parrots
grrlscientist | December 5, 2007tags: Eclectus roratus solomonensis, parrots, pets, birds, avian, behavior
Sophie, a female Solomon Islands Eclectus parrot, Eclectus roratus solomonensis,
who looks just like my own Elektra.
Image: Courtesy of Denise and Dave Bell/Eclectus House.
I am playing host to a surprise house guest (human), so my birds have been exhibiting all sorts of unusual behaviors these past couple days. Elektra, who is a four-year-old female Solomon Islands Eclectus parrot, Eclectus roratus solomonensis, is characteristically reserved and even a bit stoic (dare I say "unflappable"?), so I thought she was…
grrlscientist | December 1, 2007tags: parrots, feeding
One of the great pleasures I have is feeding my birds. I love everything about it, from shopping for the finest and freshest foods to preparing them for the birds to eat. As a result, I'd guess that my food preparations for the birds become rather complicated. Anyway, I thought I'd let you all know what my birds are eating this week;
All the birds;
frozen, thawed mixed vegetables (peas, carrot pieces, corn, lima beans)
fresh zucchini pieces
fresh red bell pepper pieces
fresh corn-on-the-cob cut into 1-inch "wheels"
fresh gala apple pieces
fresh mango pieces
fresh orange…
grrlscientist | November 30, 2007tags: parrots, behavior
My hawk-headed parrot is teething. Or, because she's a parrot and thus, has no teeth, she is "beaking". Except she typically proceeds quickly from "beaking" (testing substances with her beak) to puncturing or otherwise destroying various objects -- "chomping", if you will. So, for your amusement, I have compiled a list of objects that she has "beaked" and "chomped" so far;
Beaked;
DVDs
CDs
the blanket on my futon
my futon mattress
my fingers
several books (I rescued them before she made "v" shaped punctures in their covers and pages)
the refrigerator
my…
grrlscientist | November 30, 2007tags: hawk-headed parrot, red-fan parrot, Deroptyus accipitrinus, clicker training, streaming video
As some of you know, I recently added a four-month-old hawk-headed (red-fan) parrot, Deroptyus a. accipitrinus, to my household. I plan to learn how to clicker-train this bird (I already have the necessary tools and books). Below the fold is an example of another young Hawk-headed parrot, named Scooter (owned by Jeannie), who was approximately eight months old in this video. This training session reinforces and refines earlier training where Scooter was taught how to place a ring on a peg, to…
grrlscientist | November 29, 2007tags: birds, bird sex chromosomes, ZZ, ZW, parrots, sex identification, molecular biology
Evolution of Avian and Mammalian sex chromosomes.
Image: E.R.S. Roldan and Montserrat Gomendio "The Y chromosome as a battle ground for sexual selection" Trends in Ecology & Evolution 1999, 14:58-62.
You all are probably curious to know what is happening with my birds these days, so I shall tell you about how sex is identified in birds, such as parrots, where the sexes look the same. But wait a minute, you ask, what does an update about my birds have to do with identifying sex in parrots?
You…
grrlscientist | November 23, 2007tags: hawk-headed parrot, red-fan parrot, Deroptyus accipitrinus, clicker training, streaming video
As some of you know, I recently added a four-month-old hawk-headed (red-fan) parrot, Deroptyus a. accipitrinus, to my household. I plan to learn how to clicker-train this bird (I already have the necessary tools and books). Below the fold is an example of another young Hawk-headed parrot, named Scooter (owned by Jeannie), who was approximately seven months old in this video. This training session reinforces earlier training where he learned how to place a small ball into a bowl. You can even…
grrlscientist | November 16, 2007tags: hawk-headed parrot, red-fan parrot, Deroptyus accipitrinus, clicker training, streaming video
As some of you know, I recently added a four-month-old hawk-headed (red-fan) parrot, Deroptyus a. accipitrinus, to my household. I plan to learn how to clicker-train this bird (I already have the necessary tools and books). Below the fold is an example of another young Hawk-headed parrot, named Scooter (owned by Jeannie), who was approximately seven months old in this video. This training session focuses on teaching the bird how to place a small ball into a bowl. [4:14]
grrlscientist | November 15, 2007
Even when life is overwhelming and I find myself hiding from everyone and everything, as I have been for awhile now, I still find pleasure in feeding my birds. I know that many of you understand and share in this pleasure, so I thought I'd tell you what's on my parrots' menu for this week;
frozen thawed mixed vegetables (corn, peas, whole green beans, lima beans, asparagus pieces, red Bell pepper pieces, carrot chunks)
fresh corn on the cob, cut into 1-inch chunks
fresh cranberries
fresh globe grapes with seeds, cut in half
fresh mango, cut into 0.5-inch chunks
fresh kiwi fruit, with…
grrlscientist | November 9, 2007tags: hawk-headed parrot, red-fan parrot, Deroptyus accipitrinus, clicker training, streaming video
As some of you know, I recently added a four-month-old hawk-headed (red-fan) parrot, Deroptyus a. accipitrinus, to my household. I plan to learn how to clicker-train this bird (I already have the necessary tools and books). Below the fold is an example of another young Hawk-headed parrot, named Scooter (owned by Jeannie), who was approximately six months old in this video. This training session focuses on teaching the bird how to pick up and retrieve a small ball. [8:52]
grrlscientist | November 6, 2007tags: parrots, aviculture, conservation, personal story
Things are going well with the parrots, especially the new hawk-headed parrot (this bird has been living with me for one week and one day now). As I already mentioned several times, this bird is eating on his(her?) own now, although I still handfeed the bird each evening before we all go to sleep.
Speaking of food, this little bird is as eager an eater as any of my birds are. This morning, for example, I gave all my birds their breakfast* and the hawkheaded parrot immediately dove in to the bowl, head-first and began eating. Elektra,…
grrlscientist | November 5, 2007tags: parrots, pets, aviculture, bird breeding, avian, history
A reader, Natasha, asked a question in response to a recent blog entry I made that is probably no doubt on the minds of at least a few others of my readers;
Hi, Please don't take this badly, I really don't mean to troll. But I've noticed that a few Science bloggers, Jonah, Shelley and you, have parrots. I was wondering where you get them from, what their provenance is? Are they bred in the US? Or are they from the fairly huge amount of wildlife trade? If it is the second, does it make you in the least uncomfortable? Most of you…
grrlscientist | November 3, 2007
Adult red fan (hawk-headed) parrot, Deroptyus a. accipitrinus.
(Adults of both sexes are distinguished from juveniles
by the creamy white spot on the forehead
and the orange ring around the pupil of the eye.
The skin around the eye darkens in adults if
the birds are exposed to sunlight).
Image: Dale R. Thompson.
Several people have asked me how my new bird is doing now that (s)he has been living with me for five days.
The bird is doing well: (s)he openly solicits attention from me and is eating on her (his?) own, although (s)he still wants to be handfed in the mornings and evenings. (S)…
grrlscientist | November 2, 2007tags: hawk-headed parrot, red-fan parrot, Deroptyus accipitrinus, clicker training, streaming video
As some of you know, I recently added a four-month-old hawk-headed (red-fan) parrot, Deroptyus a. accipitrinus, to my household. I plan to learn how to clicker-train this bird (I already have the necessary tools and books). Below the fold is an example of another young Hawk-headed parrot, named Scooter (owned by Jeannie), who was approximately six months old and had only been clicker-trained for two days in this video. This training session focuses on reinforcing the bird's earlier training…
grrlscientist | October 31, 2007tags: halloween, parrots, birds, Image of the Day
This picture is a departure from my normal "image of the day" fare, but it is cute, so I hope you all can forgive me for sharing it with you.
Image: Image source [Larger size].
grrlscientist | October 31, 2007The little hawk-headed parrot is settling in fairly well. (S)he is rather cautious about me, reminding me, by flying away whenever the opportunity presents itself, that I am not the human that (s)he is familiar with. This will pass soon enough, though.
This bird is is good flesh, but is not yet eating on her (his?) own even though I give her(him?) a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables as well as a seed mix, so I am handfeeding her twice per day; once in the morning and then again in the evening. The food is a powder that I mix with water (five parts water to one part food) and is fed…
grrlscientist | October 30, 2007tags: birds, Deroptyus a. accipitrinus, hawk-headed parrot, red-fan parrot, Image of the Day
This is a picture of my new roommate, a young hawk-headed (red-fan) parrot, Deroptyus a. accipitrinus. This bird was captive born and raised. This picture was taken last week, so it gives you a good idea of what the bird looks like right now.
Image: Andrea Wiebolt [Larger size].
grrlscientist | October 30, 2007tags: talking parrot, African grey parrot, streaming video
This video is a follow-up of the story I linked to earlier from Birds in the News 102 where Gloucester UK residents, Taffy and Jean Howells' African grey parrot, Severiano Ballesteros, is a big rugby fan [1:19]
AN avid rugby lover's pet parrot has taken to speaking the lingo of the fans who stand in the legendary 'shed' week after week.
Taffy Howells' African grey parrot has picked up the legendary cry of "Glawster, Glawster" which reverberates up and down Gloucester Rugby's famous stand at Kingsholm.
And the parrot, named…
grrlscientist | October 29, 2007tags: Irene Pepperberg, Alex, African grey parrot, streaming video
Alex was a famous African grey parrot who could count to six, identify colors and even express frustration with repetitive scientific trials. He died about five weeks ago, after 30 years of helping researchers better understand the avian brain. This streaming video below the fold has a wonderful tribute to Alex and his many talents. [2:39]
grrlscientist | October 29, 2007tags: birds, Deroptyus a. accipitrinus, hawk-headed parrot, red-fan parrot, Image of the Day
This is a picture of my new roommate, a young hawk-headed (red-fan) parrot, Deroptyus a. accipitrinus. This bird was captive born and raised. This picture was taken when the bird was only seven weeks old, and was growing her(his?) first feathers. (S)he is five months and four days old today.
Image: Andrea Wiebolt.
When you see this picture appear on my blog, I will be at JFK airport, picking up this bird from the airlines, and heading back home on the subway.
grrlscientist | October 29, 2007tags: hawk-headed parrot, red-fan parrot, Deroptyus accipitrinus, streaming video
I just added a four-month-old hawk-headed (red-fan) parrot, Deroptyus a. accipitrinus, to my household. Since I don't have a camera or video camera at my disposal (yet) I decided to share a video with you of another young Hawk-headed parrot, named Scooter, who was approximately five months old in this video. Scooter had just come to his new home four days prior to this video. [1:51]
I am bringing my own Hawk-headed parrot home on the subway from the airport this afternoon. This video appeared at the time when…