Carly Lu’s Flight Blog

A friend is in a difficult situation and needs temporary housing for her African Grey Timneh and her Green-cheeked Conure. She has had to quit a job that involved a lot of standing and lifting because of health problems, and because of that she has had to move in with roommates. Unexpectedly, the landlord just informed her she could not have her birds there. She would like to keep them in the area so she can visit if possible, and expects it will only be a couple of months until she can find another place to live.

The Timneh, Ragga, is one of Wendy Craig’s wonderful birds. He is very active, flighted, and does not normally spend much time in a cage. He is very affectionate with the owner and most other women, and does a lot of talking. It would be best if he could be in a place where he could be out a bit each day. He not very comfortable with the men he’s met so far, and is aggressive toward the conure so they can not be housed together. He has done fine with smaller birds like cockatiels, but she is not sure how he’d interact with a bird his size or larger.

The conure, Dobby, is a sweet little guy who gets along with most anyone and generally likes to be handled. He also is chatty, and is better with being in a cage when he needs to. Both are comfortable traveling, so they shouldn’t be too rattled by a new environment.

We’re going to see if Ragga can stay with Piper and Carly for a while, but I don’t have a large space, and close neighbors on all sides, so if he and Piper don’t get along it won’t be workable.

If you can help with one of these birds temporarily, please drop me an email. It’s hard times these days, and I know this is the kind of situation we all dread facing.

My boy Piper is growing up and getting used to the world. He is the one I rarely took out because he behaved so skittishly around new people or environments, and has shown little interest in going with us. (No flying to the door to come along, like Carly does.) I decided early on to just let him take things at his own pace, and I didn’t know if he’d ever change his preferences. Now he and Carly love the new digs, and both want to be outside all the time. They play outside on the stairs, we do training down in the courtyard every evening, and they can hang out in the trees. I think the way it is semi-enclosed felt comfortable to Piper. However, he has also become a great fan of flying in the nearby park — big rambunctious flights, high and fast, with lots of screaming. For some reason he has never had a big problem with learning to fly down, even though he hasn’t been outside that much. He will often make a few passes if he gets going too fast, but doesn’t hesitate to take the plunge. Perhaps flying like a kamakaze inside my old apartment got him over the fear of crashing. (He certainly crashed often enough.)

In addition to the flying, he is becoming friendly with new people. The other day he was seriously flirting with a neighbor woman on the stairs. We’re talking kisses and the whole nine yards. Fergus the cat was getting quite pissed off at the shift in attention. He is also getting much more comfortable around men, as well as larger groups, and he often goes with Carly and I to the neighborhood pub now. Here they are making out on the stairs:

His behavior change seems to be closely related to the new environment, though I’m not sure exactly why. But I think we’re all happier and more relaxed here, so that may have something to do with it. I would not have thought that moving away from a large, suburban greenbelt area into the heart of the city would be an improvement from the birds’ perspective, but this little piece of garden heaven in the city is unique.

And did I mention there are palm nuts on the property?! (That’s the tree in the background, one of many in the neighborhood.)

As with Carly, I’m glad that I let him take his time with this and “come out” when he felt comfortable. He is actually the same age now as she was when she first started flying at the beach. She showed no interest in getting off my shoulder there for 3 years, including 6 months when she was flying outside at home. It is possible both could have been pushed harder in their training to acclimate sooner, but I personally find it much more interesting, and respectful of the animal, to let them find their own pace. We’re not doing a show, and this is all about their enrichment, not mine. I must say though, it is great to get madman Piper doing some vigorous flying, for the sanity of the whole household!

Playing on the stairs… (Piper goofing, Carly sneaking, Fergus being sneaked upon.)