Bird Talk Magazine

Bird Talk's latest issue has an article called "Stop The Squawk. The Dos and Don'ts of training parrots not to scream." By Elise Kaplan.

Her first observation is the most insightful: Parrots are jungle animals and they communicate often by squawking and whistling to let everyone know that things are OK. When there is silence, the birds think there is impending danger.

On the other hand, humans are noise averse and consider the lack of noise to mean that everything's OK. So when a parrot squawks to see if anyone is around and how they're doing, the human comes in to find out what's wrong.

Read the article if you have a noisy bird. It's very interesting.
- posted by J-Birds @ 4:06 PM |

 
Where Are You?

Our blog has received visitors from the following countries since January, 2004:

United States 69.62%
Unknown 21.96%
United Kingdom 5.39%
Australia 0.59%
Singapore 0.50%
Canada 0.42%
Norway 0.12%
Japan 0.12%
Belgium 0.08%
Brazil 0.08%
Italy 0.08%
Kuwait 0.08%
Malaysia 0.08%
France 0.08%
Taiwan, Province of China 0.08%
Vietnam 0.04%
Croatia 0.04%
United Arab Emirates 0.04%
Thailand 0.04%
Spain 0.04%
Sweden 0.04%
Ireland 0.04%
South Africa 0.04%
Cameroon 0.04%
Germany 0.04%
Bahamas 0.04%
Puerto Rico 0.04%
India 0.04%
Egypt 0.04%
Philippines 0.04%

- posted by J-Birds @ 4:51 PM |

 
How To Bathe A Parrot

Our favorite how-to author, Janis Gore, has just recently published an entry on "How To Bathe Your Parrot". We follow a similar method without the personal heater and bathroom break. We always include a blow dryer at the end.
- posted by J-Birds @ 1:45 PM |

 
Another Happy Landing

Amanda and Jesse bought a female S.I. Eclectus, "Charlotte", from us as a companion for their male, "Chance". They got Chance a few months ago when he was 8 months old. They wrote us yesterday to give us an update:

Thanks again Debra, for taking such good care of
her. You and Craig were right, she is a TOTALLY
different experience than Chance was/is! He's
waaay more "needy" now, than she is, but she is
at the point now, that he just got to a few weeks
ago! - She lets us know when she wants out, and
then steps up readily out of his cage...And just
now, she flew away from me, and is now on her
way, waddling back... :-D
She's wonderful.

Amanda and Jesss

- posted by J-Birds @ 8:59 AM |

 
Sunday Comics

- posted by J-Birds @ 7:46 AM |

 
Once A Parrot Person...

Debra swore that she would only handfeed babies our birds produced until we were settled in the new house. So far, Sonia is the only producer and should hatch a Vos baby in the next 10 days.

This evening we got home from paint and fixup duty and I discovered two beautiful S.I. babies in our brooder (one male and one female). They are about four weeks old.

One of our best breeder friends called this afternoon and asked Debra if she would like them and, like the pushover she is, she said sure. Now we're both excited about having babies in the house. Like I always say, we get to enjoy them during the best time of their lives.

Both of these little guys will be weaned by December 15, just in time for Christmas.
- posted by J-Birds @ 11:40 PM |

 
Charlotte to Boston

In the process of moving, we moved "Charlotte", a charming S.I. female, to Boston today. Continental Airlines makes the process so easy and comfortable that it's almost fun to ship with them. Amanda arrived home with her at eight o'clock tonight and gave us good reviews.

Sorry (Doug) that I haven't posted in a couple of days. With the hurricane and stress at work and home, I'm kind of brain dead towards the end of the week. This is our final weekend of prep work at the new house. Next weekend we begin to move in earnest. Thank goodness. Stay tuned, I get more lively as the weekend approaches.

Note to Paul and Debbie. We accidently sent Hurricane Karl in your direction. It's either going to hit the Brittish Isles or Iceland. Good luck and be safe. - Craig
- posted by J-Birds @ 8:38 PM |

 
Miscellany

Ivan. Word is from the relatives that Uncle Sterl and Aunt Tootsie in Gulf Shores may have escaped with no water and exterior damage only. Same with Nancy and Susan in Mobile. Randy and Kathy in Gulf Breeze had three feet of water in their home. A terrible thing to experience at 55 years old when everything you own is gone.

Chateau Plumage. The doors are in and will be delivered tomorrow. Installation starts Thursday and the move will happen October 1-15. If we don't die of fatigue first.


- posted by J-Birds @ 8:23 PM |

 
When A Parrot Bites

Everyone who owns a parrot and everyone in a home with a parrot will receive a bad bite at some point in time. It may be because the bird was startled or was tired or decided it would rather not "step up". The reason may be that it was uncomfortable due to molting or hormonal changes due to the reproductive cycle.

Parrots remain pet quality as a result of being handled often and being a part of the daily activities of their family. When you receive a bite, your response could determine the future of your parrot as a pet quality bird.

It is hard to offer your hand to a bird that has recently hurt you without having fear. Let's talk about what not to do.

Do not physically discipline your bird. Parrots do not have a concept of right and wrong as do some domesticated animals such as dogs or cats. They are wild animals that adapt to your home but their instincts are rooted in their jungle homes. If they perceive you as a threat, because of a thump on the beak or a swat on the head, they will revert to defensive behavior such as biting more and more often.

Do not use a towel or glove to protect your hand. They look at a towel or glove as an object and may have a hostile reaction to it which reinforces bad behavior.

Instead, let the bird calm down. A little quiet time has a calming effect. (You can use this time to apply bandaids and/or antibiotic ointment to your wound.) When you do approach the bird, approach it as if it was a strange bird. It is most probably a bad idea to reach in and try to pet it or scratch its head and neck. Now is not the time to place hands near beaks.

Talk to it calmly, offer it a treat and open the cage door. Encourage the parrot to come out of the cage. Most parrots are least aggressive when they are on top of a cage or, better yet, on the floor. Once the bird is out of the cage offer it your hand to step up. If you act afraid you will reinforce the bad behavior. Parrot owners have to be brave in order to reap the benefits of the relationship.
- posted by J-Birds @ 1:12 AM |

 
Sunday Comics

- posted by J-Birds @ 8:28 AM |

 
Volatile (Essential) Oils Kill Parrots

As cooler weather settles in, more people are tempted to use air fresheners (Glade) and burn candles. A lot of these products use volatile oils, also called essential oils, for the scent. Depending on the concentration of these products in the air of your home, your birds may be gravely harmed. This article goes into detail about the dangers.
- posted by J-Birds @ 4:46 AM |

 
Back To Work

Getting into our weekend warrior paint fatigues. Ivan is over. Work went to hell this week but you can't do anything about it. The only thing we can do is dive into the new house and try to finish it so we can move.

Debra and I are laying in bed, ready to go, waiting for the sun to rise. We really need to get a life.
- posted by J-Birds @ 4:29 AM |

 
Ivan

You can't see the video and photos on national and international news that we are getting locally. Ivan is bringing back bad memories of Hurricane Camille that struck the Mississippi Gulf Coast in August, 1969. I was 19 at the time.

Everything within a block of the beach was destroyed. Homes within 5 blocks of the beach were flooded up to 10 feet. Homes within 10 miles of the beach received heavy damage from wind. There were several tornadoes that reeked havoc in otherwise safe areas.

We had no power or water for six weeks and were fed by the National Guard in the interim.

There were no high rise condominiums on the beach as in Alabama. The destruction looked the same. Janis and Lyman Gore lost a condo in Orange Beach. I have cousins in Pensacola Beach and an Aunt and Uncle in Gulf Shores. None of them have been able to return to pick up the pieces.

This is a very humbling event.
- posted by J-Birds @ 10:43 AM |

 
Hurricane Hypothesis

Over 2 million people evacuated from the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida prior to Ivan coming ashore. If each of these people incurred costs of $300 to evacuate, the cost of the evacuation would be $6 Billion dollars. This is equal to the estimated cost of the damages incurred.

In Louisiana there were no deaths directly related to the storm. However, four elderly citizens died from stress and exhaustion while being evacuated.

Perhaps we should limit evacuation to areas that will be flooded and encourage these people to evacuate to nearby high ground instead of driving to Wichita, Kansas.
- posted by J-Birds @ 9:49 AM |

 
All Over Now

We dodged a bullet, again. The storm veered East and struck Mobile, Gulf Shores and Orange Beach. So, Janis and Lyman Gore's condo at Orange Beach got hit as she predicted in her blog a few days ago.

We got wind gusts to around 40 mph and not many of those. During the peak wind we were seriously prepared to bring the remaining birds inside but the storm never got any worst. We learned a lot about how we want to construct our aviary in our new home. We don't want to face what breeders in lower Alabama will face tomorrow morning.

Thanks for all of your good wishes.
- posted by J-Birds @ 3:32 AM |

 
Indecision

Last night we brought in some additional cages to prepare to bring in the outside birds if necessary. This morning we consolidated some of the babies to make more room. We brought in the Yellow Collars and the Hawkheads. It is now very loud in our living room.

We decided to let the Ducorp's and the Eclectus remain in the yard for now. It's being predicted that we will see no more than 45 mph sustained winds and 60 mph gusts. This is the equivalent of a bad thunderstorm.

The risk of losing Sonia's eggs is too great to bring her inside unless her life is threatened. Fortunately, each pair has a nest box to shelter in and the cages are up against a fence for stability. They seem fine for now.
- posted by J-Birds @ 3:46 PM |

 
Ivan

We're still counting on the National Hurricane Center's prediction that Ivan will move North and then NNE toward Mobile. It's now 120 miles from the mouth of the Mississippi River and heading NNW at 350 degrees. If it doesn't turn NNE it will hit the Mississippi gulf coast about 60 miles from us. Remind me to tell you about Hurricane Camille in a later blog.
- posted by J-Birds @ 11:35 AM |

 
Highs And Lows

Today has been a series of highs and lows. Every time the storm drifts east, we are happy; west, we are sad.

Didn't get the birds inside tonight. The plan is to review the morning forecast and make a decision early. Really a lot of hurry up and wait.

Three family members went to the grocery today and bought enough alcohol and junk food to kill several hundred people.

Paused to reflect on our own frailty...briefly...ate more cookies.
- posted by J-Birds @ 11:13 PM |

 
Quiet Time

The highways are grid-locked with people trying to go somewhere rather than staying put. We actually opened the air conditioning business this morning at 7:30 am but our day quickly unraveled into a "prepare the warehouse" party. At this time we have two servicemen working; everyone else is preparing to go home and continue preparations.

The day is beautiful and misleading. By tomorrow morning we expect 30 mile an hour winds with gusts to 45. The storm is scheduled to hit between 5am and 7am on Thursday morning.

I've decided to bring in the Hawkheads, Ducorps and Yellow-Collared mini-Macaws as soon as I get home. We'll play it by ear with the Eclectus tomorrow morning. I may seal Sonia in her nest box with her eggs for a few hours during the peak of the storm.
- posted by J-Birds @ 1:31 PM |

 
Uncertainty

The biggest problem with hurricanes is the uncertainty of their paths. You don't want to take dramatic measures such as evacuate, or in our case move the breeders inside, unless you absolutely have to.

The problem is, once you absolutely have to, the wind is blowing over 45 miles an hour and it's raining hard. Makes everything you have to do that much more difficult. I guess this is all part of the process.

New Orleans is under a "voluntary evacuation" order. They are trying to move out as many people as they can prior to any mandatory order. We won't leave in any case. We are 18' above sea level and have too many babies and breeders to deal with.
- posted by J-Birds @ 5:49 AM |

 
The Move Begins

Today we moved our patio set and all of our potted plants from the deck to our new home in the country. High winds play havoc with items on decks and we figured if they had to be moved we might as well let them be our first items at the new house.

Tomorrow we will buy plywood to create some secure rooms in our house and test the generator. We will also make provisions to bring all of the breeders inside if the projected winds here are expected to exceed 45 mph. This isn't as easy as it sounds since Sonia has two fertile Vos eggs and the Ducorp's have been "playing house" inside their nest box.

A friend of ours has a generator and an incubator and will take the eggs. This means that at the time of our move we will be feeding babies every two hours around the clock. Nobody said moving was easy.

We hope the storm hits east of here. Even 30 miles means 50% lower wind speeds. To all of our friends in the area we wish you our best during the storm. If you evacuate take your birds, please. It may be 4-5 days before you can return.
- posted by J-Birds @ 9:22 PM |

 
Hurricane Ivan

By Wednesday night hurricane Ivan will be bearing down on New Orleans and the northern Gulf of Mexico. The National Hurricane Center has intentionally distorted Ivan's projected path for the last week in order to keep pressure on Floridians to be wary. The thought was that Florida is closer to the storm and the track could be adjusted later to the northern Gulf.

Even now, the forecaster (Lawrence) is saying that the official path is to the right of the path being forecast by most of his models. He says that in order to maintain consistency between the most recent path and previous forecasts he has only shifted the path 60 miles east of the previous track. He could have shifted it dramatically westward.

As the hurrican approaches I'll keep you up to date of preparations and the challenges of dealing with a storm like this. Please keep your fingers crossed for us.
- posted by J-Birds @ 6:11 AM |

 
Chateau Plumage Update

Thanks so much for all of the encouragement and best wishes regarding our move.

The house is coming along well. About 60% of the painting inside is done. We had problems with "Ralph Lauren" paint from Home Depot. Looks like we'll have to repaint two rooms where we used this pathetic product. Home Depot is discussing a refund.

Debra found money in her budget to replace most of the appliances in the kitchen and several of my friends and employees spent Saturday installing appliances and fixing the refrigerator. Yes, we can now have cold beer without an ice chest. Life is good.

Two of us spent the weekend in the aviary clearing brush and putting up a fence. Should be ready for the birds next weekend.

We are waiting for the doors and windows for the nursery to arrive in the next few weeks. As soon as they are installed we'll begin the process of moving. This will most probably happen in mid-October.

If you would like to spend a weekend day experiencing the joys of nature, and you can paint or hammer, email us at parrotsforsale@hotmail.com for times and directions. We promise to name a tree in your honor and say nice things about you for at least a year..
- posted by J-Birds @ 6:50 PM |

 
Sunday Comics

- posted by J-Birds @ 9:00 AM |

 
Loud Baby Parrots

Our babies are raised and weaned with a set routine for feeding and socialization as are other breeder's birds. At our house, this includes an abundance of food available at all times and serving warm or cold vegetables daily. When a bird is weaned, it is satisfying its hunger with the available food and routine.

When a bird is sold, it goes to a new home with slightly different food and a different schedule. This sometimes creates hunger or anxiety in the baby. Most birds, especially Eclectus, will express this anxiety by constantly cawing until they are fed or until the source of anxiety is removed.

This behavior is not unlike having a human baby that is crying and the parents have to figure out why. Go through your checklist: Gas?, Hunger?, Diaper?, Sick?, Lost Pacifier?, Missing Stuffed Toy?, etc., etc.

If the baby parrot is less than 16 weeks old the only solution might be to hand feed it for a few more weeks. If you are uncomfortable with handfeeding, or your bird is over 4 months old, try providing warm vegetables or birdie bread in the early evening. This emulates the warmth of formula and most of the time will satisfy the baby.

Unless you are prepared to hand feed, never purchase an Eclectus, Congo, Amazon, Cockatoo or Macaw that is less than 14-16 wks old. Some breeders will try to make the sale knowing that the bird will survive but you will have to deal with the screams of a hungry baby.

- posted by J-Birds @ 6:03 AM |

 
J-Birds Objectives

We are fortunate to be in a position that allows us to choose the buyers of our birds. Within reason we try to limit our sales by following these objectives:

- The buyer must have given serious consideration to the purchase and not be infatuated with the idea of owning a parrot. That is, no impulse buyers.

- We must have a comfort level that the bird will be going to a long-term relationship.

- We will not sell a bird to a reseller, be it a pet shop or an individual.

- We will not mix sub-species of parrots. That is, if the buyer has a female Vos, we will not sell them a male SI.

- We discourage a first time parrot owner from buying two birds at once.

We recently rejected some offers that didn't make us comfortable. Hopefully the above criteria will help explain why.
- posted by J-Birds @ 8:27 AM |

 
Parrot Bill Of Rights

Someone linked to us from Yahoo by searching for "parrot paraphenalia". It linked them to our blog on the "Parrot Bill of Rights". So I read it again and thought I'd encourage you to do the same. - Craig
- posted by J-Birds @ 7:54 PM |

 
Another Delta Moment

We were disappointed to learn that the only airline that transports pets to Little Rock is Delta. Because of temperature restrictions we are having to ship Dana's parrot on a 7:00 am flight that requires us to be at the airport at 5:00 am. Which means a 3:45 am alarm clock. Add to that the anxiety of flying on Delta and it doesn't shape up to be a wonderful day.

But...Dana will get her bird, she will be elated and excited, and she will tell us how wonderful he is, and we will feel great as usual. Just another day in the life of J-Birds. - Craig
- posted by J-Birds @ 7:38 PM |

 
Labor Day

Again.
- posted by J-Birds @ 8:19 AM |

 
Sunday Comics

- posted by J-Birds @ 7:52 AM |

 
Scrambled

Until we get moved, our lives are a bit scrambled. If you are trying to contact us and we are not responding please call us on Craig's cell phone at 504/415-3493. We have babies available and they, and our new home, are getting all of our attention.
- posted by J-Birds @ 11:16 PM |

 
Parrot Chronicles

The new edition of Parrot Chronicles is now online.
- posted by J-Birds @ 5:14 PM |

 
Olivia

FYI, the bird pictured below is Olivia when she was just weaned and before her problems.

Our pet birds include Kiwi, an SI Eclectus; Prophet, a Military Macaw; Olivia; Odi, another Congo; and Surgio, a Cockatiel. We have six pairs of breeders outside including Yellow Collared Mini-Macaws, SI and Vos Eclectus and Ducorp's Cockatoos. Our pair of Umbrellas, TJ and Star, are waiting for us in the country.
- posted by J-Birds @ 9:25 PM |

 
Congo Time

We have some wonderfully gentle Congo Greys in the house at this time. Two are weaned, one is on two a day feedings. Congos tend to mature later than other parrots. They make a whining noise whenever they are approached and love to be cuddled. One of ours keeps trying to climb inside your clothes every time it's held. I guess it wants to find a warm, dark place.

Many of you have one of our Congos and know how wonderful they can be. If you have a friend that would make a good, responsible owner, please let them know. Parrots, especially Congos do not breed year round. These will be the last ones that we or anyone will have weaned until March or April, 2005.
- posted by J-Birds @ 6:13 AM |