It's (probably) a girl! Introducing my new baby BFA

I've had her for a few days and so far, so good. She's gone from 236 to 264 grams and is getting green and yellow pinfeathers. I can almost see her grow. I'm a full time parent right now, so I can only show you a picture worth a thousand words.

OMG! That right there is the most precious thing ever:07: She looks like a funny cactus with eyes and a beak right now, all prickly with her little feathers coming in How fortunate you are to be able to raise her up from that little. Hard to imagine my monster was ever that small or precious. I hope you keep us updated with her progress. I'm so curious how those feathers will look once they come in. What makes you think girl BTW?

With the sheer number of BFA lovers around here, a BFA baby is like candy for Christmas, a true winner. Looking forward to growing-up with baby photos.

Congratulations!

Kiwibird said:

OMG! That right there is the most precious thing ever:07: She looks like a funny cactus with eyes and a beak right now, all prickly with her little feathers coming in How fortunate you are to be able to raise her up from that little. Hard to imagine my monster was ever that small or precious. I hope you keep us updated with her progress. I'm so curious how those feathers will look once they come in. What makes you think girl BTW?

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When I raised African greys, I was over 90% accurate sexing my babies by sight. I was over 85% accurate with my Senegals. Of course, I always told the new owners the only sure thing was to have them DNA sexed (endoscopic sexing is completely unnecessary for a baby.) In most parrot species, the male is bigger-boned with a large beak and a flatter, longer head. The females are usually smaller-boned with a rounder head and smaller beak. This isn't true for all parrots, but it is true for greys, Senegals and Amazons...most of the time. Another clue with greys is color. Males tend to be darker in coloration, especially on the wings; females are lighter in color, almost silvery. Both sexes have dark flights, but the rest of a female's wing is a beautiful light grey. Usually.

This breeder knows his pair of blue fronts and he says he's pretty sure it's a girl. I agree with him based on the relative size and shape of her head and beak. Of course, we could both be completely wrong. I won't have her sexed until she's done growing. I've used the home kits before, but it was twenty years ago and it wasn't MY bird.

And yes, she is a precious, precious thing. I fell in love with her at first sight. She is so aware! She watches my every move. And she's cuddly! :07: She bows her head or tips it back so I can gently pet those special parrot places on her head. I'm also rubbing her under the web of the wing and carefully touching her toes. I want her used to being touched all over, but I have to be careful not to make a wrong move around those pinfeathers. I'm sure it would hurt! I have come to the conclusion that parrots feel pain more keenly than do humans. It's something my dear, dear Gabby bird taught me and I appreciate the lesson.

I'd better enjoy the cuddly stage while I can. After all, this is an Amazon.

My mother and I are watching her around the clock to make sure everything goes smoothly. I've raised greys and Senegals, but somehow when it's YOUR baby parrot, everything is a million times more scary. This is my first Amazon baby and I couldn't be more delighted. It's like temporarily going back into aviculture without it lasting forever. I missed taking care of babies and this one is a keeper!

SailBoat said:

With the sheer number of BFA lovers around here, a BFA baby is like candy for Christmas, a true winner. Looking forward to growing-up with baby photos.

Congratulations!

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I'm very happy with her and proud of the progress she's shown in just a few short days. Actually, to me they've been long days, but very enjoyable. I'm completely in love already.

she is beautiful.

I might as well share the two videos I've uploaded to YouTube.

[ame="https://youtu.be/Q2iD9e7rFow"]Blue-Fronted Amazon at Three Weeks - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="https://youtu.be/Oc1nAabS_BI"]Baby Blue Front, 5-25-17 - YouTube[/ame]

Oh my gosh, how exciting!!! Absolutely love the videos. She looks healthy, happy and plump!! Just love them at this stage, right before their feathers come in! Keep up the good work with this baby!!

Incredibly beautiful, I love that stage of development! Thanks for the pics and videos!!

Those videos are incredibly adorable. I think I almost died of cuteness overload when she flapped her little wings. Amazing how they start practicing behaviors like preening and flapping before they even have feathers! I also see by the size of that crop she already has a hearty amazon appetite too

OMG!!! How absolutely adorable! It's hard to believe that my 486g green monster was ever that tiny lol.
How beautiful! Do you have a name yet??

Please please please!!! bombard us with a bazillion pictures!!




Jim

AmyMyBlueFront said:

OMG!!! How absolutely adorable! It's hard to believe that my 486g green monster was ever that tiny lol.
How beautiful! Do you have a name yet??

Please please please!!! bombard us with a bazillion pictures!!




Jim

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I don't think that will be a problem. I'll share the best pics and videos here. I want to document every day if I can. I missed one day, but that was because taking care of a BFA this young is labor- and emotionally-intensive. I am not in my twenties and early thirties anymore (the time when I was an aviculturist) and because she's my bird, all my worries are a million times more intense. It's not that I didn't love my African grey and Senegal babies. In fact, I worried about them incessantly. So, you can imagine how I feel about this little baby. :07:

IT'S NOT EASY GETTING GREEN

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Look at my pretty green wings, Mom!


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Sacked out with a full crop while chewing on a paper towel...does life get any better than this?



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Here you can see every fiber of the green, yellow and red feathers coming in:

Beautiful! So interesting to me to watch how quickly they change at that age. Thanks for the pics!


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Inger said:

Beautiful! So interesting to me to watch how quickly they change at that age. Thanks for the pics!


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I've heard that parrotlets are like tiny Amazons and I wonder if you feel that's the case. Unfortunately, I've never had the opportunity to handle or work with them, but they are very cute and very smart based on the YouTube videos I've watched.

More video

[ame="https://youtu.be/plvt060XQ40"]Baby Blue Front, 5-27-17 - YouTube[/ame]

Sooo cute!

Wooooooooowwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!

The amazon parronts of this forum are ever so convincing in getting me to love amazons! This is cuteness overload to the point of making the site crash!

Her little erupting wing feathers now look like paint brushes. That video with the toy, too cute! "Big eagle, big eagle" They develop so fast, I really appreciate you sharing her growing up experience. She is, truly, adorable beyond words.

Ladyhawk said:

Inger said:

Beautiful! So interesting to me to watch how quickly they change at that age. Thanks for the pics!





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I've heard that parrotlets are like tiny Amazons and I wonder if you feel that's the case. Unfortunately, I've never had the opportunity to handle or work with them, but they are very cute and very smart based on the YouTube videos I've watched.

Click to expand...

I don't have any experience with Amazons, but I've read the same thing. They are outrageously cute and Bumble always amazes me with her intelligence [emoji846]


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