I never knew how wonferful a parrot could be.....

[jksmith5151]

A few months ago I brought home a young Senegal parrot. She's almost 9 months old now. I remember being soooooo worried if she would bond with me, if she would eat the right things..... I had so many questions. I named her Cassie and over a short while she and I bonded pretty close. Well, today I have a horrible cold and I think Cassie knows I don't feel well. She has been a little extra cuddly today. I love that about her. I call her "my angel" all the time. She loves laying her beak next to my nose or against my cheek. She closes her eyes and wants to be petted. At night she is most content falling asleep on my shoulder before I put her away for the night. It's the only time I hear her clicking her beak.

I work from home so I'm lucky that I get to be with her often. I run a home preschool. She has her 'favorite' sitting spot when I work at my computer. Besides being so lovable I also noticed how much more she trusts me lately. I can now lay her on her back in the palm of my hand with ease. We're working on the "play dead" trick. It's only been a week since she decided to let of of my fingers and wait to be turned upright again. It seems to more we practice the better she gets at it. She's even started letting me pet her head while she's laying in my hand. She also loves it when I walk around the big fleamarket with her. I noticed that she's more comfortable to strangers she meets. Kids are a different story. I think she'll get used to kids at her own pace.

Oh, and there is one HUGE trust thing we've been working on for a long time and I think this week we finally made some progress. She has been very fearful of being put on the floor. Well, the other day I was sitting on the floor with her on my shoulder. She's okay with that. I was cutting out a sewing pattern and she spotted the paper. She 'loves' paper. She must have been watching me toss the scraps on the floor. She climbed down to the floor and starting chewing the paper but the funny part was, I think after she realized she was on the floor, she squaked and came running back to me. lol. I put her back on the floor and petted her and gave her a treat. She still only stayed there a short moment though.

She is still a baby and I very much look forward to teaching her many things when she's ready and spending all the time I can with her. Before I got Cassie I never knew how loving and wonderful a parrot could be. I'm so thankful for her.

--- Kimberley (South Florida)

[GlassOnion]

Thank you for the update!! Great to know you and Cassie are coming along great!!

[Saerphe]

Cassie is such a good name. I would know, since it's my name too.

So glad to hear she's settled in well!

[Cage Cleaner]

This post is so sweet. I definitely agree!

[laducockatiel]

Great. She looks to be very tame and has definitely bonded with you.

[Maria]

jksmith5151:

OH YEAH !!!!!!!!!!

What a beautiful story! Yes, your bird is learning to trust you, and bonding with you. My bird does similar things as your described too. There are alot of times I feel/think the way you do - how precious a parrot is, when they interact with you. Until someone really experiences this, and the bird gets acclimated to them, and bonding starts to grow - they will never understand, or it won't really phase them even if you talk about the cute things they do all day long. For some people, unless a bird is bonded to them, they will never understand.

I am so happy your bird is happy and you're such a good mama bird hehe

You are doing the getting her not afraid of the floor thing really well. It may not be fear, because birds are more comfortable being perched up high (why she loves it up on your shoulder when you're on the floor). Or she may feel she might be stepped on or you or someone may not see her and step on her and squash her, since she sees us as so much bigger and taller than they are. So it may be a bit of fear about that, and she wants to feel safe and be with you, so she doesn't want to be on the floor.

Birds also will go to the highest perch in their cage to sleep.