Please Welcome Our New Baby Greenwing

[RavensGryf]

Joe, you had me nearly chewing my fingernails as I read about the mob guys coming in the store haha! Thanks for the story

I tend to agree that real problem behaviors are usually built up over time and either enforced or not corrected right away. I like to "try" to nip things in the bud before they become out of hand.

 

[GW.Joe]

Yep, the more she gets to know us the more things she tries. At this point Karen gets all the love and I get any pinches she wants to deal out (though most of the time she's still very sweet with me.)

What do you do when she pinches you? Ours seems to do that more to Joe Jr. than me or Rissa (although it is VERY mild, barely leaving a mark)

As my Zon was with Rissa, this Mac seems to treat her the most gentle out of all of us, it's like she knows Rissa is the small softer one of us
(it is kinda creepy seeing her whole beak around Rissa's delicate little wrist)

She never puts any pressure on Rissa in any way, Ever
Me she puts pressure on but never marks
(I am the mommy bird, Rissa is the love bird)

She always wants to be with me, her head right in my neck
she cries for me and sometimes will not go to Rissa if we are near each other, If I am not near by she always wants Rissa

I 2nd M&D BirdFarm...We got Phoenix there and Tabitha was great and easy to deal with, We to were also impressed by the staff and the store. I've called them with some questions after we brought him home and the service after the sale was also impressive to me. Great looking bird you got there BTW.

Hi, Welcome to the Forum!! Saw your baby over on your thread, VERY Sweet !!

So you are in the Adirondacks? I guess you had baby shipped? What is his hatch date?
So Glad to have another COUSIN !!

Joe, you had me nearly chewing my fingernails as I read about the mob guys coming in the store haha! Thanks for the story

I tend to agree that real problem behaviors are usually built up over time and either enforced or not corrected right away. I like to "try" to nip things in the bud before they become out of hand.

Aww thanks Julie, I don't tell most of the stories from back then, it was a "different" time LOL

When I was 13 I got a job working for Tommy Giordano at his 9th & Washington ave. fruit stand in south Philly, I was a "fruit bagger" and as such I was not allowed to let the customers touch the fruit (I had to do the bagging myself) Well one day a man grabbed the bag out of my hand and said he wanted to do it himself, Tommy made a look at me and I took the bag back and told the guy I had to do it, the man gave me a lite smack on the face and took the bag back and continued to bag the fruit

Tommy came around from the back of the stand and grabbed him by the neck and pulled a large automatic out whispering to him that he should "blank expletive blank blank expletive him for smacking a kid"

The guy was scared to DEATH, Tommy put it back in his holster and calmly walked back around the other side of the stand. I watched in complete SHOCK as the guy walked less than 6 feet away to a Philly Cop that was standing there the whole time with his back to us

The guy started freaking out saying how Tommy pulled a gun on him etc etc... With my own eyes I watched and heard as a Philly Cop in uniform said "I'm sorry sir, he is a respected member of the community, he would never do that"

Ha Ha Ha!! Sure....

I just Googled him, looks like we lost him in 1996, at the time I was working to help my mother make ends meet (1972), his wife Dolly would send me home every night with a banana box of fruit or crabs etc it really helped feed me and my brothers

Gaetano Giordano, S. Phila. Vendor, Ex-city Councilman - Philly.com

And that is the last one I am going to tell

DNA IS ON ITS WAY..... YAY !!

 

[RavensGryf]

Thanks for the story Uncle Joe I'll be waiting here every night for more of your exciting adventure stories! Haha, ok no more.

CAN'T WAIT FOR DNA RESULTS!!!! Now that REALLY has me on the edge of my seat here!! Honestly I have no idea, I can't even make a guess.

 

[Birdman666]

Yep, the more she gets to know us the more things she tries. At this point Karen gets all the love and I get any pinches she wants to deal out (though most of the time she's still very sweet with me.)

Yep! That is exactly what happens. But when they test, and the boundaries remain, they just say "those are my boundaries" and then for the most part they quit pushing them...

To some extent, the more you give, the more they push.

When they push, turn it into a game. Then they start playing and forget all about pushing...

Pinching is going to happen. That's not biting. You just tell the bird that was too hard, and push the beak away. Pinching shouldn't draw blood.

 

[Birdman666]

Joe, today I was able to load all the vids (one with much difficulty) but it was so worth it! Vids were all AMAZING! Wow. "She" is so incredibly intelligent... That level of trust on her part is so amazing- she is practically human. Doing things they'd never do in the wild, and feeling completely natural about it.

In the wild, they do this with each other. In captivity, they let us see a side of them that is extraordinary, and that we would never even imagine existed if we didn't experience it for ourselves....

And then people roll their eyes at you, as if you were making this up.

Uuumm... NO!

 

[GW.Joe]

CAN'T WAIT FOR DNA RESULTS!!!! Now that REALLY has me on the edge of my seat here!! Honestly I have no idea, I can't even make a guess.

I know, We are SO excited to find out !!!
She was so calm taking the sample, I think it bothered me way more than her, I really HATE doing it
Just a very small clip, like 1/8 inch, much less than it normally takes (I think cause she is so young the blood was much closer to the tip) and she made slight grumble

To take the sample I put her on the T stand, didn't have to towel her, which I figured would just add way more trauma, I tried holding her toe to make sure she would let me without squirming, got the styptic, flour & corn starch ready, gave her the small clip, held two of the sample cards under her toe, got a drop of blood on each card and then dipped her toe in a spoon of flour pressing it, flour didn't seem to work so good so I tried the corn starch and it worked GREAT

She was not mad or upset and got the Lovins under my chin for the next half hour

Tracking says it left Philly yesterday!!

Pinching is going to happen. That's not biting. You just tell the bird that was too hard, and push the beak away. Pinching shouldn't draw blood.

That's what we do EVERY time, I think she gets it!!

Joe, today I was able to load all the vids (one with much difficulty) but it was so worth it! Vids were all AMAZING! Wow. "She" is so incredibly intelligent... That level of trust on her part is so amazing- she is practically human. Doing things they'd never do in the wild, and feeling completely natural about it.

In the wild, they do this with each other. In captivity, they let us see a side of them that is extraordinary, and that we would never even imagine existed if we didn't experience it for ourselves....

And then people roll their eyes at you, as if you were making this up.

Uuumm... NO!

I know, But it is hard to believe unless to see it with your own eyes !!
( We will help change that with a bunch YouTube Video )

 

[ADKCatalina]

Joe,

He was hatched 2/8/14 and yes we did have him shipped, After we were down that way visiting a friend and stopped into the store we decided to get one from them. We do live in the Adirondack's....We are about 20 mins from Canada. I am originally from down south and my wife is from up here. We moved back up here in '13 after my father passed away as I have no more family left down south. I see your in PA, How do parrots fare in the winter months in the NE. I'm prepared to keep it warm just wondering how warm.

 

[Birdman666]

Joe,

He was hatched 2/8/14 and yes we did have him shipped, After we were down that way visiting a friend and stopped into the store we decided to get one from them. We do live in the Adirondack's....We are about 20 mins from Canada. I am originally from down south and my wife is from up here. We moved back up here in '13 after my father passed away as I have no more family left down south. I see your in PA, How do parrots fare in the winter months in the NE. I'm prepared to keep it warm just wondering how warm.

As a general rule you want to keep it above 55. I would set the thermostat at around 65.

 

[thekarens]

When Zoe pinches she gets told "NO" very firmly and I distract her with a toy. If she insists on continuing she gets a time out in her cage.

 

[ADKCatalina]

Thanks Birdman, That will not be an issue we heat with wood so we usually keep it around 70 to 74 in the house when it gets -30 here in the Winter. I've noticed the last few days with it being 75 to 80ish he seems to try and migrate towards the A/C unit...I dunno if he is trying to play with the damn thing or cool off because the house isn't hot at all. I think he just likes gliding around the house, We have an old 1890's Farm House and the floor plan is quite open with large door ways so he glides around and then when he makes his way down to the floor all we hear is step up, step up.

 

[GW.Joe]

Joe, He was hatched 2/8/14 and yes we did have him shipped, After we were down that way visiting a friend and stopped into the store we decided to get one from them. We do live in the Adirondack's....We are about 20 mins from Canada. I am originally from down south and my wife is from up here. We moved back up here in '13 after my father passed away as I have no more family left down south. I see your in PA, How do parrots fare in the winter months in the NE. I'm prepared to keep it warm just wondering how warm.

Wow, so he is about two weeks older than our baby!!

As Mark said I wouldn't go much below 70 most of the time in the house

I don't know how long they can be outside in the cold, but I have been following this Norwegian woman as she teaches her macs free flight in winter

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ml3pvUAhgtg"]Greenwing macaw free flying in the winter! - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZJGu-eOgdA"]Free flying greenwing macaw Rayray 9 month old on christmasday in Norway. - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8iDeUT6nUM"]Blue and gold macaw Nelly & greenwing macaw Rayray free flying level1 in Norway 2013 - YouTube[/ame]

When Zoe pinches she gets told "NO" very firmly and I distract her with a toy. If she insists on continuing she gets a time out in her cage.

Same here, Insistence = timeout, sad for all those parrots with weak parents that end up stuck in the cage because of human fear or bad parenting

And you know what, the timeout is never more than 5 minutes or so !!We call it re-booting the bird LOL

 

[thekarens]

Zoe is never more than 5 minutes too. I don't think your point gets through if you leave them in too long. I just want her to relate pinching with "time out." Recently we've had to start the same thing with her flying to the finch cage. She's fascinated with them, but of course it gives them a heart attack when she lands on their cage.

 

[Birdman666]

Zoe is never more than 5 minutes too. I don't think your point gets through if you leave them in too long. I just want her to relate pinching with "time out."

Exactly. They have to associate it with the bad behavior. Otherwise, it becomes "the person is just acting all mad at me again... moody b@#*%!" And the behavior doesn't improve...

It's like the important step in the screaming protocols is the one nobody does. As soon as the bird quiets down, you uncover the front AND PRAISE HIM for being quiet... so he associates being covered with "THAT'S TOO LOUD!"

 

[GW.Joe]

Did you both think those little guys pointing up and to the right in my last post were just pointing to the text ??? :jumping40

 

[Birdman666]

No. I know YOU get it...

Other people, I often wonder about!

I'm often criticized for my training methods, but some of the things I've seen clearly have not been thought completely through!

 

[Kiwibird]

Joe, you MUST put those DNA results in a new thread when they come in This one is SO long now lol! I was hoping I hadn't missed the babies gender.

Oh, and those free-flight videos are crazy amazing! Snow on the ground and the bird acts like it's nothing. I bet that bird has a little extra meat on him (in a healthy, warmth-providing way), thicker down and has simply acclimated to short periods of time in the cold. Heck, even Kiwi grows in extra down during the winter (I know because it all comes out come spring!:52 and is allowed more calorie-dense food. I think it's the BIG temperature swings in a short period of time they can't handle, because overall, parrots are pretty adaptable animals. I remember reading about one abuse story where parrots were being kept in an OUTDOOR un-heated aviary at a ski resort and had been there all winter before something was done about it.

*Found that story- it was in a book we read before getting a parrot (From the story- Lolita Lowers the Volume)-

Guide to Companion Parrot Behavior - Mattie Sue Athan - Google Books

If these birds could survive THAT I think a 70 degree home in the winter will be fine

 

[ADKCatalina]

That's awesome to see the Birds in the Snow. Yea that was my biggest concern in bringing a new bird home was the winters here our house is well insulated to be 150 years old but I'm always concerned with the small stuff I guess. I do the 5 minute time out thing to seems to work well....He seems to be learning he can tongue use to death and not apply any beak pressure, I am please with how he is coming along seems to pick things up quickly.

 

[Birdman666]

They have to be acclimated to it, and then short duration...

 

[GW.Joe]

No. I know YOU get it...

Other people, I often wonder about!

I'm often criticized for my training methods, but some of the things I've seen clearly have not been thought completely through!

I think you know Parrots inside and out, Wouldn't second guess you ever
I for one would NEVER criticize someones opinions and beliefs on proper care and husbandry of their parrots
(but that's not why I asked you about the arrows see below)

Joe, you MUST put those DNA results in a new thread when they come in This one is SO long now lol! I was hoping I hadn't missed the babies gender.

Oh, and those free-flight videos are crazy amazing! Snow on the ground and the bird acts like it's nothing.

Starting a new thread is not always the best idea, keeping one thread is sometimes better because everyone gets notified when there is a new post
(instead of having to find the new thread)

At least with notifications, keeping the same thread is more like Facebook

BTW: I did put the DNA results in, the results are in the post with the snow Macs video (this text Mark)

That's awesome to see the Birds in the Snow. Yea that was my biggest concern in bringing a new bird home was the winters here our house is well insulated to be 150 years old but I'm always concerned with the small stuff I guess. I do the 5 minute time out thing to seems to work well....He seems to be learning he can tongue use to death and not apply any beak pressure, I am please with how he is coming along seems to pick things up quickly.

LOVE the Tactile Finger Tongue !!

They have to be acclimated to it, and then short duration...

That's what I was thinking Mark, She has a video called "level 5" that shows the macs flying FAR away off the side of a hill (really high up too)

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sX9EImRcMds"]Free flying macaws Norway at level 5. - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Birdman666]

My biggest concern with that is if they get lost, in that weather, they are dead.

Well recalled birds USUALLY come back 90% of the time + if they are bonded. But if they don't you have to go track them down. I've had to do this at least 8 times with my own birds when I was free flying them...

I no longer free fly.