Baby Broccoli

[onamom]

I just love this! I save all the crinkle paper from my boxes too. Great idea with the foraging box! And so glad he likes the cat toy!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

View attachment 53674

So, as I mentioned earlier, we signed up for squawk box for Broccoli and opted for the medium sized because we figured some of the toys would be ok for Kirby.

It was $35/mo for bundling 6mo, and boy I feel like it was a great deal! Our local stores carry nearly all of these toys (not the treat) and, besides the little piñata which wasn’t part of the box and was a freebie for signing up, I think most of these are $12 or more each. Maybe closer to $10 for the little ones like the block with sticks jammed in it, but still. $45-50 worth of toys plus a treat!

View attachment 53675

View attachment 53676

Both birds like the edamame! I think today whilst Brocc is out I’ll swap out some of his toys with the new one. He seems to get bored of them quickly, judging by the amount of shrieking he does at me every time I leave the room.

I love those pinata shreddy toy things with colorful streamers and so do my budgies judging from all the bits of tutti-fruiti colored paper in and around their cages!
I'd eat all their edamame myself.

 

[onamom]

View attachment 53678

On a somewhat related note; I’m entering a pet portrait contest with this watercolor-and-pencils portrait of Broccoli. Wish me luck! I don’t think I’ll win anything but it was a fun challenge.

Still not sure about his wing, watercolor on gesso’d wood panel is kind of tough, as all the pigment sits on top the board and it’s easy to accidentally obliterate details, but oh well.

This is amazing! Holy cow! I love it! Good luck! And let me know if you ever do commissions!

 

[ravvlet]

Tough day for Broccoli. In spite of the net, the fact that the windows are rather dingy, and one side even has a screen over it, Broccoli has hit the window a couple times. Today he flew off my shoulder (I think a noise startled him) and did it again and ended up on the floor, alert. He immediately flew back to me for reassurance, but this was his first time he’s really struck it and I am beside myself with worry!

He’s acting like nothing happened, but I put a rush order on Amazon for some more opaque window cling (as you can see, I already put some little cut out birds on it, but that doesn’t seem to do the trick!)

Edited to add - yes, I closed the curtain after this photo!

 

[LaManuka]

View attachment 53706

Tough day for Broccoli. In spite of the net, the fact that the windows are rather dingy, and one side even has a screen over it, Broccoli has hit the window a couple times. Today he flew off my shoulder (I think a noise startled him) and did it again and ended up on the floor, alert. He immediately flew back to me for reassurance, but this was his first time he’s really struck it and I am beside myself with worry!

He’s acting like nothing happened, but I put a rush order on Amazon for some more opaque window cling (as you can see, I already put some little cut out birds on it, but that doesn’t seem to do the trick!)

Edited to add - yes, I closed the curtain after this photo!

Oh don't you just HAAAAAAAAAATE that??? I have security grilles, flyscreens, opaque curtains and net curtains over all my windows but Lord help me if I inadvertently leave even a sliver of plain glass uncovered someone WILL find it and crash into it!! Poor baby Broccoli, @ravvlet I feel both of your pain and I hope he'll be ok!

 

[ravvlet]

Oh don't you just HAAAAAAAAAATE that??? I have security grilles, flyscreens, opaque curtains and net curtains over all my windows but Lord help me if I inadvertently leave even a sliver of plain glass uncovered someone WILL find it and crash into it!! Poor baby Broccoli, @ravvlet I feel both of your pain and I hope he'll be ok!

It’s so weird, because our cockatiel never ran into the glass at either of the houses we lived in, so I didn’t think I needed to do much of anything - I thought the bird stickers were overkill! But apparently in spite of playing on the rope net nearly every day and tapping the window to make fun noises, Broccoli still thinks he can fly through it!

 

[onamom]

View attachment 53706

Tough day for Broccoli. In spite of the net, the fact that the windows are rather dingy, and one side even has a screen over it, Broccoli has hit the window a couple times. Today he flew off my shoulder (I think a noise startled him) and did it again and ended up on the floor, alert. He immediately flew back to me for reassurance, but this was his first time he’s really struck it and I am beside myself with worry!

He’s acting like nothing happened, but I put a rush order on Amazon for some more opaque window cling (as you can see, I already put some little cut out birds on it, but that doesn’t seem to do the trick!)

Edited to add - yes, I closed the curtain after this photo!

Oh no! Ona has done this a couple of times too in the sunroom and she has gone into shock over it once. Which is horrifying! They act all paralyzed and it’s so awful. As long as he’s not in shock he should be ok. Can I ask what window screens you ordered? I have bird strike stickers but they fall off and sometimes aren’t enough.

 

[LeaKP]

View attachment 53674

So, as I mentioned earlier, we signed up for squawk box for Broccoli and opted for the medium sized because we figured some of the toys would be ok for Kirby.

It was $35/mo for bundling 6mo, and boy I feel like it was a great deal! Our local stores carry nearly all of these toys (not the treat) and, besides the little piñata which wasn’t part of the box and was a freebie for signing up, I think most of these are $12 or more each. Maybe closer to $10 for the little ones like the block with sticks jammed in it, but still. $45-50 worth of toys plus a treat!

View attachment 53675

View attachment 53676

Both birds like the edamame! I think today whilst Brocc is out I’ll swap out some of his toys with the new one. He seems to get bored of them quickly, judging by the amount of shrieking he does at me every time I leave the room.

Ours loves edamame too, although a grey not a broccoli bird.

 

[ravvlet]

Oh no! Ona has done this a couple of times too in the sunroom and she has gone into shock over it once. Which is horrifying! They act all paralyzed and it’s so awful. As long as he’s not in shock he should be ok. Can I ask what window screens you ordered? I have bird strike stickers but they fall off and sometimes aren’t enough.

I ordered sticker panels, so not technically screens, but they should hopefully cover the whole door:

DOWELL Window Privacy Film, Stained Glass Window Film, Rainbow Decorative Window Clings, Static Cling Window Sticker, Non-Adhesive Window Decals for Home UV Protection, 17.5 x 78.7 inches https://a.co/d/1T1v6OR

At the risk of sounding very silly indeed, I had hoped to avoid these opaque privacy films because I do love the view of the backyard from my office, and I know the boys love watching out the window as well. But I am not sure what else to do, as I really don’t want to risk a serious injury or death - we are so attached to this little fella.

 

[ravvlet]

This is amazing! Holy cow! I love it! Good luck! And let me know if you ever do commissions!

Haha, my partner is going back to in office work & my youngest starts school in two weeks, but once we are settled into a new schedule I am going to need to start looking into opening commissions again - I believe if I want to advertise here I’ll need to ask you guys about sponsorship stuff!

Thank you! Normally when I do bird wings I go fast and loose but I got caught up trying to put in every dang feather and it tripped me up, it was a good learning experience though and I’m really digging this gold acrylic paint as a background. Reminds me of gilt panels.

 

[ravvlet]

I love those pinata shreddy toy things with colorful streamers and so do my budgies judging from all the bits of tutti-fruiti colored paper in and around their cages!
I'd eat all their edamame myself.

I am so tempted to eat it. One of my fav snacks from the big Asian grocery outlet here is wasabi flavored edamame.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

View attachment 53706

Tough day for Broccoli. In spite of the net, the fact that the windows are rather dingy, and one side even has a screen over it, Broccoli has hit the window a couple times. Today he flew off my shoulder (I think a noise startled him) and did it again and ended up on the floor, alert. He immediately flew back to me for reassurance, but this was his first time he’s really struck it and I am beside myself with worry!

He’s acting like nothing happened, but I put a rush order on Amazon for some more opaque window cling (as you can see, I already put some little cut out birds on it, but that doesn’t seem to do the trick!)

Edited to add - yes, I closed the curtain after this photo!

Don't those cut out birds on the glass freak them out a bit? Like flying predators? I think that fear is hard-wired into their brains. Maybe that's why he gets startled? Why not put up cut out elephants or some other less bird- threatening critters? People cut-outs perhaps?

 

[onamom]

I ordered sticker panels, so not technically screens, but they should hopefully cover the whole door:

DOWELL Window Privacy Film, Stained Glass Window Film, Rainbow Decorative Window Clings, Static Cling Window Sticker, Non-Adhesive Window Decals for Home UV Protection, 17.5 x 78.7 inches https://a.co/d/1T1v6OR

At the risk of sounding very silly indeed, I had hoped to avoid these opaque privacy films because I do love the view of the backyard from my office, and I know the boys love watching out the window as well. But I am not sure what else to do, as I really don’t want to risk a serious injury or death - we are so attached to this little fella.

I have this struggle too. I mean I really don't want to cover every glass panel in my sunroom but Ona LOVES to go out there. She literally asks to go out there. Most of the time she is pretty good but she has had the couple of incidents. But every wall in there is floor to ceiling glass with screened doors behind it. So I don't want to cover it all and essentially not have a sunroom anymore. There isn't an easy way to hang things in there either.

Don't those cut out birds on the glass freak them out a bit? Like flying predators? I think that fear is hard-wired into their brains. Maybe that's why he gets startled? Why not put up cut out elephants or some other less bird- threatening critters? People cut-outs perhaps?

Surprisingly they do not bother Ona at all.

 

[ravvlet]

Don't those cut out birds on the glass freak them out a bit? Like flying predators? I think that fear is hard-wired into their brains. Maybe that's why he gets startled? Why not put up cut out elephants or some other less bird- threatening critters? People cut-outs perhaps?

Nope, he loves trying to peel them off if I’m not looking. It was one of the first things he did, haha!

 

[ravvlet]

Word to the wise - if you buy this stuff, unroll it in the yard for a bit. I got it because it’s adhesive free; it’s just a vinyl cling wrap, but it smelled way worse than I thought it would so I had the joy of installing it with fans going crosswise across the room to bring in fresh air and also push air through from the rest of the house. The smell was mostly when I removed the plastic backing; otherwise it only faintly smells of anything once it’s on. I bet if I’d known to unroll the dang thing and air it out it would have been a non issue.

Otherwise it was easy to install - literally just wet the window and then smash it on there - and I used an exact-o knife to cut the edges and around the suction cups for their rope net.

I do miss the view of my backyard - I spent the last few years working on it - but my desk faces the wall anyway, and I’d rather a live Broccoli than a nice view!

His highness is currently on my shoulder grumbling and grooming himself because I was an entire hour late letting him out, as it took me that long to do the window cling in between their out time turns!

 

[onamom]

View attachment 53737

Word to the wise - if you buy this stuff, unroll it in the yard for a bit. I got it because it’s adhesive free; it’s just a vinyl cling wrap, but it smelled way worse than I thought it would so I had the joy of installing it with fans going crosswise across the room to bring in fresh air and also push air through from the rest of the house. The smell was mostly when I removed the plastic backing; otherwise it only faintly smells of anything once it’s on. I bet if I’d known to unroll the dang thing and air it out it would have been a non issue.

Otherwise it was easy to install - literally just wet the window and then smash it on there - and I used an exact-o knife to cut the edges and around the suction cups for their rope net.

I do miss the view of my backyard - I spent the last few years working on it - but my desk faces the wall anyway, and I’d rather a live Broccoli than a nice view!

His highness is currently on my shoulder grumbling and grooming himself because I was an entire hour late letting him out, as it took me that long to do the window cling in between their out time turns!

View attachment 53738

Oh that looks really good actually! Better than I was expecting from the Amazon photo. Nice that it lets in light still.

 

[ravvlet]

Oh that looks really good actually! Better than I was expecting from the Amazon photo. Nice that it lets in light still.

Yeah, I was surprised, especially since I half-butted the install so there's a small gap between two panels. It's hardly noticable.

 

[ravvlet]

These are from a few days ago - what a goof!

The cling window stuff seems to be holding up - I honestly expected it to start falling off or something. Happy to be wrong. Still smells weird - that might be because we are enjoying yet another nasty spell of wildfire smoke, and the air quality is at 112, which is “unhealthy for sensitive groups”, so we have had to keep all the windows and doors shut for the birdies and dogs and cat.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

View attachment 53761
View attachment 53762

These are from a few days ago - what a goof!

The cling window stuff seems to be holding up - I honestly expected it to start falling off or something. Happy to be wrong. Still smells weird - that might be because we are enjoying yet another nasty spell of wildfire smoke, and the air quality is at 112, which is “unhealthy for sensitive groups”, so we have had to keep all the windows and doors shut for the birdies and dogs and cat.

I like the green and white splotchy nail polish! At first I thought it was bird poop! The green is a bit too bright but you're an artist- a little tinting and you could do them all like that have a really interesting look! It sure would have been a great way to discourage people from shaking your hands during the pandemic!

 

[ravvlet]

Been keeping an eye on little man’s chest feathers, because apparently if I don’t have other things to occupy myself with, I catastrophize about their health. I think this may however just be a very unflattering angle for him. It seems like the same couple spots have little grey floofs, but I don’t notice him grooming those areas particularly, and I know he definitely plays with his toys when I’m not in the room - he’s been digging toys out of his “toy box” I made out of paper in his cage and leaving them on the bottom.

He can also fly in his cage, which is cool. Really glad I got the biggest size I could fit. He likes to zoom from the bottom up to the top perches; I’ve never seen a bird fully utilize the horizontal space like he does.

Here’s another shot of him mid-fluff:

As you can see, when he fluffs and resettles his feathers he looks fine.

I finally scanned and submitted my painting for the competition! There are so many amazing entries, so I don’t expect much, but it was really fun to give it a shot.