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August 2013 Mayor of the Avenue..... JAM!

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Shade

Crazy for Pois!
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Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
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Our "Mayor of the Avenue" award is presented to a member who exhibits the qualities that distinguish them to be an upstanding credit to the Avenue, a loving, informed, conscientious and caring bird parront and an all around good neighbor.


I am so delighted to announce JAM as August Mayor of the Avenue. She is a wonderful neighbor and asset to our community


I loved your interview and enjoyed getting to know you a little better!



1. What kind of birds do you have (age, species and names)?


Blue – blue fronted rainbow lorikeet 2 years old, female.
Red – Red Lory 2 years old, male.
M-Star – mustard scaly breasted lorikeet, 18 months, female.
Da Fluffsta – pastel blue lovebird, 10 months, male.
Da Peachsta – rose face lovebird, 10 months, female.
Also passed but not forgotten, Millow and MC, olive split mustard scaly breasted lorikeets only a few months old before they sadly crossed the bridge.


2. What got you interested in birds?

I’ve always loved animals (except spiders) and growing up I have been around farms, had dogs, cats, guinea pigs, fish, budgies, geece, ducks and horses.
Our recent decision to have birds was to have pets that we could really interact with on a personal level and have with us in the house but not aggravate my allergies. After a lot of thought and visits and research to find the right species, here there are!


3. What have your birds brought to your life?

So much it’s hard to list down. A greater awareness of nature, birds are I guess one of the closest to wild “domestic” pets and they are so intelligent to boot. I’ve learnt a lot of patience with them and even more wonder at Mother Nature’s beautiful creations. My OH also thinks they have brought out the crazy in me!

4. What have you learned from sharing your life with your birds?

I’ve learnt to respect birds a lot more and they’ve taught me to whisper to them. I was brought up with animals and taught that having a pet is about a partnership and companionship not ownership. If you want to be respected by your pet you need to ensure you give respect to them. My mum was very holistic and believed in working with an animal’s nature and instincts to train and own rather than the conventional rules so to speak. I’ve also learnt that nothing is sacred with parrots and whatever is yours is theirs, no questions asked. If you dare ask then the beak is the answer!

5. What's one birdie memory that will stay with you forever?

The day that M-Star’s behaviour turned for the better. That was the day it really hit me just how special as well as delicate the relationship is and just how intelligent these creatures are.

6. Where is your birds main living area?

Our birds are in our main living area so they can see us whenever we are in, hear the TV, the radio or whatever we are doing. It’s an open plan room so they get plenty of action and the dining table is right by their cages so when we eat, we can talk to them and share the meal time with them.

7. Did you change things in your home to accommodate your birds and if so what kinds of things did you change?

It’s so hard to parrot proof things, we’ve made sure wires and such are as much out of the way. Kitchen items are tucked away as much as possible. Windows are as proofed as possible. The dining table space is now a lot smaller thanks to 3 cages and a large play stand! Candles aren’t used and cooking wise, we’re using normal pans instead of the fancy schmancy ones. The cupboards and fridge are now half full of parrot foods and items with less and less being for humans!
I’ve also become a newspaper collector as that is perfect to protect the floors from the infamous lory splatter.


8. Are you involved in any kind of bird related group or activities?

Apart from AA not really, sadly there aren’t any rescue centres or such near us so I can’t even volunteer somewhere which I would love to. For now AA gives us plenty of interaction with fellow enthusiasts and enough of an involvement.

9. What is the one luxury item you would love to have for your bird(s)?

I would love them to have the luxury of a large bird room so they can have space to fly freely and not worry about where they land or risk flying into a wall. One with lots of large glass doors/windows with a mesh that can be opened and let them bathe in natural sunlight. If I couldn’t have that then I would want good health for them. With the recent bad times, it’s something I don’t take for granted with them.

10. Is there any bird that you dream of owning and if so why?

For me it is a Black Lory, I’ve fallen in love with the lory species and my favourite colour is black. I think both my OH and I would also secretly love an Eclectus. Thanks to Wendy’s beautiful Fancy, I’ve also developed a longing for a Scarlet Macaw! Now that’s upset M-Star, it’s ok girl, you’re my one and only!!!

11. Describe a typical day with you at home with your birds. How much time do you have to spare?

I’ll keep it brief because it varies each day and I don’t want to bore everyone silly!
Morning time I talk to them through the covers saying hello and getting hellos back. M-Star may or may not want to have a bit of snuggle time with me for a bit. The wild ones come to the balcony and so begins the morning chorus of information sharing.
Whilst that happens, I change the water, may do a paper change if needed, check the dry nectar, make up a wet mix and get the veggies ready. They tend to wander around in the mean time, up the curtains, on the table, around and about. Sometimes arguing amongst themselves or trying to get attention.
If I am home during the day they generally are allowed to roam around in the main area where they please. Most of the time they are good and avoid each other, but every now and then there’s a birdy fight which requires swift intervention.
Red normally sits in his cage guarding Blue or is doing Mission Impossible moves across the curtain rails, top of the TV, the gaming consols and wherever else he isn’t supposed to be.
M-Star is normally planted on me or whistling away in her cage foraging in the local flora and fauna.
At some point during the day, if I don’t supply water bowls at the bottom of their cages then their water bowls are used. Although M-Star refuses to use anything else apart from her drinking water.
Later in the afternoon water changes are normally due as the lories need water to wet the dry nectar to digest. This creates a lovely slurry, veggies and fruit are added and if I am lucky, poop too. I seem to be lucky every day……this is when I also do a wipe and clean of the cages with that day’s mess to get rid of and paper changes. One day mess of the lory cages is the equivalent of 3 or 4 days mess that the lovebirds can make. They seem quite proud of it too. This seems to be the best time for them to be as noisy as possible and try to create as many obstacles to stop me from cleaning.
Evening time brings in the family time with the birds and they normally pick their humans to sit with and either play or preen.
Eventually bed time comes around and after much protest they start to settle in and finally sleep.
Spare time is when they are asleep or supposed to be sleeping, any other time when we are in, it’s parrot time and in all honesty, wouldn’t have it any other way!


12. What have you learned about owning birds that you would like to share?

The biggest learning for me is giving them space. You wouldn’t force your friendship upon another person, you’d let them work it out with you, decide whether or not they want to be friends with you as well as you with them. It’s a bit like that with a parrot. You can’t expect them to fall in love with you, you need to give them space, respect and patience/time amongst other things. The reward for this is beyond words. The relationship I have with my little brat bird M-Star is magical (when she wants it to be of course!).

13. If you knew then what you know now about birds, what would you do differently?

More than likely it would be a lot more related to diet than husbandry as I have always been vigilant with cleaning and such. I never knew lories were susceptible to iron storage so I soon found out thanks to AA and especially Carole, that some of what I was feeding was too high in iron to be fed too often. The other thing would be ensuring they weren’t clipped. Seeing them with the freedom of flight fills me with sadness that they never fledged properly. Whilst Red does have a light clip, it is more for his safety than ours, he is such a clumsy oaf and crashes into everything. With his light clip he can still get some air, but then has to glide down and we are confident that when he molts the clipped wings he should be trustworthy enough to be full flighted again.

14. What other hobbies do you have?

It’s hard having hobbies around parrots, myself and OH both officiate soccer around looking after the FIDs.

15. Anything else you would like to share?

M-Star says I’ve done enough sharing and it’s about time my attention turned back to her so that’s about it!
Thank you so much for selecting me this month, AA has helped me grow so much as parronts, offered so much information and I have made so many great friends and virtually met so many other great parronts.
 

solo

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Congratulations JAM :hug8::heart:
 

expressmailtome

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Congratulations! It is very well deserved! Matt
 

Anne & Gang

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what a wonderful choice!!loved the interview and congratulations Jam!!
 

roxynoodle

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Congrats, JAM! I loved your interview and am very happy to see you awarded Mayor :)
 

JAM

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Thank you again I am really honoured to be awarded this especially as we have only been on here for such a short time. A lot of you will know we've had a rough ride recently with our loss of Millow but the support and advice from AA has made things that bit easier. There are a lot of people here who have contributed to us receiving this through sharing their knowledge with us and just being great people to be around and kick back with. :)
 

Lovebird Lady

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:congrats5: JAM :dance4:I thoroughly enjoyed your interview :D You may have been on here for a short time, as you say, but in that time, you contributed IMMENSELY. Very wise choice for this Award:goodjob::iwon:
 

Daisy's Mom

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:yah: Way to go JAM.. :highfive: I really enjoyed your interview.. :D I really can't think of a more deserving person then you my friend.. :hug8: Congratulations.. :hug8:
 

bicmeister

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congrats. delighted to know you and the so are ekkie lovers :heart:
 

DQTimnehs

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Congratulations, Jam! :dance4:
 

Thugluvgrl187

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CONGRATS!!! :dance4::dance5::dancing::laughing12:
 

Holiday

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Congratulations, enjoyed the interview :hug8:
 

Vegemite

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:dance4::dance5::dancing::laughing12:

Yay, yippee, yahoo! Congrats, so deserved. Well done (I am excited for you, can you tell?) Is this a first - an Aussie Mayor???

Look out AA, we are taking over - aussie mods, aussie mayor :D
 

Reeny

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Congratulations Jam!!!!:dance4:
 
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