Bios of our furred and feathered fiends, I mean 'friends'...
Isn't he beautiful? We sure think so. We acquired Peter from someone who was no longer able to keep him. Peter was born in 1992, at murray creek aviary in Bc. he has had at least 4 other homes that we know of.
peter is very funny and full of personality, but can be unpredictable, especially with men, as both my eldest son and husband have discovered (thus the nickname, Peter-Peter-Finger-Eater). He is a real character, and loves to perform for company. He speaks quite clearly and often. His vocabulary includes 'Peter', 'Hi Peter', 'Hello Pete', 'Hello', 'Hi','B-bye', C'mon', and 'How ya doin'?'he also whistles, makes a variety of kissy noises, says 'mmm' when he drinks from a cup and mutters who knows what under his breath. He uses his words appropriately most of the time, saying 'hello' when the phone rings, or when you walk into the room, c'mon' when he wants you to come get him, and 'bye' when he sees you put your jacket on. You really can see the intelligence in his eyes. He can also scream to raise the dead! He does it a an attention getting behaviour, so we do our best to ignore it (not an easy feat, I'm here to tell you). I am sure this is another reason Peter lost previous homes. That's life with a cockatoo; you have to take the bad with the good!
Peter is a junk food junky. He doesn't eat most foods a normal bird would turn somersaults for. Like peanuts. Or almonds. I just got him eating the occasional grape, and he will take a nibble of apple. What he really wants is bread. With butter. Or mayonnaise (!!). He'd die for a french fry. Or a potato chip. Luckily, he does like Zupreem pellets, so I know he does eat something with a bit of nutrition to it. I constantly try him with new foods, mashes, etc., and he will sample from the other birds' dishes while I'm getting them ready for the distribution (I'm sure he only does this because he knows I'd rather he not!). I find him to be an absolute delight, despite his somewhat demanding personality.
Chico came to us from an acquaintance who was closing out his pet store and couldn't keep her. When we first got her, she had begun chewing the feathers on her shoulders, chest and back, and plucking the insides of her legs. A vet check revealed she had very dry skin and no feather dust which is not good for a cockatoo! Improved diet, frequent showers and a larger cage have all helped to restore her, though she still has a bad habit of nipping off the occasional blood feather, which makes a real mess!
Though chico is fairly quiet for a 'too, she does have a very large voice and when she does decide to sound off, with any cockatoo, it's best if your neighbours are deaf or not behind the next wall. She is a huge snuggle bug and would love to be petted for hours, but she also has a mischievous side; she likes to play 'the pinching game', where, if you are within range of her while she's playing on her cage, she reaches out to nip you if you're not looking. She finds this very amusing. Saucy! She also destroys computer keyboards at every opportunity (I'm on my 5th) and is an expert escape artist. All doors, food, water, main door, of her cage must be padlocked. She never opens the doors when you are in the room; it's as if she knows she's not allowed and doesn't want to be caught, but my husband has peeked around the corner and seen her in action. He says she is very quick about it!
Chico can speak as well. She doesn't have a large vocabulary, but what she does say, she says very clearly. Her favorite is 'Backscratch?' She knows how to get what she wants! She also says 'Hello', 'Hi', 'Hi Chico', and 'What a good boy' (even though she's a girl). She also laughs like a lunatic, whistles and makes various kissy noises. She has the sweetest little-girl voice that just makes you melt.
Chico has not been sexed, but we believe she is female due to her behaviour. As we have no intention of breeding her, it doesn't really matter. She's not banded, but we were told she was hatched in July 2002, somewhere in ontario.
if you'd like to see a video of chico demonstrating her vocal prowess, click here.
Or as we call her 'Yo-Yo-Yo-Yoshi bird'! Yo-Yo is our little orange bellied senegal. She's our baby girl. We adopted Yoshi as a baby from our pal Val at Cuckoo's Nest Aviary. I went up to visit Val's, expecting to pick one of her cute little quaker babies. They all decided they would rather chew my fingers that day, but one little sennie baby climbed up my arm, played with my hair and fell asleep nestled against my neck. Done! My planned quaker deposit went towards Yoshi instead.
Senegals have to be as close to a 'perfect' parrot as you can get. They are affordable, small enough not to need a monster cage, they can't deafen you like a cockatoo, if they bite you they (probably) won't sever the appendage, and they have personality plus! Not known to be great talkers, most pick up a few words. Yoshi doesn't /say/ much at all, but has no trouble getting her point across. She has a huge vocabulary of amusing whistles, clicks, beeps, burbles, trills and purrs (I love the purrs best). She has a squeaky laugh, and she says 'Yo-Yo' and 'yoshi bird' in a whiney little voice. I think she's trying to say lots of stuff. I just don't get it yet.
Marlee was our very first 'big' bird. She was owned by the same lady for 20 years, who, due to lifestyle changes, found she didn't have the time to give her anymore. She is a wild caught Timneh African Grey, and a beautiful girl. Marlee is not handtame, though she LOVES for you to talk to her. She is quite a chatterbox and says many phrases. She also imitates many household sounds, including squeaky doors, cage door locks rattling and water pouring. We have tried taming Marlee, but she became so stressed, she stopped talking. We decided we love her as she is and not press the issue. Marlee is our oldest bird. Her original owner purchased her at a pet store in Calgary, where she was told that Marlee was six months old. She may have been six months old, or six years, or 20. Who really knows?
02/04/2008