Eucalyptus Arrived!

Today eucalyptus arrived from C and B: Three types! We put one branch of each into the cage. As you can see, Sutcliffe explored nervously--Mary ann, who is out of view of the webcam, seemed to simply want to avoid it. This is not unusual for budgies: they usually react to new things with caution, and these are larger then the usual greens they get by several orders of magnitude. We are about to go on a four day trip. Hopefully, that will give the budgies a chance to mate, since, last time, their mating occurred, I believe, while we were out of town. However, we won't be able to document more eucalyptus events to see the complete reaction. It will be interesting to see if they eat it also, while we are gone. I am going to leave these same leaves in the cage.

Lola

Some of you remember Lola, and wonder what happened to her. Others may have never known her. Lola was purchased from a budgie bin, along with Sutcliffe, about a year ago. She was very tiny, and her wings were severely clipped at the time of arrival. These factors may have made her very timid, or, it could have been her innate nature, or both. In any case, Lola was always at the bottom of the pecking order. Her own fear caused her to be at risk of self injury as she frantically tried to avoid "the hand" at feeding, cleaning, and all times. She was slightly finger trained, after extensive effort. Once Boo was born, we thought she would have a friend, and we put her and Boo in a cage together, and the other two in a separate cage. However, Boo was relentless in his harrassment of her, though he was smaller still, and a baby. Finally, she was in a cage alone. It didn't seem a very good existence. Therefore, with much heartache, we sold her to a nice family we found via Craigs list. They really liked her, and they loved the name! However, they were so excited, that they then got more budgies. Poor Lola is probably back at the bottom of the pecking order, again. At least, in her new house, there is an 8 or 9 year old girl who loves her which is worth a lot, I would think.

If this Cage's a'Rockin' Don't Bother Knockin'

As you can see (I hope), Sutcliffe and Mary ann are doing a lot of jumping around, causing the webcam to shake quite a bit. Shake it, budgies!

Video, Take Two

Boo on a Sleep-Over

Someone told me yesterday that teenagers of both genders are enjoying sleep overs at each others houses. This is something that was not popular a generation ago, at least, with boys. Boo seems to be in the same mode as his human peers, having gone to stay with one our our parents for an extended holiday (about the next two weeks or so). The goal is, to give his parents a bit of alone time with each other. Of course, we miss him very much, and all his cute hoping, chirping, and other funny behaviors. Naturally I worry that he will not get the greens and all the attention he craves. We humans are so silly about our pets (and almost as much, about our children, I am sure--when we can tell the difference between the two categories!)

Cooler Weather

The weather has gone from extremely hot, to autumnally cool. The budgies behavior does not seem to have changed, however. It is a gray, dreary day. People and buddgies all seem a bit cranky.

Mary Ann's Bum

Mary ann's bum is decidedly bigger. And, she is clearly clunkier: she clunked down on a perch so hard it shook, whereas sutcliffe simply hops gently onto the same perch. I suspect she is pregnant. However, she has not even set foot in the nest box. I certainly hope that all works out, and that she doesn't get any egg binding, which is a seriously dangerous situation.

An Experiment

As an experiment, I took grasses collected last weekend, got them damp, and put them in baggies in the freezer. Today, I took a baggie out, ran warm water through it and across the grasses, and then gave them to the budgies. If this works, I think, then I can use grasses collected this season all winter. The result? Well, at first, the budgies were not too interested. later, they sampled the grass seeds, but not with the usual enthusiasm. I would say, this was moderately successful at best.

Mary Ann and Sutcliffe Get Nippy

Mary ann and Sutcliffe seem to be getting along fine, and he continues to feed her, all the time, but more nipping back and forth seems to be going on. However, his cere (nasal bridge) is a lovely testosterone blue, and her cere, a nice feminine estrogenic brownish, scaly pink. Maybe everyone is just feeling the heat.

Does This Nest Box Make me look Fat?

Is it my imagination, or is Mary Ann getting a bigger bum? Maybe it is swollen with egg(s)? However, her only nest box encounters to date (other than the glorious days of Boo's birth) have been after being placed there. Sutcliffe often pokes his head in, though. And, his cere (nasal bridge) is very, very blue signifying, hormonal changes. At least we are having fun with the birds, and hopefully, they don't mind us too much!

Stucliffe Eats His Vegetables!

Finally, it rained over the weekend! I picked a lot of greens for all the budgies and they were joyous! Perhaps this rain, plus greens, will induce...breeding, what else! I plan to liberalize food supply and provide many different types of fresh and dried foods, even though Mary Ann is a bit plump, so that the plenty associated with good times to breed is simulated.

Mary Ann Reads the Blog

Other budgies may be quite skilled at speech, but, Mary Ann may be the first budgie to ever read about herself on her own blogsite!

Nest Box Travels

In order to try to let Mary Ann and Stucliffe become a bit more acquainted with the box, we decided to let them jump in and out by opening up the back trap door and letting Mary Ann sit on it. It took several hours, and then finally, Sutcliffe went out the other way and left the cage! Prior to doing that he was feeding her, through the hole. Hopefully this experiment will result in nest box familiarity and subsequent eggs. However, I have a bit of a concern that we are overly meddling.

Rain, Rain, come Today!

It has been extremely hot (around 100 F yesterday, and 90 well into the night, though cooler, of course, with windchill lol). I worried a bit about the budgies, as noted in earlier posts, but realize they come from Australia, and so should be able to handle, if not enjoy, these hotter temperatures. But what will this do to breeding? In my reading, I found that the drought conditions suppress hormones and breeding. Budgies apparently follow thunderstorms, and flock to places where it has just rained, in order to enjoy the benefits of seed grasses growing. They also really like river eucalyptus, whose trunks and branches are especially favored for nesting holes. (Of note, my brother, who lives in California, sent me some Eucalyptus branches last year, which the budgies devoured when fresh, but was they dried, lost all interest). I am hoping that providing regular showers, and greens daily, will help breeding to take place. But, as I think about Boo's successful hatching, I realize all I did was make sure there was light for 12 hours a day by putting the lamp in the living room on a timer and just leaving them alone.

Can Budgies Talk?

It is clear to me that the budgies have meaningful vocalizations. Once, when the budgies were singing, I told a friend over the phone that they were sounding so joyous. His reply was that a friend had told him, that budgies make noise when stressed or upset. I thought about it, and realized, both were true. The budgies have a specific noise when eating greens, mostly, Sutcliffe to Boo and vice versa, that I think means “here is food” or a specific type of food. They also have a certain squawking, that is associated with running rapidly back and forth on the perch, and sometimes, flapping the wings. I believe this is territorial. And they have several other vocalizations that they make regarding being picked up, fed, romantic.

Perhaps the most famous budgie, Sparkie Williams, could speak 550 words and also recite nursery rhymes-the BBC has archived some of his speech. Another Bird, Alex, was taught to name a number of objects and colors. He also was taught the word “no” which he used often, to try to avoid being picked up, and also, being asked to perform.

Trainer: Alex, what's this?

Parrot: No!

Trainer: Yes, what is this?

Parrot: Four-corner wood (indistinct).

Trainer: Four, say better .

Parrot: No.

Trainer: Yes!

Parrot: Three. ..paper.

Trainer: Alex, "four", say "four".

Parrot: No!

Trainer: Come on!

Parrot: No! Trainer: Alex!

Parrot: Paper .

Trainer: Alex, what's this? Come on.

Parrot: No.

Trainer: You can do it, come on!

Parrot: No!

Trainer: Yes!

Parrot: Paper.

Trainer:

What is this?

Parrot: Four-corner ...paper .

My budgies will probably never learn to talk for two (and maybe more) reasons. Firstly, they have each other to talk to, in their mother tongue, and have no need to learn mine. Secondly, I don't put the time into training them. Perhaps another reason is, that if they learned the word, no", it would become even more hopeless.

Although humans (and probably, Neanderthals) are the only known primates with spoken language, there is some genetic basic for language shared by birds and people. Researchers at Duke and Max Plank Institute including Sebastian Heaesler and Kazurhiro Wada discovered a gene, FaxP2, that when abnormal, causes language deficit in humans. This gene is not found in any other mammal, but is found to be important in the vocal learning of birds.
I think you might enjoy the youtube video of Einstein, the parrot. He is a brilliant speaker, in fact, a “superstar”!

Everything is Hot but Sutcliffe and Maryann

The weather has been downright miserable lately. Simply, too hot. The budgies are in a screened in porch, and in their cages, and while it is perfectly alright for them (they have shade, food, water, and get spray showers from a spray bottle daily) they still don't seem in the mood for love. Maryann has begun some gnawing on a cherry branch stick, a good sign, I think, as it seems to be related to nesting behavior, and also, pulling the occasional nesting material out of the purchased "nesting hair cylinder", but otherwise, no signs at all of breeding potential. This could be a bust!!! lets hope not!

The Nest Box is Up, but Unnoticed

The nest box is now completely attached to the cage and ready for business, but not yet noticed by either Sutcliffe or Maryann. I recall that last time, it took Maryann several weeks, I think, to notice it, at which point she hopped happily in and out, and no breeding occurred until we removed our then third budgie Lola (Lola has been given away to a good family--four budgies was just too much).
We put many wondeful fresh grass seed collected on a walk, in front of the nest box, and the couple ate them, but didn't notice the box. Sutcliffe did a lot of back and forth on the perch, and made loud calls to Boo, who did the same in his cage (he also got greens). I wonder if this loud calling is to send the message, "food is here"?

My Public...How They LOVE ME!

It appears that Sutcliffe and Maryann are completely comfortable to have a webcam watching them. We are ready to hang the nest box and let the action begin in earnest. It would be nice if I could figure out how to post video as well as still pictures. Help from any reader is greatly appreciated!

Webcam Functioning

Well, we are all one step closer to breeding and viewing. The webcam seems functional. The next two steps are 1) learning how to post video onto this site (blogger) and 2) hanging the nestbox (I need some brackets for hanging the nest box off of the cage, but have an idea: maybe just use bent nails, or as we called them in Tennessee, "hangnails").

Here is a nice picture of Sutcliffe feeding Maryann some greens (in this case, cilantro).

Fears of a Budgie Breeder

As I embark upon this budgie-breeding-and-blogging journey, I have many fears. Last time, I was rigorous regarding not disturbing the budgies. Also, I kept the nesting set up very simple. My approach last time, was simply this: put in simple nest box, leave plenty of different types of food, including soft oatmeal in the cage, and leave them alone. This worked quite well(as you can see from the adorable picture of Boo). I didn't vacuum the room (it got pretty gross) and only used a broom, and only when the cage was covered, for example. There was no music or talking. It was like budgie church. Now, I will likely be messing a bit with the webcam, and while I intend to keep it to a minimum, it is sure to be more bothersome than my simple cleaning, before. Additionally, the top of the nest box is plexiglass, rather than wood, to allow viewing and photography. That will be covered with a sheet, to prevent light, but, will that be perceived as concerning to the ever vigilant Maryann? Finally, Boo is in an adjacent cage. He is VERY social. Will his eagerness to be part of the scene inhibit, er, intimacy between his parents? He is the equivalent of a teenager now. Hopefully he will reject them to hang out with the "cool kids" (ie me and J) instead.

Boo

Boo was born, as many of you know, Feb, 2007. I believe he was conceived during a two week trip J and I took to Miami in Jan 2007 (but, not by us, of course, by Maryann and Sutcliffe). He is truly adorable. He is so playful, and while not completely tame, his lack of tameness seems to be more due to pure brattiness than actual fear of humans. This picture of him is as a baby, around early March 2007. He was the only one, of four eggs, to hatch/survive. Although we don't know exacty when he was hatched, we know it was around mid Feb. I like to think it was on Valentines day. Roo and PZ, O and O recently visited, and he and Maryann sweetly sat on their fingers. I was quite proud!

Its a Start

With so many lovely webcams, pictures, and everything else imaginable out there, it is a bit embarrassing that I am having so much trouble with my set up. I don't find anyone else's stories of woe about usb cable length (or lack thereof), incompatability, and lack of adequate software too interesting, so I'll spare you mine. However, here is the first "test" picture of the budgie cam. As you can see, it is a picture of my finger, and a paper clip, in the nesting box, NOT Maryann nor Sutcliffe. (Boo is now in his own cage to avoid interference with breeding). I also made a video of, yes my finger in the nesting box. Testing, one two three. But, I didn't post it as J says it is more boring than watching one piece of grass growing. So, it is now time to put the box on the cage, and see what happens! Lets all keep our fingers, er, out of the nest box, and crossed. And remember, every journey begins with a single step. Lets also hope that I am not going to be marching in place!