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Ripping up the road
Administrator
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
- Joined
- 4/15/10
- Messages
- 50,094
- Real Name
- Matthew
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 happy to announce that WikiWaz is January's Mayor of the Month.
I enjoyed reading your interview, and am sure that everyone else will as well!
1. What kind of birds do you have (age, species and names)?
We have four birds: Erwin (cockatiel, male), Sprite (budgie, male), William O. Wisp (budgie, male), and Sunny (budgie, male).
We adopted Erwin from a parrot shelter on Feb 12, 2022, so we do not know his age. The avian vet guessed he is 15. Likewise, Sprite and William O. Wisp (Wisp for short) were adopted from the same shelter on June 14, 2021. Again, we do not know their ages. We recently adopted Sunny from a family who that felt they could no longer safely care for him. They told us he is two years old. Sunny was adopted on December 22, 2023.
2. What got you interested in birds?
I had not had any animals in my life since my beloved cat tragically passed away in 2012. I was so grief stricken that I felt I would not get another pet. At that time I also felt that pets complicated my life. Flash forward to 2020. During COVID we were stuck at home like so many, so I reconsidered getting a pet. My best friend had rescued a cockatiel years ago and recommended cockatiels. When my partner and I discussed it and decided on a cockatiel, it seemed like no pet store or rescues had any. Finally I found a Craigslist ad where a family was rehoming their cockatiel. We messaged the family and picked up Bowie that day. Bowie was my "heart bird." I love him so much and miss him everyday. I have been hooked on birds ever since. Our animals do complicate our lives but I have no regrets.
3. What have your birds brought to your life?
So much joy. They are so intelligent and in my opinion, parrots are the smartest creatures we could have in the home. I cannot image the rest of my life without birds.
4. What have you learned from sharing your life with your birds?
I have come to understand sharing my life with birds is more of a cohabitation than a "pet" and "owner" relationship. We are guardians to our birds, and have vowed to take care of them and provide them safe homes as long as we can. Having birds has taught me patience and to slow down.
5. What's one birdie memory that will stay with you forever?
My favorite memory is when Bowie first landed on my shoulder, when we had him at home for only two or three days. It was the happiest moment of my life. If I would have died right then and there, I would have been at peace.
Another favorite memory was Christmas 2020, my partner and I stayed home for the holidays and watched The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Rayleigh and Bowie watched the movies in the living room with us. When we were at the scene in The Two Towers where Treebeard the Ent wails at the loss of the forest, Bowie wailed right along with him!
6. Where is your birds main living area?
The budgies are in my office. Erwin shares the living room with the guinea pigs, who are his best friends. Erwin is a very gentle soul. When Mr. Sprite and Mr. Wisp were picking on him and stealing his food, we decided to move him to the living room. He is much happier there.
7. Did you change things in your home to accommodate your birds and if so what kinds of things did you change?
My significant other and I pretty much changed our whole lifestyle for our birds. I have a good friend that has a saying something along the lines of, "A cat or dog can fit around your lifestyle, but you need to move your lifestyle around to accommodate your parrot." And he is right, at least in our case! From everything to special "poop clothes," to dropping whatever I am doing because this is a rare moment Erwin wants a spritz shower. Since Erwin now lives in the living room, he rules that room. Which means, when he decides it is his bedtime, we leave the living room and go downstairs to watch t.v., read, craft, etc. Sunny insists on trying our food, so as long as it is parrot safe, we give him a teeny portion of food to try on his own plate.
8. Are you involved in any kind of bird related group or activities?
Besides Avian Avenue, I also make bird toys for my local shelter. For example, this fall a friend and I made 30 giant grapevine wreaths for the shelter macaws and cockatoos to tear apart. Sometimes we go to the monthly bird meetup at the VFW to support local parrot businesses.
9. What is the one luxury item you would love to have for your bird(s)?
I would like Sunny to have a flight cage. Right now he is in a 25.0" L x 21.0" W x 29.5" H. Money is tight right now but I hope to have one by the end of the year. Other than that a manicurist to come over the clip the animal's talons.
10. Is there any bird that you dream of owning and if so why?
I used to think it caiques, but I think they would overwhelm me. I really love cockatiels. I think once we have fewer budgies, I would like to get a hand tame, hand reared cockatiel. I also really like diamond doves, finches, canaries, doves, pigeons, kakarikis, and bronze-wing pionous.
11. Describe a typical day with you at home with your birds.
Wake up time is 7:00 a.m. The birds came come out of their cage for an hour, if it is a work day. Then we will come home around 4:00 or 5:00 p.m. and let the birds out the rest of the evening. If it is a day we do not work, we will keep the cages open all day. The routine has slightly changed with Sunny in the house. We have to take turns opening the cages or Sunny will go into the other's homes and they will be upset. Mr. Sprite, Mr. Wisp, and Erwin do not leave their cages often, so when I'm home I will spend time with them by sitting next to their cages and talk/sing with them. Erwin had a perch next to the cage door. When he sits on that perch we say, "visiting hours are open!" Erwin expects you to sit next to him and visit.
12. What have you learned about owning birds that you would like to share?
So many things. We are really good at identifying the body language of our birds and figuring out what they want/need. For example I could not figure out why Erwin was huffing and hissing. My partner figured out the dining room light was casting our shadow on him, which scared him. That takes an understanding that birds usually do not scream or are angry "just because." There are reasons that we as bird guardians need to do our best to figure out. We are also good at trying new tactics to get an outcome we want from our birds. Erwin would not eat any pellets and after our third brand, he is starting to try pellets.
13. If you knew then what you know now about birds, what would you do differently?
I would have worked harder to find an avian vet instead of the first exotic vet we had for Bowie (cockatiel) and Rayleigh (budgie). The exotic vet was not a good fit for our birds, because although she saw parrots for exams, she did not do blood draws. If I had zero avian vets in my area and only had exotic vets, the first question I would ask them is if they do blood draws and surgeries on parrots. If they do not, I would not consider them a good fit for my birds.
14. What other hobbies do you have?
Postcrossing! From the Postcrossing website, "The goal of this project is to allow anyone to send and receive postcards from all over the world! The idea is simple: for each postcard you send, you will receive one back from a random postcrosser from somewhere in the world."
I also am getting back into working out. I have started going to Orange Theory Fitness again. I really want to lose those 30 pounds I gained when I went back to school and from the 2020/2021.
Additionally, I am in the process of scrapbooking 12 years of cards and letters. I have saved all of my letters since 1995.
Other than that, I wish I had more time for hobbies. Between working, animal care, and cleaning the house there is little time for else. I would like to Zentangle; I have the books and I just have not started yet. I used to fold origami and would to to again, but just do not have them time.
15. Anything else you would like to share?
We also have two guinea pigs and three chickens.
I am happy to announce that WikiWaz is January's Mayor of the Month.
I enjoyed reading your interview, and am sure that everyone else will as well!
1. What kind of birds do you have (age, species and names)?
We have four birds: Erwin (cockatiel, male), Sprite (budgie, male), William O. Wisp (budgie, male), and Sunny (budgie, male).
We adopted Erwin from a parrot shelter on Feb 12, 2022, so we do not know his age. The avian vet guessed he is 15. Likewise, Sprite and William O. Wisp (Wisp for short) were adopted from the same shelter on June 14, 2021. Again, we do not know their ages. We recently adopted Sunny from a family who that felt they could no longer safely care for him. They told us he is two years old. Sunny was adopted on December 22, 2023.
2. What got you interested in birds?
I had not had any animals in my life since my beloved cat tragically passed away in 2012. I was so grief stricken that I felt I would not get another pet. At that time I also felt that pets complicated my life. Flash forward to 2020. During COVID we were stuck at home like so many, so I reconsidered getting a pet. My best friend had rescued a cockatiel years ago and recommended cockatiels. When my partner and I discussed it and decided on a cockatiel, it seemed like no pet store or rescues had any. Finally I found a Craigslist ad where a family was rehoming their cockatiel. We messaged the family and picked up Bowie that day. Bowie was my "heart bird." I love him so much and miss him everyday. I have been hooked on birds ever since. Our animals do complicate our lives but I have no regrets.
3. What have your birds brought to your life?
So much joy. They are so intelligent and in my opinion, parrots are the smartest creatures we could have in the home. I cannot image the rest of my life without birds.
4. What have you learned from sharing your life with your birds?
I have come to understand sharing my life with birds is more of a cohabitation than a "pet" and "owner" relationship. We are guardians to our birds, and have vowed to take care of them and provide them safe homes as long as we can. Having birds has taught me patience and to slow down.
5. What's one birdie memory that will stay with you forever?
My favorite memory is when Bowie first landed on my shoulder, when we had him at home for only two or three days. It was the happiest moment of my life. If I would have died right then and there, I would have been at peace.
Another favorite memory was Christmas 2020, my partner and I stayed home for the holidays and watched The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Rayleigh and Bowie watched the movies in the living room with us. When we were at the scene in The Two Towers where Treebeard the Ent wails at the loss of the forest, Bowie wailed right along with him!
6. Where is your birds main living area?
The budgies are in my office. Erwin shares the living room with the guinea pigs, who are his best friends. Erwin is a very gentle soul. When Mr. Sprite and Mr. Wisp were picking on him and stealing his food, we decided to move him to the living room. He is much happier there.
7. Did you change things in your home to accommodate your birds and if so what kinds of things did you change?
My significant other and I pretty much changed our whole lifestyle for our birds. I have a good friend that has a saying something along the lines of, "A cat or dog can fit around your lifestyle, but you need to move your lifestyle around to accommodate your parrot." And he is right, at least in our case! From everything to special "poop clothes," to dropping whatever I am doing because this is a rare moment Erwin wants a spritz shower. Since Erwin now lives in the living room, he rules that room. Which means, when he decides it is his bedtime, we leave the living room and go downstairs to watch t.v., read, craft, etc. Sunny insists on trying our food, so as long as it is parrot safe, we give him a teeny portion of food to try on his own plate.
8. Are you involved in any kind of bird related group or activities?
Besides Avian Avenue, I also make bird toys for my local shelter. For example, this fall a friend and I made 30 giant grapevine wreaths for the shelter macaws and cockatoos to tear apart. Sometimes we go to the monthly bird meetup at the VFW to support local parrot businesses.
9. What is the one luxury item you would love to have for your bird(s)?
I would like Sunny to have a flight cage. Right now he is in a 25.0" L x 21.0" W x 29.5" H. Money is tight right now but I hope to have one by the end of the year. Other than that a manicurist to come over the clip the animal's talons.
10. Is there any bird that you dream of owning and if so why?
I used to think it caiques, but I think they would overwhelm me. I really love cockatiels. I think once we have fewer budgies, I would like to get a hand tame, hand reared cockatiel. I also really like diamond doves, finches, canaries, doves, pigeons, kakarikis, and bronze-wing pionous.
11. Describe a typical day with you at home with your birds.
Wake up time is 7:00 a.m. The birds came come out of their cage for an hour, if it is a work day. Then we will come home around 4:00 or 5:00 p.m. and let the birds out the rest of the evening. If it is a day we do not work, we will keep the cages open all day. The routine has slightly changed with Sunny in the house. We have to take turns opening the cages or Sunny will go into the other's homes and they will be upset. Mr. Sprite, Mr. Wisp, and Erwin do not leave their cages often, so when I'm home I will spend time with them by sitting next to their cages and talk/sing with them. Erwin had a perch next to the cage door. When he sits on that perch we say, "visiting hours are open!" Erwin expects you to sit next to him and visit.
12. What have you learned about owning birds that you would like to share?
So many things. We are really good at identifying the body language of our birds and figuring out what they want/need. For example I could not figure out why Erwin was huffing and hissing. My partner figured out the dining room light was casting our shadow on him, which scared him. That takes an understanding that birds usually do not scream or are angry "just because." There are reasons that we as bird guardians need to do our best to figure out. We are also good at trying new tactics to get an outcome we want from our birds. Erwin would not eat any pellets and after our third brand, he is starting to try pellets.
13. If you knew then what you know now about birds, what would you do differently?
I would have worked harder to find an avian vet instead of the first exotic vet we had for Bowie (cockatiel) and Rayleigh (budgie). The exotic vet was not a good fit for our birds, because although she saw parrots for exams, she did not do blood draws. If I had zero avian vets in my area and only had exotic vets, the first question I would ask them is if they do blood draws and surgeries on parrots. If they do not, I would not consider them a good fit for my birds.
14. What other hobbies do you have?
Postcrossing! From the Postcrossing website, "The goal of this project is to allow anyone to send and receive postcards from all over the world! The idea is simple: for each postcard you send, you will receive one back from a random postcrosser from somewhere in the world."
I also am getting back into working out. I have started going to Orange Theory Fitness again. I really want to lose those 30 pounds I gained when I went back to school and from the 2020/2021.
Additionally, I am in the process of scrapbooking 12 years of cards and letters. I have saved all of my letters since 1995.
Other than that, I wish I had more time for hobbies. Between working, animal care, and cleaning the house there is little time for else. I would like to Zentangle; I have the books and I just have not started yet. I used to fold origami and would to to again, but just do not have them time.
15. Anything else you would like to share?
We also have two guinea pigs and three chickens.
Well deserved and I loved reading your interview.
Congratulations!
