The Parrot Who Owns Me

Anyone read this book? It's by Dr. Joanna Burger. A story about an amazon named Tiko and his family. Just started it and its already a hit it's reading season folks, what are you guys reading?

Thanks so much for the heads up on the book. I think I will have to check that out now.

JerseyWendy said:

Thanks so much for the heads up on the book. I think I will have to check that out now.

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Yup yup you'll have to, since you're the proud Mom of 2 amazons!

I am also going to try to find that!
As for what I'm reading now, I 'm rereading the series of books by Stephen White...mysteries

Thanks for the recommendation, I've just ordered it. I'm reading a book on the relationship between politicians and the BBC at the moment, so will look forward to something a bit lighter!

Jayyj said:

Thanks for the recommendation, I've just ordered it. I'm reading a book on the relationship between politicians and the BBC at the moment, so will look forward to something a bit lighter!

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Politicians! Ugh! That'll raise a persons blood pressure

I not only read it, I lived it...

Red Lored Amazons are what I call "Guardian Angel Birds." When another bird is sick or injured they watch out for predators, and feed it, and tend to it to the extent possible... they don't abandon their flock mates to their fate.

Like Johanna... when I injured my lower back, I took medication that knocked me out for 18 hours. And I had a bad reaction to it, suddenly felt woozy, and went to bed with the cage doors open and the birds out.

I woke up to find that my sun conure had taken advantage of the situation, and had climbed inside my shirt and gone to sleep on my neck.

My Red Lored, however, was perched on my chest, and was in "hyper-vigilent" mode. She clearly knew something was wrong, and according to my daughter, she had been there all night watching over me...

She wouldn't let anyone near me while I slept...

When they love, they love completely!

Birdman666 said:

I not only read it, I lived it...

Red Lored Amazons are what I call "Guardian Angel Birds." When another bird is sick or injured they watch out for predators, and feed it, and tend to it to the extent possible... they don't abandon their flock mates to their fate.

Like Johanna... when I injured my lower back, I took medication that knocked me out for 18 hours. And I had a bad reaction to it, suddenly felt woozy, and went to bed with the cage doors open and the birds out.

I woke up to find that my sun conure had taken advantage of the situation, and had climbed inside my shirt and gone to sleep on my neck.

My Red Lored, however, was perched on my chest, and was in "hyper-vigilent" mode. She clearly knew something was wrong, and according to my daughter, she had been there all night watching over me...

She wouldn't let anyone near me while I slept...

When they love, they love completely!

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I can't put this book down, it's such an interesting read! My budgies were like that when I fell off a ladder, broke some bones and was bed-ridden for a while, zonked out on painkillers (I had major surgery). They never left my side. I didn't have the conure yet back then. I wonder How he would react.

I've read that book, it was a interesting read although not my favourite. I would recommend it to any parrot lover

My favourite bird book was Wesley the Owl, I read it in about a hour and a half one day while at the library. Near the end I burst into tears and went to the bathroom until I looked acceptable haha. I can image I was a hilarious sight seeing some one brought to tears while reading a book LOL. That book was more significant to me than any parrot book, she is so devoted to her owl!

Conures are pair bond birds. But this depends on the kind of conure. Read parrots of telegraph hill again. Blue crown conures are guardian angel birds. Cherry heads, and mitered conures are what I call "Darwin" birds...

Hence the blue crown (Conner) who was an outcast, but looked out for the sick and injured when everyone else was shunning them.

And the sick little Topalo's reaction. We don't do things like this, we are left to our fate... but thank you for saving me.

There are two basic flock survival

Guardian Angel Birds look out for the sick and injured members of their flocks... and try to drive off predators, the same way they protect their nests.

Darwin birds essentially shun those that appear sick and injured, and leave them for the predators. (There is more than one reason birds mask illness and injury.) Without the protection of the flock, they are easy pickings for predators. And this keeps the flock safe(r) from disease.

Nature is cruel. And birds are a food source (both by eating and dropping food to the critters who can't go up and pick it), and a source of fertilizer, and a way to spread seeds. It's their role.

They don't live anywhere near as long in the wild.

Copperarabian said:

I've read that book, it was a interesting read although not my favourite. I would recommend it to any parrot lover

My favourite bird book was Wesley the Owl, I read it in about a hour and a half one day while at the library. Near the end I burst into tears and went to the bathroom until I looked acceptable haha. I can image I was a hilarious sight seeing some one brought to tears while reading a book LOL. That book was more significant to me than any parrot book, she is so devoted to her owl!

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Funny, I've worked with a fair number of owls, and never found them to be anywhere near as personable as a parrot. Very Aloof.

My Mom had a blind Great Horned Owl at one time. That was one of her babies... (My Mom and I did wildlife rehab and release when I was a kid.)

Birdman666 said:

Conures are pair bond birds. But this depends on the kind of conure. Read parrots of telegraph hill again. Blue crown conures are guardian angel birds. Cherry heads, and mitered conures are what I call "Darwin" birds...

Hence the blue crown (Conner) who was an outcast, but looked out for the sick and injured when everyone else was shunning them.

And the sick little Topalo's reaction. We don't do things like this, we are left to our fate... but thank you for saving me.

There are two basic flock survival

Guardian Angel Birds look out for the sick and injured members of their flocks... and try to drive off predators, the same way they protect their nests.

Darwin birds essentially shun those that appear sick and injured, and leave them for the predators. (There is more than one reason birds mask illness and injury.) Without the protection of the flock, they are easy pickings for predators. And this keeps the flock safe(r) from disease.

Nature is cruel. And birds are a food source (both by eating and dropping food to the critters who can't go up and pick it), and a source of fertilizer, and a way to spread seeds. It's their role.

They don't live anywhere near as long in the wild.

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Haha actually when I ordered this book, I also ordered the parrots of telegraph hill...I watched the DVD, and I should be getting the book any day.

I'm definitely getting that book. I never heard of a Guardian Angel bird, it sounds so sweet! I can't imagine my GCCs getting worried about me, if I were sick.

Birdman666, very interesting information about the 2 different types of flock survival. Birds are so complex!

Agapornis said:

I'm definitely getting that book. I never heard of a Guardian Angel bird, it sounds so sweet! I can't imagine my GCCs getting worried about me, if I were sick.

Birdman666, very interesting information about the 2 different types of flock survival. Birds are so complex!

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I actually had this same conversation with Mark Bittner after listening to a talk he gave... he hadn't ever made the connection. That was one of the things that disappointed me, because it was such a glaring example of it...

My Eclectus Joaquin would watch over me while I slept. No one was able to get him to step up off of me while I was sleeping. He use to lay on my chest while we were spending our relaxing time together and I would always nod off. He would snake anyone that tried to take him off of me.

I believe my Illiger's macaw Diego was also very protective of me. After I had major surgery Lupe brought him in to visit me and he went right up to lay on my neck while cooing and singing to me. He would sway and open his beak while lying on my neck when the nurse would come in to get my vitals. The next day Lupe brought him back to visit me and in order to be released to go home I had to begin walking the halls so while Diego was perched on my shoulder I walked the halls with my IV stand. Diego would sing to me and rub his face against my cheek. His behavior was very endearing to me.

I don't know if my RFM Valentino is a protector and caregiver or a Darwin parrot. I was away for a week came home for the weekend and was away for another week. Then I came home after the second week passed (today) He called out to me with sounds I never heard before. I had to take him out of his cage and greet him. He was all over me and would pump my earlobe and finger very aggressively. I am not sure what the pumping thing was all about but he seemed to be very glad I was home.

I love that book. Although I became an avid reader before bringing Hahnzel home, this book helped me see that "my" bird was a conservatorship at best. I have to allow him to be as peculiar as his little heart tells him to be. I learned that my job was to be a responsible parront and learn, learn, learn.

I'm with Copperarabian. I've read the book and it's interesting, but not a favorite.


The current book I am reading is Animals In Translation; Using the Mystries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior by Temple Grandin and Catherine Johnson. It's interesting, enlightening, horrendous, intriguing, disgusting and so much more.


The reason I say that is because the book talks about one of the author's careers and what she does for a living - designing machines to make slaughter houses more efficient and humane. Not only that, but making these places run more efficiently by fixing problems that other humans can't see. Many of these farms and ranches would use physical measures in order to get animals moving through a line, especially when the animals balk. When the animals get injured and their meat turns to grizzle, the meat is now worth less. It was this authors job to "fix" that so that the animals would be happier and healthier for slaughter.

The book also goes over some of the horrible things we have done to animals, from unintentionally creating "rapist roosters" from selective breeding to "rapist stallions" from a lack of socialization to other horses. The book even talks about "cat explosions" due to cats not being exposed to other animals. (I actually busted up laughing here, because I can totally picture what was going on! I feel sorry for the cats, but the image was rather amusing!)



However, the book is so much more than just that! It kind of makes you think a little more and pay a little more attention to the things around you. There's one part of the book I easily understood because I watched a video that the book references and really puts into perspective just how much things that although we "see" them, we don't truly notice that they are there. It even talks about animal behaviors and how they differ to human behaviors. One example is that it's nearly impossible for many animals to have conflicting behaviors at the same time, but humans can. One example is of a dog that is terrified and excited at the same time. A dog that would be eager to come up to you, but is simultaneously afraid to and is cowering. A behavior I've actually kind of seen with my new conure.


But again, the book is still disturbing. Such as the parts about reading the experiments that scientists have done on mice and rats, and how it's possible to teach an animal to enjoy something which it doesn't like - such as getting shocked. What they learned by experimenting on the mice is fantastic, but it's horrible in how they did it.




If you can get over the not so nice parts of the book, it's actually really worth the read.

What I can't get over is how much chocolate they fed that poor amazon! I went to amazon reviews and posted a review giving a warning for people not to feed their birds chocolate. She's supposed to be a bird specialist (wild) and she's stuffing Hershey's kisses in the birds maw. Other than that it was ok,....to me it mostly shows how NOT to treat a bird!

Like some of the others have mentioned, I've read the book but it wasn't. One of my favorites. My favorite parrot book is the one about the African Grey, Alex. I was at work when I read the part about his passing and had the sniffles in the phone. Another favorite of mine was, and I may have the title jumbled, but, The Parrot who Thought She Was A Dog. I loved the freedom the author have her macaw but how it ended was very sad

And another good read is about the woman in Belize that tried to save a sub-species of scarlet macaw from the government. I can't remember the name of that one either unfortunately.