Greetings from the Pacific Northwest

Hello, my name is Rocky. My wife and I, Cathie, live in Portland, Oregon.

We are lucky to have a house full of birds.

Our flock of nine (9) consists of:

Agi Hawkhead
Bobby Blue-headed Pionus
Buzzy Congo African Grey
Hubbard Red-lored Amazon
Iris Hyacinth Macaw
KK Yellow-naped Amazon
Mickey Roseifrons Conure
Morgan Timneh African Gray
Sunny Blue & Gold Macaw

Of the 9, 5 are rehomes. The flock ranges in age from the early teens to 40+ plus our newest, Mickey (see below)

We're considering a Festive Amazon and would appreciate any info from an owner or anyone who has met a Festive.

Links to photos of my birds are at: http://pbase.com/fosofos/parrots

The latest addition to the flock is Mickey, a Roseifrons Conure--only 6 months old, with us just 6 days, and a delightful sweetie-pie.

Link to Mickey at: http://pbase.com/fosofos/image/168845455/medium

What a flock!
Welcome to the Forums. I hope you find the input you want, and I'm glad you found us.

Thank you.

Welcome! That is an impressive flock - hope you’ll share some pictures with us .

Many thanks!

Links to photos of the flock are at: https://pbase.com/fosofos/parrots

Welcoming you and your wife, and fancy feathered flock! Great pics

Many thanks, Laurasea!

Welcome and be welcomed

Welcome to you all!

Thanks much!

Welcome, and WOW! What a flock! Some of my all time favorites that I have dreamed about since I was a kid. My one sweet little Ekkie is good for me right now though.

rdc said:

Many thanks!



Links to photos of the flock are at: https://pbase.com/fosofos/parrots

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Gracious! What a crew !

Sent from my SM-J320V using Tapatalk

Welcome Rocky and Cathie, you have a magnificent menagerie! Thanks for sharing the stunning pics!

Welcome fellow Portlandia resident! Sounds as though you have a very full house

Did Iris come from the Bird Hut off Division? I thought they had a HY for a while and the name does ring a bell...

Thank you! Always nice to meet a parrot person nearby. Yes, we have a house full of birds, a small house, and it's probably true as a friend once said, "You live in an aviary".

We got Iris, aka Her Hyness, from the Bird Gardens, that amazing but now defunct store in Beaverton. Also got Agi Hawkhead, Bobby Blue-head and Bryan Black-cap (RIP) from there.

Kiwi looks like a sweet bird and reminds me of our Romey Blue-front (RIP) whom we lost not so long ago.

Marli Lintner, our vet at the Avian Medical Center helped us get through that difficult time.

Speaking of Amazons, we hope to add a new member to the flock, a Festive Amazon, the Bodoni sub-species in the not-too-distant future.

Haven't been to Bird Hut in years. Our bird-store of choice is the Parrot Perch in Vancouver. The owner, Mike, is an amazing source of knowledge.

Our latest addition, Mickey Red-front we got just a little over a week ago. Mickey is a pistol and yesterday I discovered he loves to nuzzle up tightly into my neck and stay. He fits perfectly.

Gotta rush off. We're going to the Parrot Perch if an the weather be good.

Scott said:

Welcome Rocky and Cathie, you have a magnificent menagerie! Thanks for sharing the stunning pics!

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Many thanks, Scott. You've a great flock, as well.

You're in the Milky Way, I see, and that galaxy is part of the Local Group.

saxguy64 said:

Welcome, and WOW! What a flock! Some of my all time favorites that I have dreamed about since I was a kid. My one sweet little Ekkie is good for me right now though.

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Thanks! I see you had a BFA. We did, too, and she's sorely missed.

rdc said:

saxguy64 said:

Welcome, and WOW! What a flock! Some of my all time favorites that I have dreamed about since I was a kid. My one sweet little Ekkie is good for me right now though.

Click to expand...

Thanks! I see you had a BFA. We did, too, and she's sorely missed.

Click to expand...

I did. He was such a character, and I miss him terribly. I've never had more than one bird at a time, but there is a YNA that has been tugging at me. She's very sweet and very talkative. I'm hoping she finds a perfect forever home so I don't have the choice to make, but last I visited, she hadn't taken to anyone else yet. Time will tell.

saxguy64 said:

rdc said:

saxguy64 said:

Welcome, and WOW! What a flock! Some of my all time favorites that I have dreamed about since I was a kid. My one sweet little Ekkie is good for me right now though.

Click to expand...

Thanks! I see you had a BFA. We did, too, and she's sorely missed.

Click to expand...

I did. He was such a character, and I miss him terribly. I've never had more than one bird at a time, but there is a YNA that has been tugging at me. She's very sweet and very talkative. I'm hoping she finds a perfect forever home so I don't have the choice to make, but last I visited, she hadn't taken to anyone else yet. Time will tell.

Click to expand...

Sounds like that YNA has taken a fancy to you. When a birds chooses you, that is special. It's hard to say no. Sometimes it happens right away the first time you meet. I remember visiting a bird store and a Blue & Gold Macaw came right over and we hung out together for quite a while. I hope that bird found a good home. It's magic.

The day we got Iris our Hyacinth, a bird that I had admired from a distance at the bird store many times, and while my wife was negotiating with the owner, I approached the bird, and she began to urp up like birds do when they want to feed you, and I looked behind me to see who she was directing this affection to, and there was no one. I could not believe she was making this gesture for me...

Somehow the stars and constellations were in our favor. There was another bird store owner who really wanted Iris and was willing to pay more, but luckily the owner of the shop said she liked us, and in the 6 months or so while we saved money, we would visit Iris on the week-ends at the owner's house, and slowly got to know her, and the rest as they say is history. We really got lucky that day although we had got 3 birds from that store before: Bobby blue-head, Agi Hawk-head and Bryan Black-cap.

We have a Yellow-nape and he is a very special bird. I once met a woman from Texas--before we got KK Yellow-nape--and this woman had three YNA's, all hens and clutch-mates, sharing a cage. She described these birds as being very gentle and friendly. She lked my bird photography and half joking said I should go visit people on the forum and take bird pictures. Sounded like fun, at the time but now not so much since I would be away from our flock.

Soon after our flock grew larger than just a few birds, we stopped taking vacations. Even our avian vet who boards birds once said she did not recommend boarding birds because of possible exposure to something contagious. She extended that idea to taking birds to bird shows, etc... Sure would be nice to free fly our birds, and take pictures. Have not found the right place, but I'm looking.

Here in lies the issue. I was visiting my boy Tucker at the refuge, and he was a no-brainer, took to me very quickly like we were old friends. When I went out back to bring him to his cage, there was a "hello... hello," coming from the other side of the room. There was Baxter, leaning out to reach me. I was warned that she's very particular, and only likes women with short hair. Her body language said otherwise. I put an arm up for her and she climbed up and put her head down for skritches. Turns out that I was the only male she's allowed to handle her, period! She's been there for about a year. On the next weekend's visit with Tucker, she was out front, and was excited to see me. I had already determined that Tucker was coming home with me, but then, here is this beautiful Amazon wanting to be with me too. I hung out with her also during the visit and she talked, whistled, and snuggled up against my neck, and begged for head scratches. I feel special, and chosen! I keep hoping she will be like that with another person, but last I checked, no one yet. My heart goes out to her.

The only thing holding me back from bringing her home is wanting to be fair to both of them. I hate the thought of jealousy for my time between them, and I work during the day, so morning and evening time is at a premium.