Denestifying

Sometimes my person can be so mean. Yesterday she was walking around with that nasty little vacuum cleaner, letting it run its snout all around my cage and play area. That was bad enough, but then she looked behind the printer and discovered a nest I had been making. I had done quite a lot of work on it and filled up that cozy little dark corner with popsicle stick splinters and chewed-up bits of cardboard, including all the pieces from the raisin box my aunt sent me for Christmas. I had done a pretty good job on that nest, if I do say so myself. But instead of praising me for a job well done and instead of respecting my space, what do you think my person did? She let that nasty little vacuum cleaner get in there and suck everything up. I stood on top of my cage and squawked my protests the whole time, but no one paid any attention to poor little me. It’s kind of confusing because usually my person is very nice. She cuddles me and gives me head scratches and feeds me treats and keeps my water bottle and food dish full, but then she goes and pulls something like this. What a meanie.

Jammin’

I’m sure I’ve mentioned here before how much I love berry jam. It’s so seedy! I especially like the jam my person makes from the wild berries that grow around here. It makes even the coldest, snowiest winter day feel a little bit like summer. My person and I frequently share a midmorning snack of wild berry jam on toast, which I enjoy very much. The only thing is that usually I end up with my beak all covered with sticky jam and toast crumbs. That wouldn’t be so bad except that my person thinks it makes me look funny and she laughs at me. She thinks she’s so smart, until I wipe my beak clean on whatever happens to be handy, which is usually the sleeve of her shirt. We parrots always like to get the last laugh.

Same Old, Same Old

I know I’ve been behind with my blogging this month, but there just hasn’t been much new to report. The days just go peacefully by in the same old way: I eat my morning walnuts, share a bowl of cereal with my person, sit on her shoulder, nip her ear when I want attention, chew on a bag or bottle cap, look out the window and squawk, take a nap on my perch, eat, chew, nip, squawk, nap, eat, chew, nip, squawk, nap. It’s a great life!

December

Here it is almost half way through December and I’ve hardly blogged at all this month. It must be because it’s that hibernating time of year when we snuggle cozily in our cages and listen to the cold winds howling outside. Of course, those dumb robins think they have to fly thousands of miles south to find a warm place where they can eat worms all winter. I’ve never heard of anything dumber in my life. Why travel so far just to eat worms when you can stay in the comfort of your own cage nibbling on shredded wheat and walnuts? Nope, you’ll never catch me migrating. I just don’t see the point.

In the Bag

As a female parrot, I’m very nest oriented, so I’m always looking for dark enclosed places to hang out in and chew. That’s why I just love bags. The other day, my person hung one of those reusable shopping bags on the chair where we usually sit, so I figured I’d help her reuse it. She used it for shopping and now I’m reusing it for playing. Some times I hang on the outside of the bag and chew my way in. Other times I stick my head inside and chew my way out. Either way it’s really fun and I’m amassing quite a good pile of little green bag bits on the floor below. Of course, when my person sees that, she threatens to bring out the vacuum cleaner, and we know how I feel about that monster. Sigh. I guess everything has its little drawbacks.

Nudge

Sometimes even the best of people need a little reminder. While I’m the first to acknowledge that my person is very kind and attentive, even she needs a little nudge every once in a while. The other day it was about my seed treat, which my person gives me every afternoon. Sometimes it comes early, sometimes later, but it always tastes good whenever it arrives. The other day, my person had happened to leave the seed treat container out on top of the cabinet instead of inside it, so I had a good view of it from my cage. All afternoon I was eyeing that treat container, wondering when my person would finally open it up and give me my treat. Every time she went near it, I thought, “Now! Now! I’m finally going to get my treat!” But it didn’t happen. The day dragged on, the sky started to grow dark, and still my treat hadn’t appeared. I realized I would have to take matters into my own beak, so to speak. So I left the comfort of my cage and flew over to the treat container and started poking around it, trying to find the way in. Finally my person realized what I was doing and, full of apologies, she opened the container and gave me my treat. At least she didn’t make me chew all the way through the lid myself. Not that I couldn’t, but can you imagine! It would’ve taken a good while. The treat tasted delicious and I forgave my person for her forgetfulness right away. After all, nobody’s perfect, right?

Giving Thanks

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. This year I’m giving thanks for all the friends who surround me:
- the furnace, who keeps us warm all winter
- the toaster oven, who ticks and dings and makes delicious toast for me to eat
- the coffeepot, who entertains me with its gurgling noises
- the refrigerator, who keeps my walnuts fresh and tasty
- the paper shredder and the pencil sharpener, who are always ready for an interesting conversation
- Trouble the gray parrot, who always brings grapes when she comes to visit
- my person, who takes good care of me and one day might buy me my very own grapes

Talking on the Telephone

Do you like telephone conversations? I really enjoy them. When my person is talking on the telephone, I snuggle right up next to her throat so as not to miss a word. Usually I just sit there and listen, but sometimes I chatter and chirp right along with her. I like telephone dialing, too. Love those beeps! Sometimes I listen and sometimes I beep, too. Another good thing about the phone is the buttons on the dial. When my person isn’t looking, I can sometimes sneak in a few good chews on those buttons before she notices. When you think about, it’s easy to see what a useful thing a telephone is. What about you? Do you like telephones?

Treats For Breakfast

How I love tea! My person usually drinks coffee, so it’s a special day when a steaming mug of tea appears on the table. This morning the tea showed up at breakfast time, right when I was enjoying my morning walnuts. Walnuts and tea! Walnuts and tea! It was so exciting to have two such delicious treats at once that I didn’t know what to do. Finally I snuggled up next to the tea mug to nibble on my walnut, but I touched the mug with my beak every so often just to make sure it was still there. Then I climbed up to the rim of the mug, dropped a few walnut crumbs inside, and took several long delicious sips of tea. What a lucky parrot I am!

Yet Another Kind of Predator

My person keeps a drawer full of predators. She says they’re bottles of paint that she uses to decorate things, but I know they’re really predators. Not that any of them have ever actually tried to attack me, but I know a predator when I see one. Apparently, my person doesn’t, so it’s up to me to protect us. Whenever one of those paint bottles comes out of the drawer, I have to fluff up my feathers and puff out my wings and put on my mean vulture look. Then I lunge. If the paint bottle happens to be in my person’s hand when I attack, then a finger might get bitten in the process. That always makes her mad. I keep trying to tell her that it’s dangerous to hold a predator in your hand, but she just doesn’t get it.

Yum!

Do you like cookies? I loooove cookies. Fortunately, my person likes to bake them almost as much as I like to eat them. This week we’ve been eating Halloween cookies. My person cut them into weird shapes, like skulls and bats. I don’t care so much about the shapes, though. I just like the eating part. I have a real sweet beak. I like ice cream, too. I pretty much like to eat anything sweet. What about you? Do you have a sweet beak? What kinds of treats do you like to eat?

Mad

Don’t you just hate it when your person goes out and stays out ALL DAY, leaving you all by yourself in your cage? That’s what happened yesterday and I was just soooo mad! What does she expect me to do all day all by myself in my cage? After I ate my pellets and tossed some apple pieces around the cage and played with my toothbrush, well, then what was I supposed to do? I talked with the furnace for a while and had a brief conversation with the refrigerator, but I have to say, conversation with those two gets boring pretty quickly as they never seem to have anything new to say. By the time my person finally got home I was pretty mad, but then I was so happy to see her, I just squawked with joy and sat on her shoulder and snuggled up to her neck. People. You just can’t stay mad with them long, no matter what they do.

Parrot Summer

Don’t you just love parrot summer? You know, when you get a few days in the middle of the chilly autumn season that are warm enough for a parrot to go outside. We’ve been having a few days of parrot summer this week and I’ve been enjoying outside walks in my carrier. It is kind of a strange time to be outside. There’s hardly any green anymore. It’s all orange and yellow and brown, which would be quite scary for a green parrot like me if I didn’t have the protection of my carrier. I haven’t seen any predators during my walks this week, but if they were around, they didn’t see me either! My carrier keeps me well hidden.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I’ve got plenty to keep me busy these days. As you can see in the photo, my person has given me quite a stack of books to work on. It’ll a take me a little while to get to the bottom of that one. A parrot’s work is never done!

Parrot Poetry Returns

Ode to the Furnace
by Shadow

The furnace keeps me nice and warm
In chilly autumn weather,
And though it isn’t quite as soft,
It’s warm as any feather.

The furnace lives beneath the house,
Where it rumbles, shakes, and blows
To keep me toasty as can be
From my beak down to my toes

Though autumn days are warmed by sun,
They’re chilly by afternoon’s end,
And that is why I’m very glad
That the furnace is my friend!

Under the Weather

No one likes being sick. However, we parrots know better than to let anyone know when we aren’t feeling well. I mean, just think what would happen if I were hanging out in the jungle acting all sick, and a predator saw me. It would know I was weak and unable to defend myself. So when we parrots feel sick, we always hide it. People, on the other hand, are a completely different story. My person, for example, has not been feeling well today and believe me, I know it. She spent the whole afternoon lounging on the sofa. The worst part of it was, she left me in my cage in the other room. I had to squawk quite a few times to remind her that I was all alone. Finally, she got up and paid some attention to me. Sheesh! Feeling a little sick is one thing, but it’s no reason to neglect your pet parrot.

A Parrot's Work

Some people think the life of a pet parrot is all about lounging around the cage and eating seed treats. Not true. I have a lot of responsibilities as a pet parrot, and my daily tasks are constantly changing. For example, recently my person has been giving me popsicle sticks—lots of them. My job is to chew them all up into splinters. Everyday she gives me more, and I spend a good part of each day chewing them up. The photo shows my current work in progress. As you can see, I’ve got plenty to keep me busy. It may be the life of Riley for Riley, but the life of a pet parrot is something completely different.

Finches

My person and I were watching some goldfinches this morning. They’re very interesting little birds. They were perched all over the stalks of evening primrose plants feasting on the seeds. I can understand why they like to eat that kind of seed. The evening primrose plants are mostly dry and brown by now, with just a few little yellow blooms left on their very tips, and the brown and yellow finches blended right in with them, so they weren’t that easy to see. So I know they felt very safe from predators while they were eating their breakfast. It’s just like when I'm outside, I only like to be where everything is green like my feathers, or else inside my carrier, so predators can’t find me. So I totally understand why those finches chose to eat their breakfast where they did. I’m not sure about those evening primrose seeds though. I wonder how they taste. I bet they’re not anywhere near as delicious as sunflower seeds are.

Huh?

I got an e-mail the other day about my recent post on cereal, in which the writer mentioned that his favorite cereal is Grape Nuts. Grape Nuts is a kind of cereal? What? I know what grapes are and I know what nuts are. They are two very delicious kinds of food, but they are certainly nothing at all like cereal. Hmmm. Since I like grapes and nuts so much, maybe I would like Grape Nuts, too. I’ll have to ask my person to buy me some. As soon as I find out what Grape Nuts are really like, I’ll be sure to let you know.

More on Predators

Here’s something else I can’t stand—cameras. Talk about predators! When that thing sticks its big fat eye out at me and flashes its bright light, you’d better believe I go into attack mode. I’m not going to just sit around and let that black monster go after me with its flashing and buzzing and zooming. No way! I fluff up my feathers and puff out my wings and scrape my sharp beak along the ground and put on my meanest vulture look. That’s the only way to scare those predatory cameras away. And believe me, it works. I always manage to get that thing to pull its ugly eye back into its face and go hide in its case. My person says that one reason she got the camera was that I am so cute and photogenic and she wanted to take pictures of me. What was she thinking? Flattery will get you no where, at least where there’s predators involved.

The End of Hummer Season

It’s been at least a week since we’ve seen any hummingbirds at the feeder. I guess they’ve left for their winter home already. I sure will miss having them around. My person and I enjoyed watching them all summer, fighting over the feeder and flying around the flower garden. They’re really nice birds to have around, even if they do migrate like dumb robins. My person says she’ll miss them, too, but that she won’t miss having to keep their feeder clean and filled. Wow. I sure hope she doesn’t feel that way about MY feeder. What a thing for her to say!

Cereal

I just love eating cereal, but there’s more to cereal than just the eating. The great thing about cereal is that it usually comes in a cardboard box, so when you’re done eating the cereal, you get to play in the box. It’s really fun to hide in the box, and it’s even more fun to chew it up. This week I’m chewing my way through a shredded wheat box, but even though shredded wheat is my favorite kind of cereal, I’m sure a cornflakes box or any other kind of cereal box would taste just as good. What about you? Do you like cereal? Do you like cereal boxes?

Vacation

My person and I went on vacation last week. My person went to the beach and I went to Trouble’s house. I don’t get what the big deal about vacation is. All it meant was sitting in my own cage at someone else’s house and my person wasn’t there. What’s so fun about that? The one good thing is that Trouble’s person gave me grapes. I hardly ever get to eat grapes at my house, and I just love them. They’re so juicy and seedy. So I guess going on vacation means taking your cage to another place and eating a different kind of food. Big deal.

Anticipation

If you know me at all, you know how much I loooooove walnuts, and that getting walnuts in my dish every morning is the high point of my day. So I really can’t explain how it happened that the other morning I somehow missed the chance to eat my walnuts before I went outside with my person to mow the lawn. It wasn’t until I was zipped inside my carrier and on the way out the door on my person’s back that I remembered. I knew those little walnut bits were in my food dish just waiting to be eaten and I hadn’t yet tasted even one and here we were going outside and getting ready to mow the lawn. Normally I enjoy helping my person mow the lawn. While she pushes the mower back and forth, back and forth, I ride in my carrier and survey the land. I watch out for dumb robins and squawk at the neighbor when she walks to the end of her driveway to get the newspaper and squawk at any joggers or cyclists who happen to pass by and just generally keep an eye on things, but that morning it was really hard to pay attention to all those things because all I could think about was those lonely little walnuts back inside in my food dish just waiting for me to eat them. As my person pushed the mower towards the road, I pictured those walnuts in my mind. As she pushed the mower back towards the woods, I thought about how they would taste. I was thinking so hard about those walnuts that I almost forgot to squawk at the neighbor when she came outside. When we finished mowing the lawn, my person put the mower back into the shed and we came inside the house and she let me out of my carrier. I scrambled as fast as my little parrot feet could carry me up my person’s arm, into my cage, and over to my perch, which is right next to my food dish. I stuck my beak right in the dish and picked up a piece of walnut. Mmmmmmmm. That walnut sure tasted good. Anticipation makes the best condiment.

On an’ on an’ on

That gray parrot Trouble is here for a visit again, and chatting up a storm, as always. “Hiya, bird!” “Ain’t it cool!” “Apple and a grape.” And on and on and on all day long. What a show off! Well, I can beep like a microwave oven just as well as she can! This visit, she’s added something new to her repertoire: she squawks just like me. I have to admit she does it quite well. Her squawks sound almost the same as mine. However, I’m not sure what she means by it. Is she making me fun of me? Or is imitation the sincerest form of flattery? It sure is confusing being a parrot who is being parroted by another parrot.

Spider

The other day while we were gardening, my person and I discovered a huge, I mean HUGE, spider in among the vegetables. It had interesting bright yellow and black markings. It had made a web that stretched from the mini pumpkin plants to the bean plants and was sitting right in the middle of it. My person said it was waiting for insects to come by and get caught in the web so it could eat them. That made me wonder. Why go through all that work spinning a web and then waiting for an insect to come by just to have a snack, when looking in your food dish for a bite to eat is so much easier? That’s what I do when I’m hungry. I guess there’s just no explaining spiders.

Hummers

My person and I enjoy watching the hummingbirds at the feeder. We frequently see them there, feeding or swooping around. At first we thought a lot of different hummingbirds were feeding at the feeder, then one day we figured out what was really happening. A lot of different hummingbirds do come to the feeder, but there’s one of them, a male, who acts like the feeder is his. Whenever another bird tries to feed there, he swoops in and chases it away. Then he perches on the feeder and eats to his heart’s content. Then he flies away and perches in the birch tree nearby where he can keep his beady little eye on the feeder and make sure no other bird gets to eat there. Now that we know what is going on, we see it happen frequently. That bossy little guy is often hanging out nearby, in the birch tree or sometimes the hydrangea bush, protecting “his” feeder. My person is a little bit upset about this. She says she intended the feeder to be for all the hummingbirds, not just one greedy one. But I think I can understand why he’s acting that way. I mean, if another parrot tried to stick his beak into my food dish, you can be sure I would squawk at the top of my voice and chase him away. I mean, after all, your food dish is your food dish, right? What could be more important than that?

Career Plans

Do you know what you want to be when you grow up? I’m thinking shepherd might be a fun job. The other day, my person and I were watching a movie and every once in a while a whole bunch of sheep would show up on the screen, all baaing and bleating. Naturally, I squawked like crazy when I saw them because that’s what I always do when I see strange animals, but also because I really enjoyed their baaing and bleating sounds. I can appreciate any animal that makes interesting sounds. So I was thinking, if I were a shepherd I could baa and bleat with the sheep all day and then I would squawk and they would go where I told them to go. I think it would be a great job. What about you? Would you like to be a shepherd? What kind of job would you like to have?
(7/31/10)

Gardening

I’ve been helping my person with the gardening recently. It’s a pleasant way to spend a summer afternoon. I sit in my carrier in the grass while my person weeds the vegetables and checks to see if any beans are ready to be picked yet. There are so many things to watch in a garden. First of all, there are lots of little creatures like lady bugs and spiders crawling around on the leaves. I can see bees collecting pollen from the squash blossoms and dumb robins hopping around on the grass. I can hear lots of birds singing in the woods. I can keep an eye on the sunflowers (and I’m happy to report they are still growing strong and several are ready to bloom) and watch the pea pods grow. I can’t wait till the peas are ripe. I just love eating peas right from the pod. I love eating green beans, too, because they have delicious seeds inside them. The garden is full of so many wonderful things (as long as the deer and woodchucks stay away).

Hold On!

I just love holding things. That’s because I’m a parrot and we parrots have special feet that are made for climbing and holding. I use my feet to hold my food while I eat, but I also like to hold things for fun and relaxation. My absolute favorite toy in the whole wide world is my toothbrush, which hangs from the top of my cage. I stand on my perch on one foot and hold my toothbrush with the other foot while I squawk and chirp and chatter for hours. It’s so much fun! I also like to hold plastic milk bottle caps. Sometimes I chew them, but other times I just like to sit on my perch holding a plastic cap in my foot. Holding things is really fun, don’t you think?

Sunflowers

I’ve been watching the sunflowers in our garden with great interest. After the seeds form, my person picks the flower heads and saves them for me to eat in the winter. I get to eat the seeds right out of the flower. If you’ve never tried that, you should. It’s definitely the best way to eat seeds. We had a bit of a scare in the spring when some bad deer came and ate the tops off all the young sunflower plants. You can imagine how upset we were when we discovered almost the whole row of plants with their tops bitten off. What a mean thing to do. I would never go eat the deer’s favorite plants that they had been saving to eat in the winter. Those deer are very rude creatures. I told my person to put a sign in the garden that says “No Deer Allowed,” but she’s not so sure that the deer will be able to read it. Dummies. Fortunately, at the time of the sunflower tragedy it was still early in the season and my person was able to plant more sunflowers and now they are growing very well. I look forward to lots of seed eating this winter.

A Place to Perch

Sometimes all you need is a good place to perch. Some days it’s all rainy and cold and I can’t go outside in my carrier or sit by the open window and talk to the outside birds. Or I might get to thinking about my true love Quentie, who I had to leave behind in the city when my person and I came here to live. Or maybe my person forgets to give me my afternoon treat. Yep, some days can look pretty dreary, even to a bright green parrot like me. But then I notice the laundry rack right there in the middle of the living room just waiting to be perched on, so I fly to it and sit on the very top bar and stretch and preen and let out a few loud squawks, and the day starts looking pretty good. The right place to perch can really make a difference, don’t you think?

What happened to summer?

One day it’s all warm and sunny and I’m hanging out on the windowsill talking to the outside birds and going outside for walks in my carrier, and the next day it’s chilly and rainy and the window is shut tight and my carrier is nowhere to be seen. I don’t like being shut up inside on a gray, wet day like this. I sure hope the sun comes back tomorrow. Well, anyhow, at least I still have strawberries in my dish, so that’s something. And speaking of outside birds, those phoebes that built their nest right outside our kitchen window are gone. They just disappeared. Mrs. Phoebe sat on that nest for like a month and then one day we didn’t see her anymore. We still hear the phoebe pair calling “Phoebe! Phoebe!” out in our woods, but they’ve never come back to the nest. We started wondering what was inside it. Did the eggs just not hatch? Did the babies die? Finally, the other day my person took the nest down and we looked inside, and guess what we saw? Nothing. That’s right. Absolutely nothing. Poor Mrs. Phoebe hadn’t laid even one egg. Maybe she’ll try again next year.

The Joys of Summer

Imagine my delight when I peeked into my food dish this morning and found strawberries! Mmmmm, seedy! Now I know summer is really here.
Now that I have recovered from my fright of last week, I have ventured back onto the windowsill a few times to check out the outside birds, though it is a bit nerve wracking since there are always cars and trucks speeding by. But despite that I’ve had some good communication with the outside birds. They chirp and twitter and sing, and I chime in with squawks and beeps, and sometimes I throw in a “Pretty bird!” or two for good measure. We’ve had some interesting conversations.

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.

Forbidden Books

I’ve blogged in the past about how much I’ve enjoyed chewing my way through “Gone With the Wind.” It’s not a bad book, but sometimes a parrot wants a change. So, the other day I was hanging out on top of the reference books that my person keeps near her computer – and near my play area, too, I might add. So, anyhow, since I was there, I started nibbling on a dictionary. The first few nibbles tasted pretty good so I just kept right on going, having a grand old chew, until my person had to come along and spoil it all. As soon as she realized what I was doing, she got all mad and put me back in my play area. “Chew your own book!” she told me. Obviously she doesn’t get it that forbidden books taste so much better. Sigh.

Nests

There are lots of different kinds of outside birds. Not all of them are dumb robins. For example, there’s a pair of phoebes building a nest right above our kitchen door. My person and I watch them while we’re washing the dishes. OK, it’s my person who does the actual dish washing; I just sit on her shoulder and cheer her along. But still, we both watch the phoebes build their nest. They bring bits of moss and dirt and are building quite a sturdy-looking nest on a very narrow ledge. I have to admit that they’re very skilled. Still, I wonder at the method they choose. I mean, why bother spending all that time carrying around bits of moss and dirt when all you have to do is find a nice cozy hole in a tree and do a bit of chewing to get the shape and size just right. That’s how a parrot would do it. Since I’m an inside parrot, I make my nests by chewing up cardboard boxes or wooden boxes. We parrots know that chewing is a great nest-building method. No moss and dirt for us!

New Friend

My person brought home a big box today. That’s always exciting, though a little scary too, because you never know if there’s a predator inside or not. I always watch with a great deal of interest when my person opens a box or a bag. Today she pulled out a big, shiny thing. I wasn’t sure at first if I should be happy or scared, but as soon as she plugged it in, it let out several very friendly beeps. It was a new microwave oven! My old friend, the previous microwave oven, was apparently getting a bit tired out, so it’s gone off for a rest. I am so glad that the new one is just as friendly as the old one. I always enjoy beeping conversations with a microwave oven, and this one seems to be quite talkative. I’m also glad to have a new friend to entertain me because it’s been too cold these past few days to go outside in my carrier. The other day there was even snow on the ground! I thought it was winter again. Fortunately, the snow went away quickly, but it’s still cold out there. But at least I have my new microwave oven friend to talk to while I wait for the outside to warm up.

Friendly Time of Day

Breakfast is the friendliest time of day. The coffeepot is always very talkative then with its gurgling and slurping, and the microwave oven often joins in the conversation with a rumble and a beep. If the microwave oven is still sleeping, the toaster oven is probably awake, ticking and blinging away. The refrigerator usually has a rumble or two to add to the conversation. There’s always something interesting going on in the kitchen at breakfast time. It’s a great time of day, don’t you think?

It’s a Parrot’s Life

There’s not much new and exciting to report around here except, of course, that I have been outside in my carrier several times now and I am VERY happy about that. Other than that, I’m just doing the parrot thing—chewing, preening, squawking, eating, and always keeping an eye out for predators. My almost-daily outside walks have been enjoyable even though I do encounter a dog from time to time, especially that short little Sassy who lives around the corner. She thinks she’s got such a big yip, but I let her know who’s the boss in no uncertain terms. It’s very useful to have a loud squawk. Also, that gray parrot, Trouble, is visiting here this week, and that means more squawking for me—have to protect my territory. Well, that’s all the news from the parrot cage for now.

My Friend, the Furnace

I have been worried about my friend the furnace ever since I wrote in my last blog post that it felt good to go outside and be warmed by the sun, not the furnace. I in no way meant to imply that I don’t appreciate being warmed by the furnace all winter. I most certainly do appreciate it, and I enjoy daily conversations with the furnace, too. It’s very talkative and rumbles and whooshes on and off all day long. OK, I have to admit I have never actually met the furnace face to face. It lives in the basement, and I’m too scared to go down there. But, like me, the furnace has a voice that carries throughout the house, and it talks to me quite regularly. It’s a very interesting conversationalist and a nice housemate to have even though, as I understand, it has quite a hefty appetite and insists on eating only expensive imported food. I don’t quite get that part. I myself am quite happy to eat food that grows around here, berries from our field, for example, though not any worms—I’m no dumb robin. But anyhow, despite its unusual appetite, the furnace is a good friend to have.

Finally!

Yesterday was the big day! I went outside in my carrier! I have to admit I felt a little nervous at first, it’s been so long since I’ve gone outside. But I got over that quickly. How wonderful it was to feel the wind rustle through my feathers, to be warmed by the sun, not the furnace, to hear the rushing waters of the brook, to listen to the chickadees chirping. Speaking of chickadees, there were plenty of them out there yesterday but not one robin. Not one. Ha ha. I beat those dumb robins to spring. Ha ha. Now it’s clear that it’s the parrot, not the robin, that’s the harbinger of spring!

Waiting. . .

There hasn’t been a whole lot going on around the bird cage recently. After sipping my morning tea, I usually just relax for the rest of the day, gaze out the window, and wonder WHEN is my person going to take me outside in my carrier? All the snow is gone now, but things still aren’t green, so I guess it’s still not time. Luckily, I have a warm shoulder to snuggle on while I wait for the season to change. And my good friends the microwave oven, refrigerator, coffee pot, and toaster oven to talk with and pass the time. What about you? What do you do while waiting for spring?

I’m a star!

My lack of interest in TV and movies does not, of course, extend to those occasions when I myself am on the screen. When I see my pretty green feathers appear, I most surely do sit up and take notice. I squawk my squawkiest squawks to express my pleasure at seeing an image of my beautiful self on the screen. Click here to see one of the videos my Uncle Tom made of me when he was visiting last summer. I can’t wait for him to visit again. He sure is my favorite uncle!

TV Predators

As I think I’ve mentioned before, I’m not much of a TV watcher. Why sit and stare, after all, when there are so many more interesting things to do—explore the room looking for crumbs, chew on a pencil, shred a book—lots of stuff to do that’s so much more interesting than anything that’s on TV. However, when one of those scary predators appears on the screen, then I pay attention. Just yesterday, for example, while my person was watching a movie, some really scary-looking horses came galloping right towards us. You’d better believe I started squawking as loud as I could the minute I saw them. And my squawking saved the day! Those horses disappeared right away. Phew! Watching TV can be quite exhausting, when it isn’t boring, that is.

Is it spring yet?

I look out the window and see that most of that scary white snow is gone and wonder why me person isn’t taking me out for walks in my carrier. She says it’s still too cold. Maybe she’s right. Even though the white stuff is almost all melted, it still isn’t green out there, but more brown and gray. And I’d certainly feel much safer going out there if it were green. Plus I haven’t seen any of those dumb robins yet. There are lots of chickadees and nuthatches and woodpeckers at the outside bird feeder, but not even one dumb robin pulling up worms. So I guess it’s still winter out there. Sigh. It’s back to the perch for me, to dream of the warm days, green grass, and squawking at robins to come.

Moods

Do you ever get in one of those moods where you just have to bite? That’s how I’ve been feeling lately. The other day I bit my person four times. It wasn’t like I wanted to hurt her or anything, but if she puts her hand near my beak when I’m in one of those moods, what does she expect will happen? She calls it PMS–parrot moodiness syndrome. It happens sometimes. What about you? What do you do when you’re feeling moody?
3/4/10

I Do Windows

Sometimes house cleaning is really fun, especially when it's window washing day. My person uses a spray bottle when she washes the windows, and that always gets me really excited because I just love getting spritzed. That’s my favorite way of taking a bath. I squawk and squawk when the spray bottle comes out. But the best part of window washing is the squeaky sound that happens when my person rubs the windows clean. I join right in and squeak and squeak. It’s all about squawking and squeaking. That’s why I love window washing.

Scary Cleaning Day

Yesterday was one of those scary cleaning days—you know, when the vacuum cleaner gets out of the closet. That nasty, roaring thing really freaks me out. I used to fly as fast as I could to the nearest dark corner to hide whenever I saw that thing. Now that I am fairly certain it isn’t going to actually eat me, I stay by my cage to defend it. You better believe I squawk at the top of my lungs whenever that thing starts sniffing around near my cage, but loud as my squawk is, it gets drowned out by the vc’s terrible roar. The worst part is when the vc sticks its long snaky nose right up next to my cage and starts sucking up all the crumbs that I have left scattered around. If that isn’t adding insult to injury! Not only does it freak me out with all its loud noises, but then it goes and eats the crumbs I have been carefully collecting for my own snacks. I sure hate that thing. I don’t know why my person keeps it around.

Flossing the Beak

I’m quite interested in dental floss. I always ask for a piece when my person is using it. I sure wish I had some teeth so I could pull the floss between them. It’s fascinating watching my person do that—it looks like so much fun. However, chewing on it with my beak is kind of fun, too. I especially enjoy the cinnamon-flavored kind. After a few chews, I drop the floss on the floor. That’s how we parrots enjoy things. Then next time the floss comes out, I’m right there asking for more. Dental floss is a really fun toy, don’t you think?

Attack of the Earphones

Can’t stand those earphones! It drives me nuts whenever my person uses them. There’s just something so predatory-looking about them, it makes me very nervous to have them around. And then my person puts them right in her ears! Of course, I have to do a lot of biting when she does that. First, I have to attack those scary earphones to keep them from harming us, and then I have to bite my person to warn her that danger is so close. That always makes her mad and she ends up putting me in my cage, and then I get mad about that. It happens that way every time those earphones come out. I wish they would just go away and stay away forever!

A Dunking Experience

Regular readers of this blog know how much we parrots love dunking. Sometimes we do it to soften up our food for eating, but often we do it with no thought of eating in mind. You could say it’s more of an art form. So, anyhow, the other day as I was enjoying a bowl of soup with my person, I spied out of the corner of my ever-vigilant parrot eye the perfect dunking material—it was an entire sheet of paper that had been crumpled up and left lying on the table. Well naturally I grabbed it with my beak, hauled it over to the soup bowl (it wasn’t heavy but was quite a bit longer than me) and dropped it right into the soup. But then, just as I was stepping back to admire my work, what do you think my person did? She picked the paper up and threw it away! Those people. They just don’t know art when they see it.

Annoyances

Sometimes my person can be so annoying! For example, I spent several minutes this morning throwing all the pens out of the pen holder, and what does she go and do? She puts all those pens that I worked so hard to remove right back in the pen holder. So I had to take them out all over again. Arrrggg!!! And then there’s the printer. I just love hanging out on top of the printer. First of all, there are all those buttons to chew. I’ve done quite a bit of chewing but haven’t chewed them all off yet, so there’s still work to do there. And I always enjoy peeking into that little dark space behind the printer just in case something interesting to see shows up there. And of course, there are several cables sticking out from the sides and the back of the printer and I would just looooove to get my beak on those. But my person sure doesn’t make it easy. Just recently she put up a barrier of pieces of cardboard all around the printer. I’ve been working hard all day to chew that barrier down, but there’s still lots more to do. Then my person has the nerve to get mad about all the little bits of chewed up cardboard flying around. Well, if she doesn’t like them, all she has to do is take the barrier down. Duh!

So Busy

What a week it’s been! My person has had a lot of work recently, so you can imagine how busy that’s been keeping me. I have to sit on her shoulder from morning to evening, giving her inspiration so she can work. Some days I’m quite exhausted by supper time. But I don’t mind. Helping my person while she works is one of my most important duties as a pet parrot. The only drawback is that it doesn’t leave me much time to blog. But I hope I’ll have more time for that soon because there’s lots to report on—outside birds at the feeder, snow still on the ground, walnuts in my food dish—so many interesting things for a parrot to pay attention too. How about you? What’s been keeping you busy recently?

Cozy Afternoon

Don’t you just love a cozy winter afternoon at home? Climbing all over the drying laundry, nibbling on gingerbread and sipping tea, squawking at the snow sliding off the roof, snuggling up to my person’s shoulder……How about you? How do you like to spend a cozy afternoon at home?

Winter Poetry

White and Green
by Shadow

In wintertime
There’s lots of snow
The world is white
Where e’er you go.

The whiteness of
The wintry scene's
A scary sight
For a bird that’s green.

I never like
To go outside
‘Cause there’s no place
Where I can hide.

I’d be an easy
Target for
A hungry hunting
Predator.

So in my house
I like to stay
It’s safer for
A bird that’s prey.

And when the green
Returns with Spring
I’ll go outside
And squawk and sing.

Summer in Winter

You know what’s really nice? The aroma and taste of wild raspberries on a stark winter day. When I sink my beak into a raspberry, it brings to mind all sorts of lovely images of warm summer days - flowers blooming, insects buzzing, warm sunshine on my feathers. . . . . My person and I picked a lot of wild raspberries last summer. OK, she picked them while I sat in my carrier and squawked at the robins, but still, I was there when they were picked. There were so many, we couldn’t eat them all right away, so now we are enjoying the berries my person has been keeping in the freezer. They taste just like a little bit of summer. What about you? Do you like to eat berries in the winter? What do they remind you of?

White World

That white stuff just keeps falling and falling from the sky. Everything is covered with snow. When I look out the window, I can’t see a speck of green anywhere. A world covered with snow is just about the scariest thing I can imagine. If I were out there, where could I hide my pretty green feathers from a hungry hawk? I guess those dumb robins aren’t so dumb after all, with all their migrating south for the winter. They’re probably in some nice warm green place right now. And I am too. My cage is in a pretty green room and the furnace keeps it nice and warm. I have pellets and tangerines in my dish and I’m getting ready to snack on a jam-covered bagel. I’m so glad I have a warm, food-filled place to spend the winter. I’m glad I don’t to go anywhere near that scary snow.