I have Nibbles, my pineapple gcc. She will be two in early February. We've had her since she was about 18 days old. She's sweet, funny, rude, bratty, and willful all wrapped into one. She talks a bit. When I come into the office early in the morning, she says "What are you doing?" She used to say "Hi Baby" but not so much anymore. She's taken to saying "Jackie Bird", which is the name of the Blue Crown she shares the office with. She and Jackie are in cages side by side, and they share a play stand. Share in the sense that they both sit on it, but almost completely ignore each other.
Jackie is my old man Blue Crown that has been with us since January. I believe we're his 3rd owners, but due to his slowly declining health, we'll be his last. He habitually plucks, had food issues because he was fed nothing but human food by a previous owner, and has separation anxiety that results in screaming sometimes when I leave the room. I use him as an example of what happens when you feed the wrong food to your birds. He's a sweet old man though, almost like a puppy. He's happy to see me in the morning. He sits on my shoulder and goes with me around the house as I do stuff. I tell him about all the problems in the world. He looks me right in the eye like he understands me. He kisses me on the cheek, and when he's had enough, he goes back to his cage.
Then there is Wasabi, the other Blue Crown. He's 16, and has been with us for just over a year. He lives in the living room because he hasn't been around other birds. I'm not sure putting him and Jackie close together would be a good idea, though they might just ignore each other like Nibbles and Jackie do. Wasabi hadn't been handled in years, but we're working on that. He will step up to my hand, but only from certain sides of the cage. He says HI! in a really excited tone. He makes kissing noises, but only to my other half. He will kiss my cheek, but doesn't make any sound. I tell him it's unfair and rude of him because I'm the one that feeds him, but he seem to care. He will also sit on my shoulder when I do things around the house, but if I tell him about all the problems in the world, he looks at me as if he's saying, "Whatever."
I have several breeding pairs, but I don't name them, or interact the same with them. It's not like they want anything to do with me anyway. There are two sun conure chicks that I'm hand feeding right now. Not quite weaned, but close to flying. They are silly, and a lot of fun.
Then there is my furry kid - Odin the psycho cat. He's a 7 year old, male, black cat, and a complete weirdo. He has emotional issues and where most cats would leave the room if something scares them, or they aren't comfortable, he starts to howl and scream. At first I took it to be aggression, but then I realized it was overwhelming fear that he doesn't know how to handle. Who knows what his life was like before I adopted him. In any case, I'm in it for the long haul. He is fascinated by the birds, but only from a distance. He let his tail get a little too close to Wasabi's cage once, and Wasabi gave him a nasty bite. Now he has a healthy fear of birds, which I fully encourage. I only mention him because friends always ask me how I handle a cat in a house full of birds.
Julip (roseifrons) is from a rescue in NY, she has a tiny scissor beak, scarred lungs and liver (so she has a significant tail bob).
