Circus

[apatrimo94]

I went to the Ringling Bros: Barnum&Bailey Circus yesterday with my cousins. Before the show started, they allowed you to see the animals. They had a bird aviary with a lot of birds. Being the crazy bird nerd, I mouthed of the keeper, correctly naming all the birds, even their specific names. The had a swainson toucan, a blue-throated macaw, a flame macaw, three rose breasted cockatoos, and an congo african grey. I've already seen toucans and macaws so it wasn't a first time. It was beautiful seeing them, but what got me was the grey and the cockatoos. I was just watching them and they were amazing! Especially the grey, which beats seeing any type of bird any day. I can't wait to get my own! Here's some pictures of the birds.

The African Grey:

The Aviary:

The RoseBreast Cockatoo that I got the privelege to hold They don't let people hold the birds but they let me I felt honored:

This was an amzing experience!!!! Can't wait to get my own African Grey!!!!!!!

 

[Aussie Ben]

Wow that must have been awesome! Did the birds perform in the circus?

I love the African Greys and I also love Galah's - I couldn't fit another one in my life though, we have about 100 Galahs living across the road lol

 

[Bobby34231]

Geeeez ya shoulda asked to hold the Blue Throated Macaw instead of the pink chicken, at least you could have said ya held a rare bird!!....lol

Bob

 

[Aussie Ben]

pink chicken

lol never heard that before

 

[Bobby34231]

pink chicken

lol never heard that before

Hmmmm with about a Gazillion pink chickens in Oz Ben, I would have thought you'd heard that at least once or twice before, crazy Galahs, gotta love the lil buggers........

 

[Aussie Ben]

pink chicken

lol never heard that before

Hmmmm with about a Gazillion pink chickens in Oz Ben, I would have thought you'd heard that at least once or twice before, crazy Galahs, gotta love the lil buggers........

We just call them 'clowns', which is why there work great for the circus lol

 

[HRH Di]

Hey, I don't see pictures! I'm bummed. Our friends have a blue-throat macaw named Zeus. He's the biggest baby! But we all love him.

 

[Bobby34231]

Hi Di, I see you also have a rare macaw, i've had the great pleasure of having a couple of RFM's in my life at different times, loved the softness of their feathers, mine were both big snugglers, I've only had my BTM about a month and a half or so, he's two years old and I have to say that hes probably one of the best feathered friends I've ever been owned by.....lol

Bob

 

[antoinette]

You sure are one hell of a lucky guy, what a fantastic experience.
Happy to hear you enjoyed it.

 

[HRH Di]

Hi Di, I see you also have a rare macaw, i've had the great pleasure of having a couple of RFM's in my life at different times, loved the softness of their feathers, mine were both big snugglers, I've only had my BTM about a month and a half or so, he's two years old and I have to say that hes probably one of the best feathered friends I've ever been owned by.....lol

Bob

Thanks. We absolutely love our Jady Jade. She has so many differnent facets to her personality - clown, diva, instigator, snuggler, etc.

 

[apatrimo94]

Thanks guys! I look forward to getting my own grey soon. I spent most of the time watching him. And Ben, they only used the macaws and the toucan. The toucan had it's own act and macaws popped in from time to time. They trained the elephants to hold the macaws. I would've taken pictures but they didn't allow flash photography so most of them came out bad.
And Bob, I actually did want to hold the macaw or grey but the only could let me hold the too. I was bummed too!

 

[echoskybound]

I know that flock very well! That's the flock of Dave and Jamie Womach of Birdtricks! Their toucan Rock, blue-throat Jink, Camelot macaws Tusa and Comet, CAG Cressi, and rosies Bondi and Bandit! I am a huge fan of theirs and watch too many of their videos :] The birds are all free flight trained, and amazing at it.

 

[echoskybound]

Oops... old thread, sorry! (I missed the Swainson toucan detail, that was Fiji who sadly passed away, they now have a Toco named Rocko.)

 

[IcyWolf]

I know this is an old thread but I just have to throw my two cents here... While there are many wonderful bird and animal shows out there that look out for the best interest of the animals involved, ringling is by far, not one of them. There are countless videos, stories, undercover investigations and even former employees speaking out about the truth behind the ringling brothers "animal training" programs. Even Steve-o has spoken out about when he was a clown for ringling, stating that he remembers being told that if anyone asked him ANYTHING about how the animals were treated that he was to keep his mouth shut. In the end, it is entirely up to the individual to make your own evaluation but I know I would never give these horrible people my time or money short of standing in a picket line.
VIDEO of Ringling Abuse
you can google ringling abuse and ringling shame for a lot more info if anyone is curious.
I actually wasn't aware that they had birds in any of their shows, that somehow makes me feel so much worse. Such evil people

 

[lene1949]

The Womach brothers got a real 'beating' on another bird forum I used to belong to years ago, because they used flooding...

I recently purchased their DVD, just out of interest, but it's definitely not worth the money... You get better training advice on this site.