If anyone would have told me 5 years ago that today I would have amazing but totally unique companionships with 3 different birds, I would have quickly let them know that they were crazy! But the fact is, it is very true and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

So. Who am I and how did I get here? My name is Liz. I am 23 years old, living in Raleigh, NC. I am a senior in college with a job, friends, a boyfriend, and just a generally busy life. So where do my parrots fit in? Well, that’s one reason why I am here- to talk about that. I currently have a 3 ½ year old male sun conure (Skittle) , 2 ½ year old female blue and gold macaw (Charlie), and a 10 year old female congo African grey (Roxanne) that I have adopted in the past few months.

The main focus of my writing here will be about Roxanne. You see, I hand-fed and trained my conure and macaw from when both were just over 2 months old. My bonds with Skittle and Charlie are strong, they are some of my best friends! They are by no means perfect angels, but in each of those bonds I have a trust and companionship that comparably, is just non-existent with Roxanne.

When Roxanne came into my home, I realized that on rare occasions she had been outside of her cage for very short periods of time. Roxanne had rarely been handled and by her vocabulary of “OW that hurt!” or “Don’t bite me!” she had no plans of being handled either.

I found this very puzzling since Skittle and Charlie always want to be around the humans of the house playing, cuddling, just whatever to have human interaction. But Roxanne, she is content sitting on one side of her cage all day and not being bothered and is quick to those blood-drawing bites if you have anything BUT the same notion.

So. Here I am living the typical busy life meanwhile trying to maintain and keep the two birds I am bonded with content, as well as, trying to develop a relationship with a 10 year old grouchy bird! What can I do to simultaneously continue fortifying the relationship I have with my bonded birds and grow the relationship I have with Roxanne? These are just 2 of many simple things that I have noticed that help both of those needs along.

1. Give me some LOVE!

Charlie and Skittle love human interaction. First thing in the morning or whenever I get home, they are ready to jump out and into my arms. Roxanne, not so much. If the first thing I do is head straight for Roxanne, she shakes and puffs up larger than a blowfish . As soon as I open her cage door, she poses for a strike. I have found if I go onto to Skittle and Charlie first, give them both a few minutes playing and loving each within sight of Roxanne and then approach Roxanne, she is much more inclined to step-up onto my hand.

I will keep her on my hand for maybe a ¼ of the time I was with my other 2, give her a sunflower seed, and put her back into her cage to reward her for not biting me. I also don’t keep her out as long because the longer she is out, the more nervous she gets. I am definitely taking it slow with her for now.

2. Calling in back-up!

I could not imagine living in a multi-parrot home by myself. The feeding, clean-up, entertainment, and time spent is never-ending. I am sure that there are many out there that succeed quite nicely on their own, but I can admit that I don’t think I could do it right now. I have 4 other family members that I presently live with that enjoy being around the birds. Each of them have some kind of relationship with either Charlie or Skittle.

My boyfriend that does not live here happens to have a great relationship with both of them. So far Roxanne is the most responsive with me. Having others in the home that are able to give time towards Skittle and Charlie not only help them by socializing them, but help Roxanne so she can spend time with me while I earn her trust. With Roxanne seeing the others interact with Charlie and Skittle, it encourages her that us humans are not out to scare or hurt her! I strongly believe that having frequent and different human interaction is not only vital in keeping your own sanity, but it’s also good for the well-being of the bird.

I look forward to writing again and tracking Roxanne’s progress in her new home!

I am lovingly owned by four beautiful angels…a Blue and Gold Macaw named Kacey, a Moluccan Cockatoo named Chloe, an African Grey named Sophie and our recent added family member Zazu, a baby Blue and Gold Macaw.  When I say I am “lovingly owned” I can assure you that it was not always the case in the early onset of my infatuation with parrots.  At a very young age, I was actually attacked by an Umbrella Cockatoo which made me deathly afraid of birds!!  Then as an adult I had the chance to work at one of the highest rated pet stores in the US…lucky me, they put me in charge of the Bird Department!!  During that time my fear of birds subsided and I started learning their behavior and little quirks.  This was so fascinating to me I started to research on the web anything I could about parrots.  I purchased a cockatiel from the store and hand tamed it (Sydney was a parent raised wild little thing that couldn’t be touched).  After about 6 months, I started getting an itch for something bigger (maybe a conure).  Well, the call came in and I suddenly found myself driving an hour and a half to go see a Blue and Gold Macaw that I had no idea about!!

Kacey

Here is Kacey’s Story:
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Thought it would be fun for you all to know that Jersey, the female blue and gold macaw we trained and sold to David Copperfield, was recently in a shoot with Miss Universe on the island of Musha Cay.

You can see Jersey being held by the trainer we personally trained for 10 days last month in the photo above. For updates and pictures on what Jersey and Chayko are up to on the island, check them out of their flickr!

Dave and I have been in the Bahamas now for 4 days and so far we’ve got both Jersey and Chayko spinning on command and touch training really well. Here on the island, they really want them to be content hanging out on a foraging tree in the beach area so people can enjoy seeing them and hearing them practice talking. And yesterday they stayed there for an hour and a half happily! Above is me working with Cathy Daly, the main person who will be handling the macaws on the island and currently their favorite person… to bite.

We were very proud of their progress – when we first got here, they were biting madly at the people and not staying on the tree. They’ve made lots of progress but there’s always more to make so we are still working away!

We took them to our house here on island for an hour or so and just hung out with them like old times… we had a blast, and I think it’s safe to say they did too!

The next few days we will be focusing on having more crew around the island touch train them as well as teach Cathy so she can teach others, how to handle them properly. No more bloody hand pictures!

Above is a photo of Jersey and Chayko, two related blue and gold macaws that we trained and sold to David Copperfield. I know most of you have seen the photo of Dave with these guys and David in his warehouse in Las Vegas. We originally delivered them to Vegas, and trained David’s entire crew that would be handling them. You may have read various stories about it in our newsletters and various products where we might draw reference to it.

Well, they are now on David’s gorgeous private island in the Bahamas. You can check out some articles about Musha Cay here and visit his website at www.mushacay.com.

If you’d like to see how Jersey and Chayko are doing on the island, check out Cathy Daly’s flickr photostream here! You can see videos of them now talking and dancing! Pretty cute stuff over there.

However… the team on the island isn’t trained like the team was in Vegas that Dave and I personally coached and worked with, with the birds, in person. So, we are headed out tomorrow for 10 days to work with these new people with Jersey and Chayko so things like the picture below don’t happen anymore…

I’ve heard internet is sketchy out there so not sure when I will be posting an update for you all to hear about but keep an eye out!

I do have a question for you about his cage. what brand is it and can they be purchased through the internet? Thanks!

-Terry

Yes, the cages we use can be purchased online. They can be found at www.CagesbyDesign.com. We are all big fans of these cages; not only are they beautiful but they come with full spectrum lighting and the whole nine yards! You can literally buy them with everything included except the bird and the food!

To see some our indoor and outdoor cages from them, you can look at our photos here. You can also find our photos used in their catalog and on their website in various places. We have three outdoor aviaries by them and five indoor cages total (as of now!) we prefer the Hybrid style.

Chet has the following cages at his house:

1. Two of these cages. You can view them, sort of, in this video of his called Tips For Training a Parrot to Talk. You can get a different view from the video on Macaw Training. Although the cages on the website look like one big one, Chet’s are separated and on opposite sides of a wall.
2. One of these cages. This cage is in Chet’s office mainly (though we’re all guilty of moving cages around from time to time so that might change).

Dave has the following at his house:

1. 3 Outdoor Aviaries with catch-alls.
2. One of these cages. Which you often see Bondi and Cressi sharing (African Grey Parrot & Galah).
3. One of these cages. You’ll see a lot of different birds from our flock come and go in this one! This is my personal favorite.