Hello!

Hello, I just joined! I've been eyeing this site for years, but never joined until now because I didn't have a bird until about two years ago! I've always been poking around, mostly reading up on what it's like to have a bird.

I have a two year old male Green cheek conure named Callum. He's the typical nippy, one-person bird who likes to cuddle (sometimes). He loves to nibble on toes or attempt to eat stray rat food (yes, I have pet rats too) on the floor. He's okay with strangers, until they try to pick him up. He's good about not biting them hard. Even if he does, a quick word and he stops. He is learning a few words and phrases. "Bubby", "Callum", and "I love you" are the top three right now. No completely discernible words now, but he is making noises very similar to the words. Despite being labeled the "quietest" conure species, Callum is not quiet. He is loud, even by GCC standards; I don't mind it. He is let out of his cage upwards of ten hours a day. This can be him sitting on a windowsill, watching the wild birds or just watching the world, or him sitting in my room, on my chest or on my fan and staring at me.
My online friends know him quite well since he is so vocal. My local friends adore him.

Callum loves to sit on my shoulder and follow me around the house. If he isn't on my shoulder, he's on the floor. My dog is great with him, simply because Callum bit his butt once and now the dog's afraid of him. I still do supervise them.
Callum is flighted. I've thought about leash training him so I can take him outside, but I do my reservations and anxieties about it. Before I did, I would have him trained in free flying in controlled spaces.

I'm about to turn 22 years old. I attend a community college and don't work. I'm a part-time student, so I'm not gone much at all. Ideally, once space, time, and money become more readily available to me, I'd love to adopt a macaw and/or an African grey. Elderly would be essential, since I don't plan on having kids and don't want to leave lonely, possibly elderly, birds in rescues and hoping for new homes after I have passed.

I know this a forum with a lot of different people from a lot of different areas, but does anyone know of a bird rescue/bird group in Minnesota, USA? Petfinder doesn't give me much to work on and I just don't know where to start when looking for this sort of stuff. I don't have a Facebook either.

Hi there! I do believe we have some members familiar with the Minnesota area, so once they wake up and pop in, they might be able to help.

On another note, our little guy was free-flight trained also! He loved his Aviator harness, so I do highly recommend training for that. It helps when we go out on our almost daily walks - if some idiot tries to touch or grab him (which he absolutely hates), Cairo's instinct is to fly, often right into traffic - once a car had to come to a screeching halt (luckily my partner only told me about it a few months later, so I didn't flip out). It also iterates to people that he is a domestic pet, not like a 'dog off-leash' which is illegal in certain parts of my current country.

And since Cairo loves flying, we don't exactly free-fly him in the park, we attached a kite reel to his harness and fly him that way. I can't recommend harness training enough! Cairo runs to his harness and shoves his head in. He loves going on our regular walks, even if there's no opportunity for him to take a flight around the park. He likes the stimuli - people walking, colourful places, chattering wildlife, new adventure, etc. We've a lot a members who take their birds hiking and camping with them too.

Even if you don't feel up for harness training, you can still take Callum out via a bird carrier. Some folks here have a Pak-o-Bird or a Birdie GoGo, but you can find a variety of bird-specific backpacks online that might be within your budget.

So glad to have you join us hope to hear more stories about you and Callum (love the name!)

Welcome! Thanks for the intro post! I don't know of any rescues, but I bet other members could point you in the right direction.

Welcome to you!

Thank you all for the warm welcomes, everyone!

charmedbyekkie said:

Hi there! I do believe we have some members familiar with the Minnesota area, so once they wake up and pop in, they might be able to help.

On another note, our little guy was free-flight trained also! He loved his Aviator harness, so I do highly recommend training for that. It helps when we go out on our almost daily walks - if some idiot tries to touch or grab him (which he absolutely hates), Cairo's instinct is to fly, often right into traffic - once a car had to come to a screeching halt (luckily my partner only told me about it a few months later, so I didn't flip out). It also iterates to people that he is a domestic pet, not like a 'dog off-leash' which is illegal in certain parts of my current country.

And since Cairo loves flying, we don't exactly free-fly him in the park, we attached a kite reel to his harness and fly him that way. I can't recommend harness training enough! Cairo runs to his harness and shoves his head in. He loves going on our regular walks, even if there's no opportunity for him to take a flight around the park. He likes the stimuli - people walking, colourful places, chattering wildlife, new adventure, etc. We've a lot a members who take their birds hiking and camping with them too.

Even if you don't feel up for harness training, you can still take Callum out via a bird carrier. Some folks here have a Pak-o-Bird or a Birdie GoGo, but you can find a variety of bird-specific backpacks online that might be within your budget.

So glad to have you join us hope to hear more stories about you and Callum (love the name!)

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I got Callum's name from a book I read back when I was a preteen. Anyone ever read the Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes? There was a guy named Callum in there and he was this regal, awesome dude who seemed to be the epitome of elegance. He was apparently precognitive (future sight).
My Callum is not elegant. Not in the slightest. I always get a good laugh when I remember where I got his name and how he does not live up to his namesake in the slightest.
And Callum means dove. My Callum is also not even remotely similar to a dove. The only thing he has in common with a dove is he makes noise in the morning like a mourning dove. Except, he screams at me, because he knows I'm awake and wants me to get up. He's honestly better than an alarm clock.

As for harness training, I have a Aviator harness. The few times I've put it on Callum, he's tried to chew it up and does not enjoy it. I'm scared of him chewing it up and getting out. This bird is my feather-baby (and he knows it). Should I train him like I would with a dog? Show it to him, give him a treat, do this a few times, and then give him a treat when I put the harness on?
I've recently just gotten into looking at birdtubers on Youtube. I've heard good things about BirdTricks. I watch Marlene Mc'Cohen too.

Welcome to the forums, awesome introduction!!

Check this link for Google search "Avian rescues Minnesota: https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1...2;tbs:lrf:!2m1!1e2!2m1!1e3!3sIAE,lf:1,lf_ui:2 Appears most are in the MSP area.

The "Training" forum has great ideas; first three "sticky" threads highlight clicker, harness, and bite pressure training. http://www.parrotforums.com/training/

Scott said:

Welcome to the forums, awesome introduction!!

Check this link for Google search "Avian rescues Minnesota: https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1...2;tbs:lrf:!2m1!1e2!2m1!1e3!3sIAE,lf:1,lf_ui:2 Appears most are in the MSP area.

The "Training" forum has great ideas; first three "sticky" threads highlight clicker, harness, and bite pressure training. Training - Parrot Forum - Parrot Owner's Community

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Awesome, thank you!

Good for you, for joining, and reaching out!
I'm really glad you're here!

CallumConure said:

As for harness training, I have a Aviator harness. The few times I've put it on Callum, he's tried to chew it up and does not enjoy it. I'm scared of him chewing it up and getting out. This bird is my feather-baby (and he knows it). Should I train him like I would with a dog? Show it to him, give him a treat, do this a few times, and then give him a treat when I put the harness on?
I've recently just gotten into looking at birdtubers on Youtube. I've heard good things about BirdTricks. I watch Marlene Mc'Cohen too.

Click to expand...

Yes, you absolutely need to train and think of it from his perspective. For him, he doesn't think of it as "we're putting on my harness" - he's freaked out that "omg, my head is going through something, there's something on my neck, why is my wing being brushed by a foreign object, what is going on with this fiddling, can I still move, am I trapped?"

So break it down with positive reinforcement.

He gets a treat for looking curiously at it. He gets a treat for moving non-aggressively towards it.

Then put your fingers holding a treat through the neck loop, so your fingers wear the harness and offer him a treat that way. Once he's comfortable and not jerking away nervously, then you can move on to the next step.

Next put your fingers so that the treat is right between the neck loop, so his beak can take the treat from there - you're not yet asking for him to put his beak or head through, just to learn that the harness is a source of treats. Then once he's no longer nervous about that step, you can move on to the next.

I'm planning on making a video and uploading since I've been seeing so many people (on Facebook and other places) forcing harnesses on and creating negative associations with it, rather than taking the time to go at their bird's pace.

Thanks for the welcome, GaleriaGila! I just reached out to the local avian rescue now to hear back about volunteering opportunities, but I do plan to make some posts in the African grey and/or macaw threads soon to hear what it's like to have one of those birds.

charmedbyekkie said:

CallumConure said:

As for harness training, I have a Aviator harness. The few times I've put it on Callum, he's tried to chew it up and does not enjoy it. I'm scared of him chewing it up and getting out. This bird is my feather-baby (and he knows it). Should I train him like I would with a dog? Show it to him, give him a treat, do this a few times, and then give him a treat when I put the harness on?
I've recently just gotten into looking at birdtubers on Youtube. I've heard good things about BirdTricks. I watch Marlene Mc'Cohen too.

Click to expand...

Yes, you absolutely need to train and think of it from his perspective. For him, he doesn't think of it as "we're putting on my harness" - he's freaked out that "omg, my head is going through something, there's something on my neck, why is my wing being brushed by a foreign object, what is going on with this fiddling, can I still move, am I trapped?"

So break it down with positive reinforcement.

He gets a treat for looking curiously at it. He gets a treat for moving non-aggressively towards it.

Then put your fingers holding a treat through the neck loop, so your fingers wear the harness and offer him a treat that way. Once he's comfortable and not jerking away nervously, then you can move on to the next step.

Next put your fingers so that the treat is right between the neck loop, so his beak can take the treat from there - you're not yet asking for him to put his beak or head through, just to learn that the harness is a source of treats. Then once he's no longer nervous about that step, you can move on to the next.

I'm planning on making a video and uploading since I've been seeing so many people (on Facebook and other places) forcing harnesses on and creating negative associations with it, rather than taking the time to go at their bird's pace.

Click to expand...

Awesome, thanks for the advice! I was just unsure if a bird would require different training than a dog or not. Also, what treats would you use? My GCC is not an ultra fan of fruits and veggies (save for pomegranates), but he loves those Gerber's puffs and I know those are not healthy enough for him to be constantly eating. It's a very rare treat, but he begs every time I offer some to my rats.