Climate Change? No Problem!

As the mornings are getting colder and colder, many animals will leave for the winter or hibernate. The gray flycatchers that I mentioned in my previous blog (Companionship) are no longer visiting Sonny's cage, and I've noticed that it impacts Sonny's mood when she is outside. Sonny acts as if she is in a bad mood if the other birds are not around. Now, Sonny has shown me something that truly stands out, she has proven to me that the cold doesn't bother her at all. Being a tropical parrot like she is, I always thought she hated cold weather, but I was wrong because every morning she always wants to be taken outside even though the temperature is only around forty-five degrees around seven in the morning.

I've been scratching my head at Sonny liking the cold, and I don't fully understand what she is thinking wanting to be outside really early every morning. I began thinking to myself, "Why does she enjoy this? Your kind naturally thrives in jungles, not the cold mountains of Oregon!" But, as it turns out most parrot species are designed to withstand up to freezing temperatures. South Carolina avian veterinarian, Gregory Burkett said, "In my experience most pet birds' comfort range is 65-90 degrees Fahrenheit. However, they can withstand a much broader range of 30-80 degrees Fahrenheit." "Last winter, when my workplace lost power, the facility dropped to 42 degrees Fahrenheit for three days with no damaging effect on any of the birds. Even babies that were still in brooders seemed happy and were playing and eating,” Dr. Burkett said. So, some parrots are more than happy to be playing and flying around in the cold.

 

Field Notes 11/5/14

Dr. Burkett has also bred cockatoos in his indoor/outdoor aviary in South Carolina  for more than two decades. In the winter, the indoor "building” part of the aviary is heated to just 38 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit. This is connected to a larger, unheated outdoor flight. During the daytime, the birds can choose to spend their time in the indoor or outdoor sections of the aviary. "Most of the birds will spend a few hours outdoors on sunny days all winter long,” Burkett related. "The Australian cockatoos enjoy playing in the snow and will venture outdoors even when the temperature dips to single digits.” Parrots can handle almost any type of temperature, all they need is time to adjust.

Finding out about how these parrots just need a little time to adjust to any climate reminds me of people. People also adjust to the climates that they are exposed to, whether it be hot and humid or cold and windy, humans always find a way around that and survive. Survival is the ultimate task for every living thing in the animal kingdom, which is similar to humans because survival is essential to everything, the need for reproduction is key for all animals and humans. Adjusting to the environment, ensures the survival of your race.

 

Works Cited

Burkett, Gregory. "Ideal Temperature Ranges for Parrots." National Geographic Magazine. Simon Kovacic. Oct 2012. Web. Nov 8, 2014.

Body Language

Understanding what a parrot is trying to tell you can be very challenging, especially since mine can't talk. But, their body language is essential to having a healthy relationship with them. I've always wondered what all the head shaking, pacing back and forth, the head bobbing, and all these weird stuff meant for birds. There is a reason for all of it, so I dug a little deeper into it and found some interesting information. Turns out a parrot wags their tail like a dog, because of excitement. Bobbing their head is a way of getting attention, which makes sense because Sonny is a diva! I used to say to Sonny, "You're one weird and disturbing bird!" But now I have an idea of what Sonny was trying to communicate with me.
Visit peteducation.com for more info.

 

Field Notes 10/30/14 

 

Parrots actually know what hand their owner is dominant with, and I know this for a fact because every time I approach Sonny, she always turns towards my right side, which is the hand I wright with. Some parrots will only stand on the person's dominant hand because they know that is the strongest hand, and a parrot always wants to stand on a strong perch. This is pretty awesome for a bird to automatically know that about their owner.

 

 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVj-R_hXeuA

 

Sonny is very playful, which again is an important sign of her body language. She does certain moves indicating whether how playful she will be. Unfortunately, she is too camera shy, and she is terrified of the camera, she won't play when the camera is recording. She has a tolerance level with photography, but the key in filming birds is to make the bird feel safe and natural in the surrounding environment.

 

                                  http://www.cockatielcare.co.uk/cockatiel_information.html

I think it's a great learning experience to understand a bird's body language because there is always new material to learn, and these birds are very funny as well. I feel very lucky to have a cockatiel, they might be the best pets a person could have.

Works Cited



Moustak, N. Parrots for Dummies. John Wiley & Sons Inc. New York, NY. 2005. Web. November 1, 2014.

Avian Mysteries?

I heard on the radio a few days ago of the reported sightings of greater numbers of the large, flightless owl parrot, the Kakapo. Now, you may ask yourself.. What is a Kakapo? I asked that exact question, but then this mysterious bird caught my attention and I did some research on it. Apparently, this species of parrot is a nocturnal endemic native to New Zealand and is the only parrot in the whole world that cannot fly. According to its anatomy it's the longest living bird on the planet earth, and the heaviest one as well. Curious on the Kakapo? Visit cryptozoonews.com for more information.

Since its discovery in 1845, the Kakapo has only been filmed twice in the wild, and after an absence of almost twenty years(Late 1950's to mid 1970's) , many believed this bird became extinct. Then in 1975, a male Kakapo was spotted on the Codfish Island off the coast of New Zealand, which was a relief for scientists. That is very strange for such a long absence, what were these birds doing? Since March of 2014 only 127 individuals still survive in the wild, putting it on the endangered list.

 

a-z-animals.com (Kakapo)

 

As you can see, this parrot is combined with an owl as well, which reminded me of videos and sounds I've seen and heard in class. Kakapos are ground dwellers, they spend their entire lives on the ground. As I observe Sonny, surprisingly there are similarities in behavior. Is it because they both don't live in trees and live differently? Or maybe they live secluded and private lives and don't interact with other birds? I'm stumped on that, it's very mysterious.

Maybe these two birds share ancestral roots, who knows it could be possible. Many parrot species do come from similar ancestors as they all have similar physical characteristics. But, as I compare a Kakapo with my parrot I can see the same kind of shyness and seclusion on both their parts, it gets more and more interesting.

 

Field Notes 10/22/14

 

 

Works Cited

  Clout, Mick. "Celebration of Kakapo: Progress in the Conservation of an Enigmatic Parrot." auckland.ac.nz. STA Travel. 2006. Web. October 25, 2014.





 





Wiped Out?

I was reading an article about some endangered parrot species, and I saw that one of the most beautiful parrots is on that list. The Blue Throated Macaw has been endangered since 2009, and with only about EIGHTY adults left in the wild, they have slim chances of bringing their numbers back up. These birds only live in the remote jungles of Bolivia, so that country has made a conservation program to help the species make a comeback. If anyone is interested in more information, or is interested in donating money to these foundations visit parrots.org.

As I have been observing my parrot, I have really thought the birds on that list of endangerment. I've realized that man-kind must be careful of moving into their habitat, because these birds are so precious to the environment and play a large role in the ecosystem. In many places around the world, some species of parrots are hunted and killed for their colorful feathers or even for their eggs, so poaching is also a very big problem.

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SLweL0FX9o

 

There have been accounts of people taking in some of these parrots while they are still very young and they cannot survive, and the bird eventually dies. Some people don't understand that if the parrot is born wild, it must live wild. Although, I can see why having one of these birds is so tempting they are very beautiful, but an undomesticated parrot is not a good pet to have. For more pictures and galleries on this macaw visit birdchannel.com.

 

 

I was researching some characteristics that parrots have and apparently they are zygodactyls, which means they have four toes on each foot, two pointing backwards and two pointing forward. I didn't realize this, until I looked at Sonny's feet and I saw for myself. I thought that was pretty awesome! But then I was thinking about the feet.. Of course! Two feet point backwards to grab branches! It all made sense, and surprisingly for herbivores parrots have large talons.

 

Field Notes 10/17/14 (Sonny's Feet)

Companionship

Since my last entry, there has been a lot of new movements going with Sonny's cage. Lately there has been these gray little birds that always land on the cage or stand beneath it. I wonder why? My theory is that these birds may be trying to eat some of the bird feed that is thrown on the ground by Sonny. The birds on top of the cage I really do not know what they are up to. Hopefully they are not harassing my parrot, but instead possibly making new friendships perhaps? Sonny always seems to be very interested in the presence of these birds, she tries to be as near as possible to them, which rises the suspicions that they are communicating with each other. My theory is that Sonny's chirps are very different, or considered weird to other birds, bringing them to investigate where the source of this "weird chirping" is coming from. I just hope that this chirping doesn't attract any predators!

 

Field Notes 10/10/14

 

I did some research on these mysterious birds and it turns out they are called the American Gray Flycatcher. The Gray Flycatcher is native to all of North America, and the most common habitat for them is sagebrush steppes. They thrive in shrubs or short tree branches eating insects or any seeds that can be found. For more information on this bird, please visit birdweb.org. 



 

 American Gray Flycatcher. allaboutbirds.org

 

 The presence of these birds is a great example of how much attention Sonny draws, which can be a good and bad thing. I can recall a time where a red tailed hawk attacked her cage trying to kill Sonny, and the hawk did not see the cage and rammed right into it knocking it down to the ground. Sonny was uninjured but she was frightened and the hawk was left extremely confused. Visit animals.nationalgeographic.com for information on hawks.

 

Red Tailed Hawk. birdweb.org

Hopefully no more hawks will be flying around Sonny's cage anymore. That's one of the advantages of having cockatiels as pets, you will find yourself in some pretty funny or crazy situations from time to time. In the end, it's all just good times you'll have with these birds.

 

 

 

Intelligence

My bird loves it when I feed her by hand and its one of the many things I am able to share with her. Holding her is a different story and that only happens every once in a while, but every cockatiel is different, each one has its own likes and dislikes. Sonny seems to be very playful as I've noticed how ripped up her toys are. Her perching surfaces always have lots of marks where she will scratch her beak and trim her nails, which is actually normal but I find it amusing to witness that. Usually I will use a cement perches because the wooden ones can break easily, but I do have her using the natural wooden ones now, she doesn't seem to be aggressive towards the perches anymore. Which is a good thing because I don't have to keep on buying new ones over and over again!

Field Notes 10/5/14



 



 As you can see, she is very wary of where the camera is, and the flash didn't help at all. This picture was taken inside of her cage. If anyone is interested in seeing galleries of these beautiful creatures you can visit cockatiels.org for amazing photos taken by professionals.

 

As I have done some more research on this species, these birds are wanted for mainly their intelligence and their companionship to humans. First brought by Scottish naturalist Robert Kerr to Western Civilization in 1782, these birds were native to Australia and exported to different parts of the globe. Since then the exportation of this species has been banned, but they are now native in the Islands of Tasmania and the island of New Zealand. For more information on the background and origins of the cockatiel, please visit birdminds.com.

 

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUISGNwEvt0

 

This video is an example of how beautifully these birds can sing and whistle to almost anything they hear. My birds picks up whistles she hears from me or other family members or even from the T.V., which is just mind blowing. I wish I could whistle like that!

 

I think these birds are incredible pets and I encourage anyone who has never had a parrot before, to buy a cockatiel because they are just awesome. These parrots have a lot more in them, then what they are credited for.



 

I have owned my parrot for about five years now, and I never really thought about ever sitting down and observing her for a while. Sure I have spent time with the bird before, but I have never watched her without her watching me, so it was something new. The details I have noticed of my bird in this past week of notes, are just mind-blowing to me, it's amazing! My parrot is a lot cooler than I have given her credit for! But, she's also a lot weirder, and very intelligent as well. But once I really started thinking, I really don't know anything about my parrot! I needed to find out some information on the cockatiel species.

Field Notes 9/21

 

While doing some research on cockatiels, I learned something I've wanted know for a while now. I found out that the reason these birds yawn frequently is because there might be something stuck in their throat. Also, these birds actually pick their nose! That's an undignified bird if you ask me! Anyways, this species has turned out to be very interesting and fun to observe, everyday I see or hear something new or different that the parrot does. But, I still have a lot more to observe, and a lot more to learn about my Sonny. www.tailfeathersnetwork.com