Bunch of Chatterboxes

Here’s some of the latest words from the birds:

Taz

He’s been calling my name whenever he sees me.  “Hey Adrienne…. Adrienne!”.  He won’t be satisfied until I respond with, “Hi Taz”.  I just wish, for once, he would call me mommy…  J

Neo

While I was cleaning the cages this morning she asked, “How are you today?”.  After I responded, she then said, “Wanna go see daddy”.  Unfortunately, daddy was working today but he did stop home to see her during lunch.  She was a happy camper for the rest of the afternoon.

Andre

He’s picked up some interesting words these last couple weeks.  The other day he said, “Bang bang” followed by “Good girl”.  We know this originated from a trick that Neo does when she stands on our hand.  We use our index finger and thumb to make a pretend gun, we’ll hold it to her chest and say “Bang bang”.  She then falls backwards and hangs upside down without moving.  When I say “Good girl” she pops back up.

Angel

She’s a dancing machine and likes to say “Go Angel, go Angel” over and over while head-banging.  It’s quite a sight!

Moshi

As far as we know, Moshi doesn’t talk but he does love to squeak.  It’s a very soft and feminine squeak that he’ll make when he’s happy.

The Mason family has a new addition… Moshi!

Moshi is an 11 year old male Moluccan Cockatoo.  He was inherited by a family who could no longer care for him.  We know very little about the guy and it’s only been a week since we brought him home.  What we do know is that he is extremely shy and nervous.  He does not let Ron or I pick him up (yet) but he does come in and out of his cage on command.  I open the door and say, “You can come out Moshi”.  He’ll then come out and climb to the top of his cage.  When we want him to go back inside we’ll say, “Moshi, time to go back in your house” and he’ll climb down and go back inside. 

He likes when we sit near his cage and talk to him quietly.  He’ll ruffle his cheek feathers and watch us.  Every day, when I arrive home from work, I’ll sit next to his cage and talk about my day.  Even though he won’t let me touch him, he’s become much calmer as the days have passed.  I think he’s learning to trust us and I realize it may be awhile before he’s comfortable enough to step up onto our hand.  That’s okay though, there’s no need to hurry and we’re more than content with moving at a slower pace.

Although Moshi is shy with people he’s certainly not bashful when it comes to people food.  He jumps face first into almost everything we’ve given him.  He’s not a big fan of the bird pellets so we might have to get creative if this pattern continues, but he loves his corn, bananas, oranges and mixed vegetables.  He’s willing to try everything at least once so I’m a very happy mom! 

Right now, while I’m typing this blog, Moshi is on top of his house looking down at me.  His cheek feathers are ruffled and covering his beak.  He’s standing on one leg and his eyes are only half open and he appears to be settling down for a little nap.

Here’s a picture of the new guy.  Sorry for the poor quality, the lighting wasn’t too great since the sun never came out to play today.

Birdie School!

Today’s the FIRST day of BIRDIE SCHOOL!  I’m going to teach all the kids (at least those who are willing to learn) numbers and colors.  I purchased a little basket, some mini rubber ducky’s (for counting) and some paper apples (for colors).  Before starting the class, I placed the basket in the middle of the room so the birds could become familiar with the strange contraption.  After a couple hours, I decided we were ready to start.  I pulled out all the objects from the basket and laid them out on the floor so they could see the individual items.  I returned the paper apples and kept out the four ducks, but hid three of them in my hand.  I placed one duck on the floor and repeated “How Many?” and then responded with “One”.  After a minute or so I moved on to a second ducky, then a third.  I’m saving the fourth duck for a later class.  Their attention spans are next to nothing so a 10-20 minute session is all I’m able to do. 

After counting I moved on to colors.  I pulled out the red apple and asked, “What Color?” and then responded with “Red”.  I did this several times before moving on to Yellow.  Interestingly, they were fascinated with the word Yellow so I was able to sustain their attention for a few minutes before moving on to Blue.  I cycled through the colors one last time before ending the class with a "Great job guys, class will resume next Saturday!"

Neo and the Missing Water

This morning I gave the kids sugar snap peas.  They all gobbled them up except for Hannibal, I had to give her our special Birdie Bread (her absolute favorite).  When they were finished, I washed the food bowls & water bowls since they LOVE to make “soup” with their food.  I suppose it’s a bird thing. 

Anyway, while I was washing the dishes my husband heard Neo say, “Waaaatteeerr”.  Apparently she was very thirsty and just couldn’t wait for me to finish washing the bowls.   Of course I rushed to get them cleaned and filled so she could take a drink.

It’s official, I’m their slave.  :-)

Angel (Female Umbrella Cockatoo)

Angel is the baby of our family.  She’s 3 years old and loves to cuddle and scream, depending on her mood.  We are certain she suffers from a bipolar disorder but that doesn’t weaken our love for her.  We try to accommodate her “crazy” outbursts but it can be challenging.  She’s a devious little creature who lures you in with her sweet innocent eyes, her soft girly voice, but just when you least expect it, her crest goes straight up in the air and she screams bloody murder.  I think she’s got the crazies…

When she isn’t demonstrating strange behavior, she can be a huge ball of laughs.  She loves to dance to good beats and she talks up a storm.  One of her favorite lines is, “What are you doing?”.  Angel wants to be involved in everything so we make sure she’s always included (otherwise we’ll suffer from another episode of the “crazies”).    

Here’s a shot of Angel:

Taz (Male African Grey)

Taz (aka “Roo”) has an amazing personality with the intelligence to match.  He’s 5 years old and LOVES to talk, sing, dance and whistle.  He’s one of the few who enjoys showers and gets excited when we pull out the spray bottle.  His vocabulary is comparable to Neo’s and they tend to have regular conversations with each other.  The chats usually go like this:

Neo:  Hey, Roo

Taz: Hello

Neo: How are you?

Taz: Grrreeaat

Neo: Can you whistle?

Taz: (whistles)

Taz is, without a doubt, a true momma’s boy who can never get enough head scratches from me.  He’ll let me hold him forever and rarely displays aggression.  When it comes to other people such as Ron, he’s not always as friendly.  His moods are getting better with age, but sometimes he gets grumpy and nippy.  It’s best just to let him be and pick him up later.  At night, when we put them away in their cages, sometimes I have to take care of him because he nips at Ron’s fingers.  It’s easy to tell what kind of mood he’s in by looking at his eyes.  When they’re slightly slanted, watch out.  But most of the time, he’s very gentle and outgoing.

Here’s a picture:

Andre – The Aspiring Interior Decorator

Today, after vacuuming the bird room, Andre decided to “decorate” the rug with his food.  Apparently it lacked color…