Umbrella vs. Umbrella

My friend Peter came over a couple of weeks ago to help me with something on my computer.  As soon as he arrived he went over to say 'hello' to Chris & Holly.  Peter had only met them once before and not in my apartment.   I let Chris & Holly out of their cages and they started their circus routine of jumping on and off of Peter's back, arms, head & shoulders.  Chris, especially, would not leave Peter alone and was making a huge pest of himself while Peter was trying to read the instructions for my computer upgrade.  I had ordered pizza for us and fried mozzarella sticks for Chris & Holly (special treat) and thought that would distract Chris.  No such luck.  Holly was being a good boy and eating his treat.  (Admittedly, pionus parrots are a little more food driven than cockatoos.)  I decided to put Chris in his cage with a mozzarella stick.  He picked it up, violently threw it across his cage and started screaming bloody murder.  Apparently, at that moment in time, Peter was looking better to him than a mozzarella stick (big compliment coming from a cheese addicted cockatoo).  I had to let Chris out of the cage because the tantrum was horrific and we weren't going to be able to get anything done with all the screaming.  Finally, I turned to my last resort:  I handed Peter an umbrella and he had to sit under it to work.  For some reason, my Umbrella Cockatoo has always been afraid of umbrellas.  Thank goodness he's afraid of something!  I'm just not sure Peter will be willing to come over here again any time soon....

Cockatoo repellent

Chatter Box

When Chris comes home from anywhere:  boarding, Barbara's, etc, he talks a blue streak.  He is loquacious by nature, but I guess the stimulation of a 'new' environment encourages him to talk about who and what he's seen and seems to inspire him to say new things in general.  The other night when Chris and Holly got home from boarding Chris wanted a bath with his spray bottle.  While I was getting that ready I asked him if he had had fun at Dr. L's house and he answered "I don't know."  I know he has fun at Dr. L's as evidenced by the fact that he does not want to leave when I go to pick him up, but his answer, and his tone, was such a teenage boy answer it made me laugh.  During bath time he also asked me "where's the dog?" which I believe was a reference to Dr.L's dog, MacKenzie.  I think Chris would like her to be part of his flock over here.  (Me, too!)

After Chris had his spritzing I made him and Holly a snack.  They got melted cheese on a bagel (birds are supposedly lactose intolerant, but Chris and Holly love cheese, so their first veterinarian said a tiny bit for a treat is okay.  Bread is also not something birds should eat regularly because it contains yeast and can build up into a systemic yeast infection if they consume too much, but once in a while a piece is okay.)   I gave Chris his snack and then went across the room to give Holly his snack and I heard Chris' bagel hit the floor.  Then I heard a sweet little cockatoo voice say "where did it go?"  He had his foot up so it looked like he was shrugging.  Hilarious!  He had never said that before and I realized it's what I say to him when he drops something and I can't see it.  He's so smart it's scary.  When I went over to help him retrieve the bagel I was commanded to "pick it up" which I have heard before (as the slave girl who lives here and exists to serve him why wouldn't I hear that on a regular basis?). 

Chris eating his bagel treat

After snack, Chris flew onto my shoulder and hitched a ride over to the fridge where he grabbed a pen.  Parrots love to play with pens, which is not a good idea if there is an ink cartridge inside.  So I had to confiscate the pen pretty quickly, but not before he took it back to his jungle gym.

Pen snatcher

The showing off of new verbal skills continued the following day:  I was having a Vitamin Water and Chris was with me in the kitchen and said "I want some soda."  I almost fainted!  First, I couldn't believe what he had just said, and second since I don't really drink soda so I don't say that word around him.  After sharing a taste of my Vitamin Water with Chris and Holly (they love sugar) I did a little sleuthing and found out that Dr. L drinks soda at home when Chris is sitting on his lap.  I guess they've talked about soda and Chris naturally wanted some (parrots always want what you're eating).  He is so smart it kills me. 

P.S. Lest anyone think Chris and Holly are loaded up with junk food--they're not!  In fact, 95% of their diet consists of fruit, vegetables, specially formulated parrot food pellets, and seed mix. (See evidence below.) It's just that they eat their special treats when they are out of their cages and flying around, so it makes for better photos and more entertaining conversation.

Holly eating a very nutritious peach

Model Behavior

As some of you may know, Chris has done a bit of modeling. He's been in some magazines and on tv and even shot a Stussy clothing ad a few years back. I think the clothing ad was his favorite because they refered to him as "the talent" and he got to pose with a very pretty young Brazilian model. From the moment he laid eyes on her he was obsessed. He flirted shamelessly with her (I'm talking restraining order level), which fortunately fit right in with how they needed him to pose. Although the model did not speak English he somehow managed to communicate with her and to get her to say "hello" back to him. I guess the language of love is universal!

Chris modeling with a very lovely model for a Stussy clothing ad

Chris got his start modeling for a charity photo spread for Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine that appeared in Town & Country Magazine.   His co-model was David Neeleman the founder and (then) CEO of Jet Blue.  Chris was only 15 months old, but he behaved beautifully and professionally, and appeared to enjoy it, so I decided to see if I could get him an occasional job.   I have no idea where he learned to model because I've had him since he was two months old and, until the T&C shoot, I had only taken personal photos of him.  I guess he just liked the attention so much he figured out how to behave to get even more attention.  Now when we get in a taxi he gets really excited because he knows something fun is about to happen.  When he is on set his demeanor changes and he amazes me by becoming much more mature: he strikes poses and I've even seen him follow instructions from directors and photographers. He once shot a segment for an on line reality show and the director asked me if Chris could twirl around and the next thing I saw was Chris twirling around! He did it perfectly three times.  He has fun at the shoots, too.  When he did a "Holiday Gifts for Pets" segment for NY1 he brought a toy from home and, after his segment was finished, he played catch with three people, giving them turns in order.  (We play catch at home and he's really good.)  I guess he was just born to be a birdstar! This has also been a very interesting experience for me. I can honestly say that I never expected to be sitting in a "green room" waiting for my parrot to finish up a job.

Reserved Cockatoo

Usually Chris is quite loquacious and he's almost always up for playing his favorite game of "peek-a-boo cockatoo," but when I took this video he didn't seem to have a whole lot to say. Maybe he was tired from all of his antics. He seemed more interested in getting his claws on my camera and I think he may have even requested "hold it" when he reached out his foot towards me. (Anyone else hear that in the video?) Silly me, I gave it to him (as you'll see from the upside down footage) and he bit me in the process (as you'll hear from my reaction.) Once my hand heals (kidding) I'm going to try to shoot some more videos. I posted some of the videos on this site on You Tube (my first time ever posting on You Tube) and Chris already has a few fans! A bird star is born.

Necklaces

Much like his mommy, Chris loves jewelry and he loves to adorn himself with small objects. He will take beads or bits of toys or even fallen feathers that he and Holly have shed and he will tuck them into his feathers. I'm not sure why he does this, but a bird behaviorist told me that she had seen other cockatoos do this. Holly never does this, so I wonder if it is behavior particular to cockatoos. Lots of parrots like to play with jewelry that their people are wearing and Chris is no exception. (An unfortunate incident with a Mikimoto pearl necklace my late father gave my mother (who gave it to me) early in their marriage confirmed this. Thanks to the folks at Mikimoto is it restored to normal and, to their credit, they did not laugh in my face when I told them how it broke.)

Back to birds and jewelry: bird toy makers make necklaces for birds. They are meant for people to wear so the birds can play with these necklaces without harming the "good stuff" and interact with their people. These necklaces can also be hung in the cages so the birds can play on their own. I don't know about you, but I'd prefer not to encourage something with a beak that can crack a walnut to chew on a necklace near my face! So, Chris gets his necklaces in his cage. They are made of plastic links and have plastic and wooden beads on them. Here I am modeling one kind:

Plastic bead bird necklace

I guess Chris wanted a necklace of his own to wear because when we were playing with his toys he seemed to want me to put one around his neck.  It was actually a makeshift choker made from remnants of two of his toys:  a plastic key ring and a wooden bead.  I put it on my wrist as a bracelet, but he wanted to wear it and liked showing it off.  He got annoyed when I tried to take it off of him, but I couldn't let him wear it for too long.  I was afraid he might get his foot caught in it or hang himself, God forbid.  Here we are below playing with it.

A bracelet on Mom

Chris bending down so I can slide it on his neck...  I can imagine him bowing his head for a crown or an Olympic gold medal.

He's so fashion forward and very handsome.

He's got that cool surfer dude, California casual beach look going on.

And, of course, I got bitten getting it off of him!

Boarding

Checking out Dr. L's kitchen

Chris and Holly are a handful, Chris especially, so once in a while I need to board them and get a little break. At least that's what boarding is supposed to be in theory, but in practice I end up doubling up on other work and projects I can't get to when the dynamic duo are in the house, like writing my magazine column or cleaning my closets or starting a blog. Meanwhile, Chris and Holly spend the time with their buddy, Dr. L, at his apartment having a good time. Dr. L is a veterinary surgeon who lives just three blocks away and the boys love him and his apartment. They have cages there and all different toys then they have at home, and they get to watch animal videos on a huge tv, so they don't get bored. And, Dr. L has a small dog, MacKenzie, they find very interesting. They like to watch her and sometimes try to groom her and Chris will throw toys at her, in what I hope is an attempt to get her to play and not aggressiveness. MacKenzie is very good and she just walks away if they start to bug her. Chris and Holly also spend a lot of time grooming each other at Dr. L's which is good for their relationship with each other. As 'frenemies' they can get territoral at our apartment, but when they board, there isn't much to fight over, except who gets to sit on Dr. L!

Chris standing on MacKenzie's back

Chris & Holly jumping off MacKenzie's back

Chris grooming Holly's head

When we arrive at Dr. L's Chris always has to zoom around the apartment and check out his cage and the toys. He prances around until he finds a favorite toy and then wants to play catch with me. He also follows Dr. L around and runs after him from room to room. Holly then runs after Chris. The three of them remind me of a mother duck and her ducklings crossing the road. Very funny! On Thursday when I dropped off the boys for boarding Chris did something naughty: he bit a hole in one of Dr. L's shoes. Chris hates when feet are in shoes (bare feet are fine)and usually likes to chew on the soles, but this time he just sunk his beak right through the leather. He also spent some time checking out the pantry, focusing on a jar of applesauce. And, he watched very closely while MacKenzie ate some treats.

On Display

At least once a day this display occurs on my head, but usually with some hissing thrown in and overall more violent. For some reason it always happens when we're in the kitchen late at night. Sometimes Chris will fly into the kitchen and onto my head just to do this--repeatedly--as he hangs off my ponytail. Today I managed to capture it happening on my hand, but it wasn't really full blown. I will endeavor to film it on my head some day, although that might be tough. This daily show was scary at first, but now it just makes me laugh. Usually I cover my face though, because with a cockatoo you never know what's coming next. Sometimes he swings forward and all of a sudden there is a wing in my face.......The little voice in the background saying "hello" and "Barbara" is Holly.