I am so sorry that I missed Thanksgiving, yesterday! I  am disappointed in myself.

I found this BBC video via cuteoverload.com.

I don’t know what’s funnier, the parrot trying to shag the guy’s neck, or the fact the friend of the victim here was just standing there making jokes about having parrot babies.

We still have some of our old Scarlet’s Feathers Christmas Cards in stock.

While supplies last…this special offer.

FIFTEEN cards of this specific Christmas Card design for only $20.00 (which INCLUDES shipping and handling). Ordering instructions below.

Chirpin' New Year

Outside Verse:

  We wish you a merry Christmas
  We wish you a merry Christmas
  We wish you a merry Christmas

Inside Verse:   

  and a chirpin’ good year!

To order 15 of this specific card, send $20.00 via paypal to Scarlet@ScarletsFeathers.com. Make sure to include the right shipping address. Put “Budgie” in the note section.

… and our sweet home!

2.5" x 3.5" colored pencil/wc pencil

After drawing a parrot portrait for an trade some months ago, I got a request from another parrot owner.  This  artist trading card features Shadow, a nanday conure  talented enough to maintain his own blog:  A Parrot’s Point of View.  Shadow is also the inspiration for the  children’s book  “If You Were a Parrot” by Katherine Rawson.   Katherine provided a number of charming photos for me to work from and I quickly fell in love with this bird.

Oh! I am so sorry I have made a typo in the headline – it should read Big News! But it got your attention didn’t it?

So what is the big news I hear you say and some of you complain! Well first I would say to all of you hold your horses and to those of you complaining I would say have some patience and don’t be so rude. I am a Cat after all and typing isn’t something I am born to.

No I know neither were humans born to typing, but you ape descendants held onto the prehensile toes and fingers while us slightly more highly evolved creatures have lost them and adopted a soft paw.

I have sort of decided that it would be fun each day to see if I can come up with ideas on how to annoy and of course eventually rid the world of Parrots, they are just multicoloured vermin after all gay Pigeons that’s what I call them and this mission is so very important that I am considering moving my blog onto the home page of my ‘www‘- wickedly, wonderful website. Treat your self and have a click no one is looking. then after you have done that do go to my my ‘www‘you will adore it.

You don’t really need the name of my amazing website but here it is just in case – www.thecatsdiary.com.

So I am going to have a chat with my PR people and let Sebastian, Polly and Georgie have a little ‘ponder’ as they always call it when they are trying to catch up with another of my amazing ideas.

In the meantime I thought I would share this little idea with you on the subject of ‘dealing’ with Parrots. Why don’t we announce that scientists have discovered obscene quantities of Peanuts on the M25? And they are free to anyone who wants a peck.

For all of my international visitors and friends the M25 is an is the worlds largest environmental experiment. It works by trapping hundreds of thousands of motorists every day by pretending that it is a motorway.

The motorists sit patiently at a standstill until ten minutes after they should have arrived at their destination and then they are released like a competitors in a race.

So if the carbon monoxide from the idling engines doesn’t get the Parrots who have come for the free peanuts then the formation start will.

Perfect! That should get rid of a few of those over dressed Pigeons shouldn’t it!

Technorati Tags:
Cat diary, Cat’s Diary, Cats, Parrots, PR, M25, Motorway, Mars, Traffic Jam, Peanuts

One way you can include your bird in the holiday festivities early on is by letting your bird be apart of the preparation!

Some birds might need some extreme desensitization with the holiday decor; lights, trees, ornaments, noise, music, etc… there’s a lot of things that go into the holiday that we don’t think about but your bird might react badly to. So mine as well make them a part of it so they can enjoy everything too.

Photo by Jamieleigh
Location: Orlando, FL
Helping: “Military Macaw” Cash

One thing we do is set up the Christmas tree (palm tree) with our birds out and around it. This year we did it with the macaws around. This is their second Christmas, but their first one with the palm Christmas tree. Last year we were at my parents’ house with a pine tree. Most of them hung out on the railing but some of them came down to check it out and some stayed on perches nearby watching. Cash, our military macaw, especially made his presence known for being there for the tree preparation!

Photo by Jamieleigh
Location: Orlando, FL
Helper: Military Macaw “Cash”

It’s always a fun time with our birds around the holiday.

It helps if your bird is flighted so it can watch from a distance it’s comfortable at. It won’t hurt to have some rewards around to reward your bird if it’s more phobic and might be too scared to get very close. You can also cuddle within view of the Christmas tree if being in the same room as it is too much for your bird. Whatever you can make work is great for your bird.

Yes it is true to say that I hate Parrots – does that make me a bad Cat? I don’t think so and this is why!

First as the picture evidence shows Parrots eat with their feet and that has to be an awful habit and they can’t wash themselves – fancy that!

Secondly I have a suspicion that Parrots are responsible for Bird Flu, they are birds of course and I have a feeling that they really hate anyone that isn’t a Parrot. Ask yourself this if you don’t believe me when you last tried to give Polly a peanut what did it do – yes that’s right it bit you and I bet you got told off for not only interfering with the Parrot but also for swearing, they are plotting our downfall I tell you.

And most importantly thirdly, the Parrot that I live with is just an awful feathered bully who picked on me the minute I was brought home imprisoned in a Cat basket, of course you can read all about that in my wonderful book – “Getting Out Excerpts From A Cat’s Diary” which is available to all for a small fee at Amazon.com or my ‘www‘- wickedly, wonderful website, and all good stockists.

Funny 90-second video of a parrot who’s infatuated with a stuffed bunny toy. I like his weird squeaky autotune voice.

A few years ago I was looking for a way to put a perch in my shower so my parrotlet could hang out when I was in there. The pet shop perches that had suction cups to stick to smooth surfaces were expensive and huge. I eventually found plant hangers with suction cups that worked perfect!

(that is black grout, not mildew in the picture-ha)

These hangers can hold up to 6 pounds so they are pretty secure. They are good for holding small wild bird feeders and hummingbird feeders as well. I have smooth tile in my shower so the hanger/perch sticks just fine. My parrotlet loves to sit on one foot, puff out his feathers and sing while I am in there (the perch is not in the spray). I also put one on a mirror so he can perch there too (make sure nothing is below that he can poop on – toothbrushes). I hang a toy off of the loop but he likes to unhook it and throw the toy. Maybe that is a hint?

I have also put a few outside near large feeders under my eves. They do not hold anything but provide extra perches while birds wait their turn at the feeder. I get to get a good look at them since they are attached to the window.

This idea definitely works for small birds and probably up to med/small parrots as well. True, they do hold up to 6 pounds but hook billed birds tend to like to chew on the suction cups. I found it worse for conure size parrots than for the small parrotlet size parrots. The bigger guys can pull the perch right out from under their feet before you can stop them. The conure I tried this with did eventually leave the cups alone. So the chewing is a drawback.

The other thing to remember is to poke the cups secure once in awhile. Just push on them to renew their suction. Often you will hear a “pop” as you push the air out. Sometimes a little bit of moisture or a light bit of forehead oil on the cups help them stick. Yeah, the oil is gross but it works better than water or saliva.

Timid birds might not take to the perch as easily. You may have to show them it is great by putting your hand on there and get excited and happy while they watch. Do not push it if the bird does not want to go at first or the bird will become afraid. Just try again later. Also, if the bird seems unsure about it all when on the perch, do not leave him alone. Stick around for support. Eventually he will relax. Bolder birds will take to it faster or right away.

Where can you get these? I have seen them at Lowes and Wild Birds Unlimited. Try garden departments/stores.

Have fun!

Thank you all for your suggestions on this blog and private emails. We combined the recommendations (including the Santa Hats) to come up with this final verse…

Here we come a-squawkin’
Among the feathered flock
Here we come a-waddling
and flying down the block.

Love and joy come to you,
And to all your parrots, too,
And our chirps and trills and screams and yells,
Mean Happy New Year,
And we wish you a Happy New Year!

To see ALL our Multi-species Greeting Cards visit our Zazzle Store. 

Photo by Jamieleigh
Location: Orlando, FL
Thee who tore up the Netflix mailer: Umbrella Too “Linus”

Randomly almost every day I will take a walk with Patty and Linus to the mailbox. It’s something Patty did with him back when she lived in Austin and I always would invite my cat along with me so to have Linus to go with made it even more fun. He loves playing with the keys afterwards.

Well, this time I got some Netflix in and I’m a huge fan of ‘em. As I was anxiously opening them to see what I got, Linus sat himself on a perch watching me. I tore the pieces off the mailers and looked back at him, then crinkled it in my hand a little and handed it over.

Boy did Linus ever get excited!

Photo by Jamieleigh
Location: Orlando, FL
Thee who tore up the Netflix mailer: Umbrella Too “Linus”

I whipped out the camera as fast as I could but he tore into the packaging faster than I could manage to catch and had a complete ball with it! So if you’ve been pondering about whether or not to start your subscription with Netflix and just need one more reason… here it is! Do it for your bird!

]]> http://iuliaradu.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/einstein-the-famous-talking-african-grey-parrot/ Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:27:40 +0000 Giullie http://iuliaradu.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/einstein-the-famous-talking-african-grey-parrot/

UN SUPERSTAR…Chiar el se intituleaza asa…:))

I have mentioned the pre- and post-colleague term before.  I thought I would elaborate a little regarding my colleagues and the kind work environment we have formed over the past couple of weeks.

At the end of September one of our branches was closed and we at the Hatfield office gain two consultants.  They form a part of what I call the post-October colleagues:

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 POST-OCTOBER

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  Meerkat  Apart from the obvious love for meerkatte (she has a couple at home and has recently started breeding with them).  She is also a busy as a meerkat.  In and out of the office, all the time.  Thankfully she isn’t quite as talkative as the rest of us, however this does make it kind of difficult to get to know her. 

What I do know however is that she is easily inspired and like me, her cooking ventures don’t always turn out as they are suppose to. 

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Parrot  She talks a lot.  She’s exceptionally curious and asks whatever is on her mind, followed by “if you don’t mind me asking”.  Yet she is so sweet that you don’t mind telling her anything.

She is crazy about cooking and has promised us a chocolate cake (which is yet to be seen)

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 PRE-OCTOBER

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Chameleon:  A fan of Chris Chameleon.  She doesn’t want kids, accept if they come with fluff – like a cat or a dog of a llama.  Secretly she is love with her dance instructor, yet she thinks she is too dysfunctional to be loved.  She is weird and it is okay for me to write that – because she knows I think she is weird.

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Grizzly Bear:  The man-colleague, the only man apart from the big boss.  Calm, gentle yet ready to attack for his female colleagues.  Unlike the bear – he doesn’t sleep at all at the moment as he is working around the clock to complete his degree.  Fantastic to have in the office with a great sense of humour.

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 Edit to add:

So my Mango has taken the initiative to add me to the list of animal, this is what she had to say:

The Humming Bird: Needs to stay active in order to stay awake, once they stop what they are doing and they fall asleep. Once they are asleep no amount of coffee and regardless of how many times they will push the snooze button they will EVER wake them up. That is until something grabs their attention, like all their coffee being used by a 4 year old to make up a concoction in the kitchen.

They also fall under the category of ‘ Beauuutttiiifffuulll’

What an awesome and orderly God!!  God’s accuracy may be observed in the hatching of eggs.  For example:

• The  eggs of the potato bug hatch in 7 days;
• Those of the canary in 14 days;
• Those of the barnyard hen in 21 days;
• The eggs of ducks and geese hatch in 28 days;
• Those of the mallard in 35 days;
• The eggs of the parrot and the ostrich hatch in 42 days.

Notice, they are all divisible by seven, the number of days in a week!

The lives of each of you may be ordered by the Lord in a beautiful way for His glory, if you will only entrust Him with your life.  Only the One who made the brain and the heart can successfully guide them to a profitable end.

God’s wisdom is seen in the making of an elephant.  The four legs of this great beast all bend forward in the same direction.  No other quadruped is so made.  God planned that this animal would have a huge body, too large to live on two legs.  For this reason He gave it fulcrums so that it can rise from the ground easily. 

The horse rises from the ground on its two front legs first.  A cow rises from the ground with its two hind legs first.  How wise the Lord is in all His works of creation!

God’s wisdom is revealed in His arrangement of sections and segments, as well as in the number of grains. 

• Each watermellon has an even number of strips on it’s rind.
• Each orange has an even number of segments.
• Each ear of corn has an even number of rows.
• Each stalk of wheat has an even number of grains.
• Every bunch of bananas has on its lowest row an even number of bananas, and each row decreases by one, so that one row has an even number and the next row an odd number.
• The waves of the sea roll in on shore twenty-six to the minute in all kinds of weather.
• All grains are found in even numbers on the stalks, and the Lord specified thirty fold, sixty fold, and a hundred fold – all even numbers.

God has caused the flowers to blossom at certain specified times during the day, so that Linnaeus, the great botanist, once said that if he had a conservatory containing the right kind of soil, moisture and temperature, he could tell the time of day or night by the flowers that were open and those that were closed!

Thus the Lord in His wonderful grace can arrange the life that is entrusted to His care in such a way that it will carry out His purposes and plans, and will be fragrant with His presence.  Only the God-planned safe life is successful.  Only the life given over to the care of the Lord is fulfilled.

www.bibledonate.org and www.fivesimplesteps.org

I recently posted an article regarding Holidays and pet safety.  Although the article covers animals in general, it does not address the unique concerns with birds.  This article does.  I will be posting an additional article covering birds and the stress they may experience due to the holidays.  As I share my home with several feathered companions, I understand the importance of their health, especially during this festive time of year (please see “The Flock” page of this blog). 

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 Keep an eye on your decorated tree and ornaments. Birds are naturally attracted to things that glitter, shine, sparkle, and blink — so it’s no wonder that many Christmas decorations draw their attention. Make sure you keep your bird away from any lights or decorations, and above all, the Christmas tree which is a magnet for birds.  Tinsel, flocking, and artificial snow can be dangerous.  The tree may also be coated with potentially harmful fire retardant, fertilizer, or insecticide.  A solid bite to a wire or light bulb can pose a risk of burns, electrocution, or both, and fragile glass ornaments along with their sharp wire hangers can cause cuts, scratches, and puncture wounds.  In addition, some decorations may have small pieces that could be broken off and swallowed, causing digestive problems.  Keeping your bird away from these items greatly reduces his risk of injury during the holidays.   

Beware of ribbons, bows, and gift wrap.  At first, many owners may think that it’s okay to let their birds play with and shred these papers and bows, but the inks used to print them could potentially be toxic to your bird. Additionally, some ribbons and bows have the ability to get caught around your bird’s neck, legs, or toes. This can cause serious injury or even death, so it’s imperative that your pet be kept away from all the pretty presents.

 Prevent access to holiday plants.  Never allow your bird unsupervised access to poinsettia, holly (leaves and berries), mistletoe, or other plants commonly used to decorate during the holidays. 

Don’t Share the Holiday Feast.  Many of the foods we set out during the holidays can be unhealthy or even toxic to birds, including chocolate, sugary cookies, salty snacks, and other favorites left out for nibbling and, of course, alcoholic.  If you must “share” with your bird, prepare a separate high quality meal or snack.  

Keep tabs on the Christmas “Spirits.”  If you or your guests plan to indulge in any alcoholic beverages, make sure that your bird does not have access to them. Alcohol can be deadly to birds, and curious parrots have been known to sneak a drink out of unattended glasses. Warn your guests never to give them alcohol. People who don’t have birds don’t know what they can do or what they can’t do. Educate them, letting them know the dangers involved.  Keep your pet safe by confining him to an area away from the festivities. 

Perfumes, potpourri, adhesives, glues, cleaning products, and of course, fumes from heated Teflon^®, can all be toxic.  Because of their unique respiratory system and other factors, birds have a higher sensitivity to odors and fumes. The strong fragrances of potpourri, scented candles, and cooking can be irritants. And remember, fumes from non-stick cooking surfaces such as Teflon^® can be very toxic to birds. 

Do not let your bird out of his cage when you have open flames in the house.  Stoves, candles, and fireplaces always pose a serious threat. 

Discourage guests from bringing their dog or other pets into your home.  If they do, understand that your pet and theirs are sure to be anxious and stressed in this situation. Keep them separated and do not relax your vigilance. 

Make sure that your bird’s wings are clipped.  With all the people coming and going, they could accidentally escape. 

Pay attention to your bird’s stress levels.  Birds can get stressed pretty easily, and the holidays can make it worse by exposing them to sights, sounds, and people that they are not accustomed to. Consider leaving your bird caged in a quiet, comfortable, and secure area of your home until the party winds down. This will help make sure that your celebration does not cause undue stress or discomfort for your feathered friend. 

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     Entertaining with family and friends during the holidays is always nice.  However, not all guests may understand birds.  If your birds are around your guests, make sure to let them know what and what not to give them.  Let your guests know that the birds may bite.  Avoid injury to your bird and guest(s) by letting them know the rules, and that they are not to give the bird anything without asking you first. 

     While these tips will go a long way in keeping your bird safe throughout the holidays, no amount of prevention is a substitute for good old fashioned supervision. When your bird is out of his cage, always make sure to keep a close eye on what he is getting into. Always paying attention to your bird’s whereabouts and actions is the best way to keep your bird safe not only during the holidays, but throughout the year — and for the many years that you and your pet will spend together.  Happy Holidays!

Lamington, Queensland, Australia

Australian King-parrot (Alisterus scapularis), male. This large and handsome parrot is quite common in forested areas in eastern Australia. Female is green: see here.

suom: australiankuningaskaija (Alisterus scapularis)

Not all parrots are large, loud and keen on crackers. The buff-faced pygmy parrots (micropsitta pusio) of New Guinea are the smallest known parrots in the world.

Rarely reaching any more than 3 inches long, the buff-faced pygmy parrot is positively tiny, especially when compared to its cousins who (in the case of the hyacinth macaw) can reach a metre in length.

Tiny they may be, but pygmy parrots live quite happy, busy little lives. The handsome little blighters rummage around foliage, using their miniature but very effective beaks and feet to scratch up an avian afternoon tea. Of course, pygmy parrot tea parties don’t include scones, mainly because they are larger and heavier than the birds themselves.

The tea tray of these mouse-sized parrots would perhaps feature a selection of bugs, lichen, moss and fungi (the contents of your average Linda McCartney sausage). Very few other birds feed on lichens and fungi and most other parrots will happily eat pretty much anything plant-based with some species even eating small animals.

As one of relatively few parrot  species that has never been successfully bred or even raised in captivity, the private life of the buff-faced pygmy parrot is still somewhat of a mystery. Their exact dietary needs are not fully understood and they are very rarely filmed (a close relative of the buff-faced, the yellow-capped, was recently filmed by the crew of superb BBC nature doc, Lost Land of the Volcano). We still have a great deal to learn about these plucky little psittacines.