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Bird videos & mirrors

ali_and_birdie

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This question is primarily about showing my caique videos of other caiques. She’s an only child (I don’t have any other birds) so I thought it might be fun/interesting for her to see videos of other caiques. I’ve shown her a couple videos of caiques happily singing (no videos with fighting, etc, since I don’t want her to get stressed out by fight calls) and she really loves them. She fluffs up and makes her little happy growl back at the video (the same growl she makes when she’s eating something yummy). But then I started to wonder if it’s okay for her to watch these? Maybe it’s mean for me to show her these videos if she can’t actually interact with the other birds? Would love to get some opinions on this!

And then slightly relatedly, I know that it’s not a good idea to have mirrors in the cage because birds could either get aggressive or view the birdie in the mirror as a mate. For this reason I don’t have any mirrors or mirrored toys in her cage. But when she’s out of the cage, one of her favorite places to sit is by a large mirror in the living room. She always faces the mirror, and often tries to get as close to it as possible. She then usually just preens. I haven’t noticed any negative behaviors in relation to this, but she’s only 16 months old, so she’s not hormonal yet. Should I start discouraging this behavior (covering the mirror when she’s out)? Or should I just monitor her behavior and let her sit by the mirror as long as she isn’t showing any negative signs?

thanks so much!
 

JLcribber

@cockatoojohn
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She will bond with that "image" given enough time. Maybe negative. Maybe not. A better solution in my mind is a real live feathered companion.

A solitary bird is a lonely bird.
 

ali_and_birdie

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@JLcribber
I hear you! But I always have heard it’s better to get a second bird for yourself rather than for your bird, since they might not get along at all...so that aspect of adding another bird to the household worries me.
 

Irishj9

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Birds are flock animals, so the default is " more than one"

The earlier in their lives you make this choice, the easier it will be for them to quickly make friends and co-exist

Of course, there are ways to do this right, and ways to create chaos
 

Les charlson

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The interesting thing about Caiques is my two still prefer me over each other. Having said that I notice that they do certain things like grooming or ripping up paper that, according to them, I am not really good at compared to another bird. I show my guys videos and they appear to enjoy them. The mirror thing is ok as a play thing but they do seem to want to interact with the reflection.
 

ali_and_birdie

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@Irishj9 I'm curious what you mean by right vs chaotic (wrong) way to add birds to a flock? What would you say is the best way?

Mine is a rescue, which is why I only have one (if she'd had feathered friends in her old household, I obviously would have taken them too).
 

Irishj9

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@Irishj9 I'm curious what you mean by right vs chaotic (wrong) way to add birds to a flock? What would you say is the best way?

Mine is a rescue, which is why I only have one (if she'd had feathered friends in her old household, I obviously would have taken them too).
The right way has many guidelines

Start young
let the bird choose its friends
Dont force proximity
Introduce in neutral territory ( a new unoccupied cage)
Obvserve closely for some time before leaving them alone
Ensure no food fights - lots of food dishes
Remember you belong to your existing bird
etc etc
 
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