Spotlight on Dani, an Orange Front Conure

You may have heard the story from some years back when a member of my bird club passed away and we stepped in to find good homes for all her birds. Many were special needs birds, like my African Grays Bo Dangles and Blind Io. And after a while, some people realized the birds they tried to care for needed more attention than they could give.

Hen Killers

My first pair of zebra finches were my ideal for beautiful birds: the male was a normal gray, with a beautiful chestnut waist coat and bright orange cheeks; and the female was white and sweet. I called them Don Quixote and Dulcinea. As soon as they got a wicker nest, they went to town laying eggs, and in a couple of weeks, the eggs hatched, and Don Q changed into an overprotective killer, defending his territory.

My Blind African Gray Parrot

If you have been reading this blog for awhile, you probably know that I love African Grays and always wanted one to get to know, and the big test of this desire came when I had the chance to rescue two special needs Congo African Grays (CAGs). One, Bo Dangles, has no toes and likes to hang by her beak from time to time; I’ve written a lot about her because she’s the most talkative of my parrots and fun to interact with. The other one was Blind Io, named for a Terry Pratchett character, and yes: he’s blind.

Imagine Maynard on Twitter

My crazy double yellow-headed Amazon parrot is loved by a lot of people who don’t have to live with him but like how beautiful he is, and how often he says something that seems to fit the conversation. He’s even the mascot for my Scribophile Romance writers’ group. So I was thinking how funny it would be if he could have his own Twitter account. I tried to make one for him, actually create an account for Maynard, but if there’s a way to do that, I haven’t found out yet.

Matchmaking for My Birds

I don’t know how many years I have with my sweet avian family. There are some things I would like to accomplish before I need to re-home any of them. If I can provide proven pairs of any species, they will find good homes with no problem. But it’s not easy, especially now that everything is so expensive.

A Life that Touched Many Others

It’s not surprising that, as my bird club members are mostly older people, we lose a few every year. In fact, we discuss the lack of new, young members frequently in the board meetings. But very little changes. And, sadly, we lost another member whose experience and cheerfulness would have connected with new people easily.

Fall in Love with Macaws

You see these big, colorful birds everywhere. They are used in movies especially if pirates are about. They feature in most bird shows and people who have them as companion pets love to show them off. I’ve never owned one, but I had the pleasure of meeting a sweet blue and gold at a fund raiser for Free Flight, I’ve interacted with a hyacinth a friend raised from a few months old, and I got to feed a young scarlet macaw while a friend went on vacation. I am not equipped with enough room and time for one of these lively parrots, but I understand the joy they can bring to people.

The Dog and Parrots Show

A lot of people who gave parrots also have dogs. I don’t know why this is. A few people have even lost small parrots to their dog’s prey drive. This has made me more cautious of leaving my silly girl Astrid the Huntress of everything except Mousies alone with the birds. I’ve been known to put her on a leash to keep her by my side when one of the parrots gets out time.

Fall in Love with Jardine’s Parrots

I may have not run out of birds with which I have experience through caring for them in my home.When that happens, I have had a lot of experience caring for other people’s birds, both inside and out. And one parrot I fell totally in love with was a lesser Jardine’s Parrot named Phoebe.

Jessie and Sandy have Milestones

In the midst of all the stuff going on in the outside world, I missed a couple of important events in two of my birds’ lives. One event I have been waiting for so I can get a mate for the bird. The other caught me by surprise, but needed to be addressed.