A Dream Day with your Parrots

[Tiana]

Hi everyone! As I wonder wistfully what the future holds for me and my flock, I thought it might be fun to describe our dream days with our birds! You could recall a day you've had with your birds, or a place you are working toward, or just something you've imagined!

You might also decide to write a separate paragraph of your birds' dream day, which could be in the wild or could be based on their current behavior (i.e. freedom to pull all the keys out of your keyboard.)

I'll go first:

I wake up to the rising sun just as my two little birdies begin their morning chatter. "Good morning, little birdies!" I say. I open their cage so they can follow me into the living room and sit on their giant bird tree by the picture window as I eat breakfast. They play-fight over who gets which spot on the tree. After breakfast, I take one back to my bedroom for a little bit of target training. He's getting so good at his basketball toy! I take a video to track his progress. After training, I give them both some fresh food and sprouts for breakfast, return them to the bird room (my bedroom), and head out the door.

When I come home, the birds chirp excitedly. I open my bedroom door and they both fly to my shoulder. I reward them with a little bit of millet then bring out the birdie backpack. We load up and then I take them for a walk to the meadow a few blocks away. I hang the backpack in a tree for them to chatter with the wild birds while I sketch wildflowers below. When we get home, I change their food out. While I work on my homework, they play noisily nearby. I try to catch them doing fun things so I can click and treat. One of them hops onto my keyboard and bobs its head at my typing fingers. I pause and bob my finger back, beak-tapping with it lovingly. When I need to get back to work, I pass him off to my husband who entertains him while watching Netflix. I finish the evening by turning out the lights and covering their cage while I finish writing papers before I retire.


This https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7fCWFJLbUo plus this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LzlBRuPpeo

[Pajarita]

Well, I guess it all depends on whether we are talking about our dream day or theirs... Their dream day would be wake up with the sunrise, have fresh food and water ready, spend the entire day interacting with their mates and flock members in their aviary/birdroom (no cages), get a high protein dinner at sunset and go to sleep when night falls.

[Tiana]

Well, I guess it all depends on whether we are talking about our dream day or theirs... Their dream day would be wake up with the sunrise, have fresh food and water ready, spend the entire day interacting with their mates and flock members in their aviary/birdroom (no cages), get a high protein dinner at sunset and go to sleep when night falls.

I'm glad this sounds so much like a day with my birds, since it also sounds like a criticism of what I wrote. Just as a reminder, this thread was intended for people to write their dreams, not to have a discussion on best bird husbandry practices. But if you want to change it to that, I can bow out and we can move it to a more appropriate location.

I suppose I could meet your requirements better if I just rehomed by birds into the Central Virginia Parrot Sanctuary, where they could live in an outdoor aviary with a huge flock and minimal human interference.

P.S. I provide my birds a cage in their bird room as one of the places they can find toys and foraging opportunities, and they like to sleep in it so I wouldn't say "no cages" is their ideal in a bird room environment. Obviously in the wild they would not have a cage but they would find similarly enclosed branches and things that would make them feel safe, or in the case of budgies a hollowed out tree. This is basic bird roosting psychology.

[Pajarita]

Well, actually, budgies don't seek out cavities outside breeding season. Other species do but, as far as I know, it's only two, the quakers and the sun conures. All the others would much rather roost in a high branch than in any cage - it's the way Nature made them.

I did not mean to hijack your thread, it's only that, when it comes to birds (or any other animal, actually) my dream day is their dream day because I am happy with whatever makes them happy.