Kizuri

Kizuri (remember her? The blog interrupting bird?) is doing beautifully!

She's still inclined to try to dodge sitting on my hand, jumping up to my shoulder as soon as she can, but she seems to enjoy sitting on my shoulder. I do need to work with her on the hand matter more, but for now, I'm glad she'll at least take food that is held out to her, and if she jumps off my shoulder and heads to the ground, she'll hop back up to my finger.

She is expanding her interests, having discovered she likes music (especially opera and Gregorian Chant, both of which she will sing to), sitting in the sun and burbling, and climbing the curtains behind her cage.

I'd sort of hoped that the seeds vs. bird pellet debate would be settled by this point, but it is still hotly debated. At least, it's hotly debated online. Kizuri has no doubts whatsoever. She eats most kinds of seed but dumps vegetable dyed, nutritional pellets out of her dish as soon as she sees them. Other foods she'll at least play with, but not those!

She does like bacon--a lot. She can't have much, but she loves it. She's also fond of apples and bread (partly because she can make an unholy mess with the crumbs). Asparagus was a big hit. Carrots, not so much. She'll nibble them, but that's about it. Strangely, peaches don't interest her.

Introducing Kizuri!

Or one big(1) reason I have not written reviews in the last few weeks. Kizuri is a pied lovebird whom I fell totally and completely in love with on spotting her peering out at the world, watching everything curiously and cautiously.

She's four months old and not hand-fed(2), so hand taming her is a bit time-consuming.

She's also super smart. I often get the feeling that I'm being very carefully evaluated. She knows she's an intelligent, reasoning being and wants to be sure I am as well before she'll trust me.

So it's all a matter of patience on my part.  Really, she's amazingly confident and outgoing. She spent the entire ride home from the store coming to the front of the box and, sometimes, trying the support of the wire mesh to see if she couldn't get out (I'm glad it was a short ride), and started exploring her cage within minutes of being in there.

Also, while she's still quite cautious about hands, those nasty, grabby things, she's getting to be fairly content about sitting on my shoulder--in fact, she's currently sitting and burbling quite contentedly in parakeet(3), making this the longest stretch of typing I've managed since getting her.

This is actually two-handed typing, as well. Since I am trying to get her used to hands as well as shoulders, I hold her on my finger for as long as she'll sit there. This makes for a lot of one-handed typing. Not at all suitable for reviews. She actually almost consented to eat out of my hand yesterday, as well, so I do think we're making  progress.

I'll try to get some short reviews(4)  up soon, but if there aren't any for a while, you'll know why.

I'm besotted by a lovebird.

(1)Five and a half ounces, at most. On the other hand, as someone once posted in a list I can no longer find "Nothing is bigger than a lovebird. Ask one." Kizuri, while distinctly an individual with her own quirks, shares this belief.


(2) The rule of thumb: Hand-fed lovebirds think "Humans=food. Food=good. Humans=good." Birds raised by other birds think "What is that monster coming toward me?!" Guess which is easier to make friends with? On the other hand, a hand-fed bird wouldn't be Kizuri, and, as I mentioned, it was a case of love at first sight for me. And I have done this before. Sixteen years ago, but I have done it. Actually, Kizuri has only bitten me twice, so far, which is far less than  Malaika did when I first got him. I'm not sure if this is a difference between birds or a difference in my handling; I can't remember the initial training with Malaika or Rafiki very well, but I did learn a few things. 

(3) I like parakeet burbles. They're soft, pleasant little sounds. She wasn't in the store very long, from what they said, but it was long enough for her to pick those up. They have a lovebird accent, but are different from any sound I ever heard Rafiki or Malaika make.  I hope she doesn't lose them!  

(4)And we all know how good I am at short, right?

Malaika

Still seems to be doing ok.

He doesn't seem to be pining, and he doesn't seem to be ill.

He is still bossy, still wants to shred all the paper in sight (especially if it's books), and still loves to have his head scratched.

May he stay that way!

Pictures of the birds

I don't actually have many pictures of the birds. They tend not to pose well. Still, I've a few.


Peek-a-boo







I see you!








The two of them really liked the bike helmet.




Malaika playing King of the Cage.

So far, he still seems to be ok. He's sitting on my shoulder now wanting his head scratched. So, I'm going to finish this and oblige.