# Where are the bird people?



## koidaddy (May 30, 2011)

I was just thinking about posting pics of my bird and was trying to find the right forum. Too funny.:bowl:

Merlin is a looker mm. Here is my umbrella cockatoo. Sweetpea is 10 years old.


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## maggiesmommy (Feb 23, 2010)

Wow, Sweetpea is GORGEOUS!


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## Foster (Jun 9, 2011)

I like this breed .I usually call this super parrots.I have but in different color.Have not you seen the different multiple color parrot.I bought that from Australia.The lovely breed to adopt.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

^^^ I've never seen a cockatoo like that! Gorgeous! 

I am down to only 6 birds (down from 10). Sorry I don't have pics online to put here...  

Two boy zebras (father and son - the one is pushing 8 and the other is a year younger). They are Deetoo and Little Boy, but er... generally I just call them "Meepies" and they respond to that.  

Two boy lovvies (I think they are brothers, I adopted them from a breeder who was getting rid of all their birds). Coco is a white cheeked boy and he was shy when I first got them. He's been turning into a little terror though and runs up to nip my fingers when I am handling his brother. Tangie is a orange cheeked boy and he's Mr. Personality. He loves "step up" and when they are out of their cage, he's usually flying up to sit on my head because it's oh-so-hilarious. 

Ohw, and a funny thing that Coco does - I had extra flower pots leftover from the indoor gardening thing I did this spring. I put one of them in the cage for them to hang out in, since they are ground nesters. It's become Coco's home base. He either comes running out of it to surprise attack my arm when I reach in to refill bowls and handle his bro, or he sits in there and watches me through the drainage hole on the bottom. I see this creepy little black bird eye staring at me the whole time.

And I have two parakeets - Greenie and Yellow Boy (guess what colors they are). I got Greenie a while back to keep the original Yellow Boy company. The original Yellow Boy was a budgie I found outside in one of our trees. He let me catch him and he became my first budgie since I was a little girl. I had him for a few years, so I guess if his original owner is out there somewhere - your lost bird lived a full budgie life. The new Yellow Boy is Mr. Hormones. If he's not feeding the mirror (which I had to move away from the feeding area because he doesn't want Greenie going anywhere near Mistress Mirror), then he's strutting around and flirting with the lovvies, which he apparently thinks are very big parakeet females. 

Greenie is a boy bird, but he never got as big and full as my yellows did. He is at least five years old now and still looks like a young bird. His favorite thing is showing off by climbing up to the top of their flight cage and running around upside down.


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## Kally76 (Jun 14, 2010)

Do these count? LOL


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## Sosoprano (Apr 27, 2011)

I'm so excited that you posted his thread!! We are owned by two birds: Bridget is a 4-year-old Cape, and Leo is a 9-year-old Green Cheek Conure. I'll take a couple of pics and post them later; Bridget gets more orange every time she molts, and the outdated pics don't do her justice anymore 

Given all the responses here, I'm guessing I'm not the only one who cringes when someone proudly announces that their Golden bagged his/her first bird!:doh:


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## Sosoprano (Apr 27, 2011)

OK, here we go: Bridget first, then Leo.


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

LOL I do not own birds, but one of my sisters does and she trains them professionally for bird shows. And I train my dog as a hobby to retrieve 'em. She only owns a few parrots, but works with everything from emus, to kestrels, eagles, etc.

Any falconers?


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## Jax's Mom (Oct 16, 2009)

I'm also excited to read this thread. I am one of the cringers when I hear about Goldens retrieving with real birds. 

We have a Senegal Parrot, Sammie. I'll have to post pictures later, when I get home. We also fostered an African grey for about a year before the owner. The owner had moved to a non-bord friendly apartment but managed to convince the co-op board to let him have Coco back after a year. It was hard to give him up after having him that long, but we made a commitment.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Sosoprano said:


> Given all the responses here, I'm guessing I'm not the only one who cringes when someone proudly announces that their Golden bagged his/her first bird!:doh:


I normally don't mind when it comes to ducks.

But admittedly, when it comes to pigeons... I do mind. Because if I ever have a free flight cage (like if both my old finches die, I hope it doesn't happen soon, but just in case), I'm probably going to bring doves home. Because I love the sounds they make and their song. 

I've heard that they can be kept together with finches, but I always assumed I'd have to build a much bigger cage than just the 2x4' one I have the finches in right now. :doh:

When I look at pigeons, I kinda see those doves I want to buy at some point.


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## goldensmum (Oct 23, 2007)

In January I sent my beautiful African Grey - Dillon - to the bridge, he was only 9 years old and would talk all day unless someone came to see us and then he would sit quietly and not say a word.

Still have Jasper - a Jardines, and 11 cockatiels and 1 Stanley Rosella (his mate died earlier in the year aged 16/17). They are all outside in an aviary,


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

This is a very cool thread. I am fascinated by birds, though I have never owned one or really even met one for long. Are they hard to care for?


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## maggiesmommy (Feb 23, 2010)

Ljilly28 said:


> Are they hard to care for?


Parrots are. They require lots of attention and patience with the screaming when they don't feel "loved enough"...that was Merlin's problem...before we got him, he was basically kept in a back bedroom and only brought out to show off to people. Since we've had him, he is housed in the most populated room in the house and will let my dad hold him! No one else, but, the fact that he doesn't let my dad hold him is a big accomplishment. The scary thing is, this man now has a blue and gold macaw...


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## maggiesmommy (Feb 23, 2010)

Beautiful birds, guys! And yes, chickens count, too.


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## Shalva (Jul 16, 2008)

I just a few months ago sent our cockatoo Bhakti to a new home, he had been with us since he was a baby baby but we no longer could give him the attention he needed... he is now with a wonderful young couple who adore him and he is doing very well... 

I do cringe at the bird issue when the pups retrieve them... i will have to tell the story of larry bird the pigeon one day


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

So you bird owners--is it hard knowing they have such a long life span? Parrots that is...some can live to be as old as humans. That is such a huge commitment!


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## Sosoprano (Apr 27, 2011)

GoldenSail said:


> So you bird owners--is it hard knowing they have such a long life span? Parrots that is...some can live to be as old as humans. That is such a huge commitment!


Life spans can vary: Leo we hope will live to be about 20 years old, while Bridget could possibly reach 60. We have made arrangements for them in our wills, and our eldest daughter (who is in her mid-twenties, and whom the birds know quite well) is ready to step in and take over when it's time.

Yes, it's a huge commitment, but just imagine how incredibly awesome it would be if our Goldens could share our lives for that long! :--big_grin:


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

The oldest bird I've owned lived to be 10. He was a very sweet old spice finch - blind as a bat in his last two years. His much younger mate outlived him by a couple years.

The biggest difficulty as far as owning any bird that I've encountered is the sad fact that the smaller the bird, the less sense it makes taking them to the vet for care. I had a female who had broken her leg a few years back. I called around for a vet that would take small birds, and was shocked to find out that they expected $100 just to see the bird. >.< 

I had to go online to find a way to splint her leg myself and I had to run to the petstore for various medicines to help fight infection. She survived and regained use of her leg, but it was horrible because I had no idea what I was going to do if the splint didn't work. 

And older birds frequently do get sick. So you need a hospital cage (small cage that can be kept warm) to keep them in and you need to keep supplies on hand to take care of them. 

And regular care can be busy - from keeping their nails trimmed, giving them chews to keep their beaks tidy, making sure they have their vitamins, constantly changing their water, giving them enough flight or similar exercise time so they don't get fat, and giving them attention or making sure they have a companion so they are happy (birds have a flock mentality and don't like being alone)....

I once house sat for somebody who had a canary in a small cage in one room and a parakeet in a small cage in the other room. I felt so sorry for those birds. Those small cages you buy at petstores are good as carrying cages or even breeder cages (small enough to make it easier to keep the cage warm for the babies), but I can't imagine the mental state of birds _living_ in solitary confinement in those cages.


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