poi’s parrots

This Velociraptor Drogon I got tattooed today has to be the most accurate depiction of him I've ever seen. It's incredibly in character!

...What do you have to say for yourself, Meg(g)?!

4. Tell me something that you’d like to work to improve! Ohhh can I say everything? I mean, I do some things pretty decently already, but there’s always room to improve. I want to be better at all the things!  One thing that’s been on my mind for a bit is that I’d ideally like Drogon to have a bird to interact more closely with. Ghost and Meg have eachother, and Leia and Donnie are often even housed together because of how much they love eachother. Drogon loves other birds but is pretty intense and the other birds are pretty annoyed with him, so as far as direct interactions go, he’s only got me. Some day..... sigh 13. Where do you look for information on pet care? I love this question! I spend a lot of time learning from other parrot owners - discussions, stories and information on birblr and the two bird discords that I like, Facebook groups (though those are chaotic and all over the place as for whether people’s advice is good or not, but sometimes there’s some good stuff!), forums etc. I also have a love for reading any and all research studies I can find, both about wild parrots and pet parrots.  This weekend also happened to be Phoenix Landing’s Virtual Wellness Retreat - a big conference about parrot health (with lots of amazing speakers including avian vets and behavior experts) that I was only able to attend due to it being online this year, since I’m all the way in Sweden. I’d love to be able to attend more conferences and webinars like that in the future! One of my favorite places is the World Parrot Trust’s reference library (which you can find here) though! I’m a behavior person and I LOVE parrot behavior people like Pamela Clark and Susan G Friedman. You can find articles by both of those (and plenty more!) for free on there, and pretty much all of it is fantastic! 16. What’s a dream thing to do with your pets? Popular question! I answered this already here and here - I’ll give a third answer though! Working from home and getting to spend so much more of my time with the beebs - while still affording the ABSOLUTE best care for them - is of course a big dream! imagine.... how good... aah...

3. Tell me something about your pet care that you’re proud of! Oh hmmm. I’m proud of the work I put into my birds and always making sure they have plenty of enrichment and managing the time I spend with them even when I’ve been busy with work or studies. I’m proud that I don’t have any birds that are the only one of their genus - they all have conspecifics (ish) to interact with in one way or another, which is something that definitely isn’t always possible, but that I’ve been wanting for ultimate enrichment for my birds almost since I first got into parrots. Mostly I’m proud that I always keep learning! My bird care knowledge is better now than it was a year ago, and in a year from now I’ll be super bummed if it hasn’t improved even more! 7. Talk about a mistake you made and what you learned from it. Can be big or little as you want! Oh god, so many things. I got into parrots by accident, found myself in care of a bird that I knew nothing about and didn’t even know where to start researching. I relied on really questionable and outright bad sources for a good ol’ while and a lot of things I did 10 years ago wasn’t that great.  Honestly, getting birds when I was 15 wasn’t that great in itself, and having at one point had 6 birds while still living at home was.. uhh... Maybe not that well thought out? When I work out of town for months at a time and don’t have money for a big enough place to fit two large cages and a big indoor aviary for the IRNs, I leave the Ringnecks at my parents’ house for them to take care of and only bring Leia and the ‘zon boys. Luckily my dad really likes birds and takes care of them and spends time with them, and when he isn’t hanging out with them, they have eachother, so they always have company and I give strict enrichment/care directions - but even so, it absolutlely isn’t ideal.  Me at 17: “Ummm of course I can get another bird, I have the time and resources, and of course I won’t move out of my parents’ house until I find somewhere I can take them with me??“ Me at 24: “oh god man i wish that was true but how the heck did i ever think i would be able to EVER afford to move into a house that can properly fit all my birds if i wasn’t willing to move into a cheap small apartment/cabin to get a job and make money in the first place???” Anyway yeah that’s what comes to mind - not something I’ve been able to correct after learning from it, but definitely a “you can learn from my mistakes” situation lmao. If you’re a teenager living at home maybe don’t get 6 parrots? Imagine being my poor dad who has to call me and ask what the heck to do when Ghost suddenly starts attacking him because he didn’t know not to leave Ghost’s favorite balls out since he gets attached and protective lmao.  12. What’s a good way to save money without sacrificing care? I know not everyone will have access to this - but natural branches for perches, stands and enrichment goes suuuch a long way! Leia used to go through the BIGGEST macaw sized hardwood toys in like a week - I’m super duper proud of her and I still give her those now and then just to watch the destruction for my own enjoyment, but it wasn’t great for my wallet. Now I use trees from my backyard to make my own wood toys for free and she can chew as much as she wants! I’m all for all kinds of DIY though! I absolutely don’t have lots of money so I just do what I can with what I’ve got and like to get creative lmao. See: The 20 feet flight training aviary that I built for like $100 in total, out of a discounted pole tent base and some nylon netting.

15.  What’s your favorite thing to do with your pets? Ooooh! I’m sure you’re able to tell by scrolling through my blog, but I really really like different kinds of enrichment! I’m super interested in behavior and I definitely enjoy training - but my favorite part of parrot behavior is watching them interact with different types of enrichment; be it toys, foraging, big spaces for flying, bird friends, new humans, training, puzzles, games, sounds, new types of food, etc.  I always try to find new things to do to enrich my beebs to make sure they’re happy and healthy! This far I’ve been able to note that some of their collective favorite things seem to be outdoor time (outdoor sounds and sights are super enriching in itself, they can just sit and watch and listen to the world for a while and that’s a whole lot of brain activity!), natural foraging (like picking fresh apples from the branch or fresh berries from the shrub), and interacting with other birds. Weirder individual-specific enrichments include Donnie’s favorite sound being fast cars, Drogon’s favorite thing in the entire world being watching dogs from afar, and Meg’s thing for throwing anything and everything on the floor and watching it fall.  16. What’s a dream thing to do with your pets? I already answered this here but I’ll do another one! I low key and very super hypothetically also dream about free flight because in theory it seems awesome - but it’s also super scary to me so at the same time I, uh, don’t, lmao 

2. What’s your least favorite species/breed to take care of?  For animals in general I think horses? I took a horse husbandry course back in animal care school so I spent one day a week taking care of horses for I think a year, and it’s not really my thing! I do think horses are cool though, so I’m not sure if it’s just that the whole culture around horses and equestrianism isn’t for me personally - I’m sure I’d like a horse if I got to know one in another setting!  I was about to do a parrot specific answer too but I don’t think I have a least favorite! I love all parrots... Though big cockatoos intimidate me a bit, but then again, so did amazons before I got my boys hehehe 16. What’s a dream thing to do with your pets? I!! Want!! More!! Aviaries!!! I want a big big big huge tiled bird room with a floor drain for easy cleaning and I want it to be full of plants and trees and branches and natural enrichment and fun things and a waterfall and I want it to open into a BIG super safe and sturdy and secure outdoor aviary so that they can go in and out as they like! 

incoming!!

Good question! The short answer is that an ankle leash can actually be very dangerous for a parrot, unfortunately. You’re right that parrots have more delicate feet, but in reality, it isn’t a “but still” issue. While birds of prey will have strong legs (hunting with their feet = appropriate muscles!), a parrot’s leg muscles aren’t in any way built for that. Parrots’ legs are pretty much just meant for perching, holding stuff, and a bit of waddlin’ around.  Restraining a parrot by the foot means that if they make any attempt to fly (or even if a clipped bird gets spooked and takes a little leap), they’re at high risk for breaking or dislocating their leg (or worse) as it gets caught by the leash.  A light harness like the Aviator isn’t actually that physically uncomfortable once they’re used to it! It does often take time and patience to get to that point because parrots are naturally wary of new things and usually aren’t accustomed to having something touching their body - but once they’re at that point of comfort and they have the harness on, it isn’t heavy, it isn’t ruffling their feathers, and it isn’t constraining their movement at all.  It’s also a much safer alternative, so absolutely worth the extra training for them to be comfortable with the idea of wearing a harness!

Just strutting about

Still absolutely fail 

Oh no! Please call a wildlife rehab! Ideally would be if there’s a wildlife rehab in your area that could take the bird in, so call the nearest ones, and also maybe try some local vets to see if they’re equipped to help or know someone local who is. If noone can take them in or if you don’t have a rehab near you, call a wildlife rehab anyway, since their advice on this is a lot more valuable than mine.  I wish all the best to you and the lil’ friend! 

i want to.... eat the makeup.... yes?

2 boys waving hi (to you!!) together!