I'd like to introduce you to my flock.

This is Gator. He is one of two of my flock that I know the sex. He is a 2 1/2 year old White Bellied Caique. Since I am Bubbles The Clown, http://www.bubbles.ws it is only fitting that I have the Clown of the parrot world. His name is Gator. He took it upon himself to nickname me what my father called me as a child. We play name games all of the time. When he says, "Hi Dennie" I say, "Hi Gator". When he says, "Hi Dennie-ennie" I say, "Hi Gator-ator" and a quick "thank you" follows. He is a joy to watch play and he can't wait to jump to my hand from his cage.

Then there is ALLIE.

Allie is an African Grey Parrot also 2 1/2 years old. I don't know if she is male or female, but I do know that she has an amazing ability to learn. She can correctly choose her colors, (red, blue, green, yellow, and orange), time after time. She also knows the names of everyone in the house, birds, dogs, and people; including the grand kids that ocassionally visit. Allie thinks in sentences, not words. The best example that I can think of is: We have a new puppy named Daisy Mae. Daisy was barking and Allie didn't help by repeating, "Hi Daisy Mae". Each evening when it is time for the birds to be covered for the night, I always say, "Allie, It's time for your light to go out." Well, Allie must have had enough barking because in her most stern voice, she looked down from her cage and said,"Daisy Mae, it's time for your light to go out!" That's her way of saying, "Shut up!"

Next is Lemon.

Lemon is a Goffin's Cockatoo and around 3 years old. Lemon is an acrobat. She swings from the top of her cage by one foot and can hop from one side of the cage to the other in one leap. The interesting fact about Lemon is that she refuses to keep food in her food dish. She loves the sound of wooden beads landing in her metal food dish. She is an escape artist and I have watched her take the door completely off her cage. One of her favorite toys is a plastic bolt and nut which she can dismantle in seconds. Although my fault, she is the only one of my parrots that inflicted injury. With tornado warnings in our area, I was taking the birds into a room of the house with no windows. I didn't consider that the weather radio was on in that room and as we entered, Lemon was scared and nearly bit through my lower lip. With the three points of her beak, it was a painful injury but fortunately did no permanent damage. Lemon pets me with her beak while she lets me pet under her wings. She is a very sweet bird!

A large member of the flock is Twinkie.

Twinkie is a 2 year old Blue and Gold Macaw. I don't know if she is a boy or girl, but Twinkie is just beginning to expand her vocabulary. She is learning from me and all of the other birds. When she is out of her cage and on her stand in the livingroom, she is just a few feet away from Allie and is learning alot of what she says. My watch band is a two latch band that requires one latch to be raised to expose a lock with two buttons that must be pressed at the same time to open it. In less time than it took to explain it, Twinkie can have the band open and pulled off of my hand. That's a puzzle that she really enjoys and sometimes it is difficult to get my watch back. That is something that I wouldn't want to loose since it is a Blue Angels eco-drive watch. Twinkie is rather beaky and plays with her mouth. She needs to be reminded frequently when she has hold of more than just my shirt. She has never bit from fear or aggression and loves to hang from my hand by one foot.

Andy is my second Goffin's Cockatoo.

If ever I have made an impulse purchase, It's Andy. This poor bird was placed in a flea market bird shop to be sold on consignment because the owner could no longer keep him. (Nothing against flea market bird shops,It's the same shop where I purchased Gator.) He was so distressed that he plucked his chest feathers. This little bald bird ran down from the top of his cage and leaned out and kissed me. That was my down fall and after about an hour of feeling sorry for this little guy, I came to the conclusion that he chose me and I couldn't let him down. His chest feathers are returning and his vocabulary has grown. He knows the name of the other Goffin's as well as his own and says them frequently. His voice is much clearer than Lemons but they both break into a screech fest at night when the lights go out. That is a natural trait of Goffin's Cockatoos and since I'm hard hearing, it doesn't bother me. The rest of the household is a different matter but that display is short lived and once they quiet down it is peaceful for the rest of the night, unless they hear an unexpected noise.

I look so good now!

Andy LOVES to dance, and now that all of his chest feathers are back, he can really strut his stuff.

I don't think Gator is amused that I picked his cage to dance on.

The newest addition to the flock is Ruby, a Scarlet Macaw

Ruby was hatched on March 4, 2008 and at this writing is just 11 weeks old. She has been DNA sexed and is a female. I am hand feeding her but she has started to eat solid food already. I offered her some banana today for the first time and all the while eating it she kept saying, "nana" and "banana". She can say, "Hello" and "Hi" and "That Tickles". Not bad for 11 weeks old! I built a low perch for her and that is her eating station. When she stands there I know that she wants more food. When she's done, at least for the time being, she gets down and goes over to her dry food dish. When she comes back to the perch I know she needs to wash down her dry food. When she has had enough, she turns her back and growls. She climbs to the highest perch in her cage to be able to see the other birds. She also is anxious to climb out of the cage and into my lap. Her toe nails are as sharp as needles and my right arm is proof. I have had to gently lower her back into the cage as the pain shoots through my arm because she broke the skin. This is one big girl and we already have quite a bond between us. She is a beautiful bird and I'm greatful to have her as a member of my family.

Well, that's my flock, all six of them. I hope that you enjoyed meeting them as much as I enjoy having them as part of the family. Since they will probably out live me, I don't own them. I just have the joy of having them in my life for the rest of it. As a parrot keeper, I am always learning to provide them with the best possible care. I assume that you also have an interest in parrots to have visited my website. If you have read this far, I have found a valuable resource that can assist in solving some of the behavior problems in parrots.

I hope that you find this resource helpful!

Den