Dusky conure photos!

[asterroc]

Tuesday I put down a deposit on the dusky conure I'd been visiting with. It will be at least two weeks before I can take her home, as they need to do a throat culture first. Today I visited with her before work, and I took a few pictures. She was absolutely terrified of the camera, so I didn't take too many, I didn't use the flash to scare her more, and I didn't zoom in. The photos came out slightly dull in color, and slightly blurred (since I and she were both moving), so I (unlike usual) actually edited them a bit for color, sharpness, and cropped. Below are the two I like best.


This is my new dusky conure from the back. Her back/wings are actually slightly iridescent, though it doesn't show in the photo.


And from the front, kinda. I can tell her from her "brother" because above her nostrils is a little more tan, and her belly is a little lighter a green. That and they "squared off" the very tip of the other one's tail. :-P

Edit:
Forgot to mention, I'm looking for naming help! Some of my ideas include Sushi, Dragonfly, and Kappa. I'm currently leaning towards Sushi or Kappa - the latter was suggested by "Foxtrot" (CTY friend), in reference to cucumber maki (sushi rolls), and also reminds me of κ (Greek letter).

Comments

[l0stmyrel1g10n.livejournal.com]

how do you convince a bird to open its mouth for long enough to get a throat-swabby-thing in and out? especially if it's not the first time she's had a throat culture--i'd imagine she'd learn quickly that it's uncomfortable.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

It's her first time. I haven't done it myself and wouldn't, but I imagine it's not to dissimilar from other things they do. You wrap her body in a towel, pin her head between your pointer and middle finger knuckles, and pry her beak apart with the tip of your pointer and your thumb. Pinning the head is a bit hard, I'm not good at it myself. Only the owner of the shop (and owner of the conure's parents) does the throat cultures (and then the sample is mailed out for analysis) so that's part of the delay in bringing her home, as the owner's only there every couple weeks.

Basically, with smaller birds you generally just force them to do whatever it is that you need them to do for a health check. Bigger birds you train to cooperate with you as they're big enough to put up a significant fight, and because it's *possible* to train them to work with you. Conures are at the border between the two, and I'm pleased to note that she's been letting me rub her feet and toes, which means that I should be able to acclimate her to nail clippings instead of having to towel her for it. ^_^