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 Anne (Anne & Gang) as October's "Mayor of the Avenue"
Please join me in congratulating her! :congrat3:
Thank you Anne for letting us get to know you, Dub and your feathered family a little better, I enjoyed reading your interview
1. What kind of birds do you have (age, species and names)?
We have three budgies...Jacqueline..4 years old that we purchased from a pet store, Little Alice...age unknown though think less than 5..we got her from the humane society....and Baby Boy Blue 4 years old...was my FIL'S bird..he kept coming for visits and then my mother in law said we could just keep him.....and 3 tiels...Queen Samantha born July 7/2006 - a girl tiel who talks, also does heart wings, bird imitations and beak raps..She did not read the manual that says she is not supposed to do any of those things..Unfortunately, she is also a chronic egg layer. Princess Mitch..age unknown - we got her at the humane society on Dec 12/2009. She is a big lug girlie weighing in at 133 grams...and last but definitely not least..Lord Maxwell Studmuffin, who we rescued from a horrid pet store on June 24/2011. He is pretty badly handicapped but that has not stopped him from wooing Princess Mitch and becoming a brat boy tiel.
2. What got you interested in birds?
We were actually cat & dog people. After our cats died of old age & our old dog died at age 18 1/2, we were devastated. it took about 3 years..hubby kept coming home from his sister's house & saying how the tiel over there was being tormented by the kids, how the water was always dirty & the cage was filthy. Finally, one day, he came home with her ..cage & all...She was a lovely, lutino tiel...She was with us for 3 1/2 years before she flew into a wall & passed from internal injuries. We made a lot of mistakes I am sure but she was a precious dollie to us and after having her, we were forever hooked. I miss her still. Then we got Lou, a birdie girl tiel from a co-worker of mine. She was also tormented by her kids and had not been outside the cage in years. She was withus for over 4 years when she died suddenly. Dub could not stop crying so I dragged him to a breeder where we picked out Sam. The memories of our BJ and our Lou are with us still and we will forever miss them.
3. What have your birds brought to your life?
They are so happy to have fresh food every day, to have our love. -and they return it a thousandfold. When my husband first learned he could no longer work in 2007, he spiraled into a horrible depression. If Samantha had not been around to comfort him, he would not be here today. I credit her with saving his life.
4. What have you learned from sharing your life with your birds?
They are amazing little creatures with tenacity and true intelligence. They are capable of receiving and giving love.
5. What's one birdie memory that will stay with you forever?
I will always remember our old man Fletcher and his birdie love, our canary Charlotte. He was handicapped and she looked after him with a devotion one rarely sees, even amongst humans. Their true love for each other really touched me and I will always remember them both. No one can tell me that birds have no concept of love..they loved each other plain and simple.
6. Where is your birds main living area?
Our apartment is open concept, shaped like an L...the birds are in the dining room. We have an eat-in kitchen so the birds have taken over the dining room. ..Because our apartment is also open concept, they have also taken over the entire apartment, except for the bedrooms..every piece of furniture, including the fridge, belongs to them.
7. Did you change things in your home to accommodate your birds and if so what kinds of things did you change?
We are smokers...We smoke outside and wash our hands before handling the birds. My daughter often gets upset at this because we smoked in the house when she was still here. We are well aware of all the dangers involved. We also eat far healthier than ever before as we always have a bird at dinner...mostly Queen Samantha.
8. Are you involved in any kind of bird related group or activities?
No, I tried going to a few bird groups and while I liked the birds, it made me very nervous to see so many different birds brought together without the benefit of quarantine. We do occasionally catch a bird show and have dozens of books about birds.
9. What is the one luxury item you would love to have for your bird(s)?
We used to have an apple tree in our house...I would like to get a large play gym for them, complete with flat platforms to accommodate Lord Maxwell Studmuffin.
10. Is there any bird that you dream of owning and if so why?
I dream about owning a bare eyed too...I don't really know why...mostly because I fell in love with Anna's bare eyed too named Benny (the lady that runs the bird rescue in New Mexico)...but that will never happen..and quite frankly, we have our dream birds now.
11. Describe a typical day with you at home with your birds:
We get up at 7 a.m. every morning as the birds start to let us know they want out...They go to bed around 7 every night. This early bed time started because of Fletcher who used to wake up every a.m. around 5...Lord Maxwell starts immediately singing for his girl, who comes lumbering out of her cage like a giant goddess..Samantha is next and she immediately starts eating everything in sight. By this time Baby Boy Blue is going through his entire repertoire of songs and sayings and the two girlie budgies are responding in kind. My days are spent playing with the tiels and having them help me as I look for jobs. They fly everywhere all the time and are all over the place playing and destroying things. We can only let Baby Boy Blue out about three times a day for an hour at a time as the tielies hate his guts...so it is complete chaos when he is out. the two girlie budgies are totally wild and though their cage door is open, they have never ventured out..but they are happy as heck, playing and vocalizing all day. Right now, they are all kibitzing around..Baby Boy Blue is out so he is chasing the tiels and it is a complete riot of noises, squawks, chirps, and the girl budgies demanding a visit from their blue paramour..I wouldn't change it for the world.
12. What have you learned about owning birds that you would like to share?
Every day is different and every day brings surprises. You have to always be on your toes and aware of their surroundings. React from your gut instinct. All birds need love..if you give them love, and respect, you will get it in return a thousand fold.
13. If you knew then what you know now about birds, what would you do differently?
When we got BJ, we knew absolutely nothing and got a book that said to put a mite protector in the cage and grit..after two days with that mite protector, we figured it was doing her no good as it smelled really strongly...but we continued to use grit..I would change all that for sure. and we also let her eat whatever she wanted...we did not know to limit her intake to certain foods and she was pretty fat for a tiel.
14. What other hobbies do you have?
I love visiting old cemeteries..there is an old cemetery near here..the stone reads.."here lies John Smith, buried in the bark of the tree that killed him." I also am a big history buff and read obscure textbooks about everything from plague to dancing rituals of ancient Mayan tribes...
15. Anything else you would like to share?
Having a bird in your life is a huge responsibility, whether that bird be a finch or a macaw. You have to be ready to take on that responsibility and know that it is a life that you hold in your hands.
I am so delighted to announce Anne (Anne & Gang) as October's "Mayor of the Avenue"
Please join me in congratulating her! :congrat3:
Thank you Anne for letting us get to know you, Dub and your feathered family a little better, I enjoyed reading your interview
1. What kind of birds do you have (age, species and names)?
We have three budgies...Jacqueline..4 years old that we purchased from a pet store, Little Alice...age unknown though think less than 5..we got her from the humane society....and Baby Boy Blue 4 years old...was my FIL'S bird..he kept coming for visits and then my mother in law said we could just keep him.....and 3 tiels...Queen Samantha born July 7/2006 - a girl tiel who talks, also does heart wings, bird imitations and beak raps..She did not read the manual that says she is not supposed to do any of those things..Unfortunately, she is also a chronic egg layer. Princess Mitch..age unknown - we got her at the humane society on Dec 12/2009. She is a big lug girlie weighing in at 133 grams...and last but definitely not least..Lord Maxwell Studmuffin, who we rescued from a horrid pet store on June 24/2011. He is pretty badly handicapped but that has not stopped him from wooing Princess Mitch and becoming a brat boy tiel.
2. What got you interested in birds?
We were actually cat & dog people. After our cats died of old age & our old dog died at age 18 1/2, we were devastated. it took about 3 years..hubby kept coming home from his sister's house & saying how the tiel over there was being tormented by the kids, how the water was always dirty & the cage was filthy. Finally, one day, he came home with her ..cage & all...She was a lovely, lutino tiel...She was with us for 3 1/2 years before she flew into a wall & passed from internal injuries. We made a lot of mistakes I am sure but she was a precious dollie to us and after having her, we were forever hooked. I miss her still. Then we got Lou, a birdie girl tiel from a co-worker of mine. She was also tormented by her kids and had not been outside the cage in years. She was withus for over 4 years when she died suddenly. Dub could not stop crying so I dragged him to a breeder where we picked out Sam. The memories of our BJ and our Lou are with us still and we will forever miss them.
3. What have your birds brought to your life?
They are so happy to have fresh food every day, to have our love. -and they return it a thousandfold. When my husband first learned he could no longer work in 2007, he spiraled into a horrible depression. If Samantha had not been around to comfort him, he would not be here today. I credit her with saving his life.
4. What have you learned from sharing your life with your birds?
They are amazing little creatures with tenacity and true intelligence. They are capable of receiving and giving love.
5. What's one birdie memory that will stay with you forever?
I will always remember our old man Fletcher and his birdie love, our canary Charlotte. He was handicapped and she looked after him with a devotion one rarely sees, even amongst humans. Their true love for each other really touched me and I will always remember them both. No one can tell me that birds have no concept of love..they loved each other plain and simple.
6. Where is your birds main living area?
Our apartment is open concept, shaped like an L...the birds are in the dining room. We have an eat-in kitchen so the birds have taken over the dining room. ..Because our apartment is also open concept, they have also taken over the entire apartment, except for the bedrooms..every piece of furniture, including the fridge, belongs to them.
7. Did you change things in your home to accommodate your birds and if so what kinds of things did you change?
We are smokers...We smoke outside and wash our hands before handling the birds. My daughter often gets upset at this because we smoked in the house when she was still here. We are well aware of all the dangers involved. We also eat far healthier than ever before as we always have a bird at dinner...mostly Queen Samantha.
8. Are you involved in any kind of bird related group or activities?
No, I tried going to a few bird groups and while I liked the birds, it made me very nervous to see so many different birds brought together without the benefit of quarantine. We do occasionally catch a bird show and have dozens of books about birds.
9. What is the one luxury item you would love to have for your bird(s)?
We used to have an apple tree in our house...I would like to get a large play gym for them, complete with flat platforms to accommodate Lord Maxwell Studmuffin.
10. Is there any bird that you dream of owning and if so why?
I dream about owning a bare eyed too...I don't really know why...mostly because I fell in love with Anna's bare eyed too named Benny (the lady that runs the bird rescue in New Mexico)...but that will never happen..and quite frankly, we have our dream birds now.
11. Describe a typical day with you at home with your birds:
We get up at 7 a.m. every morning as the birds start to let us know they want out...They go to bed around 7 every night. This early bed time started because of Fletcher who used to wake up every a.m. around 5...Lord Maxwell starts immediately singing for his girl, who comes lumbering out of her cage like a giant goddess..Samantha is next and she immediately starts eating everything in sight. By this time Baby Boy Blue is going through his entire repertoire of songs and sayings and the two girlie budgies are responding in kind. My days are spent playing with the tiels and having them help me as I look for jobs. They fly everywhere all the time and are all over the place playing and destroying things. We can only let Baby Boy Blue out about three times a day for an hour at a time as the tielies hate his guts...so it is complete chaos when he is out. the two girlie budgies are totally wild and though their cage door is open, they have never ventured out..but they are happy as heck, playing and vocalizing all day. Right now, they are all kibitzing around..Baby Boy Blue is out so he is chasing the tiels and it is a complete riot of noises, squawks, chirps, and the girl budgies demanding a visit from their blue paramour..I wouldn't change it for the world.
12. What have you learned about owning birds that you would like to share?
Every day is different and every day brings surprises. You have to always be on your toes and aware of their surroundings. React from your gut instinct. All birds need love..if you give them love, and respect, you will get it in return a thousand fold.
13. If you knew then what you know now about birds, what would you do differently?
When we got BJ, we knew absolutely nothing and got a book that said to put a mite protector in the cage and grit..after two days with that mite protector, we figured it was doing her no good as it smelled really strongly...but we continued to use grit..I would change all that for sure. and we also let her eat whatever she wanted...we did not know to limit her intake to certain foods and she was pretty fat for a tiel.
14. What other hobbies do you have?
I love visiting old cemeteries..there is an old cemetery near here..the stone reads.."here lies John Smith, buried in the bark of the tree that killed him." I also am a big history buff and read obscure textbooks about everything from plague to dancing rituals of ancient Mayan tribes...
15. Anything else you would like to share?
Having a bird in your life is a huge responsibility, whether that bird be a finch or a macaw. You have to be ready to take on that responsibility and know that it is a life that you hold in your hands.
I feel Iknow you more closely now after reading your interview. You are one loving, caring and funny lady. Keep those pics and birdie stories coming, I look forward to each and every one.
