Tales of Odysseus

Homer tells a tale in the Iliad and the Odyssey of Odysseus, the traveler. We have our own traveler in the house named Odysseus although we call him Odie...well, I call him Odie Balonie. Odie is typical of so many parrots. Once a cute baby Congo, his owners grew tired of him. They handled him less and less until one day they reached into his cage to get him out and he bit one of them. This bite caused the owner to be "bird shy" which complicated the problem.

Days turned into weeks...then months, and finally Odie had spent a year and a half inside his cage. His only contact with his owners was when they fed and watered him daily. Eventually, they moved into a new home and Odie was placed in an empty dining room, out of the way. Fortunately, Odie did not color coordinate with the decorating scheme so they placed the standard ad in the newspaper, "Three year old Congo Grey with cage, $$$$".

I noticed the ad the first day it ran and called early in the morning. I expected to find a scroungy (sp), underweight bird. What I found was a beautiful, healthy Congo with a serious attitude. I tried talking to Odie before opening the cage door but he seemed nervous. Finally, I opened the door and slowly put my hand to his chest with the command, "step up". Odie didn't step. Rather, he bit the hell out of me. Then he bailed out and flew accross the room.

Trying to look like the fearless, experienced bird person I plucked him out of a ficus tree and placed him in a pet carrier. At this point I was dripping blood on their carpet. The adventure began.

(to be continued - Craig)
- posted by J-Birds @ 9:05 PM |

 
How Mean Are Female Eclectus?

Ask Sue in New York, here are parts of her letter we received last night:

hi guys,
our baby is doing great, she is such a good girl.she thinks she needs to come in and climb up on mommy in the morning. she gets right up on top of me and looks me in the face and says hello over and over. i get such a kick out of her, god i love that bird. she takes her shower with me everyday and we have to sing songs and go through all the words we know. shes awesome. sounds to me like you guys are pretty busy there. i must say i really like to read the jblog everyday, its pretty cool. well you guys take care and ill talk to you soon. sue

We keep getting questions from people around the country who have read that female Eclectus are mean. We have raised over 30 in the last four years and have never had an owner say anything but good things about their birds. We like to tell people that a female Eclectus on a bad day has the same temperment as an Amazon on any day...its all a matter of perspective.

Thanks for the letter Sue, now you're famous...lol...Craig


- posted by J-Birds @ 7:33 AM |

 
Herd of Birds

The three greys we were to bring in turned into four. One must have been hiding the last time we checked the nest box. So now the little family has turned into 10 Congo Grey babies and 2 Eclectus. This is about as many babies as we care to have in the house at one time. Any more and they don't get the attention that makes them calm and gentle when they are weaned.

Eddgar the male S.I. is still the favorite. He's at a cute, clutsy age that charms you. He loves attention and will walk over to you if you call him. He's one of the largest S.I.'s we've ever had at this age.

The demand for parrots seems constant year round. Parrots, however, have their own agenda of availability. People contact us and are looking for a weaned Eclectus. We tell them we'll have one available in May or June and they say that's OK we'll just find one elsewhere. A few weeks later they call back and say that May would be fine...only to find that the Eclectus are taken. This is the time of year that people have to take a number and wait in line. Later in the summer, you can find a reasonable supply of weaned parrots to choose from. In February, there is a waiting list for birds of any type.


- posted by J-Birds @ 7:41 PM |

 
Happy Mardi Gras.

We celebrated Mardi Gras by staying at home...too much of a good thing. Had phone calls from all over the country about birds and cages. Frank and Chris came by and bought "Buddy" a charming little DYH Amazon. Buddy now lives in Chacbay, Louisiana. I forgot to tell them that parrots LOVE crawfish. Hopefully they already know that. Anyway, Buddy is going to a great home with two Cockatoos and other birds. Most of the time you can tell if a person will be kind and gentle with your baby. Chris and Frank give us a good feeling and make it easier to say goodbye.

We talked to a friend tonight who has seven fertile B&G eggs for us if we want them. May get a couple. Macaws are wonderful birds to raise...we just get too attached. Time for bed...later, Craig.
- posted by J-Birds @ 10:21 PM |

 
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished.

I decided tonight that the blog was worthy enough of sharing with our friends. I sent a group email giving the address and accidently typed j-bird instead of j-birds as part of the address. Turns out that www.j-bird.com is a porn site. I've had several grateful emails already from some of our friends...to the others I appologize. We're swearing off the Scotch....Craig
- posted by J-Birds @ 8:18 PM |

 
Today was New York City day. Hugh called from his new loft in Brooklyn to swap news and let us know how his male Vos, Shuggie, is. I forgot to tell him that Sonia, Shuggie's mother, is sitting on two fertile eggs. I just found out today.

Strange but true. A guy from New York called us today from Hawaii on vacation. He had talked about getting one of the Congos a few weeks ago. Seems that today he ran into a Congo on vacation and it was so nice that he called to assure us that he wanted one of the babies and would call us Monday from New York to seal the deal. I love people to get excited about getting a parrot.

Anyway, its been a long day. Everyone's fed and every cage is spotless. Later...Craig
- posted by J-Birds @ 8:17 PM |

 
Three more Congos are coming inside today. The six that are already in are thriving. One of them was extemely small...most probably was the last to hatch and may be as much as a week younger than the oldest. This little one kept getting pushed around by the larger babies. (In the first six weeks babies gain 10% of their body weight a day. That means that one baby that is a week older can be 70% larger than another.) We moved it in with a baby Eclectus that was nearly the same size. They are now buddies. Everytime I look into their brooder I just see one pile of gray and black. Problem solved.

Eddgar is a male S.I.Eclectus who is 7 weeks old this weekend. His new owners decided on the name with two d's. Amazing how fast they develop...he's picking at real food and walking all over his box. Eclectus are so gentle all he wants to do is snuggle against your chest and get hugs. This week he will go "on the wire". This is when the soft baby bedding is removed and a cage wire floor is installed in the box. It takes a little getting used to to be able to walk around. Until the babies start sleeping on their feet we put a folded towel in one corner for them to sleep. Baby parrots sleep on their stomachs kind of flopped out like a person.

Since today is the second day of "Spring" we can take the inside cages outside for a power wash. It never ends...later, Craig.
- posted by J-Birds @ 8:31 AM |

 
Ode to Spring.

You can tell when Spring arrives in south Louisiana...the weeds start turning a beautiful green and the wild birds are back for their springtime routine. Parrots spend a lot of time "working" their nestboxes. Working involves turning their pine perches into kindling and putting the shavings in the box. They then mix the new shavings with the bedding material already in the box and begin to decorate. Very strange tastes, these birds.

Our Umbrella female, Star, likes to place feathers every three inches around the side walls of the box. She inserts these in the bedding so they stand upright. Prescilla, the Vos, puts crossed red feathers in every corner. The Yellow Collars mound up the bedding material in front of the opening in the box so I can't see inside.

Meanwhile, their owner has spent the first nice day of the year cleaning cages and raking the yard. They seem to like the company. Everybody who wanted to, got sprayed with a fine mist from a hose. Prescilla and Sonia like this the most. We still have UV lights in the cages to keep them warm at night...and to help them dry.

We'll still have several freezing nights to go but after a beautiful day like today they don't count...Spring is here. - Craig
- posted by J-Birds @ 2:04 PM |

 
The Louisiana Aviculture Society meets in New Orleans once a month. They have solicited suggestions for speakers during the year. I was driving around today and thought that, with over half the membership of the organization being pet bird owners as opposed to breeders, it might be nice to have a speaker that isn't an expert on the proper temperature of the cloaca for conception. (Not that the topic is inappropriate once in a while.)

We have two popular actors that love parrots living in New Orleans - Harry Anderson (Night Court) and Delta Burke (Designing Women). I did some sleuthing and found a number that I think is Harry's home phone or cell phone (or maybe his maid's brother's phone). With nothing to lose, I left a message on his (or somebody's) answering machine.

I think that he's a pretty nice guy. It would be nice for him to visit the club and share stories about how he got into parrots and any tales he could relate. He bought at least two of his parrots locally which means the breeders of his birds will most probably be in attendance. I'm just not sure he can handle the culture shock of sitting down with regular people, in a meeting room above a feed and garder center and spending a quiet Sunday afternoon.

Anyway, we may not get Harry or Delta but it made for an interesting thought this afternoon...Craig
- posted by J-Birds @ 8:02 PM |

 
Just ran into the definitive article on clipping African Grey wings properly. Debra and I have clipped scores of Congo wings and never had a problem until "Pinkie". We used to clip the flight feathers about 1/2 inch below the coverts. Pinkie found these stubs to be annoying and chewed them to oblivion. After keeping her for two extra months and a lot of apple bitter spray she seemed to be cured. Her new owner, Jimmy, called a month ago and said that she was still having a small problem with overpreening the area. With more apple bitter spray he got it under control. The article at http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww25ev.htm explains what we did wrong and suggests that Congo feathers be clipped at the shaft 1/4 inch from the follicle. I think that this would have avoided any problems with Pinkie. If you have a Congo or Timneh and notice frayed and cracked clipped feathers try this approach. We sure will...Craig
- posted by J-Birds @ 9:23 PM |

 
Attended the 15th annual Mardi Gras Avicultural Conference in New Orleans all day today. This conference is the brain child of Dr. Greg Rich who is himself nationally known in avian medicine. If you ever have a chance to attend a similar function or go to a national parrot convention such as the American Federation of Aviculture I would recommend it strongly.

This conference had a blend of scientific findings presented by Dr. Drury Reavill, an avian pathologist from West Sacramento, CA, Dr. Mike Murray, an avian vet from Monterey CA, and Dr. Tully, the head of avian medicine at LSU. There was also an interesting interpretation of bird behavior by Steve Martin of Natural Encounters, Inc. of Lake Wales, FL.

Everyone who attended may not be an "expert" but we have all been given new humbling insite into the challenges of maintaining the physical and mental well-being of our favorite pets.

One of the comments that came from Steve Martin was interesting. He said that parrots in the wild are Never Alone. He has 40 parrots and each of his birds is caged with a buddy. It may be two same sex birds or two birds of different species but he feels the companionship is a requirement for the wellbeing of the birds. So...each of you who only has one parrot needs to begin thinking of buying a second bird.

It just so happens that Debra and I got 6 Congo Greys out of the nest today and three more will come in next weekend. For you Eclectus fans, we have a three week old Red Sided cutie. Just trying to help keep your birds happy....Craig
- posted by J-Birds @ 9:09 PM |

 
We have so many interesting letters and comments from our friends that have gotten birds from us. After living with these little guys for three or four months it can be quite emotional to see them go to new homes. Part of the healing process comes from the reactions and comments from their new owners. This one's typical (thanks Jan):

Togo seems to love living here, loves Ursula, the greyhound, loves taking
off across the dining room floor to the living room, up the floor lamp pole
and onto my shoulder to snuggle in and have a nap.

(S)he loves broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, snow peas, corn, both dried and
fresh on the cob, apples, sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese, turkey and
stuffing, buffalo chicken wings, pasta, both dry and cooked, chili peppers,
green peppers, most any kind of pepper. He eats out of Ursula's dish when
she has dry dog food, eats from our plates for eggs for breakfast, loves
biscuits and jam and would kill for a taste of coke from the bottle top. I
have yet to find a food that he does not love and eat much of.
He is a rascal and loves jokes, is starting to say words: the first full
sentence was, 'Stop that right now!" I was referring to his habit of
wanting to eat the refrigerator gasket. He chews up at least one toy daily
and I am glad I get them by the 30 lb box from my friend who owns the bird
toy factory. He loves to eat popsicle sticks, clothes pins, but has yet to
attack any furniture. He joy-walks all over the house, the porcelain tops
on the toilet screws are gone, never to be found again. I have no idea where
he has hidden them; they have been gone for weeks. He rides around on the
tops of my shoes...easier than walking himself, I guess.
Thanks for letting me raise this spoiled rascally baby.
- posted by J-Birds @ 8:01 PM |