Parrot Musings

Rocky has been incredibly nesty lately. Here he is, hiding under the cart where we keep the bag of newspapers to be recycled. We used to keep the bag on the floor, until he started going in there and ripping the paper up.

He's also been doing weird things down the hall that he has claimed. He used to be content hanging out in the hallway and protecting it from all intruders, including his beloved Thomas. But now he's been pushing open the door to the bathroom, then opening up our cabinets and hanging out in there! And going into our extra room (where I keep my running clothes and our books) and hanging out underneath my dresser!

If we realize we haven't seen him in a few minutes, we call his name, and he responds by laughing or singing and we follow his voice to his latest hiding spot. Luckily he steps up on a stick very nicely, and we redeposit him on a stand or his cage. We are trying to remember to fully close all of those doors!

A neighbor has started selling Avon, and even though I don't wear much makeup, I have decided to do the neighborly thing and order occasionally from her. They don't test on animals! Anyway, the products I ordered were delivered on Sunday, and they came in 2 bags. Max saw me with the bag and started saying "want some!" She thinks that there are treats for her in every bag! So, I took an almond and wrapped it in one of the bags and gave it to her.

I hid a nut in the other bag and left it on the stand that the caiques use. Beeps was mildly interested, but then went up to his cup holders and started flipping around. The next day, I had Calypso on the stand, and he walked down there on his own and started exploring the bag! In this picture, he stopped to look at me, but seconds before, he was foraging for the nut! Stuff like this makes me so happy because Calypso had such a horrible life prior to finding us. He is still a bit damaged, so when he does things that normal birds do, it means that much more than when Max does the same thing.

And speaking of Max, here she is, menacing Beeps as he tries to forage for the nut. This is the day after the bagged nuts were originally presented to them. Beeps went down to explore, and then Max flew over to his stand and started bullying him. I removed her shortly after taking this picture!

Max has a funny relationship with the caiques. I may have mentioned this before, but she and Calypso get along ok. He allows her to play on his cage, and when he has enough, he gives her a look and maybe takes one step towards her, and she immediately flies off of his cage. She has never attempted to buzz him or irritate him in any way. But, poor Beeps often faces her wrath. For no reason that I can ascertain, she has decided to buzz him frequently. Sometimes they'll be playing on their respective cages, and with no provocation, she flies over to his cage and buzzes him. Luckily she does not do any damage to him, and we have been working on this with her, to the point where it has diminshed somewhat.