Magoo Gains on Boo

Boo has long been the favorite. I adore all the budgies (of course) and all have their very special features and personality traits. I can't imagine if I had to give any of them up. When we first brought Magoo back home, I admit I felt burdened. I had hoped friends would adopt him. Now, however, I would find it very hard to let him go. He is so cheeky and brave! For example, tonight I left the door of the cage open, while I went to get cilantro. He steps right out, looks around, explores. When new food is in the cage, he and Sutcliffe both very eagerly try it (Magoo must be a flock leader in training). Magoo sings a lot, and if one of the budgies were to learn to speak, I think it might be him as he is the most responsive to verbal cues. He is tame, and if not so involved with the flock, would probably become very affectionate. Ok, Boo is also playful, Sutcliffe sings beautifully, Mary Ann is tame, but Magoo may be the whole package. But I am almost afraid to even say this, as I love the others so much too and I don't want to bring any bad luck down on any member of the flock!

Moving Highlights

Sorry to all our gentle blog readers (yes, both of you) for this long hiatus.  However, the move caused some delays in getting online to blog!  

The budgies did well during the packing up phase, mainly because of their location in the "summer palace".  However, a bittersweet moment (for the human flock) occurred when Mia and Magoo were adopted.  The good news is, that we now have a new family which has joined the human flock, especially, several girls who seem very well suited to budgie ownership.  I haven't heard yet if they are enjoying the budgies, but I certainly hope so.  If they don't like the budgies, we offered to take them back.  It was a no risk adoption.  I was rather sad at first to see them go, especially Magoo, who hatched in our house only just this last winter, but I know he will be happy.  He may even be renamed Ringo!

The drive and the stay near Nikko the cat (the latter of whom resides in Louisville) went well, but deserves longer posts in the future.  Pictures will also soon be posted from the trip.   The budgies were very quiet around Nikko, probably instinctually.  In the Prius, while driving, however, they seemed joyous and sang and chirped the entire way, especially if country music was playing, or classical.

Happy Boo's Day-Tuesday February 11, 2008

Can it be? Another perfectly good week has gone by, much of it squandered on activities other than blogging, and now its Boo's day again?

All five budgies are doing well in the new cage. The perch order is variable. Sometimes, Boo just needs a bit of space and climbs to the top of the rungs (as seen here). Could this be because she is now going through puberty, and needs more time alone? Is she a broody teenager? Or testing her limits? Climbing up to the very top of the rungs, and hanging with tail down, wings folded, head straight, is how all five sleep at night these days. However, the rest of the time, they all seem to enjoy many different perches and food bowls (perches are many, and food bowls are "n+1"). On lower rungs, the inhabitants vary; sometimes Sutcliffe and Mia, Mia and Magoo, or Sutcliffe and Mary ann. There are almost always two birds on the bottom perches, but never Boo. We have seen almost no fighting all week. So, the cage seems to be copacetic. All the eucalyptus (the last of which was used in this cage set up) has been eaten, shredded, or trampled with joy except for a few twigs which still give much pleasure to the budgies, who like to hop on them, and let them bounce up and down a bit.

We note that some of our regular readers are also missing, some for known reasons: R due to extensive travel and hard work, and C, due to flu. Good wishes for happy flying and rapid fleeing of flu!!

Magoo Chin Feathers Grow Back

As you can see from this picture, the fuzzy white down that grew back in a couple of days after the accident has fallen out from Magoo's chin. Now, s/he has new growth of body feathers-short and hard, rounded on the end, and green. It's rather cute, and also, a bit hideous at the same time. Magoo still has the remnant of goo on his/her forehead, as you can see. Trying to remove this didn't seem necessary, and we expect it to just fall off during molting. S/he also still has the white downy "temporary" feathers on the chest. Magoo seems respectful of Boo, and deferential, but is willing to fight Sutcliffe for perches and greens. Boo gladly will push Sutcliffe away from any desired perch or treat. Those two babies are not respectful enough of their dear old dad who has treated them so well!

Magoo Doing Great!

Magoo is doing great! His neck is still missing a few feathers, and his forehead still has some residual goo on it, but otherwise he seems happy and sassy! Sutcliffe remains the dedicated father.

Say Hello to Magoo!

The poll showed that Magoo is the winning name. Thanks to everyone who voted!
And as you can see, our baby bird is healing very nicely. You can see some white feathers on his/her chest: this is where feathers were pulled off and are regrowing. His/her muttonchops (my name for the feathery jowl area on a budgie) are growing back gradually. The chin remains a bit bare, and there are a couple of smudges remaining from the goo episode. However s/he is doing a good job rubbing sticks with his/her head and beak to clean these smudges. Otherwise our baby is doing great! MIlestones include her/his standing on both feet equally, eating with pleasure, biting us (the human guardians) and flying, once again, with reckless abandon. However, we will be keeping a close eye on this baby, and also, Magoo's compatriots.

Baby Close to Normal!

This morning, the baby was hopping from perch to perch without any problem, using both feet. When he was startled by me, he did stand on the right foot only, so he still favors it. However, the left is fully functional in a normal way. He was also flying around with apparent joy. He and Sutcliffe were generally having fun this morning flying, eating, and generally squawking to their neighbors. The baby is a little "wild one" again! Its good to see he's got his groove back (note, we realize, this baby could be female).
Lessons learned:
1. wing clipping IMHO is not cruel. it could be life saving as
2. there are many risks to a flying household budgie, and they get into those risks FAST!
3. Dilute vinegar solution is safe for budgies in small doses and effective at removing "goo".
4. Being young is good for your health. And I retract my remarks from yesterday: flying around as a baby budgie is not really foolish. He was just acting like a budgie when he got trapped in goo.

Doing Better

The baby seems a lot more perky. He still favors the left leg, and lists to the right, especially in the evening. Examination of his leg shows no obvious injury or deformity. He seems to have a normal range of motion, normal configuration of toes, feet, knees, legs. Its hard to see up into his feathers to see if his thigh might have an injury. Hopefully he will mend himself. However, he enjoys sitting in the food bowl, which must be a good way to rest his little drumsticks. He can fly. He and Sutcliffe have been moved to a "hospital flight cage" which is a long cage, where we have placed the perches extremely close to the floor so that if he falls off, he won't be hurt badly. The nest box is also in there, but chiefly, the baby and Sutcliffe use it as a lookout point (they stand on it) rather than go inside it.