Calming A Noisy Bird

That's a picture of our lutino rescue bird (the one on the left) and his wee mate, our whiteface pearl.  Our lutino is the alpha male bird, and he is full of personality.  We got him from a pet store where he was being cared for by the owner, who had taken him back from his previous owner after she developed an allergy to him (in fact it is usually an allergy to the dander in feathers that causes people to become allergic to birds.  Use of an air purifier can be very effective in controlling this - we have one in our living room that eliminates almost 100% of the dander, plus other air pollutants such as the spores from aspergillum mould, which can cause serious illness in pet birds).  The pet store owner hadn't actually put him up for sale, but when we saw him, he looked so sad and unhappy that we asked the store owner if he would let us buy him, as we were experienced bird keepers, and would be willing to give him a good, loving home.  How glad we were, when the store owner agreed!

Encouraging Sociable Behaviour In Your Pet Birds

He he!  The bird message board that I use to belong to held a competition a few years back for "Halloween costumes" for the contributors' pets - and this was my entry!  Yes that's suppose to be a pumpkin and a muffin!  Of course the birds weren't really dressed up, and as a family we don't normally acknowledge Halloween, but it was cute all the same to see what other people did with their pets - the best and funniest by far, was a dachsund that had been turned into the filling in a hot dog, complete with sauce and onion rings!

Introducing A New Bird To Your Flock

Source for this image here.

I am feeling a little better today, but still not my usual self!  I don't like being unwell - it makes me frustrated that I can't get on with my daily duties, and enjoy my free time as I normally can.  Papa Bear says I just have to be patient though, and wait until I feel better!

One thing that has been a blessing whilse I have been unwell is that I've been spending a lot more time than usual here in the living room, where the birds live.  And that means that I've been around to be able to help settle our new chicks in.  Not that they've needed much help!

And Now We Are Six!

Source for this image here.

I am very tired today!

We have been having such a wonderful week, with so many surprises, treats and exciting things happening.  It has been very different from a normal week.  Today was very eventful!  We had many nice things to do, including breakfasting out, and then collecting our new wee bird.  But even though I knew which little bird we were going to be bringing home with us, there was a surprise in store for me!

Tuesday's Time To ... Treat Feather Plucking In Pet Birds

Now in this picture above, you can't actually see that one of our birds has a feather plucking problem.  Even now, from a distance, he looks as if his plumage is as dense and shiny as all the other birds (we have only 4 of the birds pictured above, now ... the other 2 that you see in that picture there, have sadly passed away since that picture was taken).  In fact, it was only when his mate, the bird 4th from right, passed away that he (the bird 2nd from right) began to pluck at all - and in fact in this picture, apart from around his neck, where his mate overpreened him, he did not pluck at that time. 

Feather plucking is a problem in pet birds that causes a lot of distress - mostly to the owner, but also to the bird, especially if it begins to pick at its skin as well as actually pulling at its feathers.  Some birds chew the feathers rather than pulling them out, and others will just overpreen but not pull the feathers at all.  Our bird plucks his feathers at the shaft, so there are areas of his body (under the wings, and at the tops of what would be, if he had them, his shoulders) that don't have any feathers at all, and some that are completely untouched.  He has been doing this intermittently since his mate passed away 2 years ago.