Eating like a bird

First I was sick for a couple of days, then GC got sick, then I got sick again. Right now we’re both sick.

Because I’m sick, I’ve been laying low and not doing too much. We did go to the last Ottawa Parrot Club meeting on Sunday. They’re putting the club on ice, at least temporarily, because most of the membership is too busy to take on any work on behalf of the Club. GC and I volunteered to write/edit/produce the monthly newsletter, but they needed six volunteers in total (including roles like president and treasurer) and they only got five.

So sad that the club had to end (after 30 years of existence!) the week after we got our parrot. But we did make a few good contacts. And I got to hold a macaw named Oliver, which was fun. He’s very big and he stood on my arm with one leg while waving at his mom with the other. Apparently that wave means “Get me off of here,” so I guess he didn’t enjoy our encounter as much as I did.

We also met a really funny little Lesser-Crested Cockatoo named Ellis. He’s only allowed one-eighth of a potato chip per day, but it was a pot luck dinner and most people at our table had potato chips on their plates, so he ran all over the table begging for potato chips. It sounds obnoxious, but it was really very charming.

I’ve been cooking and baking for my birds. I made a birdie bread that has pumpkin, sunflower seeds, peanuts, cranberries, raisins, and all kinds of other yummy stuff in it. Kazoo won’t touch it, but the lovebirds love it. That’s because I gave the lovebirds lots of different kinds of food when they were babies, so they’re very open to new foods. Kazoo has always just eaten bird food pellets and peanuts, so he looks at everything else with suspicion, like he thinks I’m trying to poison him.

I’ve started bringing him into the kitchen with me when I cook, so he can be part of the process and see what I’m doing. He sits on his play stand beside me. I tell him what everything is as I prepare it. I sample bits and offer him bits, which he refuses to take.

Last night we invited him to join us at the table for dinner. He sat on his play stand. I served pizza for us, birdie pizza for the birds, and tuna fish for Duncan. Kazoo didn’t eat his pizza, but he picked a peanut off it, so that’s a good start.

This is breakfast for the birds today: snowpeas, mango, pumpkin seeds, almonds, blueberries, bird bread, broccoli, carrots and leftover pizza. I’m such a good mama bird! (But I’ve warned them not get too used to the home cooking, because it’s probably just a phase I’m going through.)