this is not a journal title

Here's some recent cute photos of Kappa!

Almonds in the shell are one of her favorite toy/treats.

Lookit how smooth the feathers on her belly look after her molt. I'm so proud! ^_^

( more here )

X-posted to parrots101

Kappa just made her first purposeful flight! I'd been sitting in the dining room w/in sight of her cage, and listening to the birds at the feeder on the window. She'd been putzing around atop the cage making a bit of irritated noises, when suddenly I heard wings from her cage and she flew out of the foyer, through the dining room, and landed on the window screen next to the feeder and near me. ^_^ It seems like she was a bit surprised by where she ended up, and not in good control, but she very clearly wasn't the slightest bit afraid. I put out my hand for her and she stepped right up onto me, her eyes pinning.

Hooray for Kappa!

*Makes mental note to be even more conscientious about closing her cage when appropriate.*

x-posted to parrots101

I'm such a bleeding heart...

Today I made an appointment for Thursday to microchip Kappa, and now I'm second guessing myself - y'all aren't necessarily bird experts reading this journal, but most of you are rational enough to do a good cost-benefit analysis, and that's what I'm looking for here. When I look at something that's possibly risky, I look at the chance of something bad happening, the potential consequences if that bad thing does happen, and the (usually guaranteed) ongoing benefits of taking the action. Sometimes there's additional ongoing costs other than just one big bad thing happening. In this specific case, it's not quite so simple - it's more a matter of there being a chance of bad things happening w/o the chip, and with the chip there's a chance of additional bad things happening, but a chance of ameliorating the bad things that'd happen w/o the chip, and a bit of one-time guaranteed cost.

( lots more detail )

So, what's your analysis? If you do happen to have experience with microchips and small pets, I'd be interested to hear that too.

And just so this post isn't all my freaking out, ( a few photos, a couple of which I've posted elsewhere as well. )

X-posted a couple places

I haven't posted about Kappa in this space in a while (check out her Twitter if you want more near-daily Kappa dosage), so I thought it's time to do so.

Kappa has really warmed up to me. She really loves having me scratch her head. She's fine with me touching her feet and I'm starting to get her used to my bringing nail clippers near her feet. I've been lifting her wings too, and will soon start bringing scissors near her wing to simulate trimming feathers. She's got a strange clip I plan to post a photo of later - ALL her primaries are cut except one in the MIDDLE. Considering that, she flies remarkably well (at a nice 45º angle). She's a bit slower on accepting the harness - she REALLY wants to play with it, and I don't want to let her, so I haven't touched it to her body yet. But I have high hopes that she'll learn to be ok wearing it. It's amazing what she'll put up with from me. ^_^

T$'s starting to learn her body language - he's still really excited to interact with her, and doesn't understand why she's afraid, but he's starting to learn that regardless of *why*, she *is*, and therefore he must move slowly, physically and metaphorically. I'm trying to expose her to him while she's on my shoulder. She's still nervous about new places though, so it's slow going.

Kappa's a good eater - she eats her veggies every day, up to a whole "ice cube" of them. She's picky about her pellets though, and tosses many of the varieties out of her bowl, preferring Natural Gold (which I don't know much about, I should research it, I don't even know the manufacturer). She eats nearly twice what Gabe or Peeper did, despite being only around 97g to their 94 and 75, respectively. I think it's b/c she NEVER stops moving. It's really adorable to watch. ^_^

She enjoys making interesting sounds during the day when she doesn't think we're around to hear. Right now she's imitating a blue jay. Yesterday afternoon/evening she was doing a cardinal. She also started making kissing noises to me when on my shoulder - they're not very good yet, but she's starting. The wolf-whistle seems farther away.

Her favorite toys are the ones she can destroy, from a popsicle stick, to a clam-shell from Birdy Booty. She loves it when I change her toys, but quickly loses interest - like within minutes - before choosing her favorite for the day later.

And that's my update! Late for work!

I came home to find Kappa's beak covered in food. :-P Yay, she's eating. And not only is she eating, but she's eating with her feet - she picks up a piece in her beak, realizes it's too big, grabs it in a foot, and breaks off smaller pieces to eat. *Gwah!* ^_^

Soon I will be bringing home my new dusky conure (I'm calling her Kappa for now). She is nearly a year old, and has lived her whole life within view of one of her clutchmates. The store has a policy that the bird must come home by 2pm so it has time to get used to its new home on the first day. I'm wondering if it'd be best to put her in the new cage and leave her alone, put her in the new cage and stay within sight, keep her on me either within sight of the new cage or away from it, or keep her on a play stand near me and/or the cage.

I know that I can expect her behavior to be unsettled for the first couple weeks, for example she might be yelly and flock calling for her brother, or be quiet and scared of me, or be clingy and not want to leave me. I already bought the same diet that she's currently on (pellets, veggies, and pasta, with almonds and dried fruit as treats), and toys of the types they people in the store says she likes. Anything else I should be thinking of?

I realized today that I had an oodle of voice mail messages I hadn't checked in a while, so I went and checked them today. The exciting one is that the DNA sexing came in on my futurebird - she's a girl! Man, I keep getting girls, it's awesome. And I can't believe I was right, it was totally a bizarre wild guess. Eeeeee!

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).