Brazil Nuts and Respect

[Birdy916]

After watching my Alexandrine make short work of a Brazil Nut, i have a newly-found respect for his nippiness.

If he can get into a Brazil Nut like that, he COULD be tearing me to shreds instead of the now-dwindling nips I get...

Now that I know what he is capable of, I can see thru his day-to-day behavior that we are in fact becoming good friends.

I know theres harder nuts out there, but a like a walnut wouldnt even fit in his beak so I cant really compare to something like that, but brazil nuts are pretty dang tough to get into...

Anybody else have a Alexandrine or smaller bird like that who can get into an un-cracked brazil nut?

 

[MomtoPercy]

That's impressive! My BFA is still learning about nuts and can only crack pecan nuts by himself. I do believe though that is because they're his favourite

 

[Bundiibird]

My Alex Bundii loves Brazil nuts. She loves to crack them open and then feast on the lovely flesh inside. She also loves walnuts but again she is too small to crack them open for herself so my hubby usually starts them off for her and then she is right on her own.

I can too definitely vouch for the strength of their beaks. She makes minced meat of wood in her cage all the time. I would hate for that to my finger as I think she could easily break my fingers. She accidentally got me one day and the bottom part of her beak sliced my finger open and oh my I have never seen so much blood. Yuck.

At the moment though she will give up everything and anything for pomegranate. It is her absolute favourite......this week. Things tend to change fairly frequently with her but she is female so.....

 

[Betrisher]

Hah! Bundiibird, I got pomegranates for the birds just this week and they went mad for them! Even Dommie got stuck in and came out looking like a disreputable old vulture instead of a pillar-of-the-community in his middle years. I've been looking for a reasonably priced packet of nuts for their Christmas present and can't wait to see them enjoy it! I have no doubt whatsoever that Barn will be able to crack a walnut. After what he did to my hand the day I got him, I have every respect for that big red beak.

 

[Bundiibird]

Trish, I have found another Bundii favourite. It is dried pomegranates from the supermarket. I changed the dry food bowl today after our cage cleaning season and I mixed some of the dried seeds into her mix. There is currently food being flicked, scratched, chucked everywhere just to find the pomegranate.

I too have the respect for the red beak. I have never bled so much as the day Bundii accidentally got me. I moved my hand and she lost her balance and went to grab me but she only only my index finger. Well my entire hand was covered in blood my the time I got to the bathroom only a couple of metres away. I guess she got me in the right place but it was my fault so I don't blame her.

 

[GaryBV]

I have been giving my birds pomegrantes every day for a week and so far I've not seen them eat any of them, but I have found some on the bottom of the cage (well thru the wire bottom). I'm going to keep it up because I know they are full of vitamins - the only thing that annoys me is I can't afford them for MYSELF lol but I can afford one for them since it will last over a week

HEY you Aussies - how much are your pomengrantes going for? Cheapest I've seen ours is just recently at $2.50 (on sale) and $3.00 each but up to $5.00 a piece.

And Brazil nuts - i was surprised to see how they grow - they kinda grow in big balls and the individual brazil nuts all fit togther like the individual segments of an orange. There was a rodent that was instrumental in eating them and I believe is solely responsible for their propagation. Nature is so amazing. some years ago I had been very lucky to spend a month in the Brazilian Amazonas and was able to see everything from wild macaws and amazons, to crocodiles, tapirs, and a very unusual white dolphin that lives in the Amazon River.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE6XUcq4g38"]The Agouti and the Brazil Nut - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Bundiibird]

Gary, our fresh pomegranates are around A$2 mark. The bag of dried seeds around A$6 for 100gm from memory.

 

[GaryBV]

So although cheaper, not exactly cheap for you either - thx Bundi

 

[henpecked]

You should grow your own, I have a friend who grows them in coastal NC. She would give me the small onesthat no one wanted, the zons went crazy on them. (be careful if you have nice white walls) I'm going to look for some trees. I think they can be grown in many places.

 

[Betrisher]

Wow! Isn't it just great to belong to such a forum where every member is brilliant???

So many ideas and so many great stories - it keeps me busy every day. LOL!

Bundii, where do you get your dried pomegranates from? I mean, which aisle? Dried fruits, exotic foods, health foods? I must get some yesterday, 'cause the Beaks are just lovin' their pomegranates and, wouldn't ya know it, there's no more to be had. Buggerit!

The day I got Barney and Madge, I was in a hurry to get them out of the carry cage and into the proper one before evening fell. Madgie hopped onto my hand without a worry, but Barn was a nuisance and kept avoiding me. So, I had to grab him. That was my mistake right there: Barn doesn't do grabbing. So, he bit into the fleshy part of my index finger and ground his bill from side to side while I yowled and rushed to get him into his cage. By the time I'd done that, a piece of flesh about a centimetre across was sticking up about a centimetre above my finger. He'd balled up the flesh in his bill and then pulled it out so his upper and lower beaks met inside my finger. I nearly fainted, but not quite. I just managed to croak at the kids 'Get Dad!' before I sat down abruptly on the floor. Today, there's only the faintest diamond-shaped mark to show where Barn bit me. Whew! I've been bitten by all sorts of birds and animals in my time, but NOTHING comes close to that one! I'd just like to add that Barney has never bitten me since that one time. Nips, yeah, every day, but no bities: Barney loves his Muvver.

 

[Betrisher]

Gary, I paid A$2.99 for my one pomegranate. Hubby thought I was mental, especially since I wasn't about to share it around with the family. LOL! Family can eat apples, right?

Brazil nuts aren't the only amazing ones. Most nuts have very interesting growth habits if you look into them. I bet few Australian kids would have a clue that peanuts grow under the ground! I used to keep my horse at a local stableyard where there was an enormous macadamia tree. We used to ride under the tree and see who could grab the most ripe nuts. Yummo! Maccas are just the best of 'em all! They're so expensive, though, you only get to eat them at Christmas (hastens to Chrissie shopping list to add macadamias).

Gee, I envy you your trip up the Amazon. That's been my dream since I was a tiny child and first heard about the amazing animals and birds in it. The other one was the Galapagos Islands. I read about those in 'The Voyage of the Beagle' (Charles Darwin) when I was eleven. Now that's a book every person who loves animals should read! It's the journals Darwin kept on his journey around the world as a young man. It chronicles all the new and fascinating creatures he encountered and you can virtually see his mind clicking over as the theory of natural selection crystallises in his head.

What was it like, seeing an Amazon Dolphin??? How amazing! Did you have to hunt for it, or are they easy to find and see? Sigh... there's a whole wide world of amazing creatures out there and I'd like to meet every single one of 'em!

 

[Betrisher]

Henpecked, you are so right! I've got a few seeds soaking to see if they might germinate. I'll let you know if it works.

 

[Bundiibird]

Trish, they are with the dried fruits at Woolies. I always spend heaps of time browsing this section I case there is something new I can give Bundii. Hubby thinks I am mad.

 

[Betrisher]

Bundii, that'll be two of us then. (ie. with the mad hubbies) To be fair, I suppose it takes a very special man to stay married to a crazy old bird lady such as my good self.

I gave my lot some chopped mixed nuts this morning and they're all silent (for now) as they rummage about picking them out from among their pellets. The Lovies are particularly funny, as they keep landing on top of each other to get to the bowls.

 

[Birdy916]

Hmm, my birds dont really go for pomegranite, and Im kinda thankful they dont because they make enough of a mess with stuff that WONT stain my carpets.... i really dont want pomegranite flung all over the place anyways.

 

[GaryBV]

Gary, I paid A$2.99 for my one pomegranate. Hubby thought I was mental, especially since I wasn't about to share it around with the family. LOL! Family can eat apples, right?

Brazil nuts aren't the only amazing ones. Most nuts have very interesting growth habits if you look into them. I bet few Australian kids would have a clue that peanuts grow under the ground! I used to keep my horse at a local stableyard where there was an enormous macadamia tree. We used to ride under the tree and see who could grab the most ripe nuts. Yummo! Maccas are just the best of 'em all! They're so expensive, though, you only get to eat them at Christmas (hastens to Chrissie shopping list to add macadamias).

Gee, I envy you your trip up the Amazon. That's been my dream since I was a tiny child and first heard about the amazing animals and birds in it. The other one was the Galapagos Islands. I read about those in 'The Voyage of the Beagle' (Charles Darwin) when I was eleven. Now that's a book every person who loves animals should read! It's the journals Darwin kept on his journey around the world as a young man. It chronicles all the new and fascinating creatures he encountered and you can virtually see his mind clicking over as the theory of natural selection crystallises in his head.

What was it like, seeing an Amazon Dolphin??? How amazing! Did you have to hunt for it, or are they easy to find and see? Sigh... there's a whole wide world of amazing creatures out there and I'd like to meet every single one of 'em!

Well $2.99 for a pomengrante (we grew up here calling them Indian Apples lol) is defintely not cheap - I was thinking you all down there would be getting them for about a buck. I know that you all get mangos very cheap but only this year for the first tjme I did see them in the middle of summer for $1 each - that was new.

I can't even imagine getting macadaminans from a tree lol - that would be amazing. And you're right - they are very expensive. We live on 10 acres here in southwestern Pennsylvania, and we have quite a few Butternut trees growing on the property although we don't harvest them, the squirrels certainly do.

I have certainly seen quite a few documentaries on the Galapagos Islands and I share your interest in them.

Ah my trip to Amazonas. It was not a river trip, in that I flew into Manuas - a city deep in the jungle on the river Negro (Black River) - we coudn't land right away because there were crocs on the runway - so those had to be cleared. Manaus is very close to the Amazon - the Rio Negro is black from tannin in the decomposing leaves, whereas the Amazon is very brown and murky, and although 1,000 miles up from the sea - it is 5 miles across! - but the rivers meet and this is what it's like:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0hS0uwMmfE"]Meeting of the Waters, Manaus, Brazil's #1 - YouTube[/ame]



The waters do not mix for miles and miles and it is a very famous spot. I was travelling to an Native Indian village when we came across the Amazon Dolphin - it was just luck that we saw it, I would not say they are easy to find or see, it was just being at the right place at the right time. I was very lucky to see quite a few animals while I was there, from very large lizards that were green and brown, to all kinds of birds, insects, tapirs. There were paranhas in the water so I would never go into it, but there were also these nasty fish that would enter your body cavity (either back or front) and lodge up there - once I heard about those you better believe I stayed out of the water.

Did anyone tell the Amazon swimmer about the candirú? | piran café

I do have to say one thing though, this was jsut before the days of digital cameras and I had bought this awesome 35mm Minolta, along with lead lined bags to protect my film. I took so many pictures (I had also continued on to Rio - my favorite city in the world). When I got home I dropped all the film off to be developed AND THEY LOST THEM - I DON'T HAVE A SINGLE PICTURE FROM THAT TRIP!!!!!!!!! And there was not a darn thing I could do about it. Imagine THAT.

 

[Betrisher]

Wow! You are one lucky guy! Not so much about the film, though. What a shame! Still, you had the trip and have the memories, which is more than most people do. I'm a bit of a tragic fan of Jeremy Wade and found out about candiru on one of his programs ('River Monsters'). Euuuww! No way you'd catch me a-swimmin' in the Amazon!

 

[GaryBV]

Henpecked, I would LOVE to grow pomengranates - but I think they are out of reach in my area that regularly gets temperatures below 0F during winter - but I can see that North Carolina can grow them. I'm currently trying to grow persimmons (not having a lot of luck, but both trees are surviving, and I also planted two Pawpaw trees a couple years ago and they are starting to shoot up - I have never ate a pawpaw, and I never see the fruit for sale, but I want to try them badly lol. Why can't every fruit tree grow like our mulberry trees?

 

[henpecked]

I guess i'm lucky to live in S Fla now, i grow so many different things to feed the parrots. I haven't tried the pomegranates yet but i'm looking for trees, LOL. I must have more than 20 fruit trees now. plus i grow everything from peanuts to sunflowers and a 1 acre garden.