A repository of parrot-human relationships. The beautiful and the ugly. The joys and the pain. The heart-warming and the heart-wrenching. And then some Buddhist content once in a long while.

Saturday, September 30, 2006

Sunny Personal Diary Entry 1


Sunny's friend: NuNu the Peach-Faced Lovebird



Dan, a friend, recently just bought a normal green Peached-Faced from a breeder friend of mine. Hereby introduce NuNu, the lovebird. NuNu has just recently been weaned before Dan acquired him and Dan brought NuNu over for a first wings clipping.


We make use of this opportunity to bring Sunny into the picture and let them become friends!


Thursday, September 28, 2006

Online Parrot Quizes



3 short parrot quizes for your entertainment....

1) What Kind of Parrot are You?
http://www.youthink.com/quiz.asp?action=take&quiz_id=868

2 What Parrot are You?
http://quizilla.com/users/actingislife/quizzes/What%20parrot%20are%20you?

3) Short Quiz that test your knowledge of parrots:
http://www.bellaonline.com/misc/quiz/quizdtl12

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Tara's Personal Diary Entry 1

Tara's New Cage

With the sad lost of Manju, we now have an empty three feet cage. Not to left it to waste, especially seeing how desolate the cage look and how the emptiness keep reminding us the loss of Manju, we decided to give it to tara.

This is how the cage looked after refurnishing it with food bowls, natural tree branches and Tara's favourite rope swing.

We have yet to add a concrete and rope perch and ....more toys!


Photos will be served shortly ;)

Flock Journal No. 2


Tara and Sunny Bonding
Tara has always been observed to have a soft spot for lovebirds as friends (*caution: not all parrots behave the same). We therefore recently acquired Sunny in the hope that Tara's quality of life will improve with the presence of a feathered friend. We are gladdened to observe the introduction of Sunny and bonding process has been going well! Tara takes to Sunny like a little brother! Here are two photos, testaments of Tara's sisterly love.
Despite their compatibility, we still continue to house both in different cages for safety reasons. Moreover, the bar spacing for Tara's cage is too wide for Sunny, who can easily slip in and out of Tara's cage at will!
So their daily routine being together playing on the gym or in Tara's cage when there are people to supervise and when no one's at home, Sunny has to go back to his lovebird cage. Both sleep in their respective cages as well.
The introduction of Sunny begins with placing Sunny and his cage adjacent to Tara's cage where they start to get aquainted. After it is observed that both are comfortable with each other with no signs of aggressions or animosity, they are both introducted to each other in neutral space under our direct supervision. Playing together in neutral space without any problems, we proceed to place them together on their cage tops. This further progress to staying in the same cage together with no signs of aggression.
Viola, you have a pair of bonded parrots that is cross-species, cross oceans in homeland!
See how they enjoy each other's company!

Monday, September 25, 2006

Introduction to My Parrot Flock Part 0


Sunny, the Yellow Fischer’s Lovebird




Sunny came to us very recently as a baby from a private breeder friend of mine. We do not really know its sex but tend to perceive Sunny as a male. Sunny is a yellow black eye Fischer’s lovebird and his brilliant yellow remind us of the sun and thus, Sunny he is named.

We have hope that he will bond with Tara, our Jenday conure. As of now, both live in separate cages and are given out time together. So gar, Tara has been rather sisterly or motherly around him.



More on Sunny later after we know him better through the years ahead!

*Edited: With the passing away of Sunny, I'm sorry and sad to say this post shall be relabelled as "Introduction to My Parrot Flock Part 0"

Flock Journal No. 1

The Clash of Old and New World Parrots

Bodhi, my resident Amazon parrot just discovered a "new arrival" and enthusiastically went over for a "colourful" welcome. Well, sort of.

In the historical meeting between the New World parrot (i.e. South American Amazon parrot,
Bodhi) and the Old (i.e. Indonesian Ducorp Cockatoo, Casper), colours fly and crest rises.

It is the first time I see Bodhi flare his fullest, displaying the striking Amazon colours he has been hidding from us. Beautiful as it can be, it does signify his wish to challenge Casper and show that he is the alpha of the flock, who in return, raised his crest and puff up in defence. I guess its a confrontation of two male egos. =)

Bodhi...is that how you welcome your new friend? tsk tsk

Below are some photos of the episode before they are separated:







Sweet Casper hiss and protest like a baby.

Bodhi continuing to flare and display even after being returned to his abode.

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Eclectus Parrot Rescue Part 2


Here's an update by Nelson on Amber, the female eclectus parrot which I believed is a red sided based on its appearance:

Day 4 and 5
These two days, Amber have been going out gaigai (excursion). Saturday we went Fort Canning, had a fun time day and Rane helped to clip Amber's nails. Everybody commented that Amber was tamed and a very good girl. She's overweight and many says she looks like a hen! Haha!!

Amber with another bird friend.


After that, we went to walk walk at orchard with her on my shoulders! I even smuggled her into the toilet and into Hereen! Hahahz... We had dinner at marina south with my friend and she was busy munching corn while we te steamboat.
She KO immediately when we reached home at 9pm. Sunday we went Serangoon to see birds. She accompanied me for 3 hours conducting my cello lesson before going to GW and other shops. She must have been very cold in the aircon room. Reached GW (Goodwill Bird Shop) and its the most damaging time!

The BBB virus came! We bought Pellets which smell soo soo soo nice,remind me of morning cereals! Also I bought some toys, A HUGE cuttlefish bone, 4 wood perches and a bottle of very expensive supplement! Oh!

Not forgetting her new big big cage too! (time to scrap the old and rusty one!)

Mr Chua commented that Amber is very guai and very healthy! She just needed some energy! Mr chua also put on a S hook on her leg for free so that she can stay on the perch for a longer time His skill is so good that Amber didnt know it was on till now!


Thanks Nelson for the update.
Glad Amber experience such a dramatic positive change in lifestyle after she came into your care!

Taming a Ducorp Cockatoo

Turning Enzo (aka Casper) Around: the Journal of Taming a Ducorp Cockatoo



A friend of mine , Nic, has a semi-tame Ducorp cockatoo, named Enzo, that he has not the time to truly make tame. This bird used to be a cage bound one person bird before coming to Nic. Since then, he has refused any interactions with Nic or anyone else except another Goffin cockatoo. According to Nic, at his mildest, he will allow Nic to hand feed him through the cage.

On the verge of selling this cockatoo away, I decided to help Nic out by bringing Enzon into my care and try to tame and socialize Enzo. My sister, upon seeing this beautiful white guy with distinctive blue eye rings, immediately called him "Casper...the friendly ghost!", because according to her, he looks uncannily like Casper, the cartoon character! However, this Casper is not that friendly after all.

We therefore decided to nickname him "Casper" in the hope that he can become a friendly bird and try to rehabitate him to life as a companion parrot. He needs lots of opportunities, time and patience to establish trust and confidence in the company of us humans. This is indeed a meaningful challenge for me to help bring Casper around.

There are generally speaking two tecniques to tame a parrot who is afraid of humans. One is through a slow and gentle trust and confidence building process by tender loving care and interactions while the other requires a T stand and neutral room to teach the bird to step up cooperatively, which is more stressful initially.

I'm more for the first method as it will cause less stress for Casper despite taking a longer time. Will definitely need to consult my avian behaviourist shifu (master) on this. We'll see how it goes!

Do watch this space as I will be updating on Casper's progress as time goes by.

Friday, September 22, 2006

Introduction to My Parrot Flock Part 3

Baby, the Blue and Gold Macaw

Baby is a three year old macaw when she came to me and has been with at least three previous owners before. I'm glad to be able to take over the care of Baby because I have seen her through most of her three years as both her previous owners are my friends. I just hope with my heart, this will be her last home ever.



This friend of mine unfortunately has to give up all his parrots due to some personal issues. Somehow, Baby must have sensed something because the feather chewing habit she once had with the second owner came back again just before her latest owner place her under my care.

Her previous owner, my friend, informed me she started feather picking in the week long vacation he took recently, whereby only the maid cared for the bird. She also has this habit of bending her beautiful tail feathers and uses them to tickle her face. As funny as it can be, it does damage most of her tail feathers some of which are broken in this manner. We believe these are due to all those unexpended macaw energy and boredom that pushes her into this self-destructive behaviour. So it’s a challenge for me to find means to address this relapse.

Initially, I'm pretty daunted by her massive size, of which I'm not used to (the biggest bird I'm comfortable with is my blue fronted Amazon, Bodhi). While Baby has to cope with adjusting to a new home and new caregivers, my family and I have to learn to overcome our fear for her, despite my keenness in keeping a macaw! I'm with the rationale that keeping companion parrots require not just the behavioural modifications on the part of these intrinsically wild but super intelligent creatures, but also demand changes in our attitude and behaviour. This is to allow for confidence and trust building between both us and our parrots.

So back to Baby's story, I have it going between me and her. Initially, she nips me pretty hard with scratches, bleeding and bruises to prove the point. Basically, she tested me all the time to see how far she can go with me. Thankfully, over time, my fear for her has slowly dissipated as I get used to her size and begin to understand her macaw personality better. All these threats, squawking and lunging are part of her mischievous and playful way of getting some fun out of me--a fearful stranger! So once my fear for her dissipates and while she begins to get used to the new home and people, things progress rapidly.

Now, not only am I able to step her up and handle her, I'm also able to cuddle her, kiss her and even cut her nails and clip her wings without any restrain. She might complain with some squawks and half hearted nips but she knows her place and what kind of relationship we're both in and grudgingly cooperates...but not without some show of disagreement to retain her pride.
She's such an exceptional macaw! Rarely does she exercise the full power of the macaw voice she is capable of. Instead, she prefers to mumble and talk human. Why, my Tara can even be louder than Baby on many occasions. That is how it’s even possible to house her in my apartment when almost all parrots literature says no to macaws in apartments.





Still, lots of room space in my bird room has to be dedicated to fulfill her needs. In fact, half the room I give her and she went on to claim ¾ of it! She used to be housed on a single perch stand alone and I suspect this contribute partly to the problem of boredom for such a hyperactive and large bird. I build her a play gym made out of non-toxic acacia branches. Also, I got her a roomy approx 5 feet macaw cage.

Part of the challenges of keeping her, as do all large macaws, is to find enough toys and activities to keep them engaged and away from boredom and her feather chewing habits. I provide her with a play gym with toys and natural branches to play with. I have also started to bathe her several times a week, which she relishes much, flapping her wings with gusto and imitating human laughter while drying her feathers. All this while, monitoring and keeping a close observation to see how the feather chewing is developing.

I also use a bitter spray to discourage her tendency to chew her feathers.
I’m glad to say the combination of a big cage, big play gym, daily human interactions, balanced stimulating diet, weekly misting bath and toys have helped. She has not been feather chewing for some time and the tail feathers are growing back.

Baby's cage where she's housed when no one's at home to supervise her and when its time to sleep at night.

Macaws are known to speak human although not very well. Talk human she did, which make me pleasantly surprised when she says "hello", "what", "whatever", "go back", "Robert", "huh?', "step up", "stop it" and "bye bye", many a time within the right contexts and situation. She'll lift up her feet and say "step up" when she wants to play. When Tara or Bodhi is doing their morning vocalizations and getting too noisy, she might say "stop it". If she don't like what you're doing to her, say clipping her nails, she' say it too.

Once, she found her way to the window railings, look out the window into the open sky and trees in the park and turn to me saying, "Bye Bye". I would have a heart attack there and then if I did not know the window glass panel has already been closed!

I believe as large birds with large personalities, they will continue to test the boundaries with us and see how much they can tweak us around. And for a tame macaw that’s comfortable with humans, this can be done with a playfulness and high level of energy that is distinctively macaw. On the other hand, particularly with macaws that are tender of age, they may behave mildly and sweetly. Let not these baby stages deceive us into letting down our guards for their powerful beaks are to be respected. And there may be times when they get over stimulated in their play with us and deliver a hard damaging nip. Consistent socialization and having the firm upper hand will go a long way in our lives with these monkeys of the parrot world.

Boy have I learnt alot since taking in this big Baby!

Bodhi singing "Happy Birthday" [Video Clip]

We managed to record Bodhi trying to sing the "Happy Birthday" song.

He's more of a bathroom singer who don't usually sing in front of people. And because he is camera shy and clams up when we focus the camera at him, we turn the camera on Tara, the Jenday conure instead. So all you can hear is his voice singing in the background.

Its not Tara singing!

Bodhi being a nice boy [Video Clip]

Bodhi can be very aggressive at times and give deep, painful, bleeding and nasty bites.

However, like many Amazons with mood swings, he can be mild as well.
Here's one of his sweeter moments.



Baby Playing and Bathing [Video Clip]

Baby playing on her rope boing

These monkeys enjoy swinging...and never seems to get enough play.





Here's her enjoying her bath. Look who peeping around the door and waiting for his turn to bathe next. :)

Introduction to My Parrot Flock Part 2

Bodhi Robert, the Blue-Fronted Amazon Parrot




Bodhi Robert, the Blue Fronted Amazon Bodhi's story, compared to Tara's and Manju's, is a decidedly more sober one.

Bodhi came to me as a feather chewing and vicious 5 year old biter. According to the owner, this Amazon is first bought from a local private breeder to a person who is unable to find the time for this baby and returned Bodhi to the breeder. The owner bought this bird as a one year old and kept him for four years till the present.

Increasingly as Bodhi matures, his fiery Amazona hormonal temperament starts exerting itself and poorly equipped on how to deal with such a situation, his owner and family, becoming afraid of his bloodletting bites and unpredictable moods left him bound to his parrot stand; untouchable. The feather chewing starts after his owner decided to give up on parrots altogether, selling away his other Timneh grey, who is Bodhi’s only parrot companion in the household. Somehow, Bodhi must have sensed something because the departure of the grey triggered Bodhi into feather plucking and chewing.






Bodhi enjoying his bath. Note the chewed wing feathers.


I adopted Bodhi, becoming his third care giver and named him “Bodhi”, a Buddhist Sanskrit t

erm meaning “Enlightenment”. Robert is later added to his name because we realized he love this name and keep repeating “robert” to himself although neither the previous owner nor I have ever exposed this name to him. Bodhi’s welcome for me the first night he arrived was a few deep bleeding cuts and bruises on my fingers and hands. Honestly, it does cause some fear and anxiety in me.



Thanks to a friend who is experienced in avian behaviour and training, a single session with my avian behaviourist friend help transforms both Bodhi and my perception and understanding of each other. Although there are ups and downs, where one mini step forward is sometimes followed by several steps backwards on this journey of confidence and trust building, I’m heartened and glad to say it can still be considered positive and progressive.

Gradually, Bodhi becomes increasingly manageable—the bites from purely defensively and aggressively painful and damaging to increasingly rough in a playful way. The chewing and plucking has all but stopped, with beautiful and complete feathers slowly replacing damaged ones. And with that, he rewards us with golden moments of pleasant surprises and laughter. Bodhi “help” us answers the phone ringing with ‘hellos”, greet us “good morning” when we uncover the cage cloth every morning, shake hands with us and say “bye bye” when we leave for work or school. When we’re finally home, he’ll often ask “how are you” as well. There are even the rare occasions when Bodhi mutters “I love you” and “thank you”, so fleetingly we almost miss what he said. Bodhi also has a soft spot for children, getting all excited and charming them with human words to the glee and giggles of little boys and girls.

I will be sending his previous owner some photos of Bodhi once he regain his complete new plummage because this is the only request he made of me that once Bodhi recover from his chewing habit, to send him photos of Bodhi fully feathered. I can see that he really love the bird but just that due to to inappropriate circumstances, knowledge and skills to make him flourish.

Bodhi's previous name is Baby, so actually I have 3 Baby at home. Baby the macaw, Baby the Amazon and Baby my siamese sable holland dwarf rabbit!

Life with an Amazon, particularly a veteran one that has been through human induced bad experiences and survived, is somewhat like the bird itself—predictably unpredictable. They demand a respect for their tendencies towards shrill-loud calls, their aggressive hormonal behaviours, mood swings, needs and wants. In return, they give you themselves. What more can we ask for from a fellow intelligent creature?


If anything, Bodhi teaches me an important lesson in life: with understanding comes love. For verily, to love an Amazon, is to understand them. Perhaps the same could be said for all our other parrots, companion animals and fellow humans?

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Introduction to My Parrot Flock Part 1

Well, thought that I should really introduce my flock before I proceed with anything else. :)

So here it is, starting with the lady who has been with me the longest, Tara.

Tara, the Jenday Conure


Jenday (or Jandaya) conure is very much like a Sun Conure in appearance and often overshadowed by the Sun (Conure). Instead of the yellow-orange wings the Sun Conure has, the Jenday has wings of various shades of emerald green! So for those who like more green on a parrot to balance out the flashy yellow, red and orange in a Conure, Jenday is the answer! I got my Jenday Conure from Avifauna, a bird farm in Singapore, 2003. That makes her around 3 1/2 years old now. My sis and I collectively agreed that it’s a she through perceiving her gentle demur and named her Tara.

Tara is a pretty comical and energetic girl. She likes to ride on our shoulders and play with our hair, ears, ear rings, etc and like to give kisses on the noses and lips. She’s also quite an escape artiste. Occasionally when I overslept in the morning, she’ll open the cage herself; climb over and out of the cage cover and fly into my room and clamber onto me. Then she’ll either vocalize to wake me up or play with my blanket or mattress. Sometimes, she’ll imagine the bed sheets as an enemy and screech and complain and attack the sheets. Other funny moments include her puffing all her feathers in a puff ball and swaying slowly as if she’s doing Tai Chi!


There are also affectionate and heart warming moments…Conures, though generally not known to be good talkers; there are some who do occasionally talk. Their mimic of human voice is not as clear as, say the African grey, but it is still identifiable by us, their human flock. The first time Tara spoke was when she’s on my shoulder, leaning and cuddling against my neck…and suddenly, she says, “Tara” in a cooing voice. What a pleasant and touching surprise! Since then, we have observed her saying “no”, “kiss” and “yes” and mumbling “Tara” to herself occasionally. If we spend time getting to know our companion parrots, caring and loving them, we never know what wonderful aspects of their world they can offer and show us!

I will be posting video clips of Tara in the future.


See ya next time!

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Eclectus Parrot Rescue Part 1

Rescue of Amber, a Female Electus Parrot

Just created the blog and here we are, a parrot rescue account to share...

A friend of mine, Nelson, who recently discovered the joy of parrots companionship, realize his uncle has a female eclectus. The bird was given to his uncle by a friend and has been with his uncle for two years.

Ignorant of how parrots in general require proper socializations and a good balanced diet to remain physically and psychologically healthy, the poor lady has been confined to a small cage, the droppings accumulating on the beddings for years. It has also been fed on sunflower seeds and peanuts alone all this while. This is especially harmful for eclectus parrots, who have a specialized deit heavily dependent on fresh fruits and vegetables, particularly with high vitamin A requirements.
Nelson requested that his uncle give the bird to him to be cared for properly. The bird does not have a name and Nelson named her "Amber" because she's red. Amber has some vulgraities vocab in Hokkien (chinese dialect) that shock us! Most probably picked them up living with Nelson's uncle.

Look at how the bird is stooping, a sign of weakness. Perhaps due to malnutrition.

See how gentle and sweet she responded to my friend, although she is suddenly transferred to a new place filled with strangers.

Will update here how the parrot fare in its new home.

What a weird combi: Buddhism and parrots?

Well...that just about describe my two main interests in life--Religion and Nature. In particular, Buddhism and parrots.

This blog is created at the behest of a friend, who suggest that i might share once in a while, my experience, accounts, thoughts about companion parrots.
Since it wouldn't completely describe me by just having a blog about parrots, I included the other half of myself...Buddhism.