Female and male eclectus parrots
I know some of you are wondering how Duncan would feel about living with a parrot. No problem – Duncan’s just as obsessed with birds as I am!
The very first thing he wants to do every morning after he wakes me up is go to the bird room. He used to like going to the kitchen first, but now it’s the bird room. He jumps up on my desk, right next to the bird cage, and watches the baby lovebirds. And they adore him. They race across the cage to greet him. They peck at his fur. They have absolutely no fear of him, which is charmingly naive of them.
I allow him in the bird room only when the birds are in the cage and only when I’m supervising from an inch away. Duncan tries really hard to curb his predator instincts. As soon as his tail gets too twitchy or he tries to stick a paw in there, he’s instantly banished from the room. My hope is that he’ll spend enough time with them and learn enough self-restraint, that eventually he’ll get bored with them.
I’ve been letting Duncan go outside a little bit lately. Just for a few minutes at a time, and only when I can keep an eye on him. Last night he traveled over to the neighbour’s garden. GC scooped him up and was lugging him back home when a car stopped and an old man rolled down his window and said “Good lord, that’s a big cat!”
It’s funny, you know, I don’t really think of him as such a big cat anymore, especially since he lost a few pounds. However, I do still think of all the other cats I meet as small. And I guess if strangers pull over for a closer look when they see him, maybe he is a big cat.
An Eclectus is a lot bigger and tougher than a baby lovebird, but a lot smaller than Duncan. Nevertheless, I suspect the Eclectus would very quickly teach Duncan to back off. Size matters, but it’s not everything.
Many, many years ago, I lived in a bachelor apartment with my son’s father. A friend of his came over late one night with two amazon parrots in a cage. I think he had robbed a pet store. He asked us to look after the parrots until he found a buyer, which turned out to be a few weeks. We had two tomcats at the time and I was a little worried that the cats would hurt the parrots. But my fears were very short lived. The birds immediately established their dominance and from that moment forward, the tomcats gave the cage a very wide berth. (Those birds were so cool. Between the two of them they could sound like an entire pet store – cats meowing, dogs barking, puppies playing, canaries singing, cash registers ringing, etc.)
Oh, you have crossed the line! Once you let an inside cat outside, that cat will drive you crazy with wanting out, out, OUT. Have you tried a harness on Duncan? I did with one cat, who learned how to roll and squirm out of it. The other cat I tried it on freaked, and since she associates the harness with outside, she has never gone out again. I wish she would, just enough to keep the backyard clear of rabbits. Those birds are gorgeous, btw. You are becoming the cat-and-bird lady!
Oh, no, not more birds to taunt and tempt Duncan! I think he is just biding his time playing at being the friendly curious pussy-cat and will eventually let the predator cat in him out. And adding 2 more birds to your household may well be the straw that will break the camel’s back! Parrots are very intelligent birds but the fact is that they are much smaller than Duncan and Duncan has sharp claws and teeth and he IS double the size of the average cat!
My very good friend has a male Eclectus named Bugger. He is a great talker and I swear he is sarcastic. He seems to mock her cough, using a higher pitch and snickers at times. I guess he’s considered a medium-sized parrot as opposed to Macaw-sized.
My friend tells me the males are more social, and better talkers than the females, but the contrast of the two sexes would make me want a pair, too.
Bugger has lived with a cat, an iguana and a dog. The cat was only six pounds(was because she died of old age)and the dog is Duncan-sized. None would mess with him.
Come to think of it, Bugger has his own room, too. It’s painted a lighter shade of Eclectus green. The room has a mirror on the closet and he spends a lot of time ooing and aahing at himself.
My goodness, the stories you have!
I’m surprised you let Duncan outside, being blind and deaf and all. 😉
I would just listen to Bibi Bird and that would be all the bird I need.
Set me straight on why the city is telling you that you need new steps? I’m confused. Under what authority did they issue an order? I just clambered up a few hundred various steps in one neighbourhood delivering flyers and it seems to me it should be up to the private property owner, what to do about steps.
Abby, you’re absolutely right. He’s a complete nuisance about getting outside now. I have to give him catnip and sneak outside to check the mail now. (GC shares your concern, by the way, about me becoming a crazy cat-and-bird lady.)
Lucy, I concur with you about Duncan biding his time. He’s studying those baby birds in preparation for the day he might get half a second alone with them. However, I really do believe the Eclectus will have nothing to fear from Duncan. Birds have faster reflexes, sharper beaks and the power of flight.
Rachel, Bugger sounds wonderful! I want one just like him.
Julia, before I forget, GC and I were wondering if you’d like a baby lovebird or two. As for the steps, they say it’s a safety thing. It’s the Building Code Act, Property Standards Bylaw. The order states that “All exterior stairs shall be maintained so as to be free of holes, cracks and other defects by replacing or repairing.”
Those are gorgeous birds. Personally, I really want a Cockatoo.
But I worry about the cats too.
Dave and his aunt share ownership of a miniature ring neck macaw named Jack. Jack lives with Dave’s aunt, but she recently asked Dave if he would like to take him permanently. Jack is about 1/3 the size of a real macaw. He’s used to pretty much living outside the cage. I’d love to have him here, he doesn’t talk much (tho he has been known to let out a “whose your daddy” every once in a while) but he is so smart and totally entertaining.
But – the cats. Tux I’m not really worried about. Tux is too lazy to be bothered with him. I doubt Rocky would care much, but Peno – she’s a little huntress. She stalks the birds from the window. And she was a wild cat before she came to live with me, so no doubt she has some hunting skills. It would kill Dave if one of my cats ate Jack, but his aunt really doesn’t want him anymore and I know it would bother Dave if he didn’t stay in the family. It’s a tough decision.