Hanging a Cage

Despite warnings via our gentle readers, and others, we have acquired a cat. She is about five months old and she is very sweet (to us). Towards the goal of protecting budgies from the new kitten, we have a new cage which is large and has a curved top which will help it be hung more easily (I hope). (The new cage is pictured here on a table, but, it was not on a table when the cat arrived). J is an engineer, and has crafted a hook from the ceiling that is so secure, it will still be solid should the rest of the house fall down. The drawback to this set up is that it feels quite precarious to stand on a stepping stool every morning to feed them. Also, they are in a room which is shut all day against the cat. At night, I sit with them and the cat in that room (it is where the tv is). For the first several days, the cat didn't seem to notice the birds. Now, however, she has noticed them and watches them in that "Sylvester" way. She gets a squirt from the squirt bottle every time she pays them attention, and she hates it. Her Sylvester-like actions seem to be at a minimum. She has not made any attempts to figure out how to get near the cage, and her options are virtually nil in that regard as it is too far to jump from any furniture. The main risk are the venetian blinds--if she learned to climb those, she could get close enough to jump onto the cage. However, the cage has been covered with gauze, so hopefully if that happened, she would promptly fall off.

Tiny Genome, big Personality

Hummingbirds have the smallest genomes of all birds, report T. Ryan Gregory and his colleagues in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Apparently, genome size is related to metabolic activity...having to do with red blood cell function. I don't quite understand this, since, most red blood cells don't contain DNA at all. But perhaps in birds, they do? In any case, hummingbirds, which we all know beat the wings incredibly fast, 50-200 beats per second! That has got to take a lot of energy.

Budgies frantically flap their wings, while stationary, once in a while, but not at a particularly impressive speed. I reckon their genomes are pretty big, if that has even been determined. I couldn't find any scientific literature on the subject, though a number of viruses affecting budgies have been sequenced...

People have studied the genetics of budgie color to some degree in a mendelian fashion though not moleculary: there is a good discussion of this on wikipedia.

For a great picture of an Anna's hummingbird, check out Black Cormorant's recent post!

The new cage-suitable for hanging

This is a picture of the new cage. As you can see, it is the perfect shape for hanging from the ceiling. I hope to hang it in a room that will be closed off to the kitty (yet to be adopted) by day, and then, opened when we all hang out as a family. I will train the kitty then to not antagonize the birds. We'll see if that is possible. Additionally, I'd like to hang the cage outside, on the front porch, on some weekend days when I am working in the yard. I suspect they will enjoy it. There is a squirrel around who seems pretty feisty, and also, the neighbors cat "Mr. Cajones" (this is what I have nicknamed him, because he isn't neutered...I don't know his real name).

The other day, I heard the distinctive "cheEEEP" "cheeEEEP" and "brawk, brawk brawk" of budgies emanating from next door. I can't see the back yard of my next door neighbors, but I was sure; they have budgies, and they were outside! I asked my neighbor (Frankie, the owner of Mr. Cajones) if he had budgies, and indeed, he does. He said they put them outside during the day, in at night. Every day, every night. I asked him how he kept Mr. Cajones away from them (Mr. Cajones is pretty wild from what I have seen). He said "oh I gave him a bonk and after that he stayed away". The basics of classic conditioning reduced to its elemental terms, I suppose.

Yum! Basil today!

The new yard has basil, rosemary, and oregano growing in it. Almost every day, the budgies get some fresh treat! Yum! They get very animated whenever greens are introduced. I wish humans could get that excited about healthy greens! Even better, today the budgies got a wonderful shower! Boo in particular really got into it. Her feathers were totally matted down and she chased others out of the direct spray...she HAD to be right in the middle!