Boo Distracts his Mother

Boo is back from holiday at J's mom's house: the main reason is simply, I missed him. Funny, how a silly little bird can become so beloved. He is really cute, though, sitting on my head, and on my glasses (which, when not reading, are typically pused up on my head). He has also become a "hair groomer" which is very sweet and seems akin to true affection. Of course, I am anthropomorhising again (is it so wrong?). Anyway, every morning, Boo lets out a series of very loud "CHEEP"s. I have heard this noise before, usually when a budgie is looking for the "flock". It is a loud "where are you" call. He has been calling from his cage, and his mother is busily answering. Since this began, his mother seems to have lost all interest in romance with Sutcliffe. Sutcliffe, meanwhile, is still poking his head in the nest box, feeding Mary ann, and even had his foot on her back last night (a prelude to romance, shall we say, in an effort to keep this a "G rated" blog). However, she has not returned to the nest box, been indifferent to the nesting behavior of tearing bark off the the cherry branches we have placed in the cage, and generally not interested in Sutcliffe. Boo, you little romance killer! I shouldn't be surprised. Boo is very spoiled and as far as he remembers, its always been "all about Boo".

Budgie-ness

I recently heard veterinarian Patricia McConnell on the Diane Rehm show. Patricia McConnell co-hosts a show “Calling all pets” (where mostly cats and dogs are discussed). I enjoy her show and something she said on the Diane Rehm show resonated with me in particular. To paraphrase, she said that she tries not to anthropomorphize her dog(s), but rather, enjoy their wonderful “dogness”. I think that one of the joys of observing animals, including pets, is to think about what it is like to be them. Sometimes people ask: are budgies smart? And I answer, “they may not be very good at being people, but they are expertly skilled and brilliant when it comes to being budgies.” As I have noted, budgies priorties seem to be: the highest perch, the flock, and millet seed (or other treats). These are NOT human priorities. When Sutcliffe feeds Mary ann, it is really “sweet”. However, we cannot assume he has affection for her as our monkey brains would understand it. Sutcliffe is a “good father” in that he sacrifices everything in order to feed Mary ann, and in the past, the young. Mary ann is a “good mother” in a similar way. However, when we project human motives and emotions onto budgies, we lose a chance to enjoy their true “budgieness” which is very fascinating. J. asked, “do you think Sutcliffe wishes he has arms”? That is a very interesting question. Sometimes I wish I had wings, but, I would not give up my hands for them. I really do wonder what Sutcliffe would say.
Conversely, sometimes we enjoy anthropomorphizing. “Cute overload” is one of the best, (and sometimes, worst), examples of that. It is interesting to see ourselves in our pets. Part of this is biological, perhaps, as transference of our desire to love and nurture our own young. Part of it helps us feel companionship from our pets. Some of it may be true: evolution has preserved a number of behaviors across species, especially, species that live in groups (be it flocks, tribes, or packs). It may be reverse anthroporhism to say that I feel that we (K, J) are human members of their flock. We probably wouldn't make very good budgies, though. I guess that means, the budgies would view us as flawed, limited flock members. Hopefully, they "like" us, in their own budgie way, nonetheless.

"Fat Bottomed Girl You Make the Rockin' World go Round!

Thanks to all for your fun comments and interest! It is a great joy to read them. Lets hope Sutlcliffe agrees that fat bottomed girls make the Rockin' world go round!!!

A Little Less Hot, a Lot More Action

The weather has markedly cooled over the last two days; from highs in the mid to high 80s (F) and lows in the high 70s, to highs in the mid seventies and lows down to 50F. It rained yesterday. I believe this has weather change induced a much more amorous feeling in the budgies, if nest box visiting is a measure of that. Both birds are spending a lot of time in the next box, including, together. Also, Mary ann will stick her head out of the box and Sutcliffe will feed her. Its pretty cute. There is still plenty of time being spent outside the box, as well, but, the trajectory is clearly in the right direction. We also "exercised" the budgies yesterday, by taking Mary ann and Sutcliffe out and letting them do some finger sitting. Perhaps the exercise was also good for them. We have put "fresh" (ie, additonal from C.s original batch) eucalytus in also.

Sutcliffe Is Doing What He Can (It Seems)

Sutcliffe seems very into the entire nest box and mating idea (although we haven't actually caught him um, er, in the act). However, he is in and out of the box, cozying up to Mary ann and feeding her continuously, and has a very blue beak in addition to a blue cere. Mary ann, however, seems less enthused. While she is in the nest box from time to time, its not particularly often. She lets Sutcliffe feed her, and she feeds herself. Pretty much, most of her day is spent eating. The weather has cooled slightly, and it is now raining. All I can do is hope that there is something romantic in the air. Mary ann has become almost twice as large as Sutcliffe. She seems happy enough, though. I suppose all we can do now is wait and see. We have moved the camera to a hole over the nest box.

Bird Adopts Monkey

Many people were suprised by this unusual story about a Pigeon nursing a monkey back to health. However, I was not surprised at all. I would expect no less of Sutcliffe or Boo if one of us human members of the flock were to take ill. Mary ann might even nurture us. Don't you just love the look in the monkey's eyes as he strokes his pigeon friend?

Some Sad News

There are always leaders in every field: in the field of parrots, a great talent has passed away. Alex, the Parrot, worked six to eight hours a day, every day, studying parrot speech: . As you can see from his picture, he is an African Grey, thought to be the most intelligent, or at least, the most easily taught to speak of all parrots. Lets all remember to tell our pets "I Love you" as Alex's owners/researchers told him the night they last saw him, to which he replied "You'll be in tomorrow". I'd suggest a moment of silence, but perhaps more fitting is for us to all say "seven", which he had only just learned, having long been able to count to six.

Snack Time

Mary ann is really working on getting as many calories into her self as possible; she is eating pretty much constantly. We put up a snack stick (peanut butter and seeds) and she devoured about one third of it in less than a day: this is a stick that would normally last a couple weeks. She has been in the nest box a lot more today and yesterday than before. Sutcliffe is still having a ball eating eucalyptus, feeding it to her, and hopping about, including in and out of the box. J modified the perch situation so she can more easily get in and out of the box because the one perch we had for the box was not really steady enough, and perhaps, was a disincentive. The biggest factor for breeding, though, I have concluded, is the temperature. As it cools, I think we will have success. I must assure that we put in a lamp on a timer as the days shorten (around sept 21) so they get a good 12 hours of light daily.

Sutcliffe and Mary Ann visit the Nest Box!

I don't know if it is the eucalyptus (in background of video), the weather (a perfect summer day, or just the right time, but both Sutcliffe and Mary ann have been in the nest box today: Sutcliffe, several times! We are about to go on a short trip, and have placed a lot of eucalyptus, and treats in the cage. Hopefully privacy, food, eucalyptus, and hormones will lead to nesting and egg laying.