Showing posts with label conure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label conure. Show all posts
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Staring at Birds - "New" Playstand
My husband, the bestest husband EVER made this for me:
No, I do not own a normal vacuum.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Bird Thought - Don't take your "common" bird for granted.
I always thought sun conures were one of the rats of the avian world. I mean, they're so common . . . aren't they?
I just learned yesterday that the sun conure is common in US aviculture, but upgraded to endangered status in 2008 in the wild.
Endangered Species List - Sun Conures: http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/142601/0
Estimated Wild Population
And the cape parrot is uncommon in US aviculture, but not considered endangered in the wild.
Endangered Species List - Cape Parrot: http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/142531/0
Estimated Wild Population
Makes me curious to search other species that we think of as "common" and how common they truly are in the wild.
Just soze y'all know - wild caught parrots have not been legally imported into the United States since 1992. So, don't feel bad about getting a sun conure! Cherish your little baby for the special creature it is. US captive breeding does not negatively impact the wild population. I feel privileged to be breeding the endangered sun conure.
Learn something new every day.
I just learned yesterday that the sun conure is common in US aviculture, but upgraded to endangered status in 2008 in the wild.
Endangered Species List - Sun Conures: http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/142601/0
Estimated Wild Population
And the cape parrot is uncommon in US aviculture, but not considered endangered in the wild.
Endangered Species List - Cape Parrot: http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/142531/0
Estimated Wild Population
Makes me curious to search other species that we think of as "common" and how common they truly are in the wild.
Just soze y'all know - wild caught parrots have not been legally imported into the United States since 1992. So, don't feel bad about getting a sun conure! Cherish your little baby for the special creature it is. US captive breeding does not negatively impact the wild population. I feel privileged to be breeding the endangered sun conure.
Learn something new every day.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Bird Tip - The "S" Word!
SOCIALIZE, SOCIALIZE, SOCIALIZE!
Hopefully, you have gotten your bird from a source that's already socialized your new bird very well. Regardless, you must socialize the bird or continue to give the bird new experiences. A little fear is not a bad thing. Don't be over protective; but keep in mind - don't terrify the bird.
I know you think you're doing what's best for your bird by removing him from the scary experience - "Oh, it scares Polly! Poor Polly! I don't want Polly to be scared!"
In the bird's mind it's, "Oh! That's scary! Oh! My owner says we need to hurry away from the scary thing; therefore, this scary thing must be dangerous!"
Lesson learned is next time the scary thing is encountered, the bird will react with more fear because you've taught it that the thing was dangerous.
On the other hand, if we do not remove them from the scary thing:
Human - "Oh, it scares Polly! Well, it's just a stuffed animal that's not harmful to Polly. No reason to remove Polly away from the toy." Human to bird - "It's ok Polly, it's just a toy." And we help the bird understand it's not a dangerous thing, and we expose the bird until it relaxes.
Bird - "Oh! That's scary! Hmm. . . But my owner doesn't seem scared. Hmm . . . my owner's being very calm about all of this. Hmm . . . my owner not afraid of this thing. Hmm. . . I think I'll touch it with my beak and see for myself. Oh! Hey! It's kinda squishy. I guess it's nothing to be afraid of!"
Lesson learned is next time I see this thing it's not scary and might be in need of further exploration.
I'm a strong believer that the animal takes cues from us as to how it should react to its environment and new things. I notice in both my horses and my birds, the more I help them overcome a scary experience, the more trusting the animal is of me. When I first got my grey arab, he really had a hard time listening to me - he was a very reactionary horse. I discovered that when I helped him overcome something scary, his behavior immediately changed afterwards and he was much more compliant when being ridden.
For birds, the amount of fear I like to see is when the bird stands really tall slightly leaning away from the object, looks concerned, may be moving its head around to see where it can flee to, wings may be flicking like it wants to get away; but there is no actual movement to get away from the object. Any actual movement away from the scary object is too scary.
It's about nuance and a "feel" for the animal. SOCIALIZE, BUT DON'T TERRIFY YOUR BIRD.
Ducky and the latest batch of babies performing community service.
My daughter and I volunteer with a local cat shelter, Friends of Cats - FOC.
We take Ducky and any babies to events to socialize.
This picture was taken at a Farmer's Market.
Hopefully, you have gotten your bird from a source that's already socialized your new bird very well. Regardless, you must socialize the bird or continue to give the bird new experiences. A little fear is not a bad thing. Don't be over protective; but keep in mind - don't terrify the bird.
I know you think you're doing what's best for your bird by removing him from the scary experience - "Oh, it scares Polly! Poor Polly! I don't want Polly to be scared!"
In the bird's mind it's, "Oh! That's scary! Oh! My owner says we need to hurry away from the scary thing; therefore, this scary thing must be dangerous!"
Lesson learned is next time the scary thing is encountered, the bird will react with more fear because you've taught it that the thing was dangerous.
On the other hand, if we do not remove them from the scary thing:
Human - "Oh, it scares Polly! Well, it's just a stuffed animal that's not harmful to Polly. No reason to remove Polly away from the toy." Human to bird - "It's ok Polly, it's just a toy." And we help the bird understand it's not a dangerous thing, and we expose the bird until it relaxes.
Bird - "Oh! That's scary! Hmm. . . But my owner doesn't seem scared. Hmm . . . my owner's being very calm about all of this. Hmm . . . my owner not afraid of this thing. Hmm. . . I think I'll touch it with my beak and see for myself. Oh! Hey! It's kinda squishy. I guess it's nothing to be afraid of!"
Lesson learned is next time I see this thing it's not scary and might be in need of further exploration.
I'm a strong believer that the animal takes cues from us as to how it should react to its environment and new things. I notice in both my horses and my birds, the more I help them overcome a scary experience, the more trusting the animal is of me. When I first got my grey arab, he really had a hard time listening to me - he was a very reactionary horse. I discovered that when I helped him overcome something scary, his behavior immediately changed afterwards and he was much more compliant when being ridden.
For birds, the amount of fear I like to see is when the bird stands really tall slightly leaning away from the object, looks concerned, may be moving its head around to see where it can flee to, wings may be flicking like it wants to get away; but there is no actual movement to get away from the object. Any actual movement away from the scary object is too scary.
It's about nuance and a "feel" for the animal. SOCIALIZE, BUT DON'T TERRIFY YOUR BIRD.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Ducky!
Cutie Pie the Clown is the BOMB!!
Not just for kids!
She can make you look like a Na'vi out of Avatar!
Hire her for all your facepainting/body art needs!
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Bird Tip: Handfed does NOT = tame and handleable
Ok - I have to comment on this "handfed" issue. I've handfed birds that I've intended to become future breeders. Other than stuffing them with food, I don't play with them, I don't cuddle them, I don't do anything with them. I let them grow up interacting with other birds and all they know is that they're birds. Once weaned, these birds are completely unhandleable and not in the least bit tame despite the fact that I handfed them as babies.
Why am I bringing this to your attention? Because a majority of my breeders have been acquired from people who thought they were getting a sweet, pet quality bird because they were told it was "handfed". Not true!
When looking for a PET quality bird, keep the following in mind:
GOOD THINGS:
- The bird appears calm in general.
- The bird is calm while you're moving around checking it out.
- The bird may look at you curiously, or just seems unfazed by what's going on around it and may be exploring.
- The bird does not move away from you or otherwise appear nervous or shy when you slowly raise your hand towards it.
- The bird reaches out calmly/slowly with its beak to climb on your hand.
- You are able to easily handle the bird after a few minutes of both of you checking each other out.
- If in a cage, the bird does not go to the farthest point away from you.
- If in a cage, the bird is easily taken out of the cage (including by you).
- The bird does not appear to be afraid of towels. Some time in its life the bird will probably get toweled by you, the vet, someone in an emergency or maybe for clipping toenails/wings. Hopefully the bird's been introduced to towels in a positive manner so it's not traumatized when a towel's thrown over it for emergency or grooming.
DOUBLE PLUS GOOD (Don't disregard a bird that doesn't exhibit the following behaviors, especially if it's a very young baby):
- The bird moves towards you calmly in a friendly manner.
- The bird goes back and forth on its perch or the person selling it, body leaned forward towards you to try to get to you to meet you.
- If in a cage, the bird comes out by itself to meet you.
UNGOOD THINGS:
- The bird bites you hard in a lunging, striking manner like a snake, and either won't let go or lets go immediately and tries to get away from you. (Well, I guess if you're masochistic and like to bleed, knock yourself out, this is the bird for you.)
- The bird lunges at you.
- The bird keeps trying to get away.
- The bird seems nervous about being handled.
- The bird seems scared/nervous of hands. (I've seen a cage full of birds labeled as "handfed/handtame"; when I slowly raised my hand up towards them, they all run, some screaming, to the opposite end of the cage.)
- If in a cage, the bird needs to be chased around to get it out.
DOUBLE PLUS UNGOOD (caveat emptor):
- The bird bites the person who's selling the bird.
- The bird keeps trying to get away from the person who's selling the bird.
- The person selling the bird seems afraid or tentative about handling the bird.
- If in a cage, the bird bites when anyone tries to get it out.
- The person selling the bird puts on a glove or gets a towel in order to handle the bird. (Ok to towel to clip toenails/wings)
- The person selling the bird excuses the bird's poor behavior and tells you, "Oh, it just needs to get to know you." If this is going to be your first bird - Do you really want to lose blood, or do you want to be off to a good start with a nice bird?
- The person selling the bird excuses the bird's poor behavior and tells you, "It's a baby and just needs to be socialized." **This one's a BIG crock of bull Shitake Mushrooms. Whether you're buying a bird from a breeder or pet shop, a baby should be easily handled. THE BREEDER OR PET SHOP SHOULD HAVE ALREADY BEEN SOCIALIZING THE BABY TO PREPARE IT TO BE A GREAT PET.
Why am I bringing this to your attention? Because a majority of my breeders have been acquired from people who thought they were getting a sweet, pet quality bird because they were told it was "handfed". Not true!
When looking for a PET quality bird, keep the following in mind:
GOOD THINGS:
- The bird appears calm in general.
- The bird is calm while you're moving around checking it out.
- The bird may look at you curiously, or just seems unfazed by what's going on around it and may be exploring.
- The bird does not move away from you or otherwise appear nervous or shy when you slowly raise your hand towards it.
- The bird reaches out calmly/slowly with its beak to climb on your hand.
- You are able to easily handle the bird after a few minutes of both of you checking each other out.
- If in a cage, the bird does not go to the farthest point away from you.
- If in a cage, the bird is easily taken out of the cage (including by you).
- The bird does not appear to be afraid of towels. Some time in its life the bird will probably get toweled by you, the vet, someone in an emergency or maybe for clipping toenails/wings. Hopefully the bird's been introduced to towels in a positive manner so it's not traumatized when a towel's thrown over it for emergency or grooming.
DOUBLE PLUS GOOD (Don't disregard a bird that doesn't exhibit the following behaviors, especially if it's a very young baby):
- The bird moves towards you calmly in a friendly manner.
- The bird goes back and forth on its perch or the person selling it, body leaned forward towards you to try to get to you to meet you.
- If in a cage, the bird comes out by itself to meet you.
UNGOOD THINGS:
- The bird bites you hard in a lunging, striking manner like a snake, and either won't let go or lets go immediately and tries to get away from you. (Well, I guess if you're masochistic and like to bleed, knock yourself out, this is the bird for you.)
- The bird lunges at you.
- The bird keeps trying to get away.
- The bird seems nervous about being handled.
- The bird seems scared/nervous of hands. (I've seen a cage full of birds labeled as "handfed/handtame"; when I slowly raised my hand up towards them, they all run, some screaming, to the opposite end of the cage.)
- If in a cage, the bird needs to be chased around to get it out.
DOUBLE PLUS UNGOOD (caveat emptor):
- The bird bites the person who's selling the bird.
- The bird keeps trying to get away from the person who's selling the bird.
- The person selling the bird seems afraid or tentative about handling the bird.
- If in a cage, the bird bites when anyone tries to get it out.
- The person selling the bird puts on a glove or gets a towel in order to handle the bird. (Ok to towel to clip toenails/wings)
- The person selling the bird excuses the bird's poor behavior and tells you, "Oh, it just needs to get to know you." If this is going to be your first bird - Do you really want to lose blood, or do you want to be off to a good start with a nice bird?
- The person selling the bird excuses the bird's poor behavior and tells you, "It's a baby and just needs to be socialized." **This one's a BIG crock of bull Shitake Mushrooms. Whether you're buying a bird from a breeder or pet shop, a baby should be easily handled. THE BREEDER OR PET SHOP SHOULD HAVE ALREADY BEEN SOCIALIZING THE BABY TO PREPARE IT TO BE A GREAT PET.
Sun Conures, Jenday Conures, most cockatoos should be easily handled like this.
The bird may not let you immediately handle it like this, but the person selling the bird should be able to.
At the very minimum the bird should sit calmly on your hand.
The bird should calmly go from hand to hand and not be nervous or biting.
Note - reaching down and chewing/nibbling your fingers is NOT biting.
I'll post later about what is and isn't a bite.
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