Sun-Dried Lovebirds

Enough of the Paparazzi!

I was taking some photos of Chewy earlier, and she piped up with, "Stop that!"

Avian Organics Flatbread Fusions

I finally baked the Avian Organics Mango Flatbread Fusions yesterday!

Baked, cooled, and cut into squares.




Mmmm!



Chewy approves!



Leyla and Nin practically pounced on it.



Peaches, one of my parents' alexandrines, also enjoyed it.

 I was surprised that Rigby also ate his piece, as usually he does not like things in chunks. He is lazy!

This was definitely a success and I will be buying it again!

Good Morning!

Please excuse the messy hair!

Any Day Now...

I am anxiously awaiting an order from Parrotdise Perch. In addition to some TOP pellets and a new foraging toy for Chewy, I purchased two training props for the lovies (mainly Nin) - a miniature basket ball hoop and a mini ring toss. I'm very excited to teach Nin how to use them, or at least attempt to teach him! He is very food motivated, so I am optimistic.
In the meanwhile, here's a recent shot of each of the lovies:




Lovebirds Do Not Make Good Study Partners

The issue with trying to study around lovebirds is that lovebirds love shredding paper! I was working out some problems on some scrap paper for my Biology 30 course and Leyla and Nin decided the paper would make awesome nesting material. Luckily these scraps weren't that important anyway!

I think it's been determined that AO Quick Serve is indeed a winner. All the bowls look like this now:

We also tried Cupid Cookies this evening. They were so good that Nin and Chewy had to have a tug-of-war over one.

Avian Organics Order

I got  home today to find that my Avian Organics order had arrived! I had ordered products that we hadn't tried here before, so I'm pretty excited to see how the flock likes everything.


Cupid Cookies and Pineapple Pudding



Quick Serve and Mango Flatbread Fusions

Blueberry Mini Sticks sample bag

I made some of the Quick Serve for their dinner this evening.

It is super easy! Cover with 1/2" of boiling water and let sit for five minutes.

I totally forgot to take a photo of just the Quick Serve after soaking, but here is a photo of it mixed with a few sprouts and some chopped veggies:

From the tails-up response, I think everybirdy likes it!



Food vs. Bath

I got home from work this evening and, as usual, I cooked the birdies' dinner right away. As I served it to everyone, I also set a dish of water on top of the big lovie cage for the lovies to splash in.

I find it funny how they all act differently when faced with FOOD! and BATH! at the same time.

Leyla flew straight to the dish and splashed around for a bit, then went off to destroy toys and continue building her "nest". She is the least hunger-driven of the three, and she is also very nesty right now so has been super destructive.

Rigby took a couple bites of food, then climbed to a perch over the water dish where he waited for Leyla to finish her bath so he could have his turn.

Nin rushed to the food and stuffed his face until all the best goodies were gone, and then splashed around in the dish... and went back to eating afterwards.

Also, Rigby learned a lesson about flying when wet. Poor guy tried to fly back to his cage after his bath... and ended up doing a slow, sloppy spiral to the floor. He couldn't get the loft to get back on the cage, so I had to scoop him up, which he did not like too much.

Unrelated, but here is a photo of Nin and Leyla destroying things yesterday:

Rigby Portraits & Birdie Dinner

Rigby looks so pretty in the sunshine, his feathers just shine!

And this was the birds' dinner a couple days ago:

Broccoli, red peppers, black mission figs, hemp hearts, and black sesame seeds.

Red quinoa, buckwheat, kamut, sweet potato, and cinnamon.

Ready to serve!

Introduction Post

Welcome to my blog! This is where I will talk about life with my crazy birds; you will find photos, stories, food recipes, and general chatter about my parrots.

First, a flock introduction, in order of acquisition...

This is Leyla. She is a white-face violet peach-faced lovebird, hatched December 4th, 2004. Like many female lovebirds, she is bossy, moody, destructive, and just so lovable. I call her my little Beak of Terror... all in love of course. Leyla has polyfolliculitis, which is multiple feathers growing from a single follicle. She has had some rough times including a couple spells when she mutilated her shoulder, but she is doing quite well currently.

Nin is a dutch blue peach-faced lovebird, hatched January 11th, 2005. He is my silly little guy who never fails to bring a smile to my face. The worst days are made so much better when he runs up to me and demands to play the kissy game! Nin is a little glutton; he will do pretty much anything for food. And he is very persistent! If you don't share with him, he'll boomerang back and keep bothering you until he gets what he wants.

I often referr to Leyla and Nin as "The Fluffies". They both came from a small local breeder as just-weaned babies. They came home in March of '05.

Chewy is an umbrella cockatoo thought to have been hatched in 2001. I don't know too much about her past, but what I do know is that she has had several homes before me and has a lot of baggage because of it. I brought her home in November of 2007 and at the time she was a screamer who chewed off all her chest feathers. I am happy to say she is not a big screamer anymore and she is fully feathered now, though she overpreens a little bit yet. She has come so far, but we still have one big hurdle to jump: overcoming her strong dislike of other people.

And my newest addition; Rigby is a black-cheeked lovebird hatched July 5th, 2008 and brought home in October of 2010. Rigby has "stargazing", which is a condition that causes the bird to unconsciously twist and turn his head upwards. It can be caused by a number of things, but in Rigby's case it was some kind of neurological damage. My vet prescribed a form of medicinal opium and sure enough, his condition has improved greatly! He's almost "normal" now and he can fly instead of just crash. Rigby is not "tame" yet, but he will fly to my head or shoulder sometimes. He doesn't like hands or faces.

And that's my little flock! They are all so special in their own way and I couldn't imagine life without them.