Parakeet Journal

We were out of the house this morning, attending church with the Linthicum SDA congregation, where our brass group performed several numbers. We didn't get home until well after two o'clock in the afternoon, and followed that up with a nap. TMALSS (too late) Charlie didn't get her playground time until after four. But she seems to be happy with it anyway. She's certainly not the shy bird she was the first few times we brought her out of the cage.

We're still so new to the idea of having a companion bird that I have many questions. Charlie is very well trained to respond to the step-up command and prompt. It's a thrill to have her on your finger. But what then? I'm not seeing behaviour that suggests she wants a head-scratching. Usually it's most obvious that she just wants to go back to her perch.

We've provided two different toys that have a bell. Books seem to make it clear that birds like toys with bells. But when Charlie "plays" with these toys, it looks to me like she's angry, as if they are in her way, annoying her. Her eyes pin-point, and she strikes the bell with her beak open, violently. Is this normal? Or have we placed these toys in the wrong part of her cage?

These and many other questions come up frequently.

Tonight we covered her cage a little after sundown, sometime just before 7 PM. She's been pretty quiet since then.

posted by Daniel @ 5:10 PM