For several years I’ve been wanting, looking, and working on figuring out a way to get more space for my birds. Suki, the blue-fronted
amazon that I took in for training last winter has a great and enriching relationship with my greenwing macaw, Murray. The intention was to bring Suki in temporarily for training to work on some behavior issues and then find her a new home. It hasn’t been a smooth ride because there were a bunch of bumps along the way including her not letting me near Murray and flying after Rico, my umbrella cockatoo. Those are just a few issues and we’ve been working on all of them. Murray and Suki interact on a daily basis and have even begun calling for each other when they can’t see each other. They aren’t screaming. They just call to check to make sure the other one is still there. It is pretty cool to see and hear and I like this for Murray. Well I like it for both of them. It brings out a healthy balance of independence. With that said, my intention was to keep Suki if and only if I could get a larger house or space for the birds. My house is too small for five parrots not mentioning the crow
and the owl that I train on a daily basis also. The more time I spend training additional birds, the more space I need to adequately enrich the others. I love seeing my birds interacting and playing independent of me. I love them being on and around me also and I type this with my umbrella perched on my head.
After five years of searching, pounding the pavement, and saving…I am happy to announce that my husband and I have purchased a ten thousand square foot building for the birds to be able to fly, run, and enjoy. It allows opportunity for a lot of light and fresh air. It just happens to have a house on the property that we bought and plan on downsizing the size of our cage and moving into.
The move will happen in a few weeks so I am already preparing the birds for it. I will begin taking one or two birds over at a time with me each day while I work on the house and the building. Each night they will come back home with me and rest in their existing cages. I will continue this on a daily basis while I slowly begin introducing them to their new cages when they are delivered. As time continues I will have them stay a night or two in their new cages while we get used to the new and slowly step away from the house, aviary, and cages they once knew. A bit sad, a bit scary, and a big bit exciting.
Moon, Nature’s Nursery’s education barred owl will be returned once the move takes place. Her training is in full gear right now after taking the summer off of training. She has a big event coming up in October which will be her introduction to the public. I am so excited for her after being with me for ten months. I thank Nature’s Nursery for this opportunity.
Three weeks ago I took in a new education crow of Nature’s Nursery’s for training. Her name is Maggie and in the past three weeks we have worked on her stepping onto my hand on cue, targeting to two different perches and a stick with a red ball at the end, crating, stepping onto a scale, and working on staying calm in front of large groups of people. She has been on two programs in the past two days and I am thrilled to say she is going to be a great ambassador.
This fall and winter will bring new adventures and new birds for training. I will be happy to post photos and videos as we continue on our new venture. Thank you for all of those that have helped me along this way and continue to do so.
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