A Plesant Surprise

Had a very welcome surprise today. I got a young Alexandrine in! Usually, you see brand-new hand-raised Alexdandrines at the end of the year, with maybe a few in January, as this coreesponds with their breeding season and subsequent handrearing period. This young male, Aj, is around a six-month old bird. He was brought as a newly hand-raised bird from a local breeder but his owner had other time constraints and decided to sell him. He's is lovely young bird, very happy and healthy. Only having arrived this afternoon he's understandably a little nervous yet, cautious and a bit wary. But he's already exploring his cage, playing with small foot toys (pegs and pen lids fall into this category for an Alex!) and came out for the last hour of the day to ride on my shoulder, where he transferred his curiosity to my hair-clips and earlobes.

Also have some photos of Bird, the lovely rainbow lorikeet (He was sold and went home yesterday) and Baby, the very little olive rainbow lorikeet. He is still with us, and will remain so for the next week while I maintain he's eating properly on his own and strong enough to cope with a move.

Some New Lorikeets

It's been a fairly typical week in the birdroom. Buddy, the whiteface cinnamon pied cockatiel was sold this week, but the rest of the hand-raised birds are still with us. The conures are still a little nervous with all the action but are coming out of their shell with me. They've been on lunch with me several times - and let me tell you it's very difficult to eat with two curious conures perched on your shoulder trying to take food from your lips!
I got a few more hand-raised birds in, too. At Christmas I had two rainbow lorikeets in, memoable for their bright red chests, when most rainbows show a mix of gold and red. One of the customers I sold one to had a change of employment where he's no longer stationary and realized he would have to part with his pet.
So, on Thursday I welcomed back "Bird" the rainbow lorikeet, who has learned a wonderful collection of whistles and is a real little character. I also received a new hand-raised cockatiel (another whiteface cinnamon) and a very baby olive mutation rainbow lorikeet. He seems a sturdy little fellow for his age - as soon as I had him out of the box and into his waiting cage (which turned out he'd be sharing with Bird) he was digging into his nectar mix. He's still got some of his baby down feathers and such a tiny tail, he's a real little cutie! I'll have to hold onto him for a couple of weeks, since even though it's eating independently I like to have confidence they can fend properly for themselves before going to a new home.
I'll have to come up with a name for this little guy too. Will also take my camera in Sunday, and get some photos of everyone.

I'm off to enjoy my weekend :) Keep flying!

News as usual...

...in the Birdroom. Monday it was head down, tail feathers up to clean out seven aviaries and fifteen cages. Tuesday was a little more hectic than usual since we were two people down, and today - well, I have a soft spot for Wednesdays because it's my early day and I'm able to leave at four.

Put in a small order today, but there wasn't any exciting handraised birds available. I am getting a pair of pale-head rosellas, a pair of blue redrumps, and a pair of scarlet-chested parrots, plus a new batch of baby budgies. While budgies are not my favourite bird, I don't have anything against them (other than the mess they make of the birdroom floor on a daily basis!) but I do love to see twenty babies lined up in their two cages. Budgies come in such a fantastic range of colours, it's so lovely to see them in all shades of blue, purple, green, yellow, and white.

The current hand-raised birds are all doing well. Cam is as unstoppable as ever. He had another go at the bolt on his door and pulled off the nut, and I had to call the storeman for emergency repairs! Bolt is now equipped with two nuts. We'll see how long they last.
He was a big show-off today, attracting customers' attention while he was out on the playgym and dancing away with his usual headbob. He also had several wonderful rounds of catch with a young customer. Cam's version of 'catch' is actually more like 'throw'. Sometimes when handed an object, he'll pick it up in his beak and simply throw it - the catch part is meant to be handled by you! This is made rather challenging by the fact
Cam doesn't throw with any sort of accuracy. He's as likely to throw four feet to the left of where you're standing as he is to throw to you, and at times, his playful nature showing through, he simply tosses over his shoulder! Usually we play catch with an empty roll of tape, but today Cam decided he wanted to throw an old cardboard roll, after chewing several copious holes in it.

He also proceeds to dance most of lunchtime, which he usually spends in the tearoom with me. Unlike some birds he's not too interested in sneaking food from staff member's lunch, he simply hops all over the table, bopping and weaving in his cockatoo-dance. Although he has shown some fondness for pasta, as he ate a few bites of Jenna and Susuette's lunch last week!

Annnnd... profiles on the sun conures.


(Pictured with Max, the blue Quaker, behind him).
Name: Flame
Species: Sun Conure
Colour mutation: Normal
Age: Approx 12 Weeks
Gender: Undetermined
Price Tag: $600



Name: Sandi
Species: Sun Conure
Colour mutation: Normal
Age: Approx 12 Weeks
Gender: Undetermined
Price Tag: $600

FAQ
Q. How do you tell Flame and Sandi apart?
A. Flame is coloured up a little more than Sandi. The yellow on the back of his neck extends down further than Sandi's and patches the upper part of his wings, and he also has a fingernail-sized yellow patch on his right wing.

In general the birdroom is doing very well. Aviary cockatiels have been selling fairly well, as have adult budgies, so it's likely next week I'll be ordering some of each. Hoping to get a few more hand raised cockatiels, too, but I won't know til next Wednesday what's available.

Well, I'm winding down now since tomorrow is my last day at work before my weekend starts. Off to enjoy the evening now!

We're all worn out

So, Bailey has gone to his new home, but four new hand-raised additions to the bird room kept me from missing him too badly today. Still, as I was mopping the floor this afternoon, after doing around the center cage, I realized it was the spot I'd usual lean the mop aside for a second and play a few rounds of Bailey's favourite game, Peak-a-boo, with him. And yes, I missed him.

Anyway, on to my new additions!

Meet, Nic, the green quaker, Max, the blue quaker, and Flame and Sandi the sun conures.
Just don't get too attached to Nic, since he also sold today!
The conures actually won't be up for sale until Wednesday, so I have at least a few days with them. Max is a little nervous, but he's befriended Flame and Sandi already so I'm pleased he has a few buddies to snuggle up with. It was ultimate cutness factor this morning, when the four of them all started napping in the food bowl!

Thought I'd do my first profile on Max:


Name: Max
Species: Quaker parrot
Colour mutation: Blue
Age: Approx 10 weeks.
Gender: Undeterminded.
Price Tag: $575.

Max is still a little shy - which is nothing that surprises me, since he's in a new environment and has seen three different caretakers since Friday. But he's a typical sweet little quaker, fond of cuddles, and with a little time I think will settle in beautifully.

In general news, it was a busy morning in the birdroom. A pile of small chores and phone calls always tend to build up from the entire two days I've spent away from the birdroom, and there's new birds to get to know, plus the usual weekend shoppers which make the room busier than usual. But after finally getting sweeping, feeds, waters and fruit and veg completed it got a little calmer. I took the conures and Max to lunch with me (Nic having just sold at this point) so they could get to know me without the added pressure of the crowds on them. Of course I naturally had to snap a few more photos, as well, even though none of them top the goregous shots of the four birds cuddling in the food bowl!


I did have time to take Cam for a walk this afternoon. It's more hazardous than it sounds. Firstly I have to don my winter vest, which at the moment is my 'Cam vest' - this is due to the fact that neither my buisness or polo shirts offer any sort of protection against Cam's hawklike talons. (also Cam has a fondness for rippign buttons off. The vest zips). With the vest on Cam is quite happy to cling to my front and get out and about. But I have to be very aware of any stock small enough to be picked up in his beak, and take care to leave sufficent space between the large feathered broach anchored to me and the store shelving.

Tomorrow will likely be just as busy as today was. Monday is clean-out day in the birdroom!

Goodbyes, Thursday's 20% off Loyalty Night

We had our second 20% off night for loyalty customers last night. We were insanely busy at 4, when the special started, as everyone came in to nab the items they wanted before someone else did! But after about six it petered off. We're not usually open late nights so I just don't think enough people knew about it. But it was timed quite well for me with the arrival of my new birds. Usually, they catch the earliest morning flight from Sydney to Brisbane, and the early afternoon flight from Brisbane to Townsville. But occasionally the idiots at Brisbane airport can't move their rears and get organized fast enough and my birds are pushed back so they arrive on the 7 o'clock flight, not the 4 o'clock flight.
Last night went like that.
So at 4, John zipped off to the airport to pick them up, only to be told when he got there they weren't arriving til seven. As he finished up at 5, I had to go pick them up. Which, in honesty, is not something I mind at all. I like the short drive to the airport and picking the flight boxes with all my new arrivals up from Australian Air Express, and driving back to the store with them chirping in the backseat.

So, with the store nice and quiet by seven I was off to pick them up. I didn't get much time to spend with any of them individually in the two hours before we closed, but the new hand-raised birds seem lovely. The two cockatiels I'm sure won't be there when I go back to work on Sunday. I must have taken about a dozen calls and enquiries asking about hand-raised cockatiels this week. They seemed very sweet, a lovely pair of young greys. Buddy, the whiteface cinnamon who is going to his new home sometime over the weekend (that's actually him at the far right of the topmost banner image) was pleased to have a little company.
Bailey the blue quaker got pretty excited when he saw the two new quakers! I got a blue and a green, both who were very reluctant to come out of the flight box - and who could blame them after two flights and then faced with a noisy, unfamiliar birdroom - and I had to gently lift them out myself. I put them in a separate cage to Bailey, since I wasn't going to be there to supervise how they'd get along today. Friday and Saturday are my days off. As odd as it seems to me to be away from the birdroom for two entire days I'm usually pretty wiped out by Thursdays, the end of my week, and looking forward to a couple of sleep-ins and a day with James - and of course, extra time to spend with my own kids - the avian, canine, and feline kind, that is.

Speaking of Bailey, he too, goes to his new home tomorrow. His new owners finished paying him off yesterday, any paid him a final visit. They have been setting up for him, collecting tree branches for his cage, and buying all sorts of goodies for him. I know he will be spoiled and loved by his new owners as much as I love him now, but I've never found goodbyes easy. I had him out of his cage with me yesterday evening before the new-bird excitement, and then for the last half-hour of the night, to properly say goodbye. He's been with us since Christmas, having had a rough landing soon after arriving and injuring his chest, which had to heal before he went back on sale. He's a little sweetheart, curling up in a shirt pocket or under a collar, wheaking and 'quaking' away in the funny little voice quakers have, lying quietly in my hand while I groom out his pin feathers.
I let him cuddle up to my cheek, then gave him a quick kiss on his little head. "Love you, Bailey. Be a good bird." I let him hop back into his cage. I knew that when I arrived on Sunday and didn't hear his urgent 'come see me!' calls that I would miss him dearly.

Much as I love the residents of the birdroom, particularly those who've spent a little time there, I learned one thing a long time ago. I can't personally take every single one of them home. That's not what it's about for me. I could never run the birdroom and not care about the birds I spend my days looking after. They are, as I sometimes call them, my kids, and I love them all. But goodbyes, difficult as they can be, are not a sad time. They're a celebration. My job is to find a home for these birds, a home where they'll be loved as much as I love them - a 'forever' home. With each goodbye, which is the closing chapter for me, it's the start of a whole new story for the bird, and their new owner.

I will miss him, though.

Busy weekend

A veritable din of bird calls ring out around me as I latch back the swinging doors to the birdroom and walk inside. Two cages of baby budgies and an aviary of adults start their familiar chatter. Over them sound louder, sharper notes as the peachface lovebirds join in. Pleasant cockatiel whistles are mingled with the piping note of the rosella pair two aviaries down from them. Bailey the blue quaker's shrill squawks for me to come let him out for his morning play are echoed by Mango the sun conure. Wally, a ringneck housed in the large parrot cage in the center of the room, greets me with the purring sound of an Alexandrine, which he learned from one of the Alexes to come through the store. Cam the cockatoo in his aviary watches me enter and calls out hello, currently the only bird of the birdroom to speak human language. That doesn't matter, since I have been listened to bird greeting calls - and in fact every other type of bird call you could imagine - five days a week for the last three years. I know what they're saying. I start my week a day earlier than most people. Sunday is my busiest day in the birdroom. The morning routine is as usual: status check of the birdroom residents; a once-over the floor with a broom to clear away the previous evening's dinner; a skim through of notes left for me by my weekend staff,;change and disinfect all water bowls; check and top up all seed bowls; and cut up and distribute fruit and veg. By the time I'm midway through waters the store is getting busier and there's usually several people broswing in the birdroom. The hand-raised birds are scattered over the center playgym and stands, and it's they who are the stars of the room. While I never mind people saying hello to and handling the hand-raised birds who are comfortable, I have to keep a close eye on them. Some people just don't seem to understand that a bird racing away from your hand at top speed might indicate the bird isn't really comfortable with a total stranger picking it up. Others feel the need to scoop the birds up like icecream, or worse, grab them suddenly around the body and lifting them, handling techniques that even a good-natured handraised bird will often reward with a nip. It also amazes me how many people wiggle their fingers in front of a bird's face, some all but poking at them. How they imagine a bird will be step up onto a waving hand is beyond me. Consequently with Bailey, Mango, Cam, Wally and my hand-raised cockatiels out and about I keep a sharp eye on them and any admirers they attract.

Cam however, is one bird who thrives on the weekend attention. He's a very outgoing, well-socialized cockatoo and never minds being approached by people he doesn't know yet. Some people are intimidated by his size - and he is a big cockatoo, one of the largest I've come across, considering he's only one year old. But he will willingly lower his head for someone to scratch his crest, or lift a wing to be tickled. Sometimes when someone walks in he will tell them hello. Thankfully, thus far he seems to keep his other favourite phrase to himself. Someone evidently taught him to say 'shut up' at some point, which I found out when I told him to stop chewing on the partition between his and the rosella aviary. Turning his head over his shoulder, he cheerful informed me to 'Shuttup!' before continuing to eat the partition. He can crunch through a pen in about a minute (I take the ink tube out of them before he gets one) pop off buttons before you can blink, and has a fondness for computer equipment. One day at the registers, I had him with me, sitting on the spare counter. I was talking to a customer when I became aware of a clicking sound. Turning, I found Cam perched on the keyboard to register 3, happily popping off buttons in his big beak and tossing them onto the floor. One of the first things he managed to figure out was how to slide the bolt back on his aviary door, letting himself out of his cage. I acquired a heavy clip to fasten the bolt in the lock position, which he couldn't reach form inside. This kept him in the aviary for a total of two days. On the evening of the second day, Cam decided he'd simply unbolt the door from the frame. John arrived in the morning to find the door hanging from its bottom hinge, Cam sitting triumphantly on top of the bank of aviaries. Never let anyone tell you a cockatoo can't solve problems.

It's Thursday morning now and I've finished my proof-reading of this entry. I have a late start today due to our late-night loyalty members' night, we're having 20% off store wide. Should be a busy evening. I'm also getting new birds arriving today, so I'm very excited! Will leave you with a video of Cam enjoying a spray-bath.

Setting up

Well, despite my years of cruising here and there online, this is actually my first attempt at the world of blogging, so here I go.

Welcome to the BridroomBlog! My name is Chris and I run the birdroom at the
Townsville Petbarn, which this blog will be focusing upon. Please excuse all typos and mistakes while I adjust :)


Just a test-picture so I can get a feel for how to post them. (That's my rosella, Calypso, helping me with a puzzle).

All of the photos you'll be seeing here at the BirdroomBlog have been taken by myself. Please contact me if you would like to display these elsewhere.

I'm particularly proud of my banner photo with the four cockatiels. It's so hard to get them all to focus for that long, let alone all be looking right at the camera!

I'll be poking around with the settings for the next few days before starting posting in earnest. Also will have to run this idea by my boss to make sure there's no problems having this thing up here in the first place.

So, wish me luck - this is where it begins!