Macawnutz
Seriously Nutz!
Super Administrator
Vendor
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
It is with great pleasure that I announce the
Celebirdy for the month of November 2020
@MeganC 's Tiki
1. How did you acquire your bird?
My husband and I contacted a bird shop about six hours away from us to see what conure species they had while we were waiting for our local breeder to have sun conures available again. We were sent a picture of Tiki and her clutch mates, they were only just starting to get in some feathers at the time. My husband ended up picking out Tiki from the picture, of course she wasn't dna tested yet so we didn't know she was female. The shop finished out her weaning and we drove and picked her up a few months later.
2. What is your bird's name, species, age and sex?
Her name is Tiki and she is a female Jenday Conure.
3. Does your bird do any special tricks?
I've never tried to teach her any tricks, so she doesn't know any.
4. What are some of your bird's favorite foods?
Some of her favorite foods would be blueberries, nutriberries, cashews, pelletberries, and freeze dried fruit.
5. What is the funniest thing your bird has done?
That would probably be the time I was wearing a long sleeve shirt and Tiki was in her favorite spot burrowed under the shirt on my chest. She then quite randomly decided to burrow down my sleeve and stick her head out the bottom under my hand. It was a pretty tight cuff, so she was sitting there for a while with just her head sticking out of my sleeve before she finally decided to squeeze the rest of the way out. I got quite the laugh out of that.
6. How has your bird enriched your life?
I've always been a bird person and had actually wanted a sun conure since I discovered them as a teenager. I didn't get parrots until my mid twenties of course, but my parrots just make me happier. I have a bond with them that I personally will just never have with a cat or dog. I worry less about life's other stresses with them around then I did before I got them. They are a source of endless entertainment and make my life better by just being here.
7. What would you tell people who are considering this species?
Jenday Conures are not a parrot to be obtained lightly. They need a lot of wood to chew or they will find their own in your house. They are also very needy. If you are home, it will expect to be out of the cage with you. I have a bonded pair of conures, and I still can't leave the room for 30 seconds without them following me. You really do need to do your research and make sure they are the right bird for you before you bring one home.
8. What is the activity and noise level of your bird?
She is a very active bird, definitely not a perch potato. She loves flying around the house and would chew on chippy wood all day if I let her. Really, the only time she is still for any length of time is when she is ready for a nap. As for noise level, she is by far the noisier of my two birds. She is always the one that starts alarm or contact calls or just random screams. Yuki is quiet by comparison honestly. Tiki doesn't scream all day or anything, but she is definitely not a quiet bird.
9. What are some of your bird's quirks?
I have to sit with my birds every evening for a couple hours on the couch and let them sleep burrowed under a blanket before they will go to their cage to sleep. Tiki is a pretty heavy chewer, but almost never chews on any toys, including balsa, while they are in their cage. The only thing she will do in their cage is use foraging toys. I eventually have to move the toys, after some months of sitting mostly untouched, to their shelf where they do most of their playing and they will be gone in days. Tiki also has an odd love/hate relationship with some stainless steel stacker cups that I got from california bird nerds. I keep then sitting on their shelf and she tosses/birdy bowling balls them off several times a day. I have never figured out whether she hates them or likes them.
10. If your bird talks, what is the most surprising word or sentence it has said?
That would have to be "go poopy". Tiki learned her first two phrases, step up and yeah, pretty early and then that was it. Some time later when Tiki was over a year old and Yuki had been here long enough to have learned the two words Tiki already knew, they just quite suddenly started saying go poopy. This is what I say when I get them out of the cage in the morning and take them to an appropriate place for their morning poop. It was a rather unexpected thing for Tiki to learn, as she hadn't learned any new words in a long time. It's probably their favorite thing to say now.
11. What is your bird’s favorite treat?
Tiki's favorite treat is safflower seed. She was weaned onto higgins safflower gold as a baby instead of pellets, and they are still her favorite food.
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