Bird Watching

I am so thankful we have Habib--he is a "person" we can all talk about and talk to and laugh over...because sometimes I think we are getting a little tired of just looking at each other...

We had a couple of "blah" days with Habib last week.  He seemed out of sorts, which was especially disappointing since I spent quite a while one day scrubbing his cage and changing his toys.  Our main struggle had been getting Habib to and from his stand/perch (outside of his cage).  He wants to sit on top of his cage instead, which is a position of territorial dominance.  In addition to trying to get him to his perch, I had been wanting to work on hand training him.  He would step up on his previous owner's hand and hadn't bitten her in quite a while, and I want him to have a good quality life.  I feel sort of pressured for him to have all the sorts of interactions he was used to before.  Of course, he's in a new place and I'm not the sweet lady he bonded to.

So we had some nipping and grumpiness last week...both from him and me.  Then I read online that changing their toys (even with toys that may already be familiar) is a big source of stress for Greys. I got some great advice from other Grey owners online, put his toys back except for one change out, and backed off of pushing him so much at once.

We're working on only getting to the stand/perch out of his cage without difficulty, and he's had three great days in a row of doing that with no fussing or drama.  He's happy to sit and watch the chaos, and he'll even let me carry the perch into the living room (which considering that must feel unstable, I think that's a good sign of trust).  Yesterday, he sat on his perch and watched a cartoon with the kids, and then he watched me and Hannah put together a 200-piece puzzle.  I caught him with his foot pulled up and his eyes closed (napping) a couple of times...a great sign of contentment.

One thing he really loves is sitting in the window watching his feathered cousins fly free outside.  He flaps along with them a lot.  I imagine that he misses his own freedom, but at least he's not struggling through the August heat right now.  Instead, he's playing "psst psst psst...peekaboo!" with me through his maroon cage cover.

We've started feeding the birds in the back yard.  John fashioned me a bird bath, from a plant stand and a large terra cotta pot bottom. We bought pigeon feed at the souq, and I've been hanging on to stale bread (drying it so it will crumble easily).

John is my bird man, so I can't tell you what types these are other than something sparrow-like, something with a tuft, and some sort of pigeon.  Notice how wild and woolly the flowers have gotten in the background.  That, along with our backyard oasis of green grass and bougainvillea, makes me smile every day.  I'll try to get a picture of Guru, the Nepalese man who uses his talent to make John's excellent visions come true.