Two Budgies a Conure and a Fiddle

fiddlejen

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This is going to be the story of my birdies and me.

It is an ongoing story. I'd like to start at the beginning, with reasons. But, I keep meaning to do that and instead I don't get started at all. So, I am going to start a little past the beginning. It was Late January of 2019:

Once upon a time there were two little budgies. Well actually there was a little flock of little baby budgies. They were living all together happily within some glass walls inside a pet store. They had all been together there forever - or, at least as long as they could remember, which was not very long at all. Maybe a few days or so.

Outside the glass walls, things were very scary. Lots of creatures moving about. Some creatures had four legs, and some had only two. The two-legged creatures were Big Scary People. The Big Scary People stood upright, and occasionally bent over and stared in at the budgies. But that was okay, because the tiny little budgies had each other, and their glass walls, to protect them.

But then, something terrible happened. There were lots of creatures and Big Scary People in the store. One looked through the glass, and another OPENED the glass. And, in reached a Big Scary Hand!

The little baby budgies all started jumping around in terror.

The Hand paused, and then took out the brightest, greenest little baby budgie. He was terrified!! The hand put him inside a small scary box. He was All Alone! He had never been alone before. And, it was dark. He did not like the dark.

The box commenced moving around. There was no perch in the box for him to hold, and the cardboard was slippery. He heard People-Voices for a while, and then it got quiet.

...to be continued...
 

SailBoat

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Hmmm, what a way to start a new journey and not even know that a new journey had begun. It will be interesting to watch this journey unfold...

Popping Corn as I'm reading...
 
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fiddlejen

fiddlejen

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After it got quiet, the little box with the tiny Green budgie inside kept moving around. It was Dark and Scary. He did not like the box.

Eventually the movement stopped. There were loud metallic noises. The little budgie did not know this was the sound of his new home being assembled.

When the sounds finally stopped, his little box was moved again. Then, it tipped on the side and opened. A Big Scary Person was staring at him!

The little green budgie stared back at the Big Scary Person. He did not yet know this was his Very Own big scary person. He had never asked for a B.S.P. of his own, so why should he expect one? What he did know, this was Not another Budgie. In fact, he was convinced this was Not even a Bird!

But clearly, this terrifying creature wanted him to come out of his little box. The tiny green baby budgie planted his feet firmly inside his box, and stared-down the huge creature defiantly.
 
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fiddlejen

fiddlejen

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The Bright Green Budgie remained in his box while the Big Scary Person moved around, leaving the room and returning. Eventually, the B.S.P. left entirely. The little green budgie stayed where he was. He was all alone, and determined not to leave the safety of his box.

The Big Scary Person was not gone very long. When she returned, she had another little box with her. She put it inside the cage, next to the Green Budgie's box, and tipped it gently. Out came a little White Budgie!

The Green Budgie felt a little better. Only a little, and he was careful not to let it show. He knew this white budgie. This was one of his friends from the store! He still hesitated within his box, while the white budgie explored. Pretty quickly she found him, and waited for him outside his box.

The sense of panic started to leave the Green Budgie. But even as he calmed, he stayed where he was. Eventually, the big scary person reached in again and tipped his box further, until he slid out gently.

Now, he was in his new home. There were perches and food and water. He had a Big Scary Person of his own, and the White Budgie for a friend. They did not have names yet, but within a day or so they would. The tiny Green Budgie would be named Jefferson, and the tiny White Budgie would be named Calliope.
 
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fiddlejen

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Interlude: A Sunny Day Today:

Got up this morning early. My Sunny is such an EarlyBird. She loves the current Work-At-Home, because whenever I take my lunchbreak (2nd shift), I close all the room-darkening curtains, and cover her cage completely. It's summer in New England, it stays light late, but she is so happy to go to bed at 4:30 pm, if I happen to get my lunch that early.

In the mornings she waits to hear me move. She makes quiet sounds to see if I'm gonna wake up, and, if not, she will let me sleep. She will creep around in her cage, playing and eating carefully so as to be ever-so-quiet. Well, that is until the Budgies decide to wake up. Once they start making noise, Sunny will cease holding-back, and instead starts shrieking...

My goal for this morning was to go Newburyport before sunrise. Ambitious goal, which once again I did not achieve. But, pretty close! At 5:00 am I had hoped to get up, get coffee, prepare Sunny's carrier, and etc etc, hoping to do so BEFore she realized I was up... figured I could've gotten done more quickly withOut birdie-on-shoulder. But NOPE. I actually awoke about 4:45, I think, but she Quickly realized I was UP and demanded to join me.

So unfortunately I was slow getting ready, which meant driving Eastward Into the Rising Sun. (Exactly what I had hoped to avoid with pre-sunrise ETA.) Arrived safely nonetheless!

We were actually meeting a friend there. The timing worked out perfectly, and we enjoyed a beautiful, leisurely early-morning walk along the Merrimack. Sunny rides in her PEtsfit Carrier, which sits perfectly in a rollater-walker & appears to just be one unit, a sort of bird-stroller.

One lovely benefit of taking Sunny for a walk like this is the attention she gets. It's not like everyone stops-n-stares; but always there will be a Few, observant people who notice this little bird in her relatively-large stroller-carrier unit. These are always pleasant little interactions during a beautiful stroll.

When I go for this walk -- or any walk -- with just Sunny, she is normally relatively noisy. Or perhaps I should say, "EEEEP-y." Today Eileen and I talked as we walked, and apparently Sunny was listening, because she contributed far fewer "EEEEP's" than normal. She has met Eileen previously & likes her, and was able to see Eileen the whole time. (I'm always less-visible, as I walk behind the carrier, rolling it along.) Also, since we were chatting, she heard our voices the whole time; perhaps she felt less need for contact-calls.

Once it was just the two of us again, driving back home, she definitely went back to her normal noise level.

This walk, as usual, took far more time than I originally planned. Once I got home, I actually needed to log in and Work. This was some Saturday-work, for a non-phonework portion of my job. (Our phones have been too busy recently to complete during regular work hours.) Sunny felt this was a delightful treat! Normally she is banished to the front of the house while I work in the back, to diminish the active bird-volume audible in my call-background. But today she got to sit on my shoulder happily, with no phone calls to disturb her, for hours while I worked.

Occasionally she would yell & flap her wings, demanding I get up and move around. Mainly she does this after reading-my-mind. That is, I think, "hm let me get myself more tea," or etc., and then I do Not do so. Atter the second or third repetition of this Thought, she starts yelling and flapping! I get up, do whatever I was gonna do, and then she is happy; I can sit back down and work again.

Does everyone on this forum realize yet that, yes, your bird Can Read Your Mind? ??

About 5 pm I logged off. Just enough time to get to store before they close. (I was out of cream.) Birdies in their cages, off I go.

About 5:30 I returned, with my cream, to a Clearly-Overtired Birdie. She did not want to stay in her cage. She only wanted to be on my shoulder. She did Not want me to move around. And, she most definitely did Not want me to talk thru window to a blueberry-picking landlord's roomate's grandma. She expressed her strong displeasure at this development, by flying back to her cage. Not INto her cage, of course; she landed on the floor in front of it.

By the time I followed to the front of the house, darling bossy Jefferson-Budgie was on-the-scene. As always, any time any birdie goes to the floor, Jefferson is right there, guarding and encouraging. "You can do it! C'mon, i'm sure you can Fly! Are you sure you can't? Well come over here, here's the ladder. Go up it! You can do it! I will lead the way, follow me!"

This time, after lifting up my little over-tired Sunny, I did put her in her cage. Definitely overtired, she repeatedly tried calling, flapping, and bell-ringing for me to come get her out. (I double-checked, but she was clearly Not trying to get the Hand to Scritch her; she only wanted to USE the Hand as a gateway to the shoulder.) So I hardened-my-heart, kept her cage-curtains closed, and waited her out. Eventually, I heard her shuffle to her sleeping spot. Once Jefferson was sure Calliope was okay, he happily went to sleep in his own cage with Calliope.

At that point, there was still a little bit of sunset left. The birdies were all covered & sleeping, so I did Not have to close all the curtains. I got to enjoy my dinner watching the golden air color the houses thru the windows.

Thank you for reading. This has been Sunny's sunny day today.
 
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LaManuka

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Love the story so far fiddlejen, and so enjoying the way you write. Eagerly awaiting the next chapters!
 

Gerie

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Hi Jennie.. Oh, golly... I'm loving these posts of your birdies & your interactions with them; love the book-like format you began with. Looking forward to more.. Love and big hugs.. and hello to Sunny, Jefferson and Calliope.. Mom/Gerie -
 

Gerie

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L.O.L. So, I'm a "Junior Member." I'll figure out later what that means (cause I'm sure not "Junior," age wise).
 
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fiddlejen

fiddlejen

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First snow day of the season.

Disgusting yucky noreaster-type sideways "mix" precipitation. Very slippery looking. So glad I am currently work-from-home!

Sunny seems to have forgotten about snow. Every time we get near a window (I have lots of windows!) she wants to stop and look out at the snow. She is fascinated!

Such a very nice day to Not go outside. Sat in the living room having tea and soup, watching my birdies in their cages. Calliope shredding a carrot, Sunny using her bell pepper as a dunking-station for pellets, and Jefferson just be-budgie-bopping around it all. Sideways snow outside the windows, we are all cozy inside.

You get pets because you want them. So, kinda, you get pets to make yourself happy. Then, quickly it becomes all about just making them happy. Sitting relaxing and watching them be happy.

Every day right before I log in for work, I put a you-tube video on TV, its a video of a large budgie-aviary in a zoo. Jefferson really likes this video. When I start doing the search to pull it up, he flies over and does his little hovering in front of the screen. If I am not quick enough, and the various boxes of youtube video choices appear, he specifically hovers in front of that video.

The budgies sometimes acknowledge me. Jefferson occasionally flies around my head. Just to show me he cares, I guess. Calliope occasionally chooses to look at me. It's clear that since Sunny wants me, I'm allowed to be part of their flock.

Did I mention how happy it makes me to see them all happy?
 

AmyMyBlueFront

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And a Normal Grey Cockatiel named BB who came home with me on 5/20/2016.
Snowing here too. It was coming down pretty hard this morning.It was actually kind of pretty looking out the kitchen window to the back yard as I made brekky for the fids. Amy and BB's houses sit at either side of the living room bay window. Amy was on his playpen facing the window chewing on a toilet paper roll and Beebs was banging his shiny dice while yelling at them..all is good.


Jim
 

Terry57

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I'm so happy I saw this thread today! Jen, your writing is incredible. I can't wait to read more, please keep the posts coming!
 
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fiddlejen

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Thank you Bug and Terry, very much, for your encouragement. :)
 
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fiddlejen

fiddlejen

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I believe the last time Sunny had broken blood feathers => vet visit => pull- broken feathers + clip all; was more than a year ago. (Well I could be wrong, it may have been a Little more Recent.) Anyway, at time of last clip her wings were finally nice & even. And her feathers have grown back evenly since then. No more crooked flights leading to crash landings.

However she was still missing 2 (or possibly 3) important flight feathers each side. At this point, at least one (per side) of those have grown back. I'm expecting the others sometime soon. Actually, based on the feathers dropped over the past few months, I thought she would've had all her flight feathers by now. But, the gap is still there on each side.

Despite that gap, she is flying now. And, NOT crashing. She canNot always land as she wants to, but this is clearly a technique issue. (Perhaps the missing feathers affect control?) On my shoulder, having decided to return to her own cage, and me having ignored her yells and flapping, she will eventually fly herself back.

At this time, she successfully lands in or on the cage... well, much of the time. Sometimes, she just can't quite make it, and lands on the floor.

When that happens, Mr. Jefferson Budgie, who thinks Everyone Should Fly, comes to encourage her:

[ame="https://youtu.be/edZ5pxT9DOc"]https://youtu.be/edZ5pxT9DOc[/ame]

(This may not look like much, especially when Jefferson moves away from her. But, normally, my birdies never spend time on the floor. That whole time, he was only there For Her.)


Eventually I stopped recording put down phone & offered Sunny my hand for a lift. The moment we stood up, Jefferson flew two Tight circles around her (passing between Sunny and My Face!), before landing atop cage to supervise. And of course, once I delivered her to own cage, he followed her in, to make sure she was okay.


..............................


Sunny has this little noise she makes, "mmrrP!," which seems to be her "Satisfied with Accomplishment" sound. Lately I've been hearing it often, especially when she flies somewhere she intends, and lands satisfactorily.

I try to encourage her, by giving praise. Including praise for effort. (Mostly praise. If she flies somewhere I did Not want her to go, I give a questioning-response instead.)

Last week I was on phone with Mom, when Sunny decided it was cage-time. Well, she landed on cage floor which was clearly not Quite her intention. I went to her, lifted her to the perch she had aimed for, and Praised her for Effort. AFTER I told her what Good Flying she had done, and what Good Attempt, how she Almost made the landing, THEN she made her little "mmrrP!"s of satisfaction.

(Mom heard the interaction over the phone--though I don't think she heard the "mmrrP!"s--and thought it quite amusing.)
 

Laurasea

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Precious support budgie Mr. JEFFERSON, its good to have a friend when things go sideways. Soo cute
 
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fiddlejen

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Tonight after my work shift ended, I kinda wanted to eat, but didn't have a lot of appetite. I put myself a couple pickles on a little plate, and sat in the living room to watch a little of a ghibli movie.

The birds have been asleep for several hours at this point. The budgie-cage is mostly uncovered in the front, as usual.

Jefferson-budgie, as he often does, came down to a perch to investigate. I had the light dim, and was nibbling on pickles. Not making much noise. Not enough light or noise to awaken Sunny-conure.

So Jefferson kinda looked at me before heading down to his food dish. Now, it's not unusual for the budgies to get up & have some food, when I turn on the lights & eat dinner after my shift. But, Calliope-budgie did not get up. I was being quiet.

And this time I was watching Jefferson, maybe a little moreso than I have been recently.

I don't think he was even hungry either. Maybe he never is when he eats at night?

I think, i am really very convinced, he just wanted to make sure I would not have to eat all alone. He was not hungry. He was still sleepy.

In fact, as soon as I was done with my pickles, he took himself back up to a higher perch, under the sleeping-cover.

But he had gotten himself up, just to nibble while I did. Just to make sure that His person, HIS non-flying flock-member, would not have to eat all alone.
 

Laurasea

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I think that is very true. Keeping you company, and watching out for you. And so sweet. I probably need a cute Jefferson picture :)
 
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fiddlejen

fiddlejen

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I think that is very true. Keeping you company, and watching out for you. And so sweet. I probably need a cute Jefferson picture :)

Jefferson watching over the room.
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fiddlejen

fiddlejen

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... Jefferson watching over the room...
TqeLAfvTF7A


[ame="https://youtu.be/TqeLAfvTF7A"]https://youtu.be/TqeLAfvTF7A[/ame]
 
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fiddlejen

fiddlejen

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I see pictures of other people's conures who will lean back and rest in their hands.

Sunny will not do that. Perhaps because when I got her, I had read about Not Touching anywhere below their neckline, so I thought I could not allow her to lean on me. Or, perhaps because she just feels more secure clinging to a rope perch, always.

Whatever the reason, she Wants to lean back and rest in my hand, just like the conure she is. ONLY. She refuses to ever do so unless she is also securely attached to a perch.

This is what it looks like at its best:

[ame="https://youtu.be/-1wb7vfnHmY"]https://youtu.be/-1wb7vfnHmY[/ame]
 

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