Toys

I don't know about your parrot but ours is pretty easy to entertain most days. For some reason, she is not that interested in all kinds of toys and gizmos like you see in the pet stores. I refer to her as a "scaredy bird" at times because she is afraid of different noises and wild colored things. She gets all up in arms over a Gortex jacket that my husband owns. It is orange and blue and when she sees it she generally morphs in to an attack bird with her beak open and poised for the kill. But, trust me, her bark is worse than her bite. She backs off as he gets closer to her. She has tried to bite the jacket when presented to her without my husband in it, however. We just learned early on to take him out of it before she greets him in the evening. Less chance of perferations that way, for both him and the jacket.

But I digress....this post was being written about toys after all!

Early on we read about a parrot's need for interaction and stimulation. We agree on both counts but just like humans, we find that Gussie will make her own choice about what she chooses to be stimulated or entertained by. Although there have been a some additions, she generally returns to the same ones over and over again.

Her favorites????

Try a small plastic bottle with beads in it. One that's just the right size for her to catch in her beak at play time. She catches them and then tosses them and likes the sound of the beads. She takes on that "attack bird" stance when I shake it before tossing it to her. Sometimes she will pick it up with her talon but has the worst coordination when she tries to put it in her mouth. She often times hits herself in the face repeatedly before she drops it in frustration. It is more than amusing but she is so focused on making that connection that we are generally the only ones laughing.

Can you guess which of the toys in the above photo is Gussie's favorite? I will give you a hint...it's the one with the most holes in it. You'll see a small white bottle in the center of the collection with red lettering. It is clearly time to replace that and I am happy to report that I found a suitable replacement earlier this week. It remains to be seen if it will become one of her favorites, however.

Where can you find these little gems? The white ones come from tooth powder at a health food store. One of the small cloudy ones comes from soap bubbles that are provided for weddings as an alternative for throwing rice. (See the note at the bottom of this post.) You can find small shampoo containers for use while traveling, which is the origin of the other small cloudy bottle. That one clearly has beads inside so the noise is good but it has never been one of her favorites.

Now I'm sure you must be wondering about the two bigger bottles. I think I will save that note for the next post. It will be entitled "More Toys and Some Training".

Note:
Do you know why we no longer throw rice as the bride and groom leave the church? This could be folklore but I was told that it was harmful to birds who come in to do the clean up. It seems that since the manufacture of that quick rice that can be cooked in about 60 seconds (you know the name), birds were eating it and because it is made to hydrate more quickly, it was actually harmful to their digestive tracts and they either died or got very sick. The longer cooked varieties suited the birds better.

Laughing

I think you will agree with me that change takes time and while getting to know this bird we had some boundaries to establish. We have forever been thankful that Gussie is not a screacher nor is she messy by the standards of most blue and gold macaws but she does tend to demand attention from time to time.

Like most folks we had a routine that allowed us to share time together as a couple before or after our weird work hours. We would often have tea and "bickeys" (....a term that is derived from cookies and biscuits that we picked up from our New Zealand friends) while we watched a movie on TV. Gussie knew what a bickey was and wanted to get her share the minute I walked in to the room with the tray. At that time we had a large home and Gussie had her own special space in three different rooms. On this occasion her space was a modified-recycled desktop that my husband made into a play area. She was quite at home there and enjoyed being able to see us while she played or preened or chattered. We were very content with our movie and she seemed content on her perch until a very quiet moment when she sought to get our attention by LOUDLY and clearly saying, "HEL-LO!!!!" It was startling and hilarious at the same time. We looked over to see her looking at us as if to say she was ready to be noticed. The best part came when we stopped laughing, she started. She parroted my laugh exactly. That was a first and it created quite a string of giddy moments for all of us. It was shortly after that evening that we discontinued our cable service. She was not only great entertainment but she saved us a lot of money each month.

We have never heard her use such a demanding tone or say Hello in the same way since but it remains one of our favorite stories. She has developed an uncanny timing when it comes to laughter. It doesn't matter if we are laughing in the middle of a discussion or watching a comedy, she seems to be able to sense the timing and she laughs right along with us....not after us, but with us.

Something Learned: I remember reading about parrots after Gussie arrived. I laughed when I read this reference to typical parrot behavior. "What's mine is mine and what's yours is mine". That is SO very true when it comes to bickies. If I walk in the room with a tray she will fuss until I pick her up. Then, if I don't give her a piece she will make her way to the tray with lazer focus and help herself....but she'll take the entire thing and believe it's hers.

Fun Stuff with Gussie

I thought it would be fun to share a few stories of the antics and personality traits of our precious blue and gold macaw. Besides the fact that she is show stopper, for anyone who walks in the house without having prior knowledge of her, she is also very cheerful most of the time.

I fully understand how that might sound to someone who hasn't had the pleasure of living with a parrot but as I continue, if you hang in here with me, I think you might become enlightened. The rest of you can keep your snickering to yourself while I attempt to educate.

We became bird owners because our friends needed to move out of state quickly. (No, they weren't in trouble with the law.) As mentioned previously, my husband had been a bird owner, I had not. I wanted to help our friends AND provide my husband with a pet, companion and another interest. We worked very odd schedules and it was not easy for us to do things socially with friends. I was sure he would enjoy having Gussie to fill that void.

As it turned out, while we were making every effort to acclimate Gussie I spent time softly talking to her while she was in a carrier. That went on for the better part of an hour and then I walked away so my husband could have his turn. When I returned to the scene he was still chatting with her and reassuring her that she would come to like us over time. She heard my approaching footsteps and immediately said, "Mamma?" I was branded, she was attached and my husband has been second string ever since. I was now a bird owner.

Lesson Learned: A recent acquaintance with many years experience of professional bird care educated me on how to properly acclimate a bird. They should be fed on a schedule for the first few days and during the remainder of that time she suggests that the bird be kept quiet and left alone so they can adjust on their own. Then about the third day they can get better acquainted with their new "Mammas" or whoever they have moved in with.