Bird In A Bag

Chris is obsessed with a bird catching net I bought for those times when I can't catch him or Holly.  Every once in a while they play avoidance games with me when I have to put them back in their cages, so the net is a good thing to have, although it's rare that I have to use it in my apartment.  But, because Chris has becomes obsessed with the net all I have to do is pick it up and shake it and he comes zooming over!  Lately he's taken to playing with it himself, which I don't want because he will eventually destroy it.  Today, he knocked it down and crawled into the bag it's in.  It got awfully quiet and when I went to check on him found half of his body sticking out of the bag. 

In the bag

I poked the bag a little and he still didn't come out.  If you listed closely you can hear him hissing at me. 



Hissy Chrissy in the bag

Naturally, after a few minutes Holly got involved and wanted to play in the bag, too.  First he played with Chris from the outside of the bag, but then managed to shove half of his body in along side Chris.  I tried to get a photo of that but as soon as Chris heard the camera he came out and started to chase me.  I was only able to shoot a quick video of Holly near the bag before Chris gave chase again.



Holly investigating the situation

Four thousand toys for them to play with and they choose a plastic bag!

Chris is on Facebook!

Chris officially joined Facebook today!  He has his very own page and would love for you all to Friend him.  He can be located on FB  under the name Chris Cockatoo.  Below is his profile picture:

The face of Facebook

Chris' 10th Birthday

This is a long overdue post:

Chris celebrated his 10th birthday, or hatchday, on December 25, 2010.  Yes, the little chicken is a Christmas baby.  It is no surprise that Chris decided to make his grand entrance into the world on such a special day.  Every year, after we celebrate Christmas, it's time for a little celebration for Chris' birthday. Since it's a holiday, it's usually a very small "party" with a couple of presents for Chris and Holly, a special treat for them to eat, and we sing 'Happy Birthday', which is one of Chris' favorite songs.  Sometimes Chris & Holly have a bigger joint party with some friends in the Spring around Holly's birthday, and for Chris' 10th that may be forthcoming.  I just can not believe I've had Chris for ten years!  Time certainly does fly by.

For this past birthday Chris got a selection of new toys and we sang the birthday song to him as we offered him two kinds of pie.  He wasn't interested in pie, but Holly was!  In fact, Chris was more interested in playing with an old toy truck that he is obsessed with.  Below are a few photos of Chris on his special day.



Make a wish Cockatoo!

Christmas and birthday loot for Chris & Holly

Birthday fun time

Luck O' the Irish Cockatoo

Chris holding a shamrock

Chris wants to wish everyone a very Happy St. Patrick's Day! He's holding a shamrock necklace I got him from a Humane Society cocktail party I attended earlier tonight.  I brought one home for Holly, too, but he didn't like it, so Chris has been playing with both of them.  Chris already has a Valentine's Day necklace so these will be added to the cockatoo holiday necklace collection. 

Catch of the Day

A typical night at my place playing with Chris involves my body being used as a jungle gym-landing strip-launch pad-climbing tree all for his amusement.  I, at least, always had the slight advantage that I could capture him and lock him in his cage if I needed a break.  But, tonight Chris decided to turn the tables on me and capture me.  He's been obsessed with the bird catching net I bought as my last resort to catch him and Holly in the event all else failed.  In fact, Chris is so obsessed with it all I have to do if I want to grab him is to shake it and he comes flying right over.  He's been playing with it a lot the past few days and tonight while I was working on my computer he dragged it over to me so we could play with it.  Somehow I ended up in it as these photos demonstrate.  Chris was able to get it over my head by himself, which is a little frightening.  I love how he is looking quite proud about what he's netted.  Why do I feel like the fish in those "catch of the day" fishing photos?

Behind me, securing his catch 

Mission accomplished!

Chris' appearance on CBS' Broadcast Live webcam video stream

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7358684n&tag=mncol;lst;4

Early Show, Early Bird

Chris was invited to appear on CBS' Early Show again yesterday morning.   The segment was with CBS' veterinarian correspondent Dr. Debbye Turner Bell answering viewer questions.  This was Chris' third time being invited to the Early Show. 

Chris knows the deal now...he was excited from the moment I lifted his cover in the morning.  I think he knew something exciting was happening because I don't usually get up at 6:30 am on a Saturday, so by the time I uncovered him he must have suspected this was an adventure day.  He came right out of his cage and he even bowed his head so I could put his sweater on even though he doesn't like wearing a sweater.  And, he listened to me and stayed quiet so we wouldn't disturb Holly, who was still sleeping.  He also had gotten a bath and blow dry the night before, which is part of his modeling prep routine, so he was in his professional mode right off the bat.

CBS sent a car for us and we arrived at the studio in plenty of time for Chris to have a little snack from the craft table and for Chris to shoot a live promo for his segment. An adorable cat and dog from The Humane Society of New York (who are up for adoption) arrived to appear on the segment as well and we all hung out in a conference room waiting for our air time.  When it's a few minutes before our segment they always take us through a series of what I'll call 'holding areas' and then we go onto the set.   At lot of people pass through the holding areas so Chris ends up getting a lot of attention, photos, etc.  Sometimes he picks one girl to flirt with and today he picked a pretty, young blond intern.  He whistled at her and did a dance for her while holding his own leash in his beak.  All he needed was a pole and I could have sold tickets! 

The CBS Early Show set is really cool, because there are several different area for the different segments in one huge room and they just move the cameras around from spot to spot, so today there was as chef cooking food in one area, preparing for his live segment, and a woman doing a cleaning products segment and us waiting for the pet segment, and the anchors on camera, all simultaneously.  We can only talk during commercial because everything is live.  Chris and I have been to news shows where he goes into a locked broadcasting room with the correspondent and I can only see him on a monitor which makes me very nervous, or where I'm pretty far from him in the same room, but CBS has the pet people stand right off camera just a few feet from our pets, which is much better.   Because everything is live the segments are timed to the second so there is always a chance part of the segment will go over so another part has to be cut.   Unfortunately, our segment ran over and since Chris was the last pet in the segment he got cut.  But, Dr. Turner Bell didn't want Chris to be left out so she took us over to where CBS' Broadcast Live webcam was shooting and she went on with him and talked about parrots for 5 - 10 minutes live on the internet.  Dr. Turner Bell knows a lot about birds and she gave some great advice about owning parrots.  Chris was such a good boy and a perfect model.  If only he were such an angel at home!  If/when they post a link to the web segment on their web site I'll try to upload it here.  

After Chris finished shooting they took us home in a car service and the birdstar and I went back to bed for much needed naps.  Later I went out and got Chris & Holly a special treat of frozen yogurt.  All in all, Chris had a pretty fun day!  And, we took a souvenir photo of Chris with Dr. Turner Bell. 

Chris with Dr. Debbye Turner Bell at CBS

Snowbird

Chris and Holly spent Christmas, New Year's and most of January in Katonah at Barbara's house. This year that meant they saw a lot of snow.  I don't think Chris likes snow that much.  He makes a lot of noise when it snows and he seems to be irritated or agitated by it.  The very first time he saw it snowing, when he was very young, I brought a snowball inside for him to see.  Surprisingly he had no reaction and just ignored it.  I think it's seeing the snow falling from the sky that is off putting to him.  Sometimes rain also seems to get him upset and I've seen him launch into what sounds like a reprimand at the rain.  Ironically he loves water and loves the shower and is obsessed with getting spritzed with a water bottle.  Go figure!

 Below are two photos of Chris viewing the winter wonderland outside his suite at Maplemint Farm. 

Chris surveying the snowy landscape

Chris on his swing, eating a Swedish fish

Chris Models on CBS' Early Show

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7171257n

Chris was a model on CBS' Early Show during a Holiday Gifts for Pets segment yesterday morning.  I'm so proud of him!  He was such a good boy.  He had to stay inside one of the featured items: a backpack bird carrier, during the segment and he was very quiet and cooperative.  He's the ultimate professional!  It's the second time he's been on the Early Show, so today he was happy to see some friends he'd met before.  He also made new friends with the other models including a very sweet little boy who was modeling some Christmas pajamas and a very cute dog named Emily, who is up for adoption at the Humane Society.   CBS was great and our treatment was first class.  They provided a car service to pick us up and take us home.  If only Chris could go over there every day and have something to keep him busy while his mom stays home and gets her work done.  I hope they give him a call if their resident veterinarian, Dr. Debbye Turner Bell ever needs a co-host!  Enjoy the video and keep your eye on the orange carrier in the lower right corner and the white bird inside.

Holly in the Hospital

Poor Holly is spending the night at the Animal Medical Center.  He was having some respiratory distress so we went over to the hospital and they put him in an oxygen tank for the night as a precaution.  In the morning he will have some tests.  This happened to Holly once before, two years ago.  Pionus parrots are susceptible to respiratory infections, but hopefully it's not too serious and Holly will be home tomorrow.  Incidentally, I was quoted an estimate of $1,000 for Holly's medical care.  (Keep some room in that oxygen tank for me!)

Holly on the jungle gym, playing with his music box

Chris was pretty upset when we left and I could hear him screaming as I walked down the hallway.  When I got home without Holly Chris was very quiet.  I immediately told him where Holly was and what was happening.  He looked apprehensive.  Finally, I said "Rozy is a good boy" and he perked up and fanned his feathers around his beak (a sign of contentment) and looked relieved.  (Rozy is what Chris calls Holly.) A little while later Chris came out of his cage and he seemed to be looking around for Holly.  He has spent most of the evening playing quietly and less enthusiastically than usual.  Periodically I have been saying "Rozy is a good boy" and "Rozy will be home tomorrow."  At one point Chris said "I love him."  I have no doubt.

CBS Early Show Appearance

This past Thursday Chris made a brief appearance on the CBS Early Show.  We got a call on Wednesday from the directors of the Humane Society of New York asking if we could join them on the show.  They were taking a few adoptable animals over for a segment about pets, but didn't have a bird.  We arrived at the studio at 7:30 am and Chris shot a promo/teaser for the pet segment with the CBS resident veterinary expert Dr. Debbie Turner.  That aired about 8 am.  Chris was supposed to follow the dog, cat & hampster on the live segment, but their portion took so long they ran out of time and poor Chrissy didn't get to go on.  But, he did manage to charm everyone in the studio as usual.  The crew was interested to meet Chris, because they had heard he was recently a model for Neiman Marcus.  Everyone was very nice and friendly at CBS.  Chris posed for photos and sat on everyone, including the very lovely Early Show anchor, Harry Smith.  Even though Chris was only on the air in the promo, it was a fun adventure, and we have this great photo as a souvenir.

Chris & Harry Smith bonding

The Little One

Holly is the smallest of all my pets.  He's also the last pet who came to be part of my pet family and the youngest.  For all of those reasons I sometimes refer to him as "the baby" or "the little one."  Being little Holly does things the rest of us can't like landing on the leaves of my plants or sitting on my fax machine.  Tonight, while I was in the kitchen and Chris and Holly were across the room playing in Chris' cage top play area, I thought I was hallucinating when I looked up and saw Holly sitting on Chris' back.  It looked like a scene out of the Musicians of Bremen.  The moment passed and I thought "no, can't be."  A moment later I looked up and there he was on Chris' back again!  I ran over to the cage to get a better look and sure enough I was not hallucinating.  But, once they heard me they turned their heads to look at me and Holly lost his balance and slid down Chris' back.  I don't want to know why Holly was on Chris' back, I just hope they don't hurt each other with their crazy antics.  Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of this unbelievable sight, but I do have a photo of Holly balancing on my water glass.  How he managed to perch on the rim without knocking it over is a feat only a physicist could explain.

Holly perched on my glass, defying gravity

The Birds & the Blow Dryer

After almost ten years living with Chris I really just think of him as my kid, Holly too.  They speak English and love to do the same stuff my friends' kids do, so there isn't much difference as far as I'm concerned.  I'm not sure this is a compliment to Chris & Holly, but they are very "human."  Take, for example, their penchant for being well groomed.  Just like their mom they appreciate a good blow dry after a shampoo.

Chris getting a blow dry

Chris has always loved the blow dryer.  He lifts up his wings and twirls himself around so I can reach his entire body.  Moments before I shot the video above he was doing a little dance while being dried.  Historically, Holly hasn't been as enthusiastic about the blow dryer, but he wanted a blow dry this time so he got one. 

Holly's blow dry

I don't know for sure what set Holly off, but after their blow dries were finished Holly picked a fight with Chris.  Maybe he was jealous because I spent more time drying Chris, but Holly made it very clear that he was not happy.  He even lashed out at my camera at one point.  As you can see that little chicklet can pack a punch!  Chris tried to be the more mature big brother and calm Holly down.  You can hear him saying "I love you" and then "cockatoo" as he tries to hook beaks with Holly for some grooming, but Holly wanted none of it and I had to seperate them.  Of course, they were best buddies again a little while later.  Kids! 

The fight



Arrivederci Roma, Buonanotte Cockatoo

Recently Chris was enjoying the view at twilight outside our living room window while listening to a little Italian music.  I believe it is Arrivederci Roma playing in the background.  Unfortunately, my amateur videography interrupted him.

Welcome to Another New Friend

Chris and Holly welcome Binky Maston as a new friend of the Cockatoo Chronicles.  Binky is the fur child of Dorothy and Bruce Maston of Albany, NY and he is apparently an excellent mouser and diligent office worker as you can see from the photo below!

Welcome Binky!!



Homemade Toys

Last weekend I spent my "free" time in the country making toys for Chris.  Parrots love toys, and need them to keep from getting bored.  Toys made for parrots can be wood, plastic, leather, rawhide or a combination and, of course, they have to be non-toxic.  Unfortunately bird toys can be very expensive.  Cockatoos are like woodchippers and Chris can whittle his way through new wood toys in a flash.   He goes through them at an alarming rate, so when a couple of our pine trees fell during a storm a few years ago I gathered up the small pieces and decided I'd try making some.  I also had the guys who came to remove the trees saw off some wood disks that I saved for when the small pieces ran out.  Every once in a while I make a fresh batch of pine toys for Chris (some moms make chocolate chip cookies for their kids, I make pine wood toys!).  I scrub them clean, boil them to make sure they are sanitized and then dye them with colorful food coloring.  Chris loves them!  He still gets mostly store bought toys, but the ones I make are a nice addition to his toy chest and they smell really good! So, last weekend I took one of the disks to the hardware store and they cut it into small blocks for me and I went to work.  Below are the photos:

The wood boiling

The finished product--ready for Cockatoo consumption

A Flock of New Friends

The Cockatoo Chronicles, and the Chief Cockatoo, Chris, welcome Debbie Brown as a new friend.  Debbie sent in a photo of her adorable dog, Tasha, a Siberian husky mix. 

Tasha

We love her girlie, pink stuffed toy in the photo!  Chris is a big fan of stuffed animals, too.

Debbie also sent a photo of a flock of sulphur crested cockatoos she saw at the botanical gardens in Sydney, Australia. 

Flock of sulphur cresteds

They certainly are beautiful!  I wonder what a one way plane ticket to Australia for a cockatoo costs? ;*)



New Friends

The Cockatoo Chronicles is excited to welcome some special new friends as followers to our blog.  Suzanne Bors Andrews sent in photos of her three furbabies:  Bravo, Indy and Tango.  Chris the Cockatoo can "bark" like a dog, and likes to bark at dogs, and he can say "kitty cat" so he's going to be very excited to look at these photos!

Bravo

Indy

Tango



Parrot Hijinks

A lot of people don't know this, but parrots actually laugh.  Chris and Holly also love to tease me (or torture me) and laugh when they do it.  For example, Holly will say "bad boy", bite and then chuckle.   Maybe he thinks if he gives the "bad boy" warning up front it's my fault if I don't get out of the way in time.  Chris will throw something out of my reach and laugh about it, or he'll fly away to a place I can't catch him and find that very funny.  He also laughs at jokes and sarcastic comments, which makes me wonder how much he really does understand.  And, of course, they like to torture each other at times, too. 

A couple of weeks ago we had a lovely teasing/torture session in our apartment.  It started with me attempting to work out on my little step machine.  The machine is near Holly's cage.  For some reason Holly gets very angry when I work out in the apartment.  He puffs himself up and patrols the space around his cage and won't tolerate Chris coming near us.  He'll even throw an umbrella at Chris, knowing Chris is deathly afraid of them.   Of course, Chris wants to be on top of me when I'm working out, so most of my workouts consist of me breaking up bird fights (hence why my home workouts are infrequent.) 

Puffed up Pionus

A warning glare

I guess Chris got frustrated and decided to have some fun of his own, so he grabbed the keys to his cage and held them hostage.  I couldn't get them back.  He played with them for a long time and is now obsessed with them.  Every chance he gets he climbs the shelf where he knows I keep them and he dangles them in front of me like a carrot---when I go to grab them he either flys off or runs off into his cage or to his play area.  I don't care that much if he's playing with them, except for the fact that I can't lock his cage without them....Ironic isn't it?  He'll be in the cage, which gives me the opportunity to lock him in there, yet I can't because he's got the keys in his beak.  He's like an evil genius!  Chris may be the one who spends part of his day in a cage, but trust me, I'm the one serving the life sentence.

My jailor

Sweet Summer Snacking

Everyone always wants to know what the birdbabies eat......I've covered that topic before so you know they eat pretty healthy, but below are a few photos of them snacking this summer.  Most of their snacks are very nutritious, but some not so much:

Chris enjoying summer melon.  He especially loves the seeds.

Holly eating a lollipop.

Chris eating a Triscuit cracker.  As you can see he's already "eaten" the paint off my heater.

As I type this the boys are on the porch and their beloved Barbara (their grandma) is feeding them peas & pasta soup.  Chris loves the pasta and Holly loves the peas.  Wish I had someone spoon feeding me!