The eclipse next month and parrot eyes

Kiwibird · Jul 25, 2017

So, my husband seems dead set on battling the mobs to head down south into the path of totality:52: and to do so will likely require leaving super early with no definitive time table on how long to get back due to predicted apocalyptic traffic conditions. Because the walls here are paper thin, waking him up super early then leaving and not coming back for hours and hours while an eclipse (over 99% where we are) is happening? He's going to understandably freak out and holler really early in the morning which will surely P/O the neighbors. He's going to have to come with us, which is fine, he's fine on road trips and will eat/drink in the car. I am just concerned about the eclipse and his eyes. We'd obviously cover him when it happens, but to my understanding, the potentially harmful to the eyes effects last longer than the actual time the moon is in front of the sun. How long before/after totality should he be kept covered? Any insight would be appreciated! We do not plan to leave the proximity of our car, so he would stay in the car during the event We kind of plan to park and sit on/right by the car, so obviously able to monitor him and make sure it's not hot or anything like that.

SailBoat · Jul 25, 2017

I have seen nothing in the literature that relates to Birds /Parrots regarding an Eclipse.

Normally, only Humans are stupid enough too, or want to look at an Eclipse for extended moments. The Birds are busy finding some place to roost, likely sleep during the Eclipse and be busy finding food afterwards. Point being, not that interested in what's going on.

Day Two: Be prepared for a grumpy Amazon after Mother Natural screwed with his prior day!

Kiwibird · Jul 25, 2017

Guess I never really thought about that. Wild animals don't all become blinded during eclipses so I suppose Kiwi would probably be closer to a wild animal in his reaction to one than us. I have never really experienced an eclipse, so I suppose I had it in my head that wildlife freaked out like they do when earthquakes happen, not just go back to bed:33: Still, I guess it wouldn't hurt covering him since he's probably more curious than a wild parrot seeing as we actively encourage his curiosity and he wants to do what we do.

Inger · Jul 25, 2017

Kiwibird said:
So, my husband seems dead set on battling the mobs to head down south into the path of totality:52: and to do so will likely require leaving super early with no definitive time table on how long to get back due to predicted apocalyptic traffic conditions. Because the walls here are paper thin, waking him up super early then leaving and not coming back for hours and hours while an eclipse (over 99% where we are) is happening? He's going to understandably freak out and holler really early in the morning which will surely P/O the neighbors. He's going to have to come with us, which is fine, he's fine on road trips and will eat/drink in the car. I am just concerned about the eclipse and his eyes. We'd obviously cover him when it happens, but to my understanding, the potentially harmful to the eyes effects last longer than the actual time the moon is in front of the sun. How long before/after totality should he be kept covered? Any insight would be appreciated! We do not plan to leave the proximity of our car, so he would stay in the car during the event We kind of plan to park and sit on/right by the car, so obviously able to monitor him and make sure it's not hot or anything like that.

May I ask where you're located?

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Kiwibird · Jul 25, 2017

On the very fringes of Portland.

wrench13 · Jul 25, 2017

Seat of the pants says a good while before and after the eclipse Kiwi should be covered with a nice heave blanket, at least on the sides open to the sun. Parrots, with their higher ability to see in ultra high and low magnetic ranges (colors), might see more and suffer damages far easier then us lowly humans. It's not like Kiwi is gonna brag about it to her parrot friends...."oooo, you know what I saw?? Why take chances, right?
'

SailBoat · Jul 26, 2017

wrench13 said:
Seat of the pants says a good while before and after the eclipse Kiwi should be covered with a nice heave blanket, at least on the sides open to the sun. Parrots, with their higher ability to see in ultra high and low magnetic ranges (colors), might see more and suffer damages far easier then us lowly humans. It's not like Kiwi is gonna brag about it to her parrot friends...."oooo, you know what I saw?? Why take chances, right?
'

Not so sure about that bragging thing Mr. Wrench! After all there has been strong suggestion that they have some kind of Amazon Blog thing going on that 'Back Channel' thing!

Great idea on the covering!

plumsmum2005 · Jul 26, 2017

Forgive me if I am wrong but my impression is that you only risk eye damage by looking directly at the Sun and if you do this will need special glasses to protect your eyes. From what I remember of one happening here the wild birds all thought night had come early and started to do the roosting chatter, half hour later it was getting light again and they picked up where they left off. A cover will do no harm though for Kiwi as the light immediately before and after is a bit weird.

https://www.space.com/36941-solar-eclipse-eye-protection-guide.html

https://www.space.com/33797-total-solar-eclipse-2017-guide.html

LordTriggs · Jul 26, 2017

a cover might be an idea

or... Birdy sunglasses. Just saying, she could get a good look at it then. I'll be patenting this idea shortly, as soon as I can doodle a design for them!

Scott · Jul 26, 2017

Way back when humans feared eclipses as the work of malevolent forces, wildlife took it in stride and went about their business of survival.

So, who were the smart ones??

Kiwibird · Jul 27, 2017

Scott said:
Way back when humans feared eclipses as the work of malevolent forces, wildlife took it in stride and went about their business of survival.

So, who were the smart ones??

Very true. Little scares Kiwi, but he does not particularly appreciate being off routine with bedtime and wake up time. I think us waking him up early then leaving (which is abnormal/out of routine) would possibly be a greater upset than the eclipse itself, though it then getting dark while we were gone and no one to put him to bed (or wake him back up after "dawn" the "next day" may be an even more egregious offense worthy of loud jungle calls more than a freaky celestial event

plumsmum2005 · Jul 27, 2017

I would think Kiwi would be fine at home, enough food and water and tbh it doesnt last that long, gets dark and light again quick. They are often most comfortable in the surroundings they know best and trust and you can go off and enjoy the experience (and traffic queues LOL). Whatever you decide hope you enjoy it and will come on and tell all?

Kentuckienne · Jul 27, 2017

The thing about the eclipse and eyes is that people tend to look at the sun to watch the eclipse, and they get retina damage because the sun is too bright to look at. You can get cheap "eclipse glasses" anywhere, they aren't very dark but just enough for protection. Once the sun is fully eclipsed, you can take them off and enjoy looking at it directly, until the moon begins to clear the other side, then you put the glasses back on. So it won't bother the birdie all, no more than the regular sun.

I've read that as the eclipse begins, it begins to be twilighty, birds go to roost, you see the shadow of the moon race toward you at 2000 miles and hour, then during totality the stars come out, and if you're lucky you see the diamond ring effect, a white fringed halo in the dark with a slightly brighter bump on one side.

I've been following the Oregon weather, travel, and emergency sites. Right now they estimate a million people will come to Oregon on either side of the eclipse. I'm worried because my hotel is in Burns/Hines, 70 miles south of the centerline, and if I get up at three in the morning will there be too much traffic to get there in time?

I'll be driving from southern Indiana, totally prepared with camping equipment, emergency supplies and water, paper maps, and if I find a good spot where the weather looks promising I might not go all the way to Burns to meet my friends. I don't know what to do except to keep an eye on everything until the last minute and be flexible. I'll be going through Wyoming and Idaho, maybe there will be something along the way, but the eastern Oregon weather is the most trustworthy.

Get up at midnight if you have to, drive to where you got to drive, pull off and sleep in the car, do anything you have to do to see it! It's going to be FANTASTIC! You don't know how hard I was typing the keys just now. I'm so excited!

Kiwibird · Jul 27, 2017

plumsmum2005 said:
I would think Kiwi would be fine at home, enough food and water and tbh it doesnt last that long, gets dark and light again quick. They are often most comfortable in the surroundings they know best and trust and you can go off and enjoy the experience (and traffic queues LOL). Whatever you decide hope you enjoy it and will come on and tell all?

We live in a condo, and while Kiwi is typically very quiet we're afraid the disrupt to his schedule plus the freaky lighting outside will result in loud and prolonged contact calling very early in the morning in our absence. He's an experienced traveler

so it will likely be less upsetting for him to come with us than to be left at home alone with freaky lighting going on outside. Likely he'll just go to sleep for a while and enjoy the drive (this bird loves traffic way more than any human, case in point driving in a Haul through Las Vegas on Halloween. He was like a kid in Disneyland while I was like a person on the verge of a mental break) and if the eclipse does scare him, at least he'll be hollering in the car where he won't be annoying the neighbors and we can comfort him if he gets that upset.

Kiwibird · Jul 27, 2017

Kentuckienne said:
The thing about the eclipse and eyes is that people tend to look at the sun to watch the eclipse, and they get retina damage because the sun is too bright to look at. You can get cheap "eclipse glasses" anywhere, they aren't very dark but just enough for protection. Once the sun is fully eclipsed, you can take them off and enjoy looking at it directly, until the moon begins to clear the other side, then you put the glasses back on. So it won't bother the birdie all, no more than the regular sun.

I've read that as the eclipse begins, it begins to be twilighty, birds go to roost, you see the shadow of the moon race toward you at 2000 miles and hour, then during totality the stars come out, and if you're lucky you see the diamond ring effect, a white fringed halo in the dark with a slightly brighter bump on one side.

I've been following the Oregon weather, travel, and emergency sites. Right now they estimate a million people will come to Oregon on either side of the eclipse. I'm worried because my hotel is in Burns/Hines, 70 miles south of the centerline, and if I get up at three in the morning will there be too much traffic to get there in time?

I'll be driving from southern Indiana, totally prepared with camping equipment, emergency supplies and water, paper maps, and if I find a good spot where the weather looks promising I might not go all the way to Burns to meet my friends. I don't know what to do except to keep an eye on everything until the last minute and be flexible. I'll be going through Wyoming and Idaho, maybe there will be something along the way, but the eastern Oregon weather is the most trustworthy.

Get up at midnight if you have to, drive to where you got to drive, pull off and sleep in the car, do anything you have to do to see it! It's going to be FANTASTIC! You don't know how hard I was typing the keys just now. I'm so excited!

We live (on a typical day) an hour north of Salem. However, with the traffic on the I5 predicted to be at zombie apocalypse levels, we shall be taking smaller highways and the back roads and seeing where we can pull off in a more rural area. Hubby is aiming to be back to work by noonish (though they know that may or may not happen), so we'll likely not be going anywhere near the centerline, just into the path of totality like 30/45 minutes typical drive away to hopefully be able to witness this and get back before noon. We're planning on going on a little drive in the next week or so and scout out some places to potentially go. Will probably leave at 3/4AM and bring some food I pack the night before. It tis exciting!

Good call driving through the less populace part of the state though. I'm sure traffic will be rougher than normal, but it can't be that bad because it's very sparsely populated out there. We've driven in rural OR before. Not a whole lot to see, lots of very tiny "blink and you miss it" type communities. Tuesday after, the traffic into Portland is expected to break records and the airport is supposed to be a madhouse. PDX is a tiny airport for the size of the city it supports. I have no idea how they are going to handle the influx for this eclipse. I have no idea how the MAX is going to cope either since a lot of overflow tourists will have to stay in Portland since Salem is not a big community (nor is anywhere else along the path) and/or will choose to stay in Portland. The MAX is an ok public transit system, but it is definitely a west coast public transit system and not designed to handle the numbers it's about to see!

Inger · Jul 27, 2017

Kiwibird said:
On the very fringes of Portland.

Oh we're not far then - relatively speaking. I'm just north of Seattle [emoji3]

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SailBoat · Jul 27, 2017

I know that both of you are great on being prepared, and being off the beaten path will likely place a demand on those skills. So, you're want to do a test run is a great idea!

FYI: As you get closer to that special day, be prepared for the cost of gasoline to increase rapidly. Kind of like in front of three day weekends! Map your trip so 'if at all possible' you are in and back on less than a tank of gas!

Have fun! As you know, having a long talk with your Amazons always helps when this kind of travel is involved. Our Amazon hates getting-up early and what works with him is that everything is slowed down to a pace that he can follow while still half a sleep! When he loads into the SUV, he is still slow, but at least he is going someplace and that is 'okay!' Not happy, but okay!

Have fun!

Kiwibird · Jul 28, 2017

Inger said:
Kiwibird said:

On the very fringes of Portland.

Click to expand...

Oh we're not far then - relatively speaking. I'm just north of Seattle [emoji3]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just a couple hours away! We've tossed around the idea of heading up to Seattle at some point to go to the space needle

Not sure if my car would be up for the trip, so it's one of those "in the future" type things.

Kiwibird · Jul 28, 2017

SailBoat said:
I know that both of you are great on being prepared, and being off the beaten path will likely place a demand on those skills. So, you're want to do a test run is a great idea!

FYI: As you get closer to that special day, be prepared for the cost of gasoline to increase rapidly. Kind of like in front of three day weekends! Map your trip so 'if at all possible' you are in and back on less than a tank of gas!

Have fun! As you know, having a long talk with your Amazons always helps when this kind of travel is involved. Our Amazon hates getting-up early and what works with him is that everything is slowed down to a pace that he can follow while still half a sleep! When he loads into the SUV, he is still slow, but at least he is going someplace and that is 'okay!' Not happy, but okay!

Have fun!

Good call filling up before gas prices jump. Since hubby started working from home and moving within walking distance of a lot of amenities, a tank of gas often lasts about 6 weeks for us, so it wouldn't be any problem to top up a week or 2 beforehand. We definitely don't plan on driving far enough south to eat up anywhere close to a tank of gas, even with bad traffic and the car gets pretty good gas mileage anyways. We don't have to drive far to get into the path of totality, it just won't last as long as if we were to drive far enough to be on the centerline.

We will probably just put him to sleep in his pak-o-bird the night before and he'll know something is up but have some hours to come to terms with the disruption to his routine. He's generally pretty accepting of being woken early and loaded in the car and goes right back to sleep if he's tired (and his POB has roll down covers). His big issues lie in when he is woken early and abandoned at home. That he does not like so much and we try to plan around not doing to him unless it was an emergency.

Inger · Jul 28, 2017

Kiwibird said:
Inger said:

Kiwibird said:

On the very fringes of Portland.

Click to expand...

Oh we're not far then - relatively speaking. I'm just north of Seattle [emoji3]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

Just a couple hours away! We've tossed around the idea of heading up to Seattle at some point to go to the space needle Not sure if my car would be up for the trip, so it's one of those "in the future" type things.

When you do, be sure to let me know and we can grab a coffee or something [emoji1]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The eclipse next month and parrot eyes

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Gauge for wire mesh?

Happy Birthday kblawson!

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