Rocky

Rocky, as anyone who's read this blog or met him can attest, is a strange bird. As much as we've tried to interest him in parrot toys, his favorite play things are old clothes, towels, and blankets.

He's been known to go up the stairs into our bedroom, climb into our dirty laundry basket, root around until he finds some socks, throw them out of the basket, and then descend and play with the socks for a few minutes.

One of his favorite nighttime rituals (which I must admit kind of grosses me out) is when I'm sitting on the couch after dinner. All of the parrots are on their cages. I take my socks off and throw them in the direction of the stairs leading to the bedroom. As soon as Rock sees this, he gets very excited, runs as fast as he can towards the socks, and then plays with them, throwing them around while singing. I think I did this in a fit of laziness a few months ago, and once I realized how much Rocky liked it, it became part of our evening routine.

Luckily, he does not ruin the fabric items. He just likes to throw them around and chase them. Strange.

Last night, Thomas took off the jacket he was wearing around the house and placed it on the kitchen table. Rocky was so happy! He spent quite a long time burrowing in the arm holes, throwing the jacket around, and otherwise just having a fun time.

When Max noticed how much fun Rocky was having with my socks, she came down a few times to investigate. However, she must not have understood the attraction, either, as she now stays on her cage for this. Beeps also likes fabric, but not as much as Rocky. I like to tie an old, holey (clean) sock on their playstands, and this simple toy has provided hours of interest for my parrots. (I don't put this inside their cages as I worry about the fabric unravelling and them finding a way to strangle themselves). I worry too much!