Navre and Friends in Boston

[Navre]

None of the feathers looked "plucked." They all looked like they had been molted. No extra "meat" at the ends of the shafts.

[Navre]

I canceled all my appointments for the week and I'm just spending more time with her.

Now when Nicky makes the noise to get her to fly, she can't fly, so she just gets scared. And Nicky makes the noise over and over, not understanding that she cannot fly to entertain him now.

I miss it too. When I run the water, open the dishwasher, or run the microwave, I still expect her to fly into the room and onto my shoulder. (She is obsessed with kitchen appliances.)

[Pajarita]

Oh, geez, sooooo sorry about that, John! I don't think it's the breeding season although it might have something to do with it... My Codee is nesting for the very first time in her life (I would have to look at her band but I think she is 6 or 7 now]. I had put a couple of boxes in her cage when I noticed that she wasn't as eager to come out as she usually is -some mornings she absolutely refused to step up to my finger and even grabbed my finger putting a bit of pressure on it - not biting or even nipping but definitely telling me "Leave me alone, I don't want to go!". Usually, she starts doing her up and down bopping as soon as I walk up to her cage which means she wants to come out but she had not been doing it and, when she refused and grabbed my finger, I figured she was broody so I gave her the boxes to her great delight. She sleeps in the one I put on the bottom of the cage every night and has been scratching up a storm in there!

But I think that, in Ocean's case, the clipping might have been the proverbial straw after Nicky came to disrupt her world. It's real hard with birds... most of the time, we don't know what to do to make things work between two of them but I always stay away from clipping because that is one thing you cannot 'fix' as soon as you realize it's not the right approach. Spending more time with her will work but try a bit of theanine in her water, too. It can't hurt and it might help a bit.

[Navre]

Spending more time is helping. No new plucking. She is scared of me now. She runs and hides when she sees me coming. Poor baby. I feel so bad. She is okay once she is on my shoulder.

[Pajarita]

Ohhhh, poor baby! Birds are soooo hard to keep healthy and happy... They are very hardy when it comes to disease if they are happy and strong but, at the same time, they can be extremely fragile emotionally speaking when something rocks their world. She'll be fine though. Just keep paying a lot of attention to her and spending as much time as you can with her on your shoulder (they just love that!]. She will molt very soon and will regain, at least, two of her primaries which will allow her to fly again.

[Navre]

The Robins nest outside my front door was on the sidewalk this morning. Is was soaked. It's rained nearly every day for a long time. I think the nest was too exposed, and never had a chance to dry out.

[Navre]

I had to post this picture because it is so beautiful. This is Maui. She belonged to a friend of mine. She passed away this week. She was about 50 years old.

[Navre]

I'd like to introduce you to Irwin. Irwin is a hooded parrot. They are a grass keet, native to a small area in Northern Australia. They nest in termite mounds.

Irwin was part of a breeding pair. We rescued them from breeder last September, along with about 150 other birds. Irwin and his mate were near death when we got them. His mate died the next day. Irwin has a deformed keel bone, either from malnutrition, injury, or both. He is very scared, and still pretty underweight. I have had him here for a while, but I could not post pictures of him until we officially gained custody of the seized birds.

I don't know if he will ever be "tamed," and the prospects of finding him another mate are pretty low. They are also known to reject new mates and kill them, so I don't think it's something I would try.

For now, he is better off than he had been. He eats a parakeet seed blend, eats the beans out of the gloop, likes kale, and has started to eat sunflower seeds (which is good because he needs to gain weight).

For now, I keep him safe, and fed, and mostly leave him alone. He is fully feathered, but he cannot fly. I'm working on finding him a better cage.

He was malnourished until he was near death. I don't know what his long-term prospects will be, but I will give him what I can.

[Navre]

I've tried different perches and he's terrified of everything. I took a router to those dowels(Hat Tip to Wolf) and they get irregular in the middle and down the other end where he hangs out when he's not being harassed with a camera.

I am going to try another tree branch when i can find a good safe one.

[Navre]

I had given him a nest box for a while, but he never once went into it.