Hi every one! just a quick update on my bronze wing cutie pies.
Apache is nearly 3 years old now and his usual sweet self.
He still loves my husband and myself far more than he does his new friend, but they get along well enough to share a cage and a few snugles and head scritches here and there. When apache's not being a possessive bully, they even share toys.
Only time will tell if they become as bonded as he was to his girlfriend, Cheyenne.
He's still not a hormonal monster, I know when they kick in because he struts around more than usual, is a little moody (meaning he just ignores me by turning his little feathered butt to me and struts of most of the time. He gets over excited about usual things so he displays more and I don't play beak restle with him as much as it tends to triger agressive body language at this time of the year.) and wants to feed me/cling to me/beg for non stop petting (wich I totally discourage) but that's about it. Still no agressive behaviour and still as predictable. That being said, he's a very mild tempered pi. He's not afraid of anything, adapts very well to change, never stays upset for more than 2min, is just as curious and adventurous as a small amazon... he's just always been an easy going bird. As you all know, they are little indivuals and not all males (or females for that matter!) are as laid back as he is! (fair warning to those who think that pionus parrots are perfect birds, easy to live with at all times. )
His only downside is that he still doesn't like children. Mine or strangers, no matter how old they are. I suspect it's because he's possessive and sees them as rivals and because they're to noisy for his liking. I had to work on his agressive behaviour towards them and still do but he's much, much better now. (although I still don't trust him around them if i'm not supervising.)
Falcon is still very much a baby. Nothing like Apache! he's smaller in build and has a timid and quiet nature. I free flight train my birds and he's still hesitant to fly to me after 5 months. He wants to and tries multiple times a day but then changes his mind when it's time to land on me. He'll step up to me, no problem, but he doesn't want to be touched. He's also afraid of anything new. It only takes a day or two to teach something new to Apache, he'll literally sleap on it and voilà! lesson learned! whereas Falcon took two weeks to simply touch a target. He takes half of that time slowly building up courage to interact in a way he's not familiar with, with an object he's not familiar with... so we take baby steps with our little feathered baby. You see, same breeder, same species, both came to us at the same age but very different individuals.
I'm confident he'll come out of his shell and become a confident adult pionus in a few years but we have to go slow, never push him and respect his timid nature. Being raised with an outgoing bird realy helps! he's definitely constantly progressing. Even if it seems insignificant to others, like contact calling us or following us around the house or just accepting to perch and feel comfortable on a chair, window sill etc. anything other than his cage and tree next to it... oh and running up to us for a treat, playing with new toys without fear because he sees Apache do it... every little progress makes us happy! I can't wait to discover his true personality hiding in there. He's still quite clumsy to. He's adorable and we love him to bits.
I havn't got many pictures on this computer unfortunately... but I'll make up for it as soon as possible.
Apache is nearly 3 years old now and his usual sweet self.
He still loves my husband and myself far more than he does his new friend, but they get along well enough to share a cage and a few snugles and head scritches here and there. When apache's not being a possessive bully, they even share toys.
He's still not a hormonal monster, I know when they kick in because he struts around more than usual, is a little moody (meaning he just ignores me by turning his little feathered butt to me and struts of most of the time. He gets over excited about usual things so he displays more and I don't play beak restle with him as much as it tends to triger agressive body language at this time of the year.) and wants to feed me/cling to me/beg for non stop petting (wich I totally discourage) but that's about it. Still no agressive behaviour and still as predictable. That being said, he's a very mild tempered pi. He's not afraid of anything, adapts very well to change, never stays upset for more than 2min, is just as curious and adventurous as a small amazon... he's just always been an easy going bird. As you all know, they are little indivuals and not all males (or females for that matter!) are as laid back as he is! (fair warning to those who think that pionus parrots are perfect birds, easy to live with at all times. )
His only downside is that he still doesn't like children. Mine or strangers, no matter how old they are. I suspect it's because he's possessive and sees them as rivals and because they're to noisy for his liking. I had to work on his agressive behaviour towards them and still do but he's much, much better now. (although I still don't trust him around them if i'm not supervising.)
Falcon is still very much a baby. Nothing like Apache! he's smaller in build and has a timid and quiet nature. I free flight train my birds and he's still hesitant to fly to me after 5 months. He wants to and tries multiple times a day but then changes his mind when it's time to land on me. He'll step up to me, no problem, but he doesn't want to be touched. He's also afraid of anything new. It only takes a day or two to teach something new to Apache, he'll literally sleap on it and voilà! lesson learned! whereas Falcon took two weeks to simply touch a target. He takes half of that time slowly building up courage to interact in a way he's not familiar with, with an object he's not familiar with... so we take baby steps with our little feathered baby. You see, same breeder, same species, both came to us at the same age but very different individuals.
I'm confident he'll come out of his shell and become a confident adult pionus in a few years but we have to go slow, never push him and respect his timid nature. Being raised with an outgoing bird realy helps! he's definitely constantly progressing. Even if it seems insignificant to others, like contact calling us or following us around the house or just accepting to perch and feel comfortable on a chair, window sill etc. anything other than his cage and tree next to it... oh and running up to us for a treat, playing with new toys without fear because he sees Apache do it... every little progress makes us happy! I can't wait to discover his true personality hiding in there. He's still quite clumsy to. He's adorable and we love him to bits.
I havn't got many pictures on this computer unfortunately... but I'll make up for it as soon as possible.