For Precious and GeneL

[GeneL]

Precious, my Goffins cockatoo, had her 20th Birthday on February 22nd this year. Because she is that old, she's closer to her wild caught lineage and she'll probably live longer than the younger birds that come from more interbred parents. I've been told that she should live 65 to 70 years. If she does, that means another 50 years, which kind of worries me, because I don't know what will happen to her after I'm gone. That issue is perplexing for me.

As far as intelligence, Carnos Jax, I'm often amazed by how bright my little girl is. She deals with our place like a two year old child She manages to get out of her locked cage if she wants to and will push open the door to a room if it's not closed completely. She always wants to be with us when we're home and will search the house until she finds one of us. Then she'll climb up, either on our clothes or if we're sitting, she'll climb up the chair until she can sit on our shoulder and then "supervise" what we are doing.

I particularly love when I have her on my hand as I watch TV in bed late at night. She'll just tuck her head under her wing and go to sleep. Looking at her as she sleeps, standing there on one foot, her vulnerability gives me such a loving feeling because know that she feels so safe with me.

AllGold, that beautiful blue bird is a Hyacinth Macaw. They're the largest of the macaw family and are considered very valuable. While their huge beaks are pretty intimidating, they are a pretty affectionate bird. "Hyacinth macaws are known to be the most gentle of all the macaw species."

I have to say that "being owned by a cockatoo" has been a great pleasure for me and I highly recommend it, if you can afford to invest the involvement that these intelligent affectionate birds need in order to be happy. Being a very social species, they want to be a part of everything you do. Sometimes that can be irritating and it takes a strong sense of patience and gentleness to keep from breaking the sweet bond you have with your bird. They can tolerate your being pissed off at them, but you can't ever do anything physical that makes them fear you.

On the other hand, there have been times when Mavis or I have stepped on Precious when she snuck up behind us. Thankfully, she wasn't hurt and somehow she seems to know that we didn't intend to harm her. In accidental cases like this she's very forgiving.

All in all, she's been a real blessing in my life.

[Wags]

Happy Birdday to you, Chloe, love, Larry

[Carnos Jax]

Wow Gene. Very fascinating and well written. I appreciated reading it, reinforces some notions I've had and enlightened me in other ways.

[GeneL]

Carnos Jax wrote:
Wow Gene. Very fascinating and well written. I appreciated reading it, reinforces some notions I've had and enlightened me in other ways.

Thanks CJ. If you'd ever like to meet Precious and you're set up to video iChat, PM me and I'll send you my screen name.



Precious says, "let's have a chat!"

[OWC Jamie]

iaJim wrote:
Since there are some bird people here, I have a question. Are those "cracks" on the bill places where they once broke the bill and it grew back, or is it something else?

I think what you're seeing is flaking beak.
Kinda like skin can flake off, but a beak is more like a toenail.
My sister had some African Greys and that's what it looked like to me.
(it would change)

[GeneL]

billb wrote:
[quote=iaJim]
Since there are some bird people here, I have a question. Are those "cracks" on the bill places where they once broke the bill and it grew back, or is it something else?

I think what you're seeing is flaking beak.
Kinda like skin can flake off, but a beak is more like a toenail.
My sister had some African Greys and that's what it looked like to me.
(it would change)
What iaJim said…

"a beak can get whitish, flaky looking lines on it that are normal "growth" lines. Much like human fingernails, a bird's beak grows continuously throughout its life, and the new growth can cause the beak to appear streaky or striped."