Favorite Person

You’ve probably already guessed that my favorite person is Katherine Rawson, the person I live with. She’s pretty nice to me. She puts fresh water and food in my cage every morning. She gives me lots of head scratches. She takes me on walks in my carrier so I can see all the outside birds. She gives me toys and lots of treats. We usually have a pretty good time together. Of course, as with anyone you love, there are a few things that bother me about her. For instance, there are those times when she makes me stay in my cage when I’d rather not. And there are certain things, actually quite a lot of things, that she won’t let me chew, or if I chew them, she gets really mad at me. The worst is when we go for a ride in the car and I think we’re going somewhere fun but then we end up at the vet’s office. Talk about disappointment! But mostly she’s really nice to me. She often tells me that I’m a pretty parrot. That’s the most important thing of all, don’t you think? Who is your favorite person?

True Love

I wanted to share this picture of me with Quentie, my true love. Isn’t he good looking? He’s a quaker parrot. He’s very smart and talks a lot. Sometimes he says, “Polly wanna cracker?” He’s such a talented bird! I think the only thing I regret about moving to the country is leaving Quentie behind. We spent many happy days together, sitting wing-to-wing and preening and feeding each other. I sure miss him. However, we write each other frequently, and just a few weeks ago, Quentie sent me a bag of plastic bottle caps—my favorite chew toy! He sure knows the way to my heart.

Sounds

I love sounds. Well, I guess that must be because I’m parrot. There are lots of interesting sounds to hear, but my favorite sounds of all are beeps. There are a couple of beepers living in our house. The microwave oven is a great beeper when it wants to be, but it isn’t a very good conversationalist. It’s quiet most of the time. The phone is much easier to talk to. Whenever it jumps off the receiver and starts dialing, I’m right there, beeping along with it. Do you like beeps? What sounds do you like?

Predatory Chair

It’s so hard being prey! It means I have to watch out for predators everywhere I go. And I have to be super careful about any new or unusual thing that I see. Take the new chair, for example. My person brought it in to my room recently and placed it VERY NEAR my cage. I’m supposed to like that? I don’t think so! It’s big and black and for all I know, little green parrot could be its favorite meal. My person has been sitting on it all day, but there’s no way I’m going near that thing, not for a few days, anyhow. I have to keep a beady eye on it and make sure it isn’t getting ready to attack. If it doesn’t do anything for a few days, it might turn out to be OK. I’ll let you know.

North for the Winter

These days I’m getting some competition for my squawking. It’s those honking, migrating geese. They fly overhead making the most raucous noise. But I sure give them a run for their money. I know my squawking can beat any old goose’s honking anytime of day! Poor geese, to have to fly so far to find a place to spend the winter. Personally, I don’t mind winter in the north at all. My cage is cozy anytime of year, and there are fresh pellets and seed treats in it everyday. What more could a little green parrot want? I’m glad I’m not a migratory bird. What about you? Do you migrate? Where do you spend the winter?

More on Chores

There is a scary monster that lives in the closet. It’s big and blue and loud. It really roars. It roams around on the floor sniffing all over with it’s big, long nose, sucking up anything that gets in its way. It likes to come over to my cage and suck up all the bits of food that I’ve thrown out of my dish. Whenever it comes near, I squawk at the top of my lungs, but it doesn’t pay any attention to me. Even my mighty squawk cannot be heard over the monster’s terrible roar. I hate that thing. I guess they keep it around because it helps clean up the house, but I don’t like it at all. Vacuum cleaning is definitely the scariest household chore there is. What household chores are you afraid of? Tell us about them in the comments.

Quiz Time

Have you been wondering what your PQ (Parrot Quotient) is? Well, now you can find out! One of the things my person, Katherine Rawson, does for a living is write test passages and questions. By combining her test writing skills and my special expertise on being a parrot, together we have developed a Parrot Quotient quiz. You can take it here. Then come back to this page and tell us how you did. Happy quizzing!

Laundry

Don’t you just love laundry? I think there is nothing more fun than climbing up neatly stacked piles of folded laundry, then watching it all tumble down…to the dirty floor! Chewing holes in clean socks is really fun, too. Best of all, though, is watching the washing machine at work. What sounds it makes! Someday, I will get my beak under that lid and open it up and get to the bottom of the mystery…Where does that sound come from? As soon as I find out, I’ll let you know. Anyhow, you can probably tell that doing laundry is my favorite household chore. What household chores do you like to do?

Books

Do you like books? I love books. I can chew through an average size paperback in less than an hour. I do telephone books, too. I am illiterate, but I enjoy having stories read to me. They sound very nice, and I always chirp softly while I listen. My favorite book is If You Were a Parrot. Have you read it? What are some books that you like?

Welcome

Hi. I’m Shadow. Welcome to my blog. I am a pretty bird! I am a nanday conure. My ancestors lived in the jungle in South America. I live in a cage in Vermont.
Here are some of my favorite things to do:
- squawking
- eating sunflower seeds
- taking walks in the woods (I ride in my carrier)
- squawking
- chewing popsicle sticks and bottle caps
- squawking
- protecting the house from intruders (by squawking)
- taking baths in a pie pan
- taking showers under a spray bottle
- squawking
What are some of your favorite things to do?