Hummingbird Eggs?This touching scene was recently encountered in a Southern California Magnolia Tree.  Anyone want to take a stab at the type of eggs these might be?  We think Hummingbirds! I wonder what the gestation period on these eggs is!

Any suggestions as to the best type of Hummingbird feeder available?

Parrot Boing

photo by Elwood McKay lll

The Scarlet Macaw (ARA MACAO) is very large, around 32″ long from top of head to tip of tail and has a larger percentage of tail than other Macaws. They have bare white skin around their eyes and tiny white feathers on their face.  

Their voices are very loud with high and sometimes low pitched squawks and screams.  They are capable of mimicking human words and sounds like other Parrots.

Their typical lifespan in captivity is 30-40 years and occasionly up to 50 years.  

Their diet consists mostly of fruits, nuts and seeds.  Their are many kinds of dry Parrot foods available and don’t forget lots of chewable toys and wood to keep him happy and amused.

Do you have a Scarlet Macaw?  What are some of his favorite phrases or habits?

For a more comprehensive account of the Scarlet Macaw, check it out at Wikipedia. 

Click the link below for a video of two Scarlet Macaws at the Santa Barbara Zoo.

Scarlet Macaws at Santa Barbara Zoo

We have recently discovered that Callie, our female Eclectus has Borna virus.  Her vet suspected it and recommended a blood test which was done about three weeks ago.  She had established a habit of gnawing at her left foot until it bled and would get infected.  I was running her to the vet regularly for antibiotics and foam neck braces to get the problem under control.  What we noticed was that she would start chewing on it in the Fall of each of the past three years, so we originally suspected the yearly hormone changes that most pet Parrots experience from Fall through Spring.  I DID NOT expect the Borna Virus test to come back positive.  

After a long visit with the vet today, some misconceptions that I had were cleared up, but it is still unclear to us if the Borma Virus or the hormones are the cause of her desire to gnaw at her foot.  She wore a foam collar for about 3+ months and forgot about the bad habit, has had the collar off now for about three weeks and is not interested in her foot at all at this time, but we are entering the Fall thru Spring seasons when it has been a problem in the past and we don’t want it to reoccur.  She has had two in a series of 5-6 hormone shots to see if this also calms her down and she doesn’t start that nasty habit again.

This is what I learned from the vet today…

* Borna Virus was first discovered in Borna, Germany, when cavalry horses began to act peculiar.

* It is NOT transferable to humans as I was originally told by someone else.  There are some known cases of Borna Virus in humans but it is rare and it is a different strain from the ones that birds get.

* It is contagious to other birds but only through dried or wet fecal matter, not through dander, powder and such.  So not quite as easily transferable as I was originally led to believe.  Thorough disinfecting around food bowls and sink where they are cleaned and perches where fecal matter might sit is the best practice.  We don’t know if our other Parrot, Peaches has it, but since they have shared the same cage outside on the deck, there is a good possibility.

* There is no known cure at this time and it is a progressive disease.  The only treatment used currently is Celebrex which relieves the inflammation in and around the tissue where the virus attacks.  

* There are more tests under development but labs are battling it out to see who will be able to perform the tests and until that is resolved, no more tests will be performed that would confirm whether her body is fighting off the virus naturally.  Until then, we don’t know if it’s the Borna Virus or the hormone change that makes her do this.

* There’s no way of telling when she got it.  She could have been born with it since birds can be a carrier for many years before it manifests, or she may have contracted it while being boarded at a pet store or even from a vet visit.

Callie’s vet has chosen to continue with the hormone shots for now, since she is not chewing at this time.  She will start Celebrex orally at a later date if necessary.

What we do for our pets.

As mentioned in a previous post, sitting all day in a cage, especially too small of a cage without something fun to play with, such as a bell to ring, some wood to destroy, a window to look out of or a plastic foraging toy to go digging for food, your bored Parrot will become depressed, lethargic and perhaps even aggressive towards family members when they approach his cage.

Every department store with a pet department in it, Veterinary office who caters to birds and online pet websites carry gobs of Parrot toys.  Pay attention to what type of toy your bird prefers and stick with something similar each time.  They will love you for it and don’t forget Polly’s birthday and Holiday gifts!  Wrap them in dye free plain paper and watch them enjoy the crinkling and ripping sound as they unwrap!

Click on the My Bird Store tab at the top for a direct link to Amazon.com for Parrot Toys, Books and Cages. 

In the wild, The Yellow Crested prefers fruits, buds, nuts and herbaceous plants.

Between 1980 and 1992, over 100,000 Yellow Crested Cockatoos were legally exported from Indonesia resulting in their current status rated as “critically endangered”.

To read more about the Yellow Crested Cockatoo, check out Wikipedia’s article. 

Click on the link below of for a video of a Yellow Crested Cockatoo performing for us at the Santa Barbara Zoo.  They love attention, as most Cockatoos do, and while we watched he proudly paced up and down his branch.  When we walked away, he stopped and stared at us as though to say, “Where are you going?  I’m still performing for you!”  Until the next onlookers arrived and he started the same pacing again.

Yellow Crested Cockatoo at the Santa Barbara Zoo

The second you try to pet on top of their wing, they lift it up.  I guess they don’t want our germs on their perfectly quaffed and powdered wings.

In this next video, Peaches is on top of her tray and begging for a scratch.  She has been wearing her foam collar for about a month now because she had plucked at her chest and back until she was bare.  This keeps her from reaching those areas and she now is getting lots of new feathers.  At first they totally hate it, but within about 2-3 days, they get used to it.  

She talks, I pet.  I stop, she talks.  At the end she grabs my finger because she is ready to “step up” and cuddle or go back to her cage.  Enough of this game, she thinks.  I want a serious scratch!

You will hear a “Peek-A-Boo” in the middle, which with her sounds like “Reek-A-Roo” but there is a lot of other gibber going on as well.  What do you think she is saying?

Peaches and a Scratch

Peaches, the Moluccan Cockatoo says it throughout the day and often when she is just trying to get our attention or has done something that embarrassed her.  She says the entire “Peek-A-Boo” often yelling it and repeats until she gets what she wants.

Callie, our female Eclectus, has her own rendition, usually begging the question “Where’s Callie?” first and then answering with “EH! Peek a Boo!”  And occasionally she throws in an “I Seeeeeee You!”  Too cute, but unfortunately her nature is very shy and she usually does it when she thinks no one is listening.

But the real kicker is playing Peek-A-Boo with Pudge, our daughter’s Quaker.  As mentioned in an earlier post, he not only can play this game for hours on end but is the only one who turns his head sideways to hide and then pops around and whispers “peek.”  On occasion, he will scream “PEAK-A-BOO!” very distinctly.  Who knows why?  But he is so adorable when he does this, you just can’t help but give him your undivided attention.

Click on the link below to watch Pudge play Peek-A-Boo with my son and I from inside his cage.

Pudge Playing Peek-A-Boo

I got home a few nights ago around 8:30 PM which is normal cage time for the girls since the sun is now setting earlier.  Walking into the kitchen, I greet them with the usual “Hi Girls!  How are you?  Mommy’s home!” Pretty quiet response, I might say.  They both just kinda stared at me.  As with many Parrots in the same family, there is jealousy and I am conscious of which one I go to first as the other will have something to say (literally).

Callie seemed more quiet than usual and my husband was talking to her, so I opted this time for Peaches.  She came out of her cage, immediately put her head on my shoulder and melted as I petted (or “pet” her, according to the true English language) her and told her that I missed her.  Of course, just about then, Callie had something to say.  Rather a bit of a groan and I had to extend the same courtesy to her. 

I dove into some dinner after a long day of travel and nestled into the couch to catch up on some Monday night football and it started…

Mommy!    Mommy?   Mommy!?!   I swear she says Mommy!  By this time, it was late, around 10:30 and time for all birdies and humans to be sleeping in this family, so I literally spent the next half hour saying from one room to another, “Yes, Peaches, I’m here.  It’s time to go nite-nite.  I’ll see you in the morning”  Two minutes goes by and another “Mommy?!”   “I’m here.  Go nite-nite.”  I was wondering how long we were going to do this. Finally, I guess she was satisfied that I was in the house and dozed off.

Callie took over first thing in the morning with a loud squawk at precisely 7:30 AM (5:30 AM to those of us who had just returned from the west coast) and there was no sleeping after that.  Every three to five minutes another squawk until I gave up and resorted to my welcomed cup of coffee.  

We’re working on getting back on schedule now.  Callie will make sure that I don’t sleep past 7:30 this week!  When do we change the clocks back!?!