Spoilsport

So I’m sitting on the windowsill this morning, enjoying the beautiful spring day and listening to the outside birds. There were phoebes, mourning doves, chickadees, dumb robins, a whole lot of different birds. It was quite a melodious bird conversation that was going on and I was trying to figure out what everyone was talking about, and contributing my two cents worth, too, when all of a sudden the house started to shake and there was a deep rumble in the distance that kept getting closer and closer and closer…then this giant truck comes roaring by. Well, that scary predatory thing sure had me squawking and flapping, and I flew right to the safety of my cage as fast as I could. Now I don’t know when I’ll feel safe enough to sit on the windowsill again. Sheesh. All it takes is one monster truck to spoil a good time.

A Few of My Favorite Things

Don’t you just love some things, while there other things that you can’t stand? Here are some things I really like:
walnuts
sunflower seeds
anything with seeds
head scratches
preening
dark corners
things that beep
baths
remote controls (love chewing those buttons)
laundry
watch straps
the cabinet where my food is kept
pencils
music

Then there are those things I can’t stand, mostly because they look predatory and need to be attacked:
dogs
cats
earphones
CDs and DVDs
the vacuum cleaner
the kitchen clock
hats
chairs when they move

What about you? What are your favorite things? What are some things you can’t stand?

Catbird

A catbird has been hanging out around the yard recently. He has a really nice voice. I enjoy listening to his calls, and sometimes I call back. I’m partial to catbirds because they’re good imitators, like parrots. They imitate other birds, frogs, machines, lots of different kinds of sounds. Me, I tend towards beeping sounds, like microwave ovens and telephones make. I don’t imitate other birds. But I like listening to the catbird do that. There’s one thing about catbirds I really can’t understand, though. They get their name from the mewing sound they often make. Why would any self-respecting bird make a sound like a cat?

Places to Hang Out

Do you have any favorite comfortable corners in your house where you like to hang out? My current favorite place is the shower curtain rod. It’s a great place to be because it’s so high up. We parrots tend to prefer high places because we always have to be watching out for predators. So the shower curtain rod is really good for that. The other thing I like about it is there’s some good stuff up there to chew – rings and the top edge of the curtain. Of course, as soon as my person sees me chewing on the curtain, she takes me down from there. She really cramps my style sometimes. Oh well. You gotta love her anyhow. What about you? Where do you like to hang out?

Good Morning!

Getting up in the morning is the very best part of the day, don’t you think? I usually wake up before my person, so I sit in my cage and wait for to come take the cover off and let me out. Sometimes she sleeps a little too long, then I have to squawk to let her know that morning is here and it’s time to greet the new day. It’s always very exciting when I hear her coming into the room, then she pulls the cover off my cage, and I am so excited I squawk and whoop for joy. Then my person puts fresh food in my dish, including a few walnut pieces, which is very exciting too. I usually eat the walnuts right away. Then I go to the kitchen to help my person make her breakfast (which she shares with me). Morning is so exciting. It’s definitely my favorite time of day. What about you? What time of day you like best?

More on Books

My person went to a used book sale a few days ago and came back with a box full of books. Right on top of the pile was one called “Guide to Training Your Parrot.” The good thing about that book is that it is full of pretty pictures of pretty birds, including the prettiest birds of all – nanday conures. But next time my person goes to a book sale, I wish that she would bring back a book for me – “Guide to Training Your Person” – because I sure could use a few tips (and that’s a book I would read before chewing). My person is always doing stuff like taking away pens and books right when I’m in the middle of chewing them and locking me up in my cage when she’s cooking dinner, which is, of course, the exact time when I want to be out of my cage and in the kitchen. She’s full of annoying habits like that which I’d like to train her out of. At least I have her trained to come when I squawk, so that’s something.