Do your birds like walks/good bonding idea?

[Kiwibird]

So my hubby got word this morning he's starting Thursday for a new job (YAY Joe!) so I will be home ALL day with Mr. Kiwi from now on. We used to have fairly opposing schedules in Arizona (he worked a lot of nights, I worked 9-5), but for the past 6 months since we moved, he's been home all day with me (I work completely from home now). Anyways, I think Kiwi is going to be sad he won't have his daddy around all day now (he's much more fond of Joe than he is me) and I want to start doing some fun things with him so he gets a little more friendly with me since we'll be alone together a lot more.

He used to LOVE coming outside in Arizona, though we never took him on walks since he's not allowed on shoulders. We lived in a gated apartment complex with a huge grass courtyard and no dogs, so I felt totally fine letting him run around in the grass (closely supervised, of course). Theres not really grass here, just woodland with mosses and stuff I'm unsure is safe for him. The local parks with grass have a lot of dog walkers, so for obvious reasons I'm not letting him run around in that grass. I've also seen a pair of hawks around the neighborhood, so my guess is they're nesting somewhere and I wouldn't put it past them to take a swipe at a bright green "snack". Anyways, I'm thinking a good solution as the weather warms up is taking Kiwi out in a carrier for walks in the woods and down to the little pond to see the ducks (he seems to adore the wildlife around here that congregates outside the window). I've kind of had my eye on this one-http://steelybird.com/products/hb1506l-black and the vendor says it has a shoulder strap, so I could carry it like a purse (and I'd like to support a PF supporting vendor if I can) I've seen the other types of carriers, but I don't think I want him strapped to my chest or to push him in a stroller. I don't want to be *too* conspicuous with him either. He's not particularly friendly towards new people (and you know how people are when they see a parrot out and about, they have a million questions), and the point of walks wouldn't be to show him off anyways. So after all that rambling, what do you think about using walks as a fun little "break" for both of us during the day to go out and enjoy some nature together? Do your birds enjoy walks? How do you think (for a bird that does love the outdoors) that would be as a positive bonding activity?

 

[Terry57]

I think that taking him out in that carrier is an awesome idea! Would be good exercie for you physically and for Kiwi mentally
I have no experience with this, but it sounds like a great idea to me!

 

[Birdman666]

I've got three that do, and two that don't.

Both macaws and my red lored love going out and about, and going for walks.

My CAG and my lilac crowned don't like being taken too far away from their comfort zone. They get nervous in strange places.

 

[SoCalWendy]

Rio loves to go to trader joes or Costco and ride on the cart. I always take a towel or something so she doesn't soil the cart. She has a blast and it give me an opportunity to educate people about parrots. These outings really helped us to bond.

 

[MomtoPercy]

I think that's a great idea, Kiwi!! Like you, I'm also not keen on the stroller idea but I like a "shoulderbag" - that way one could keep the fid close enough to offer encouragement and also shield him from curious fingers and faces pressed up against him. I will be watching this thread closely as I also want to try this with Percy.

I've taken him 'outside' three times now.
First, around Novemebr, we took him completely outside into the garden but in his cage (what a mission that was!) which terrified him. Thinking back, I'm sure that a big part of his fear was projecting OUR stress about his safety, etc.

But in the past week, I've taken him out onto our enclosed verandah's on my shoulder. He shuffled a bit closer into my neck but remained brave and very interested in all he was seeing. He 'commented' on the great big world all the time LOL! I'd love to get him at ease with going out doors for some mental enrichment and sunshine not filtered by glass.

We are going into winter now and I'm wondering what temp would be unsafe for our fids to be outside considering their wild habitat is so warm? Do you have any idea?

Lordy, I DO know how to hijack a thread and jabber on and on and on about Mr P, don't I? Sorry Strudel!! I will shut up now and just stalk this thread!

 

[Birdman666]

Rio loves to go to trader joes or Costco and ride on the cart. I always take a towel or something so she doesn't soil the cart. She has a blast and it give me an opportunity to educate people about parrots. These outings really helped us to bond.

NOW THAT WOULD BE MY RED LORED... Unfortunately, they are pretty strict in Texas about letting her do that. BUT in California she would go grocery shopping with me, and talked to interesting people walking by...

I even trained her to pay the cashier, either by taking a bill from my wallet and handing it to them, or by taking the card from my wallet...

She still occasionally "pays" when we go through the drive-through. She'll pull a bill out of my wallet, walk up my arm, and hand it to the person in the drive through window. THAT ONE tends to get some "interesting" reactions from people...

 

[Agapornis]

Birdman, that sounds so cute! If mine took any money out of my wallet, they'd just start tearing it up, lol.

Mine love to go on car rides on look out the window. Fiji loves walks, but hates the harness. So one of these days I will suck it up and get that birdy back pack i've seen online.

SocalWendy, Trader Joe's doesnt mind a bird in the store? That's great!

 

[SoCalWendy]

Birdman, that sounds so cute! If mine took any money out of my wallet, they'd just start tearing it up, lol.

Mine love to go on car rides on look out the window. Fiji loves walks, but hates the harness. So one of these days I will suck it up and get that birdy back pack i've seen online.

SocalWendy, Trader Joe's doesnt mind a bird in the store? That's great!

Neither store has never said anything to me.

 

[Kiwibird]

@ Birdman & Socal- I'm thinking Kiwi may enjoy a walk up into the woods or to a more open outdoor area with some wildlife he can watch and make noises at. I'm actually trying to think of places and ways to be non-obvious about him so people don't come over to see him:09:, but so he still gets some fresh air and new sights to see. I couldn't even imagine bringing him into a store with lot's of people! He's very "unfriendly" towards strangers, to say the least. Your birds must be very well behaved social babies to take them out in public like that. My Kiwi, on the other hand, would create a black mark against all parrot kind for sure in a social situation. We don't know too much about his prior homes, but someone somewhere along the way must've done something terrible to him and it shows. It took us a LONG time to prove our worthiness of his friendship and trust (especially me, he hates women). But I've always thought it was pretty cute to see the friendly, cheery parrots out and about. Maybe SOMEDAY Kiwi will soften up a bit and give some people other than Joe and myself a chance.

@Percy- It's probably a great idea to get him used to the great outdoors in the safety of a covered porch. While they won't drop dead, amazons really shouldn't be exposed to much under 65-68 degrees F.

 

[Birdman666]

Where I used to live in Norcal we had a hiking trail on the hillside quite literally in my back yard. I used to take all 11 birds for evening walks weather permitting...

Now I don't have that anymore. Their outside time generally is centered around the tree in my front yard, though my three main out and about birds still occasionally go for walks around the neighborhood, rides in the car, etc.

And Maggie always goes with me to the laundrymat, and usually goes with me to Starbucks, though here they make her stay outside. We set up her portable playstand, and it's our weekly 1 on 1 bonding time...

 

[Birdman666]

Birdman, that sounds so cute! If mine took any money out of my wallet, they'd just start tearing it up, lol.

It's a simple fetch trick. A corner of the bill sticks up so she knows which one to grab. She pulls it out, and hands it to the clerk. Same with the card. I just point to it.

She gets a bit upset if she doesn't get to do her trick! That's her job... just like a little kid!

The conures would have chewed it up. My macaws probably would. Sally, doesn't. She wants to give it to someone and get praise attention...

 

[Birdman666]

Oddly enough, when you take a dog for a walk, no one comes up to you and says... "Oh, I have a dog too. Do you want him?"

Taking parrots for walks?! I can't even begin to tell you how many times someone has come up to me and just tried to give away their bird... primarily aggressive macaws and amazons.

THAT AND TRIED TO GET ME TO WORK WITH THEIR BIRD, TRAIN IT FOR FREE, AND THEN GIVE IT BACK TO THEM...

 

[SoCalWendy]

@ Birdman & Socal- I'm thinking Kiwi may enjoy a walk up into the woods or to a more open outdoor area with some wildlife he can watch and make noises at. I'm actually trying to think of places and ways to be non-obvious about him so people don't come over to see him:09:, but so he still gets some fresh air and new sights to see. I couldn't even imagine bringing him into a store with lot's of people! He's very "unfriendly" towards strangers, to say the least. Your birds must be very well behaved social babies to take them out in public like that. My Kiwi, on the other hand, would create a black mark against all parrot kind for sure in a social situation. We don't know too much about his prior homes, but someone somewhere along the way must've done something terrible to him and it shows. It took us a LONG time to prove our worthiness of his friendship and trust (especially me, he hates women). But I've always thought it was pretty cute to see the friendly, cheery parrots out and about. Maybe SOMEDAY Kiwi will soften up a bit and give some people other than Joe and myself a chance.

@Percy- It's probably a great idea to get him used to the great outdoors in the safety of a covered porch. While they won't drop dead, amazons really shouldn't be exposed to much under 65-68 degrees F.

The only time Ive ever allow someone to actually handle her is at the bird store. Most people do not want to get bit, so they never have asked to touch her. They just ask questions. She will just sit there looking all pretty and preen herself or take a nap. She has learned to trust and depend on me when we are out, so it really strengthens our bond. If you really want your bird to bond with you, take them away to an unfamiliar area away from their cage and anything familiar. I did this because after about 6 weeks of her being with me I felt she was never going to bond. So I took her with me to run some errands. I was the one who was nervous the whole time. :09:

 

[Kiwibird]

@ Birdman & Socal- I'm thinking Kiwi may enjoy a walk up into the woods or to a more open outdoor area with some wildlife he can watch and make noises at. I'm actually trying to think of places and ways to be non-obvious about him so people don't come over to see him:09:, but so he still gets some fresh air and new sights to see. I couldn't even imagine bringing him into a store with lot's of people! He's very "unfriendly" towards strangers, to say the least. Your birds must be very well behaved social babies to take them out in public like that. My Kiwi, on the other hand, would create a black mark against all parrot kind for sure in a social situation. We don't know too much about his prior homes, but someone somewhere along the way must've done something terrible to him and it shows. It took us a LONG time to prove our worthiness of his friendship and trust (especially me, he hates women). But I've always thought it was pretty cute to see the friendly, cheery parrots out and about. Maybe SOMEDAY Kiwi will soften up a bit and give some people other than Joe and myself a chance.

@Percy- It's probably a great idea to get him used to the great outdoors in the safety of a covered porch. While they won't drop dead, amazons really shouldn't be exposed to much under 65-68 degrees F.

The only time Ive ever allow someone to actually handle her is at the bird store. Most people do not want to get bit, so they never have asked to touch her. They just ask questions. She will just sit there looking all pretty and preen herself or take a nap. She has learned to trust and depend on me when we are out, so it really strengthens our bond. If you really want your bird to bond with you, take them away to an unfamiliar area away from their cage and anything familiar. I did this because after about 6 weeks of her being with me I felt she was never going to bond. So I took her with me to run some errands. I was the one who was nervous the whole time. :09:

Oh, he's not afraid of strangers, he just hates them and will do what he can to hunt them down and hurt and/or terrorize them:52:. He can't fly, so he can't get very far with that, but he will do what he can to payback society for whomever wronged him. When we used to have him out in the courtyard, neighbors would come over to say hi to him, he would bust out his angry amazon display. You've never seen grown men jump back from such a small creature so quick in your life! He really does likes being outside, and before we lived here, he never came out in a cage or anything. He got to run around freely, just supervised. But he is not a "people-parrot".

What really seems to amuse him is making little noises at the birds and squirrels and cars He's actually pretty fearless for a parrot, nothing seems to scare him. I think we are a long ways away from Kiwi being sociable enough to really bring around strangers. What I more want to work on is a fun activity we can do together because he has been getting more trusting of me lately

@birdman- Who does that? Offers up their pet to a random stranger? I couldn't imagine being that bold......

 

[Birdman666]

@birdman- Who does that? Offers up their pet to a random stranger? I couldn't imagine being that bold......

I turned away more than I took in. Actually, 4 of the 8 amazons came to me this way. And I believe there were at least 3 macaws...

"Problem birds" are exactly that! And most folks don't work with them enough.

Zons that get cage bound and are rarely handled, become difficult to impossible to handle.

Macaws just flat get mad... when they don't get enough attention or out time. And they tend to take it out on "their people."

"Scream and pluck" toos are another one... "GET RID OF THAT THING!"

And here comes a guy who loves birds, whose birds behave like mine never did, obviously a better situation than the bird is in now... HEY, can I talk to you about rehoming my bird with you?!

And then there are the ones you are specifically asked to take... which was how I got Maggie and Lila... PLEASE these two need to go together, and they need a REAL bird home... especially that big red one!

It happened, probably, once every two months or so...

And then once with a macaw that bit the crap out of everyone - take him to your place, train him right, for free, then when he behaves the way my birds behave - GIVE HIM BACK.

Same with a red lored like my Sallybird... We were doing the shopping cart thing, and some guy comes up to me out of the blue. Says he has one of those. It doesn't behave like mine though. It bites the crap out of everyone - take him to your place, train him right, for free, then when he behaves the way my birds behave - GIVE HIM BACK.

Ummm... NO! Here's the deal, if I work with the bird, the bird will bond to me, and will STILL bite the crap out of you. If you are willing to do the work, you can bring the bird over, and I will teach you how to work with it... [Lost him right there! NOT WILLING TO DO THE WORK.]

 

[Birdman666]

The only time Ive ever allow someone to actually handle her is at the bird store.

One of the reasons I take mine out is to have them step up to strangers, and reinforce that training.

In fact, I frequently let people scratch my greenwing's head, with close supervision of course.

I can usually tell immediately by my bird's reaction if it's a good idea or not. I have never had anyone not respect the word "no touching."

Of course, I also carry a chunk of hardwood block that Maggie has bitten in half... I hand it to kids, and ask them to break it in half just so they see how hard it is. Then I hand it to Maggie. CRUNCH! CRACK!

POINT MADE!!!

With kids, I do the two fingers on the beak routine, while they scratch her head. No one is allowed to touch any of my other birds, except a handful of people who know them... Step up only.

 

[Birdman666]

What really seems to amuse him is making little noises at the birds and squirrels and cars He's actually pretty fearless for a parrot, nothing seems to scare him. I think we are a long ways away from Kiwi being sociable enough to really bring around strangers. What I more want to work on is a fun activity we can do together because he has been getting more trusting of me lately
.

One of the funniest things I have ever seen was my Red Fronted macaw stalking a squirrel. This was in a park in NorCal. Keep in mind, that this is hawk central, and they are terrified of birds...

I left the bird treats on the ground under the tree my birds were playing in. Well, the squirrel smells it and comes out after my little bag of nuts. And he is creeping up slowly and carefully on the bag... He is so focused on me, and the bag, that he doesn't look up.

Well, Sweepea sees him going after the bird treats, and stealthily makes her way to the end of a branch that sags to a point just behind the squirrel's tail...

THEN SHE LET OUT A FULL VOLUME MACAW SCREAM!!!

The squirrel just about jumped out of it's skin! And then ran off...

And Sweepea climbed back up the tree - LAUGHING!!!

ACTUALLY SAW THAT ONE COMING AND GOT A PICTURE OF IT...

 

[Birdman666]

@birdman- Who does that? Offers up their pet to a random stranger? I couldn't imagine being that bold......

Hey, you want to talk Same planet, Different worlds?!

My spoiled rotten amazon is doing her thing, riding on the handlebars of my shopping cart when we were at Lucky's one day... At the same time, someone was dumping a 35 year old BFA by the garbage! "Don't do that. I'll take her."

That BFA ended up being my MOST BONDED BIRD EVER!!! One man's trash, is another man's bird to be treasured...

My "head in the eye socket" bird.

 

[Kiwibird]

I turned away more than I took in. Actually, 4 of the 8 amazons came to me this way. And I believe there were at least 3 macaws...

"Problem birds" are exactly that! And most folks don't work with them enough.

Zons that get cage bound and are rarely handled, become difficult to impossible to handle.

Macaws just flat get mad... when they don't get enough attention or out time. And they tend to take it out on "their people."

"Scream and pluck" toos are another one... "GET RID OF THAT THING!"

And here comes a guy who loves birds, whose birds behave like mine never did, obviously a better situation than the bird is in now... HEY, can I talk to you about rehoming my bird with you?!

And then there are the ones you are specifically asked to take... which was how I got Maggie and Lila... PLEASE these two need to go together, and they need a REAL bird home... especially that big red one!

It happened, probably, once every two months or so...

And then once with a macaw that bit the crap out of everyone - take him to your place, train him right, for free, then when he behaves the way my birds behave - GIVE HIM BACK.

Same with a red lored like my Sallybird... We were doing the shopping cart thing, and some guy comes up to me out of the blue. Says he has one of those. It doesn't behave like mine though. It bites the crap out of everyone - take him to your place, train him right, for free, then when he behaves the way my birds behave - GIVE HIM BACK.

Ummm... NO! Here's the deal, if I work with the bird, the bird will bond to me, and will STILL bite the crap out of you. If you are willing to do the work, you can bring the bird over, and I will teach you how to work with it... [Lost him right there! NOT WILLING TO DO THE WORK.]

I do have to admit, we weren't really prepared for what we got into with Kiwi and he's been a lot of hard work and dedication. But even if he was more "difficult" than we expected, we still made the ultimate choice to bring him into our home, so we have the responsibility to work with him. When he was real vicious, I couldn't have imagined just walking up to a stranger and saying "please take this bird":11: It wasn't like I did have that split second thought as I nursed a bite wound, but I couldn't have actually done it. HOWEVER, the progress he's made in the past 6 years is astounding and rewarding to watch. He is not the same bird we brought home (in a good way), and deep down there somewhere is a parrot who can be friendly towards everyone We just aren't there YET. He actually took to my husband rather quickly, but I've had to put in 10X the effort to gain his trust (and I am, slowly but surely. He's actually taken to napping in my lap which is SO cute). Thats why I'm wanting to take this opportunity to do some more bonding experiences with him. However, he is definitely not ready to be trusted around strangers. In fact, we haven't found a person yet who isn't scared half to death of him when he does his flashy angry display (you know how amazons can be).

Anyways, I am thinking I will order him a carrier and start out with some short walks around the block during the midday when people are at work and kids are in school (i.e., not many people are out walking).

 

[Birdman666]

Frequently the novelty just wears off... and if you haven't formed the kind of bond that I have with my birds, they are just taking up space, loud, making messes, keeping you home when you want to stay out, biting... and well, just flat inconvenient...

And if someone else wants him [cuz I sure don't anymore] then great!

I have such mixed emotions about this one. If it's a bad situation, sometimes it honestly IS better to rehome, than to have them rot in a cage...

I WAS GIVEN all but one of mine...

AND AT ONE TIME I HAD 11 BIRDS, PLUS FOSTERS...

Like I said, it happens more often than you realize...

I've also had people try to "buy" Maggie off me... and that's happened more than a few times, and a couple of people were rather pushy about it...

NOT FOR SALE AT ANY PRICE! THAT WOULD BE LIKE SELLING MY KID!!!