Tootsie and Rosco pictures

[JamesC]

A couple of pictures I took of Tootsie and Rosco this week.

Tootsie is an old bird and she needs her birdie naps. She loves to snuggle up against my arm or leg and simply zone out. She would stay there for hours if I would let her.

Rosco has been slowly building trust for me. It is a long process, especially because he would rather focus on bonding with Tootsie. But I keep working with him and recently got him to trust me enough to turn him over in my hand. He is not comfortable but is finding out that nothing bad will happen to him so he allowed me to take his picture.

This is an older picture when we were still in Florida and is the pair of them having a good preen. Tootsie on the left.

And at the last another preening shot. Tootsie nibbling away. She just loves to preen. Rosco. Me. Doesn't matter. She is a preening machine.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

I love the first image

 

[ruffledfeathers]

Aw, cute pics. Tootsie really does look a lot older than Roscoe. What are their approximate ages? Their feathers are stunning. They look perfectly smooth and shiny. Must be all that preening they do!

 

[JamesC]

Tootsie might look older because Rosco is a bit feather destructive. He nips off the tips of Tootsie's head, back and wing shoulder feathers giving her a ragged look. Her head feathers are much lighter and grayer than Rosco's. I call her my "Gray Crowned Conure" sometimes. Rosco also nibbles on the feathers of his own wings. No plucking, fortunately. Both of them have smooth feathers but Rosco especially has very slick feathers. Silky feeling and soft. Almost as soft as my Senegal. He is a handsome fellow.

My best guesstimate of Tootsie's age is that she is somewhere between 25 and 30 years old. She has been my companion since around 1999 give or take a year. Before me, she was with my brother for over 8 years. She had at least one owner before him. She certainly has old bird problems. A bit arthritic and slow. Her tail no longer folds down thin but stays partially spread out. And she has a chronic upper respiratory problem because her left nare is very abnormal internally. It is a big cavern inside open all the way into her mouth near the back. She has a problem with food particles getting up in there so I have to flush her out occasionally. But I like to think she has had a good life and there is still good quality to her days. She may ache and complain a lot but she does not show sign of leaving me any time soon.

I have almost no history on Rosco. He was abandoned with no information at a rescue agency in Florida and had trouble finding a home. I saw him advertised on their site and Petfinder a few times but he was with another blue crown companion as a pair. I was interested but just could not add two birds to my flock at that time. But then I saw his listings change that he was alone and that his companion had passed away. I called and arranged to meet him. Found out why his companion had passed so I was reassured there was not a transmittable disease involved. He was obviously shy and frightened but I had to adopt him. Don't regret it at all but the noise level increased 5 fold! Mostly it is Tootsie starting the noise and he joins in because she is squawking and they continue feedback from each other The guess by the avian vet I went to is that he is between 5 and 10 years old but there really is no way to tell for sure. He is active and fast so I think that guess of his age is reasonable or even a little high. He almost acts like a big budgie sometimes. Constantly on the move. I'm very glad I adopted him.

 

[antoinette]

Beautiful bird
Looks so happy and healthy
Thanks for sharing