Funny conure stories

[AkridChaos]

Difficult to think of just one story to tell, our birds just do so many crazy things that make us laugh daily. I guess if I had to choose one, the one that made me laugh the most happened about a week ago.

I was playing with Lily and her bell on the chair. I have little balls and toys scattered around on the chair that she either picks up and swings her head around with while tweeting away, or headbutts (not peck, big difference) and chases off the edge of the chair. Well Warbeak decided he was bored with my shoulder and climbed down to the chair, because one of the whicker balls caught his attention. He grabbed it with his foot and was chewing on it, all the while back turned to Lily. I continued play with Lily. Well the little goofball, she assumes that because Warbeak is on the chair, he’s something to play with too! She was twittering around all happy, smacking toys around, then out of nowhere, runs up and headbutts Warbeak in the wing, and ran so fast to the edge of the chair and flew off. Warbeak whipped around so fast with such a funny look of disbelief on his face as if to ask “Did she really just do that? No way!!!” Here he has that look on his face, and Lily comes running back in sight to the edge of her cage staring at him, with that little spunky look of hers (feathers slightly puffed up, head bobbing as she tweets, and the mischievous glint in her eye). She knew what she was doing. It was just so ridiculous that I couldn’t help but bust out laughing, and to top it all off, Warbeak looks at me and starts laughing himself. It was the first time he ever laughed. Of course it only made me laugh harder.

 

[Paulp1]

My now ex wife and I got Indy about 5 years ago. He was fully flighted but my ex decided to keep his wings clipped. We split up a couple of years later and I decided to let his feathers grow out again but by that time he had had to relearn how to fly.

Once he got in the air he did alright but take offs were real difficult. You could tell when he was trying because he would scrunch down and quickly stretch out. Like that would magically get him into the air without flapping his wings.

One day he was on a perch and was attempting to fly. Wings flapping furiously. His whole body bobbing from low to complete stretch. Unfortunately it doesn't work unless he lets go of the perch but he made a valiant effort and ended up hanging upside down from the perch. It took time and he is now an excellent flyer

 

[yuko]

this is about my gcc yuko
Yuko was still exploring at the time, just running around. He likes to run around places. If he can run there without flying, then he will! It's funny because he can't keep going though. He will run a bout and then fall on his face. Get up, run fall, repeat. Anyways, he was being all cute and running around on the couch. He decided to roll over, but when he rolled over he rolled right off the couch xDDD it kept me laughing for a really long time while he just sat there with his feathers all the way flat squeaking in confusing xD another time he was peering through the crack between the cough and the ottoman, which was fairly small since on this day we pushed them almost right next to each other. the crack was so small that it was pitch black down there. he walked up t the edge of the ottoman and stuck his head down to see... but he stretched his neck too far and fell right in! we had to move the ottoman to get him out but it was pretty funny xD
i love my little boy c: (we haven't had a dna test so im not sure but we're pretty sure hes a boy..)

 

[yuko]

I only give my conure Tazzy seed mix outside his cage as a treat once a day. He was on an all seed diet for eight years at the pet store and he's a seed junkie. So now that he only gets it once a day, he takes a bath in his water bowl and then literally rolls in his seed mix which sticks to his soaking wet feathers. Apparently he's trying to "save some for later" back in his cage This photo is pretty mild, after just one roll in the seed bowl, it gets worse than that sometimes hehe This is a regular daily activity for him, I have no idea why.

aw i can't see the photo :c sounds cute though!

 

[yuko]

I decided it was time to do some clicker training with my little cinnamon, Kiwi.

*****
For those of you not familiar with initially "loading" the clicker, the first training session with your pupil should go something like this:

click/click ... give treat
click/click ... give treat
click/click ... give treat

Repeat this process until your "littah grasshoppah" immediately brightens up and looks to you with anticipation for a treat as soon as s/he hears the 'click/click'.

At that point you know the clicker is "loaded" and you are ready to go.

Depending upon the species & breed, it can take quite a few times & sometimes multiple sessions (like horses - lol) before the light goes on and the association is made between the clicker and getting a treat.
*****

Anyway...

This is how my first session went with Kiwi.

Me:
Click/Click ... Sunflower Seed
(I Wait for her to finish eating)
Click/Click ... Sunflower Seed
(I Wait for her to finish eating)
Click/Click ... Sunflower Seed
(I Wait for her to finish eating)
Click/Click ... Sunflower Seed
(I Wait for her to finish eating)
Click/Click ... Sunflower Seed


(I start waiting and ...)


KIWI eagerly eats half of the seed, throws down the rest... looks at me while bobbing her head:

"CLICK CLICK"



[Then I die of laughter!]
________________________


Clicker Loaded!

Oh, and yes... there is MORE.


She LOVES dried Mango pieces. But instead of just offering her mango, I decided to put dried papaya, a few nibbles of popcorn nutriberries, a couple blueberry yogurt covered sunflower seeds, and some peanut pieces into the mix - intending to rotate the treat a bit so she wouldn't know exactly which treat she was going to get (she likes them all).

So this is how it goes down... (Note: I am skipping the parts where I asked her to do something and just showing how she reacted to the click/treat).


Me:
Click/Click Dried Mango Bite
(Kiwi eagerly chows down some Mango deliciousness)

Me:
Click/Click Dried Mango Bite
(Kiwi eagerly chows down some Mango deliciousness)

Me:
Click/Click Dried Papaya Bite
- Kiwi looks at me like, Wait... Whaaaa?

Kiwi:
Rejects the Papaya
"Click/Click"


Me (laughing):
Offers Popcorn Nutriberry


Kiwi:
Picks up Popcorn Nutriberry and tosses it aside.
"Click/Click"


Me (laughing harder):
Offers Blueberry Yogurt Covered Sunflower Seed


Kiwi:
Grabs said Blueberry Yogurt Sunflower Seed and THROWS it DOWN...
Gives me a bit of a glare and ...

"CLICK! CLICK!"


... I gave her the Mango.

i couldn't help but giggle as i read this hahaha XD

 

[Misssuissie]

Traveling by car

Has anyone traveled extensively by car with their conure? We have a 25 year old free flight darling. It’s time for us to travel and the bird would be heart broken for us to leave him behind. Any suggestions? Air bnb or hotels? You know these birds tend to have a bigger than life personality.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Wellllllllllllllll...

Some 15 years ago, I moved from New Mexico to Ohio, driving, with the Rb in my passenger seat, and our dog and cat in the backseat. My ol' man drove the UHaul. The bird was too loud to stay in a motel, so I slept in the car with him while the rest of the family enjoyed the room.

If your little guy is quiet enough, sure... take him along. In any event, it'll make a good story! And I want to hear it.

Just get him used to the travel cage/crate, of course. And be super-paranoid about the free flight thing. What a nightmare if he got loose...

 

[LeslieA]

Daytona, Sun, and Sir Lancelot, GCC, are BFFs. Daytona loves to wrestle. When he does, he rolls onto his back and Sir Lancelot sees his chance! He jumps onto Daytona's tummy and starts biting him. Sir Lancelot wins!!! This happens every single day and Daytona still hasn't figured why a smaller bird beats a bigger bird.

 

[LeslieA]

Re: Traveling by car

Has anyone traveled extensively by car with their conure? We have a 25 year old free flight darling. It’s time for us to travel and the bird would be heart broken for us to leave him behind. Any suggestions? Air bnb or hotels? You know these birds tend to have a bigger than life personality.

When my mother got cancer and decided to move to Houston, TX, we all travelled every weekend until I moved down there. I warned the hotel owner (found on a pet- friendly- hotel site) about all my fids. My fids looked forward to hotel stays so quickly. The funeral was only a day's drive and we all spent a couple of nights with a family member. I think my fids were disappointed that we didn't go to the hotel!

Make sure the hotel accepts birds. Warn them how many animals and call them, again, several days before you leave to be sure the place understands! I found one place that would accept up to three 80lb dogs but wouldn't accept my birds! Make sure you call a couple of weeks before then a few days before for your own peace of mind.
It usually costs either $15/pet/night or a flat fee for the entire stay. Before reserving a room make sure that fee is understood and agreed on by all!

 

[LeslieA]

Re: Traveling by car

I don't even want to tell you about our international travel experiences!

 

[ShatteredChaos]

Cuddles, my Cockatiel, loves to sing. One time he was singing, nice and loud. Munchie walked over to the closest side of her cage to his, and SCREAMED. Just once, but very loud. Cuddles quickly went silent, haha. She must not like his voice!

 

[LeslieA]

Re: attacking bird please help

ok I bought my nanday conure 1 years ago out the paper for my 4 year old daughter birthday present who is 5 now. The Nanday lived with a man all her life (4 years),and now that she is at my house she will bite everybody BUT my husband. Any other male who tries to touch her she will try and bite. Our fingers can go NOWHERES near the cage or she will bite down forcefully. We let her out ONCE to fly around the house , she landed on my shoulder and started attacking my ear. Nobody handles her BUT MY HUSBAND , they have a bond , she whisles when he does, she bobs her head when he does , she makes water noises when he drinks from cups , he is the only one who can clean her cage and interact with her...I really wanted her as a FAMILY PET ,any advice as to how to start "taming" her??? We will keep her regardless , but it would be soooo much nicer if she was a sweet loveable bird!

This is not the thread for this, but at the risk of hijacking this thread, I will respond.

Conures are not FAMILY PETS. They are single person birds meaning they bond with one person, animal or object. That this bird has chosen your husband as a mate is no surprise, especially considering its previous experience was with a male.

Additionally, you must be careful rehoming any bird. Not to be insulting, but research would have prepared you for this. Birds are not domesticated animals with particular instincts bred out and specific behaviors bred in.

Conures, especially aratingas can be difficult. Please feel free to ask for help and support.

 

[Squeeing_Onion]

My new baby, Bongo, has been surprising me every day with the novelty of young parrot antics. (She's four years old, and to me who is used to being around birds in their teens and twenties, she's soooooo young!!)

Yesterday was a really funny one.

She was sitting on her rope perch outside her cage, then looked at me, and walked sideways to a wooden bead that had previosuly been ignored, sitting atop the cage.

She picked it up in her beak, waddled back to her spot, then transferred it from beak to foot.

Cue Bongo looking down at the bead, then at me, then still staring at me, abruptly stuck her leg waaaaaaaaaaay out - and began waving it back and forth slowly!

She waved it about 15-20 times, I was laughing so hard I couldn't even think to grab my clicker and try to capture the action with a command to maybe get lucky and start teaching her to do it as a trick.

So. Cuuuute!!

 

[0570]

We had a repairman over to fix a kitchen appliance. He claimed to be a bird lover, always had birds himself, he's great with birds, etc.

Okay, well, since he's okay with birds, there's no need for me to keep them locked in their cage while he's working, right?
I open the cage, the smallest of my two conures takes off at full speed towards the repairman, lands on his shoulder, ****s on his shoulder and flies straight back to the cage.

I was at a loss for words and didn't have the heart to tell the guy he had a bird-**** streak from his shoulder to his lower back.

 

[akalabeth]

When my White-eyed escaped it took a while until we found him. He was over a roof of a small building.

We tried calling him but he was frozen there. While we were calling one neighbor showed up on her window and asked.

- Is it yours?
- Yeah
- All three of them?
- What? Three? Only him
- There was two others with him a while ago. I thought that he was a cub and was learning to fly.

We saw that couple passing towards us while we are trying to find him. It's funny because he started to make a cell phone sound that only he knows how to do and that's how we found him. I guess that the wildlings gave him a tip.

 

[Laurasea]

When you are in the mood for snuggles.

And your man isn't....

 

[Squeekmouse]

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! Soooooo cute!

 

[LaManuka]

Everybody ... 1 .. 2 .. 3 .. awwwwwwwwwwww!!

 

[Laurasea]

Thank you ladies! When I read the sad stories, these cuties make me smile again.

 

[satocho]

Re: attacking bird please help

Conures are not FAMILY PETS. They are single person birds meaning they bond with one person, animal or object.

This doesn't seem to be the case with golden (AKA Queen of Bavaria) conures--probably because they nest and breed in family groups. Numerous keepers of goldens will attest to this. But of course, they are not Aratingas (and based on recent genetic studies are gradually being pushed toward the macaw group).