Friday, August 31, 2012

New feathered kids!

Well, after a few months of very quiet bird months, Spring has Sprung once more and brought with it baby birds. Namely, these baby birds! Meet the three new baby Lorikeets, two Rainbows, one Red-Collar. All very baby and a little nervous after a long flight to get here, but they'll soon be settled and ruling the place, as Lorikeets tend to do! Nice to have some hand raised birds around again, hopefully it's the start of a busy season.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

New kids (feathered variety)

We have some more new faces in the Birdroom, though there are still a couple of familiar ones hanging around...


Yes, two cheeky Green Cheeks are still terrorizing the other birds, fighting with Jack who is three times their size... though they have been oddly accepting of the lone lorikeet!


Speaking of whom, here is is snuggling in one of the toys Pat, one of the staff members made for the birdroom :)


And here we have Happy Jack, another very cheeky bird with tons of attitude - including this quirky habit of doing the splits between two cages :P

Not too many handraised birds around this time of year so I'm not as hectic as the past few months have been. But there are a few lovely finches around, just check out these gorgeous guys!


Emblema (Painted) Finches and some Gouldians!




A string a Bengalese finches, love the beautiful markings on these guys - several have awesome white eyebrows!


And this is my favourite Bengalese, who has a halfwhite face with a tiny brown eyepatch!

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Arrivals Gate

Well, I've been a bit slack in keeping this blog updated, has been a busy time! We have had several new arrivals and several goodbyes. I miss Buba and Rio who have both gone to new homes, but I have two new quakers to keep me busy - Quin, from Rio's breeder, and his brand new buddy Forrest, a green quaker.


Quin and Forrest


These guys came from the same breeder, and straight away Quin recognized him as soon as he saw Forrest. They were snuggling together in minutes, so great to see.


Quin had a little trouble figuring out how to climb a ladder on his first attempt...


"I'd like to place a collect call please. To Texas."


This is a young Rainbow and Scaly Lorikeet from last week, already gone to their new homes.


Scaly Lorikeet playing King of the Castle!


And one of the two current Rainbows.


This is his buddy, who, as you can see... is super graceful.


"Nearly... there!"


Princess being agile... she's so silly.

Looks like another busy week ahead - for now I'm going to enjoy my weekend off, watch some DVDs with my own birds, and hit the beach with my dog!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

They were the best of friends... until that fateful day... that corn came between them.

I was nearly in fits of laughter as Buba and Rio decided to squabble over a kernel of dried corn. In typical Quaker Parrot fashion, their battle was a noisy one, with screams and squawks as each had their eye firmly upon the prize...


First to spot the corn and dig it from the seed bowl was Rio... but Buba was interested straight away, and waited for his moment to pounce on an unsuspecting Rio...


"MUUUUUU-UUUUUUUM! HE STOLE MY CORN!"
Normally I try only to post the best quality of my photos, but while this one isn't in focus, Rio's expression is just too priceless to pass up!
I, of course, am 'Mum' in this scenario. Sadly for Rio, I was laughing too much to help him so he had to take matters into his own hands...


Rio soon snatched the corn back, but Buba is persistent... Princess noticed the commotion and came over to check out what was happening. Wisely, she kept her beak of of it...


"Come on Rio, share!"


Buba is stronger than Rio and wrenches the corn away again, parading it gleefully. A disgruntled Rio goes mining for more in the seed bowl and moments later, he emerges with a second piece of corn. Aha, the world has been set right!


Like all true friends, Rio and Buba never go to bed with an argument still in the air. By end of day when I was doing the evening rounds, Buba and Rio had forgotten and forgiven and her snuggled up together.
(The snuggle, by the way, was made by Buba's breeder especially for him to sleep in :D Rio however is a big fan too!)

For the life of me, there's never a dull moment here in the Birdroom.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

A few more Photos...

Business as usual in the Birdroom. The Green Cheek Conure trio get bossier by the day - if not by the hour - and are trying to boss everyone else. Princess has the common sense to keep away from them, but the Galah and Rio and Buba the blue Quakers don't see why they ought to knuckle down under these colourful yet pushy little monsters! Buba is getting around well with his one foot - he's incredible, he just keeps trying until he gets to where he wants to go!


Buba and Rio!


Princess, Queen of her castle!


She's such a little showoff.


And here's the bossyboots themselves, Pineapple Green Cheek Conures, as large as life as ever.


The baby Galah tries to follow in Princess' footsteps but he's not quite as sure of said steps yet!


And this is Bob, the newest addition, a female Rainbow Lorikeet. She was called Bob before her owner knew she was a boy. What a character... so much energy she quite literally bounces off walls!


Yet another show-off for the Birdroom!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Making friends

There's been some new friends, some goodbyes, and some old faces this past week in the Birdroom. Princess, is still with us and she is still trying to befriend every bird who comes into the Birdroom - with the exception of the Green Cheek Conures, who try to intimidate everyone!


Standoff!


Princess watches a young olive Musk Lorikeet eating his morning nectar mix...


"Now this is quite tasty."


"It's okay, I was finished with that." Little Musk has gone to his new home, where he doesn't have to share his brekfast with a pushy Princess!


Princess is lovely girl. Though, for a handraised bird, she is independent, she has a charm all her own. She won't approach people for company often, preferring to do her own thing; it's amazing to observe her antics and intelligence, seeing her investigate every little thing.


Princess with the Lutino Scaly. She too has just gone to her new home, where she has a male who'll hopefully become her mate - she's been a breeding before before she came to the Birdroom so I think the family life will suit her!


This is Pearl, a handraised year-old cockatiel. She has a lovely nature, as soon as anybody comes near her, down goes the head, asking for a scratch!


Pearl with a young Galah, who is just as fond of a scratch!


"Food tastes so much better if you stand in it."


And this is Rio, a baby blue Quaker with a very endearing personality.


Rio - he knows he's handsome!


Rio's new best friend, Buba - who lost his foot as a young chick after his parents brought some nesting material into the ox which wrapped around his foot. He gets along incredibly well, using his leg as a prop, stepping up, climbing, and playing. All the while, he's so content with his little world. He and Rio were fast friends within minutes of being introduced, snuggling and preening together.


Few things are as incredible to witness is two new best buddies bonding.


Rio and Buba, underneath the tent Buba's breeder made especially for him to sleep in!


"Oh yeah? Is this what we are?"

In sadder news, Alex the Alexandrine had become very unhappy as the store bird and was beginning to develop some bad habits - lunging and biting at staff and customers. After two weeks of everyone working with him trying to see some improvement, the decision was made to sell him. I think he's going to be a lot happier with the one-on-one, stable attention he'll get from his new owners. While everyone misses him very much, me included, the last thing I wanted was to see Alex so unhappy with the situation he continued to lash out at everyone. Another goodbye to another special bird... Alex, we will miss you a great deal.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Foliage Fun

Did a little trimming at home and gave the birds some greenery. This is a really great form of enrichment, very easy to do - only important to make sure plants are bird safe, and not sprayed with chemicals or heavy fertilizers. I use some pretty common plants, mainly Hibiscus as I have big bushes that grow madly and Eucalyptus because I have several trees, but there's also Norfolk Island Pine and some cuttings from Petunias and Spider Plants.

Everyone in the Birdroom had a great time. In particular, by the evening, the Grass parrot aviary which is also home to Canaries and Java Finches had every leaf stripped from the branches!


A Lutino Elegant parrot eyes off her new greenery.


Pied Java Finches, lining up to inspect a branch!


The Chestnut Breasted Manikins don't stay still long enough to photograph!


"This would be perfect camofluage... if I were actually green?" - Lutino Scaly Lorikeet.


The curious Green Cheeks were into everything - here one checks the taste of sivlerbeet.


Snacking on some pine needles!


Mmm-mmm.


Green Cheek Conure apparently thinks pine is tasty.


Lutino Kakarikis hop right on over to check out the greenstuff!


A young budgie investigating.


Alex came into the Birdroom for a while - usually he lives in his cage by the register - to share in the fun. Princess of course wanted to be friends and Alex, who isn't aware he's a bird, freaked out an ran away from the 'savage beast'...


"Get awaaaay!"


Princess gives the nod of approval!


Princess claims a pile of greenery.


Princess, in the middle of flying the half a foot between the playstand and the cagetop. Such a lovely girl she is - independent for a hand raised bird, but certainly a character.

Tomorrow we have a few new arrivals - including two hand-raised cockatiels and a Musk Lorikeet. Hopefully they'll all settle in well and get along with everyone! More to come soon.