ls1i+@andrew.cmu.edu (Leonard John Schultz) (10/13/88)
A Molluccan Cockatoo, Shiva, is the most gorgeous, curious, and downright jealous bird. He requires tons of affection, and it is all worth it. Everyone knows what a basic cockatoo is. They are white birds about a foot tall with a yellow crown that goes high in the air when excited. They starred on such shows as Beretta. A Molluccan Cockatoo is not pure white, but is an off-pinkish-orangish-white, and the crown is a bright salmon (rustish) color. I leave him (her?) loose constantly when I am home, so he has the freedom to roam the house or come seeking attention. Shiva is very good about dumping only on his perch, although it took quite a bit of time to accomplish this feat. He is a wild bird from Australia and knows incredible jungle calls and mating songs, which really livens up the house. Because he was taken from the jungle as an adult bird, it took almost a year to get him COMPLETELY tame. As for the yet to arrive Grey-Cheeked Parakeet, it is in fact a miniature parrot. But its price ($190) is definitely affordable. They can learn to talk, and they can do it very well. As hand fed babies, they will cuddle up with any nearby human. I only hope that Shiva won't become jealous of the parakeet and attack it. I would like for them to become good friends and keep each other company while I am away. Does anyone else have any birds they would like to talk about? If so, post on this bboard. Let's get some lively conversation going!!!
ls1i+@andrew.cmu.edu (Leonard John Schultz) (10/13/88)
> Did you get your cockatoo in PA then? It is illegal to buy/sell imported >birds in NY, and I'm so used to it I forget this doesn't necessarily >apply. I hope the parakeet and the cockatoo get along--the only thing >I've ever heard about mixing birds was that peach-faced lovebirds can >terrorize macaws. Do you suppose you could get jealousy problems? When >I talk to Tangier, Sepia gets jealous--even though neither bird is tame >(lovebirds are hard to tame unless you get them very young.) I've seen >the parakeets for sale, at more like $200, but they are hand-raised. >That is a bit more than I can justify, poor grad student that I am. Here's >a question though--how did you "toilet-train" your bird?! I did not >know that could be done! >I'm not posting to the news group because I've never seen notes having to >do with live-in birds before--all bird-watching. Rec.pets has occasional >postings on pet birds, but they have all been canaries and budgies, and >don't seem to attract much interest. Hope some more parrots turn up though- >they are so much fun to talk about! --Ruth Miller Stick training is just a slow, repetitive process. At first, Shiva would always fly to this one chair and plop. Every time he did that, I would yell at him and make him fly back to his perch. I would then congratulate him and tell him GOOOOOOOOOD BIRDIE (he loves that) and eventually he would fly to his perch every time he needed to defacate. Nothin' to it. How much did you pay for your Fischer's lovebirds? I thought they would be in the $100-200 range. The Grey-Cheeks are definitely worth the price since they are so damned affectionate, especially compared to lovebirds who just love each other. I am looking for some Peach-faced Lutino Lovebirds. I haven't been able to find any. Anyone seen some? Len Schultz
bamford@ihlpf.ATT.COM (Harold E. Bamford) (10/15/88)
OK, I'll bite! I had (note past tense) an adult, wild caught African Grey Congo. Extremely even tempered: he hated everybody. He would howl loudly for upwards of 1/2 hour when somebody approached him. He would bite if a hand was put in his cage. Etc, etc. Then I sold him to a breeder with experience with wild birds and bought a BABY African Grey Congo. What a difference! This baby bird is very friendly. He likes to sit on my shoulder and purr. Just like a cat. He crawls all over me (or anybody that gives him some cheese) and plays with my hair and ears. He chirps, and cheeps. When very excited, he grunts as though he could hardly stand the excitement. Hilarious sound. He also has a gurgling series of chirps that sounds exactly like "Cousin Itt" from the TV show, "The Addams Family". Merlin also is very much the omnivore -- no wimpy vegetarian diet for him! (Please, no flames from vegetarians). He devours: Beef Lamb Chicken Scallops Shrimp He also "inhales" cheese, rice, bread, carrot, grapes, broccoli, radishes, cucumbers, those long green hot peppers, safflower seeds, etc. But he WON'T eat Parrot Pellets. OK, let's hear about YOUR parrot.
harolds1@ihlpa.ATT.COM (Schessler) (10/15/88)
> A Molluccan Cockatoo, Shiva, is the most gorgeous, curious, and downright . . > He is a wild bird from Australia -- -- I wish people where aware about buying wild birds -- for every one that makes -- it to this country, 100's die in trans. US law prohibits importation of many, -- but apparently not all. It is up to all of us to stop the crimes against these -- beautiful creatures. In the Chicago suburbs this past year, a guy was arrested -- for trading in large birds. -- -- But please - I ask for compassion!
larrabee@decwrl.dec.com (Tracy Larrabee) (10/15/88)
In article <9921@ihlpa.ATT.COM> harolds1@ihlpa.ATT.COM (Schessler) writes: >> A Molluccan Cockatoo, Shiva, is the most gorgeous, curious, and downright >> He is a wild bird from Australia > Molluccans do not come from Australia, which is good, because owning a bird that you know was once living loose in Australia is a Felony. There are *no* birds legally imported to the U.S. from Australia. Moluccans come from the Pacific islands, but fortunately they breed well in captivity. Many Molluccans imported to this country as "wild caught" are just raised in foreign aviaries without the kind of personal attention that a hand fed bird requires. I personally believe that the only people who should own wild-caught birds are breeders and that all others should buy only domestic birds.
ls1i+@andrew.cmu.edu (Leonard John Schultz) (10/16/88)
Molluccan cockatoos are from the Molluccan Islands in the South Pacific relatively close to Australia, where Greater and Lesser Cockatoos are found. And there was a limited amount of birds exported recently (I'm not sure what the deal is now). I do believe that many people cannot handle the responsibility and frustrations of owning a wild bird. It probably would do some good to limit sales to experienced aviculturalists (don't hold me to this).
ls1i+@andrew.cmu.edu (Leonard John Schultz) (10/16/88)
>Then I sold him to a breeder with experience with wild birds and bought a BABY African Grey >Congo. Nice bird. The African Greys have an extraordinary ability to reproduce and sound. My brother works for an aviary and their Grey will yell at him when he goes into the cabinets, "hey, get out of there". He will call the dog, "Lucky, Lucky, come here boy, woof, ha, ha". He's got an incredible laugh. He'll make the phone ring and then yell, "answer the phone". He's basically got an incredible vocabulary. I don't know how long they worked with him to develop it, but all birds tend to pick things up more quickly after the first word they learn.
jla@inuxd.UUCP (Joyce Andrews) (10/16/88)
> Nice bird. The African Greys have an extraordinary ability to reproduce and > sound. My brother works for an aviary and their Grey will yell at him when he > I'm told that the African Greys are the best talkers of all. Here in the Florida Keys, just about everyone has a shoulder full of bird droppings. There aren't many dogs around, but so many people live on boats, and hookbills are good pets for boats. The consensus is that if you want a bird to love to be stroked and handled, get a cockatoo or cockatiel. If you want one that talks a blue streak, get an African Grey or one of the Amazons. And here is a funny story...My husband and I were stranded on US 1 (a long story involving one of our irresponsible teenagers), and were looking for a phone to call for help. My husband (Fred) started walking south, and I started north. Within a few feet, I spied a public phone, so I hollered "Fred" several times to stop him from walking the other way. From behind a privacy fence, a hookbill started yelling "Fred" with great enthusiasm. I was amazed at the bird's ability to pick that up, and have told the story many times. A year later I got to meet the bird...a scarlet macaw named Fred. And that's the only word he says. Another funny story. Hookbills often know WHEN to say something, because they have heard sounds in sequence. For instance, my blue-front Amazon will sing the second line of a song she knows if I sing the first. Or she'll tell the dog to shut up when he barks. She doesn't know what she is saying...she is just completing the pattern. At a local dive shop, the employees have said to the resident blue macaw..."Polly want a cracker? Stick the cracker up your a**." Now, everytime a tourist looks at the macaw sitting there under the Tiki roof and says "Polly want a cracker?" the bird responds with the second line. And one more. Fred (a strict father) told 13-year-old Chris to clean his room. As Chris started down the hall, the bird BACKTALKED Fred in Chris' voice, saying the things Chris has probably said after Fred left the room. If I hadn't been there to tell Fred it was the bird, Chris' name would be Mud instead of Chris. The bird amazes me with her ability to not only say words but to mimic our voices. She talks like Chris, she bitches like Chris' twin sister, and she laughs and sings like me. She doesn't mimic the older kids, probably because they aren't home as much. Amazing bird. We are planning an aviary, too...but here in paradise all we have to do it screen in our balcony. Then they will have not only plenty of flying area, but a view of the ocean. I am planning on getting her a mate, I guess. She's only two, and was a cruelty case. She deserves some happiness. -- Joyce Andrews King ihnp4!inuxd!jla AT&T, Indianapolis (This message brought to you from the Florida Keys via the miracle of modern communications.)
mep@ihlpg.ATT.COM (Pasternak) (10/17/88)
In article <1271@inuxd.UUCP> jla@inuxd.UUCP (Joyce Andrews) writes: >> Nice bird. The African Greys have an extraordinary ability to reproduce and >> sound. My brother works for an aviary and their Grey will yell at him when he >> > > >The consensus is that if you want a bird to love to be stroked >and handled, get a cockatoo or cockatiel. If you want one that >talks a blue streak, get an African Grey or one of the Amazons. > I don't know about the talking aspect of the birds -- but whether a bird wants to be stroked & cuddled depends on how they were raised (hand-fed or otherwise), not so much on the exact type of bird. I have a miligold (hybrid between blue & gold and military) macaw who's been hand fed and she's the friendliest bird you could imagine. One of her favorite activities is tucking her head head under my chin & being petted and cuddled -- she's in heaven!! She's also friendly to other people ... gladly sitting on their shoulders, letting them pet her, etc. It also seems like there are different ways of hand-feeding baby birds: 1) hand-feed, cuddle, pet and talk to them and 2) hand-feed them -- the first method is what's been done with the friendly birds I know of & works great! The second method doesn't produce as friendly a bird -- a couple months ago I saw some baby african greys for sale who had apparently been raised with the 2nd method: no where near as friendly as ones who'd been raised with method #1.
miller@galaxy.ee.rochester.edu (Ruth Miller) (10/17/88)
Well, it had to come. Talking about cage birds in a group that likes to watch wild ones had to draw flames. I can't argue either side--I feel guilty keeping our two in cages but I can't let them out when we're not home or they'd find some way to kill themselves. Should we have them? Well, they're not wild-caught--lovebirds breed so easily there's no need to go to Africa to get some--they were raised in the US (Florida and CA) to be sold as pets. So were your cats/dogs etc.--and what do they do all day when you're not home? To get a bit philosophical, I think we humans have a responsibility to the other creatures on this planet, just because we are capable of destroying or saving all of them. (Did you know that the group that includes rhinos, elephants, tapirs and horses has been "naturally" (w/o benefit of humans) going extinct for a while now?) That responsibility includes the "right" to control other creatures--as a king has a right to control his subjects--FOR THEIR OWN GOOD! That doesn't necessarily answer the question whether we should domesticate creatures, but unless you who are cross with us who keep birds are all vegetarians I can't promise to listen. There's another question, though--keeping wild-caught birds who may be in danger in their own habitats, whether from humans or other threats. I would say personally that if you feel you are "saving" these birds, you should be trying your utmost to breed them--find other people nearby who own birds you could pair up. Otherwise, though your own bird may live a long and fairly happy life you have done nothing but make the threatening situation worse for the species by making a market for someone to capture birds who would otherwise increase their population. 'Nuff said. --Ruth Miller
chuq@plaid.Sun.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) (10/18/88)
> Well, it had to come. Talking about cage birds in a group that likes >to watch wild ones had to draw flames. No, it didn't have to happen, if people were willing to be tolerant of view other than their own. But that's a different flame. There are a couple of problems with the anti-caged-pet flame: o it ignores the fact that in many situations, most of the reduction in numbers is by loss of habitat rather than wild-catching. It also ignores the fact that in many cases, the only *hope* for the future of the species is in captive breeding programs. Many birds, like the Hyacinth, are likely to be extinct in the wild in the next 20 years unless something happens -- and the people who are keeping the breed alive are the people being flamed here. The captive breeding programs for many birds relies heavily on private breeders rather than govermental agencies and zoos (would you want *your* government in charge of keeping a species alive? And having to justify the expense every year?) o It ignores the fact that in some areas (Australia, for instance) many of the birds we're talking about are slaughtered in the thousands every year. Caught and killed. The rose-breasted cockatoo, for instance. $2500 of wonderful, burbly joy in America. In Australia, flocks rose-breasted are considered vermin and pests (I don't see why: a couple of thousand cockatoos eating your wheat field should make a farmer happy!) and so they are trapped and shot and destroyed. There's an active campaign going on in Australia to remove the bird ban so that at least SOME of the birds could be live-caught and exported rather than simply slaughtered. Right now, they all die. The pet trade can give some of them an opportunity to survive. What's better? A breed that is alive but captive or one that's extinct? What's better? A live, wild-caught pet bird or a dead bird? Some birds don't make the transit and die. Some birds are mistreated and die in captivity. Some birds make the transition and flourish. My umbrella, for instance. Maybe she'd be happier in the jungle somewhere, eating bananas. Maybe she'd be dead. You never know. What I *do* know is that she's very happy where she is. I'm very happy that she's there. To me, that's a win-win situation, and if you don't like the idea of a bird in a cage, then don't own one. But don't make moralistic judgements on others. Especially when you don't have the facts straight to start with. (by the way, are you sure you're not building a bird population that's dependent on your seed for survival? What's going to happen to them if you move or stop feeding them? And shouldn't you be offering a more balanced diet than just sunflower seeds? It's possible, you know, to build just as horrible a cage outside as in. If the birds don't migrate because of your food, then lose their food source and starve, the only difference between the dead bird in the cage and the dead bird outside is that you don't see (and think about) the dead bird outside. Which is, of course, a piece of rhetoric. Doesn't mean I agree with it...) Chuq Von Rospach chuq@sun.COM Delphi: CHUQ Editor/Publisher, OtherRealms