An update on the birds :)

I've been doing my best to participate on the forums lately, especially since I now have way more time than I did in the previous five months. I just finished my internship for my Education degree, and in April I'll be graduated with my two degrees and part of the "real world"... whatever that means So I haven't really been able to contribute or participate how I would like to.

Over those 5 months, however, the relationship between Avery and Shiko (my IRN) went from bleak to absolutely blossoming! I'm very proud of both of them. When I first got Shiko I was well aware of the possibility that they may never get along, but now the two are inseparable when out of their cages and seek each other out. Both of them have really developed great characteristics as a result of their relationship as well!

Shiko went from being very unpleasant when he tried to show his affection because he didn't know how to preen kindly, and now he has become much more gentle with his beak on us in most regards (though his jealousy over Avery has made him more aggressive towards me in other situations). Avery went from being terrified of flying on her own to flying around the room constantly, and flying confidently to me or Brendon on her own because of Shiko's confident flying. It took nearly two years, but it's amazing to see such progress!

Of course their relationship isn't perfect... they do have their fights every now and then and I do have to separate them here and there. Even with their bond I'd never leave them unsupervised. They're both on my shoulder, and I've come to realize just how bossy Avery is... she gets angry at Shiko when he doesn't let her preen him, haha! Either way, I'm really proud of both of them, So I figured I'd update everyone on them and share a few pictures of them

The two of them posing on Brendon's back just moments ago:



Shiko letting Avery have her way with him:



The birds enjoying play & forage time while I watched TV:



Laptops make the best perches and chew toys... just moments before this picture I had to fight Shiko for my "Q" key back:



The birds enjoying the small play stand I made for them in November... which I honestly think is the catalyst for them getting along:



Hope you enjoyed the pictures and that all is going well for everyone

Chantal, we have missed you!
I am thrilled to hear (and see!) how well they are getting along!
Those pictures are precious, and the first one needs to be up on your wall
Congrats on completing your internship and on your upcoming graduation!

Thanks, Terry! I'd actually really like to get some good quality pictures of them to frame and put as a background in a shadow box so I could put all their collected feathers in it. I might make it a grad gift to myself in a bit

Chantal, it's great to hear from you! You must be thrilled to have completed your internship, Congratulations! I know you're looking forward to graduating in April.

Thank you for sharing Shiko and Avery's progress, the pictures are fantastic! That first photo is an award winner. Both your birds are beautiful.

Lovely photos and beautiful birds! It is too cute how they get along and preen each other!

Dinosrawr said:

Thanks, Terry! I'd actually really like to get some good quality pictures of them to frame and put as a background in a shadow box so I could put all their collected feathers in it. I might make it a grad gift to myself in a bit

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What a great idea! You definitely need to do that (and take pics so I can see it!)

Congratulations!

That first pic is just too precious!

You're not helping my MBS!

Allee said:

Chantal, it's great to hear from you! You must be thrilled to have completed your internship, Congratulations! I know you're looking forward to graduating in April.

Thank you for sharing Shiko and Avery's progress, the pictures are fantastic! That first photo is an award winner. Both your birds are beautiful.

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Thanks, Allee! I was pumped when I was able to get the picture in time, they normally move or I can't get my phone out fast enough to take the super cute pictures of them. And I am excited! And scared. And a few other things, haha. 6 years definitely went by incredibly fast.

miloslave said:

Lovely photos and beautiful birds! It is too cute how they get along and preen each other!

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Thanks, Milo! I'm ecstatic that they finally do get along. I know it especially makes Avery happy that she has someone to preen. It's also great because Shiko's breeder told me he was a total bully to his siblings, so I never thought they'd get along... but now they're best buds! Though Avery still thinks I'm the bomb-diggity, which is great

Terry57 said:

What a great idea! You definitely need to do that (and take pics so I can see it!)

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I will when I finally get to it!

Amanda_Bennett said:

Congratulations!

That first pic is just too precious!

You're not helping my MBS!

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Oh gosh Amanda... I'm pretty sure this forum in general is terrible for all of our MBS... seriously. If I could feasibly take every bird I met into my care, I'd probably rival some of the best cat ladies of the world

Chantal, congrats on finishing your internship and graduation right around the corner too! Your birds are gorgeous as always, and I'm so glad they've become friends.. It's easier that way isn't it?

Lovely to see them having such fun together. AND it's a huge motivator for people thinking they won't achieve X,Y or Z. Don't get discouraged, everyone! See how it can turn out?

(They are stunningly good-looking birds, BTW.)

Congratulations on finishing all your hard work! That's amazing!

I, too, am on the verge of suffering from MBS as a little gcc may be mine soon. Your pics further convince me it's necessary to join the MBS sufferers of this forum.

Beautiful pictures! Especially the first one.................perfect avatar material!

Congratulations, Chantal! It's always such a beautiful thing to see the end in sight when you've been working so hard for so long! You've been missed, but we're all proud of you and all you've accomplished!

And those pics!!! Breathtaking! Especially that first one! I'm so happy for you that they now get along so well. I couldn't let Bixby and Maya get anywhere near so close to one another at this point, and they're from the same species!!! Hahaha!

I'm also quite impressed with the playstand that you made for them... from what I can see of it, anyway. Do you have any pics that show the whole thing? Or a link if I just missed a thread where you actually focused on it?

Thanks for sharing, Chantal!

RavensGryf said:

Chantal, congrats on finishing your internship and graduation right around the corner too! Your birds are gorgeous as always, and I'm so glad they've become friends.. It's easier that way isn't it?

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Thanks, Julie! And yes, I'm sure we both know how much easier it is when they're only out for cuddles and not out for blood, haha

strudel said:

Lovely to see them having such fun together. AND it's a huge motivator for people thinking they won't achieve X,Y or Z. Don't get discouraged, everyone! See how it can turn out?

(They are stunningly good-looking birds, BTW.)

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I agree Strudel, it really goes to show that it's difficult to ever predict what will happen when you introduce birds. Shiko used to despise Avery and we could never keep them out together... now they'll wander into each other's cages!

LeaKP said:

Congratulations on finishing all your hard work! That's amazing!

I, too, am on the verge of suffering from MBS as a little gcc may be mine soon. Your pics further convince me it's necessary to join the MBS sufferers of this forum.

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I'm pretty sure we need to form a support group, haha! And GCCs are awesome birds, I couldn't recommend them enough

Sunset_Chaser said:

Beautiful pictures! Especially the first one.................perfect avatar material!

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Good idea! I'll have to do that! I didn't even think of it.

Anansi said:

Congratulations, Chantal! It's always such a beautiful thing to see the end in sight when you've been working so hard for so long! You've been missed, but we're all proud of you and all you've accomplished!

And those pics!!! Breathtaking! Especially that first one! I'm so happy for you that they now get along so well. I couldn't let Bixby and Maya get anywhere near so close to one another at this point, and they're from the same species!!! Hahaha!

I'm also quite impressed with the playstand that you made for them... from what I can see of it, anyway. Do you have any pics that show the whole thing? Or a link if I just missed a thread where you actually focused on it?

Thanks for sharing, Chantal!

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Thank you, Stephen! It's been crazy... I can still remember living in the dorms in my first year and wandering around campus completely awestruck. I'll miss my campus, but it would certainly be nice to actually make a salary for once, haha!

I actually never made a thread about my play stand, I meant to but with my internship a lot of things didn't get done if they weren't related to my teaching. Unfortunately I was placed 1 week prior to starting, whereas everyone else had two months over summer to prepare. I was also teaching a new science curriculum and teaching subject areas that aren't my own (good experience though, because that will likely be the case for awhile!)... I was teaching physics and chemistry and my degree is in biology, haha! It was so fun though.

I'll have to take a good picture of the play stand and show it though, I'm rather proud of it! I can thank my university for allowing me to steal giant branches off their property My boyfriend was rather unimpressed with me, because we'd park near the trees, grab the biggest branches we could (and some were longer than my car!), shove 'em into the back and drive away like villains. I earned lots of blisters and callouses as a result of debarking most of them. But my birds love it, so it makes every one of them worth it! The things you'll do for your birds

Hahahaha! Yes, we do indeed jump through hoops for our birds!

What ages were you teaching, btw?

Congratulations!

Thanks, Christine! And I was teaching grade 11 and grade 12 classes because my degree is in secondary, but I was teaching at a community school that is designed specifically for upgrading students... so many of my students were 5-15 years older than me, haha! It was almost uncomfortable having students in their 30's come to me and say, "Miss. Bell, can you..." It also doesn't help that I only look 15 I'm hoping that by the age of 30 I'll finally look 20, only 6 and some more years until that!

I also TA the intro level biology course here at my university, so I was prepared in many ways to deal with mature students. It worked out nicely

The first one's my favorite.

**Off topic***

Nice avatar Mark!