What kind of conure is this?

[cab124]

Does Mango have a play stand?

No, she does not. Do you think that would be good for her? The problem is that there is no way for her to get to one without me carrying her, which she will not allow. Also, I doubt very much that she would fly to it. I guess I could put it right next to her cage so that she could climb onto it.

I had an interesting weekend with Mango. I was home quite a bit of the time so we spent a lot of time together.

For the first time, I removed her partial cage cover in the morning and put it back on at night. She seemed ok with this, though there were times during the day when I could tell that she seemed a little lost. However, she does not yet understand the idea that I will replace the cover at night when she is ready to go to bed. Tonight she was sitting on the top of her cage starting to doze off around her normal bed time. I could not replace the cover because she was sitting right where it needed to go. So, I went into my room for a while thinking that she would eventually go into the cage when she became tired enough and then I would replace the cover. Instead, when I walked back into the living room, she was in the process of climbing down onto the floor. I think that in her mind, she needed to find a dark corner somewhere to sleep in because she no longer had that in her cage. So, I slowly walked up to her and encouraged her to go into the cage, which she did. Then I replaced the cover, and she immediately went to her normal spot and started beak grinding and drifted off to sleep. Hopefully, she will soon understand that her cover will be replaced at bedtime.

For some reason, she has regressed in her trust of me and won't let me get as close as she used to. She is also much more hesitant to take seeds from my hand. As I walk around, she usually moves to the part of the cage that is farthest from where I am standing. I am not sure what may have caused this. I did try singing to her as you suggested, and this may be the reason (hehe). Up until now, she had grown very trusting of me (as long as there is no contact). Could it be that she has been spending more time watching bird videos?

At the same time, she has been much more interactive from a distance. At one point today, I stretched out on the floor, laying on my back on the carpet just to take a little break. As I lay there, it was so funny when I suddenly saw her little head sticking out of the door of her cage as she stared at me on the floor. She became agitated and would stick her head out to have a look, and then go back in and pace around a few times and then stick her head out again. Finally, she came out and went on top of her cage and stared intently at me, as if she was wondering what I was doing or whether I had died. After a few minutes, she let out a few calls, so I answered her back, and she answered me back. She seemed genuinely perplexed by what I was doing and I really enjoyed the interaction with her. We had a lot of interactions like this throughout the day, calling out to each other and responding to each other.

I am finding bird psychology very interesting!!! What does all of this mean? What was going on in her head? Does she like me more? Does she like me less? I just have no idea!!! Maybe this is all just a part of the process of her getting to know me and accept me. Or, it could be her solidifying her decision to forgo companionship with these weirdo human creatures and just hold out for another bird.

I did feel really bad for her today as I watched her interact with birds in her favorite video. She goes up to the screen and tries to touch them and makes the sweetest, most loving sounds toward them. Is that the way that she would behave if a real bird were presented to her??

All of this is so interesting to me. It's fascinating!!!!!

 

[cab124]

Saroj has a birdie bed from TC Feathers Aviary....Birdy Beds | Birdy-Beds | TC Feathers Aviary
That is the bed I usually order but the last one I got had a strong detergent or fabric softener smell and no matter how many times I soaked it I couldn't get rid of the smell.

I just ordered one of these for Mango. Hope she likes it! Thanks.

 

[iamwhoiam]

A play stand might be something fun for her. You can put it next to her cage.
Mango seems very smart so I think she will figure out that she will get her cover back on when it is time for bed.
See what happens if you decrease the number of times she interacts with that video. Maybe that's confusing for her??

As for singing, maybe it would help if you get a voice coach. Just kidding.

It really is hard to get into their heads sometimes. Sophie generally has a sheet on one side of her cage so she won't sit and stare at her sister all day. Yesterday I decided to remove the sheet because it just keeps falling off of the cage and sometimes getting caught under the wheels. She stays on that side for most of the day and stares. Either it's an angry stare or a sad stare as if she misses sharing a cage with her. I don't know for sure but I have a feeling it's the former. Why they got along so well for most of their lives and then decided that they wanted to fight, can't figure that one out either except people are like that, too, and that is why couples separate and/or divorce. She also started plucking after they were separated so that seems to indicate boredom and frustration but I can't put them back together.

The calling back and forth is a good thing and it does show, IMO, that she wants to interact with you. Has anything changed besides removing the cover?

 

[iamwhoiam]

I just ordered one of these for Mango. Hope she likes it! Thanks.

Hope it doesn't have an odor. @saroj12 told me recently that she sent them her own fleece because of the odor. If you get it and it smells, let them know because maybe then they will make sure that the person who is making them is not using scented detergent. They told me that she was not using fabric softeners but something is being used that creates the odor. I hope, too, that she won't hide in the bed too much. If she does then it would be a good idea to remove it. Jaden used to like to put toys and pieces of paper in his bed. He would sleep in it at night and pulled one of his toys in with him. It was very cute. Since he doesn't have the bed now, he sleeps on his swing.

BTW, did you get a swing for her?

 

[cab124]

It really is hard to get into their heads sometimes. Sophie generally has a sheet on one side of her cage so she won't sit and stare at her sister all day. Yesterday I decided to remove the sheet because it just keeps falling off of the cage and sometimes getting caught under the wheels. She stays on that side for most of the day and stares. Either it's an angry stare or a sad stare as if she misses sharing a cage with her. I don't know for sure but I have a feeling it's the former. Why they got along so well for most of their lives and then decided that they wanted to fight, can't figure that one out either except people are like that, too, and that is why couples separate and/or divorce. She also started plucking after they were separated so that seems to indicate boredom and frustration but I can't put them back together.

YES! It's very hard to get into their heads. Such little stinkers.

It's a shame that your girls can't just get along!! I have never had more than one bird, but I guess this means that you have to continually monitor their behavior in order to make sure that they don't fight. It would be awful to come home from work one day and find an injured bird among cage-mates that had always gotten along just fine. Does this kind of thing happen, or are there usually warning signs that there may be some conflict brewing?

Has anything changed besides removing the cover?

The only thing I can think of is the video watching. She loves her videos. Oh, also, she seemed kind of offended the times that I have offered her seeds from the palm of my hand instead of from my fingertips. She did not like that at all. Maybe she is still traumatized by that.

 

[cab124]

BTW, did you get a swing for her?

Not yet. First the birdie bed, then the swing.

 

[iamwhoiam]

YES! It's very hard to get into their heads. Such little stinkers.

It's a shame that your girls can't just get along!! I have never had more than one bird, but I guess this means that you have to continually monitor their behavior in order to make sure that they don't fight. It would be awful to come home from work one day and find an injured bird among cage-mates that had always gotten along just fine. Does this kind of thing happen, or are there usually warning signs that there may be some conflict brewing?



The only thing I can think of is the video watching. She loves her videos. Oh, also, she seemed kind of offended the times that I have offered her seeds from the palm of my hand instead of from my fingertips. She did not like that at all. Maybe she is still traumatized by that.

Sorry about the palm thing. Are you just using your fingertips again? Let us know how things go with the bed. She might be afraid of it at first. Jaden was afraid of the bed and then he was OK with it.

I have come home to find injured birds. Now everyone has their own cage. Things can still happen when you are home and birds are caged together and decide, for whatever reason, that they feel like fighting. This happened when I was home. In fact I was about to leave to go get some dinner and it was a good thing I went upstairs before I left. Wound up going to the emergency vet with 2 birds.

SETI---piece of beak and part of cere injured/removed.



His brother, Roswell, had wounds on one of his feet but nothing as bad as SETI's injuries. They both healed although SETI now has one nare that is larger than the other. BTW, they were best buddies and when I would put some music on they used to hold feet and dance together, swaying side to side. Guess they decided they wanted their own spaces.

 

[cab124]

Wow, poor SETI!!! That looks painful. So glad they both healed up. Maybe they got into an argument over politics. Very common these days.

Well, now I know not to consider caging birds together.

 

[iamwhoiam]

Wow, poor SETI!!! That looks painful. So glad they both healed up. Maybe they got into an argument over politics. Very common these days.

Well, now I know not to consider caging birds together.

Politics....Hahahaha.

Sometimes caging together works out just fine. They were together for many years (maybe about 15-16 yrs) and then Zack started chasing his brothers and bugging them so I moved him into a separate cage. Roswell got sick so I moved Zack back in with SETI and moved Roswell into a separate cage. Roswell got better but I left things as they were since there were no issues and then Zack started bugging SETI so I put Roswell back with SETI and put Zack in his own cage and all was well until the fight. Sounds like a bird soap opera. They can be out together but I wouldn't take the chance of caging them together although it would be easier when it comes to cleaning and feeding. Maybe if they had a huge aviary they would have a lot more space and wouldn't fight.

How is Mango today?

 

[cab124]

YES!! Your house sounds just like a parrot soap opera. "General Aviary." "One Flight to Live." "The Molt and the Beautiful." "Greys of our Lives." hehehe.

Mango is ok, but no fun at all. When I came home from work, she came out of her cage and ate a few seeds, staying as far away from me as possible. Then, when I accidentally moved my arm just a little too fast she launched and flew a few laps around the room (just to make sure that I could not catch her and eat her), and now went back into her cage to sleep. Boring.

I should have gotten a dog. hehe.

 

[cab124]

Wow, I just saw a side of Mango that I have never seen before!

She is in her cage eating (which she does every night before going to sleep).

I am sitting in my room working on the computer...

Everything was fine and quiet until I decided to put on some Christmas music. For some reason, I have had the song "O Holy Night" by Michael Crawford on my mind all day.

As soon as I put it on, Mango went nuts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She started calling to me, so I answered her back, and then she answered back, and we went back and forth until she got really loud. So I grabbed my Surface, and put on the YouTube video of this song and ran into the kitchen next to her cage. I set the computer screen right next to the cage where she could see it and got up close to the cage and hummed along. Mango came right up and danced along, marching along her perch for the ENTIRE SONG!!! She was all puffed up, with tail flared marching and chirping on her perch.

When the song ended she stopped. I was blown away!!!!!!!!! So I went back into my room and she got quiet. Then I tried it again and she did the same thing!!!!!

What does this mean?????? Clearly, she has some connection to this song. Was she telling me to turn it off, or was she telling me that she liked it?????? I have no idea.

The mystery goes on. Who is this bird????

 

[iamwhoiam]

LOL about the Christmas music. Michael Crawford...she has excellent taste. What a wonderful voice he has (or had)...not sure what he sounds like now.
Try some music from Phantom of the Opera with Crawford singing and see how she does with that. Try "Music of the Night" or in Mango's case "Music of the Flight"...in keeping with your new soap operas. https://PHANTOM OF THE OPERA LIVE - 1988 TONY AWARDS - YouTube
OR maybe it will scare her. Sarah Brightman with her hair like that and her wide opened eyes looks scarier than the Phantom.


Maybe she was a big fan of PTO in a past life??

 

[cab124]

"Music of the Flight!" Excellent!!!! hahahaha.

Good idea with PTO. I will try that tomorrow.

What is your interpretation?? Was that a positive or a negative reaction to the music???

 

[faislaq]

The reactions sounds very positive to me. The way you described the marching and the flared tail reminded me of Pistachio dancing to anything with a beat, especially his theme song The Grinch.

He would also do it anytime we whistled with him, sang to him or praised him. That little bird was so full of himself.

 

[iamwhoiam]

"Music of the Flight!" Excellent!!!! hahahaha.

Good idea with PTO. I will try that tomorrow.

What is your interpretation?? Was that a positive or a negative reaction to the music???

Would have to actually see what she is doing and even then it would probably be a guess although puffing up and tail flaring is sometimes a warning sign but with her and the fact that she was dancing and marching maybe she liked it.

With my Pois puffing up and tail flaring generally means they are a bit pissed off about something. With my Amazons tail flaring generally means "I'm going to get you" and not in a nice way.

Never seen tail flaring with my Dusky but have seen ruffled feathers and that means he isn't happy about something.

 

[cab124]

Maybe Michael Crawford's voice reminds her of someone from her past that was mean to her. I am going to have to try some other songs tomorrow in order to try to deduce what is going on here. Very intriguing.

She never reacted like this to Frank.

 

[iamwhoiam]

Maybe Michael Crawford's voice reminds her of someone from her past that was mean to her. I am going to have to try some other songs tomorrow in order to try to deduce what is going on here. Very intriguing.

She never reacted like this to Frank.

She was a Sinatra fanatic in a past life.

 

[faislaq]

@cab124 Another member started a thread about her green cheek being ill, but she attached an adorable video of her dancing next to the nail grinder which she loves. I know you've had some questions about whether Mango's dances are happy or defensive, and they can look similar, but I wanted you to see a very happy little green cheek dancing with her strange "friend".

This is Kari aka Karikins

 

[cab124]

@cab124 Another member started a thread about her green cheek being ill, but she attached an adorable video of her dancing next to the nail grinder which she loves. I know you've had some questions about whether Mango's dances are happy or defensive, and they can look similar, but I wanted you to see a very happy little green cheek dancing with her strange "friend".

Thank you so much @faislaq, I appreciate seeing that. Amazing that her bird knows how to turn the nail grinder on!!! I will go check out that thread.

I have seen Mango do a similar dance at times.

By the way, after some experimentation with different songs, times of day, etc., I have concluded that Mango's reaction to that song a few nights ago had nothing to do with the song itself. Instead, I think it was a temper tantrum for my playing musing after the lights were out and she had gone to bed. She wants quiet after she goes to bed and isn't afraid to complain about any disturbances - even though I was playing the music very softly.

 

[Dona]

By the way, after some experimentation with different songs, times of day, etc., I have concluded that Mango's reaction to that song a few nights ago had nothing to do with the song itself. Instead, I think it was a temper tantrum for my playing musing after the lights were out and she had gone to bed. She wants quiet after she goes to bed and isn't afraid to complain about any disturbances - even though I was playing the music very softly.

Aww Mango. Gigi can relate. Her housemates have been watching way too many late ballgames with frantic fans screaming non stop. (Gigi sleeps in a room away but it's still pretty noisy...)