many days since a bird has bitten anyone here just got reset. I was cleaning Bo’s cage, and she was playing on the floor. Due to her lack of perching ability, the bottom of her cage is solid. As I spread the towel on the bottom, I could not see her. She thought, I believe, that I was playing with her. So she launched herself up and grabbed the moving towel. And my finger.

Quail Orbital Mechanics

My lonely male button quail, Snow, has stopped calling mournfully every morning, afternoon, evening – pretty much around the clock. Because last week, I selected three brides for him. I set them in the aviary and opened the carrier door. He located them quickly. He seemed stunned.

The Cast of Characters

I know I spend lots of blog time raving about my sweet Amazon Maynard, missing my adorable lovebird Jake, and discovering fun things with lovebird Fin. I have given some time to Bobo, the special needs CAG. But we have so many funny and entertaining birds in our flock, I just want to share them with you today.

I’ll Have the Drought with a Side of Heat Wave.

Welcome to Southern California in the Summer. We have drought conditions in the entire state, causing there to be an actual business that will paint your dead lawn green. We have high enough temperatures so that libraries and shopping malls are cool zones for the elderly and disabled.

The Daily Adventures of Maynard

Being retired is a good thing, but not as relaxing or even boring for me as one might think. I have a good size flock of birds to monitor, the occasional tragedy to get over, and writing to complete. I also have to keep improving my health. This means exercise and measuring what I eat. So I guess it’s not unusual for me to think how nice life could be if I were an Amazon parrot. A really spoiled, much loved parrot. Here’s his daily schedule.

The Story of Jake

This story does not have a happy ending. What it does have is an ending, closure, so that healing can begin. This is the story of my lovebird Jake who slipped out of the house a couple weeks ago. I remember vividly the last sighting I had of him. And my conviction he was gone forever.