A Move in the Right Direction

Today when I went to feed Sutcliffe and Mary ann, both scuttled hastily into the nest box. A very good sign! This is the first time I have seen them in the nest box since Boo came home (about a month ago). I had quite a few thing to do in the vicinity of the couples cage (it being Saturday: they are near the laundry; also, I had to tidy the cage and the surrounding area). From time to time, they headed into the nest box either singly, or together. Sutcliffe was looking at it yesterday: today he is the one who was in it more. Boo continues to make loud "tweeEEEP tweeEEP" noises, and his mother seems to hear them, but, hopefully, this nesting behavior will continue and flourish.

From You Tube: this Bird has Rhythm!

Couldn't help sharing this with you: Budgies seem to love music, but never have I seen them dance like this! Check out his little bow (with the head) at the end!

The Birdman of Alcatraz-No Gilded Cage

Robert Stroud was the so-called “Birdman of Alctraz”. Although he was portrayed by Burt Lancaster in the Hollywood version of his story as a humane and sensitive individual, he clearly had a violent side, having murdered people both outside and inside prison during his life sentence, and was further the source of continuous threats to other inmates and guards. His original imprisonment was for killing a bartender who refused to pay (and allegedly beat) Kitty O’Brien, the Birdman’s romantic partner who was also a dance hall entertainer and prostitute. They lived together in Juneau, Alaska. He was named the “Birdman” because over the course of his 42 years of incarceration, he developed an interest in canaries. His interest sprang from his adoption of an injured sparrow he found in the prison yard one day. He was allowed to study and raise about 300 birds in his cell (not all at the same time) while imprisoned at Leavenworth. Reportedly, he let them fly free in his cell, which was disgustingly filthy. He studied canary habits, physiology, and developed medications for their ailments. He authored two published books on the subject and his observations were considered important to the scientific field of canary research. His books were profitable, but not to him; he never received any royalties, and when he complained, he was transferred to Alcatraz where he could not keep his birds. At Alcatraz, he had virtually no social human contact, and was in “solitary” for most of his imprisonment. He wrote two more books, these on the prison system, but he was no longer allowed to publish. He died at Alcatraz of unknown causes. The cell where he lived is in a part of the prison not open to the public.

Shoes for Boos

Until you have some shoes like this (from a German artistic website, what else?) you haven't really walked the bird walk! I think that my photographer and other artist human flock co-members (you know who you are!) should submit some of their brilliant to the Designklicks (http://designklicks.spiegel.de) website too!

Showers

Budgies love bathing. Our budgies are particularly fond of being sprayed with the spray bottle: I spray through the wire of the cage, and Boo in particular, will press his body up against the cage to get as wet as possible, at times. Sutcliffe seems to prefer to drink water droplets off of the cage or eucalyptus leaves (thanks C and B!). I will try to get a photo of this. the "snap" of the camera seems to be off putting, and the webcam is on the interior of the nest box, hence the lack of recent pics. However, here is a cute video of a budgie walking under the tap to get some water. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SXxDWiPFmA&mode=related&search=Rudi%20Paula%20budgies%20budgie%20shower. From a gene/environment standpoint, it is also very interesting, as Sutcliffe and Mary ann didn't like this at first, but once they got used to it, actually expect it and seem to make "requesting" noises. Boo has always, always liked it. Like greens, it seems, regular offering over months seems to be what it takes for a budgie to decide if they want to "like" something, or not, but once they do, they really relish it, whether its greens, showers (or hopefully NEST BOXES!).

Mary ann remains cool...

Mary ann and Sutcliffe are now moved to the basement as noted in prior posts...but she remains cool to Sutcliffe, although he remains ardent. Her mornings remain punctuated by the loud CHEEP that I have come to realize is a signal for budgies to other budgies, a "searching for the flock" sound. I wonder if she still seeks Boo? And if she does, is it as offspring, or as potential mate (ie, another male)? I don't know if Budgies have a prohibition against mating with their offspring, but I doubt they do. At this point, its just more watch and wait.

Mary Ann and Sutcliffe in Solitary

We had the screens on the screened in porch replaced, mandating budgie moving. As a result, Mary ann and Sutcliffe have been moved for the duration (ie, till we change our minds about it) to the basement. The basement is not as grim as it sounds: because we live on a slope, there is a large, nice window that provides a great deal of light. Still, their cage is in a storage area. I doubt they mind, as budgies have a different feng shui than humans it seems. We have put the light on a timer to allow twelve hours, and basically, will provide a ton of food and leave them alone. The webcam is set up to monitor the nest box, but, not the rest of the activity. Its hard to gauge if this strategy is working incrementally, but, there is no significant improvement in nest box interest.

Boo continues to Distract

There has been no more nesting activity since Boo returned. The weather has been fantastic, and the budgies all eat the greens provided with great gusto. Mary ann has become thinner: although she seems well, she is much less interested in Sutcliffe. He occasionally looks into the nest box and feeds her, but not to the extent previously. Our little experiment will move indoors in a few weeks. At that point, we will put on a lamp for a 12 hour day, and put boo in a different room (and on a different floor). In the meantime, the budgies are a lot of fun to watch as they play with their food! Especially Boo, who seems to think that the purpose of eucalyptus is to provide something he can tear apart and throw on the ground.