Connecticut Quakers Need your Help NOW

From guild member Alison Evan's Fragle: United Illuminating (UI) recently announced plans to remove 66 wild Quaker nests in Connecticut beginning today, Monday. Fortunately, today's rain prevented them from initializing their cruel and inhumane operation, because this is the beginning of the parrots' breeding season, and eggs and baby parrots will likely in the nests that UI plans to throw to the ground this week. View the story on the Friends of Animals website at: http://www.friendsofanimals.org/news/2008/april/power-company-evicts.html
In the Channel 12 News story, Al Carbone is quoted as saying the breeding cycle is from May through September, yet when he was interviewed by the New Haven Independent just last September, he stated, "We've learned that during the breeding season, which is about APRIL to September to leave the nests alone". The link to the New Haven Independent article from last September is here: http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2007/08/uis_birdseye_vi.php

When it suited his purposes, Al Carbone was happy to tell the public that UI would not touch the nests during the breeding season, which occurs April through September. When UI wants to schedule nest removals, Al Carbone is happy to change his story and claim that the breeding season doesn't begin until May. We know that the latter is not true, and the photo in this e-mail proves it!

Carbone is obviously not a man of his word, nor a man with any integrity. In the same article, he tried to deny that UI had anything to do with the gassing of the parrots. He stated, "We didn't 'gas' them, as some people said, among the hundreds of crazy emails and calls we received. Our role was to work with USDA and DEP and hand them to the bird experts there. True, they were taken to Massachusetts and then beyond, maybe to Florida, and euthanized. But that had nothing to do with UI." UI murdered all of the parrots, and now they are trying to deny their involvement, stooping so low as to lie to the public and blame others for their evil deeds.

Write to United Illuminating and tell them to stop killing the parrots! Demand that they postpone nest removals until the end of the breeding season and begin consulting with members of the community who are knowledgeable about wild Quaker Parrots who can advise them when it is safe to perform nest tear downs!

Al Carbone can be reached by telephone at: 203-499-2247 and by e-mail at: albert.carbone@uinet.com

I encourage you to also write to UI's CEO, James P. Torgerson, at: James.torgerson@uinet.com

If we don't make some noise, no one will hear us!

Pass this on to all your bird boards and friends who might want to help!

Thanks, in advance, for your kind efforts to save Connecticut's Quakers.

Alison Evans-Fragale RN, MSN, CFNP, CLNCFounderEdgewaterParrots.com ---------Alison Evans-Fragale RN, MSN, CFNP, CLNC FounderEdgewaterParrots.com

The phrase "further research is needed" must never become a euphemism for failure to act!Sign our petition to save the wild parrots of New Jersey at: http://www.petitiononline.com/njparrot/petition.html

Article for Bird Talk

Well, I did it: submitted an article for Bird Talk when they called for submissions for "Bird Cleaning Tips"


So whether they publish it or not...I'm sharing what I sent them!

ENJOY!!


----------------------------------------------------------
Ah life in New York City…the subway, the sites…the tiny living spaces! To maximize space, organization is critical, especially since over90% of what my birds need have to be bought online and stored in my minimal space.


To facilitate this, I bought two storage cabinets with doors dedicated to everything the birds need. In the right cabinet I put food, toys,and toy parts. In the left cabinet goes their cage cover, travel cage blanket, cleaning supplies (including four big bottles of POOP OFF),and other assorted items. Leftover space goes for general storage. I deliberately chose the right cabinet to be shorter than the left so I could put their backpack style travel cage there. And on top of all of that: their tabletop java wood play gym.

The result: their food, their toys, and everything they need stays in the cabinet where the birds can't get into it, but I can categorically find it quickly and easily. Their travel cage is conveniently located so it's always ready to use--which is a lot (I take my birds out as part of educational programs as part of my activities with a living history group called the Society for Creative Anachronism). And of course they have a ready made place from all of this for a play gym which they really like.

These cabinets have really helped. I'm glad I found them!! Thanks to the organization the cabinets have created, it's much easier for me to create custom seed mixes, sort toy parts from ready made toys, and store unopened foods for long periods of time.

The Manzanita Dilema

To manzanita or not to manzanita...that is the question.

Hi...I know it's been a very long time since I posted.

in fact I deleted out my consumer blog thanks to a very nasty letter from one business that, well, didn't like a bad review (imagine that!!) and had virtually threatened a lawsuit for defamation of character. Yes, bad service WILL get bad reviews. Sorry charlie!

But back to point. This post is called the manzanita dilema. why? because my cockatiel flight is full of it. manzanita, that is.

The best place to buy manzanita wood products still is MANZANITA BURLWORKS. Hands down. http://manzanita.com.

Manzanita is native to the United States. This makes it easy to get and reasonably priced (or should be--if you are paying more than $12 for a 10" perch you are paying WAY TOO MUCH) because it is a domestic product.

It is also a smooth wood. Hence the dilema.

You see, my cage is filled with it. Mithril loves it. BUT her nails have grown too long because manzanita wood is too smooth to wear away her nails. I refuse to use cement perches. I'm too SCAdian for that. I practice medieval aviculture. Increasingly so.

Now of course if I REALLY want to be period-correct with an old world species (as all cockatoo species are), manzanita is out of bounds anyway. No wild cockatiels perch in manzanita trees. More like eucalyptus or java trees!! Manzanita is from the wrong part of the world.

So in truth, I should be reducing the manzanita I use anyway.

What then makes a better choice?

Well, I've been starting on the road to transition away from manzanita of late. It started with a playgym actually. In November, 2007 Mithril and Aragorn FINALLY got one: a tabletop parrot tower with java wood perches from bird.com.

But DON'T GO BUY ONE for a while, please.

At least until they straighten their act out for a bit.

You see, they sent me three too few collars for the number of java wood perches they sent me (or shall I say, sent between the tower I bought and the one my significant other bought--he bought them a tower for the living room around the same time).

I called them THREE TIMES to send out the collars for the perches. Three times they promised to send the collars so we can finish assembling the playgyms.

The playgyms arrived on Halloween. It's December 7th. STILL NO COLLARS nor shipping confirmation of any.

we have three badly needed perches that we cannot attach to our playgyms. The living room playgym is wholly used since a playgym in the bird room was most critical.

But the java wood itself...is a hit!!

Because the gym is modular and allows you to interchange pieces and add on additional perches, we almost doubled our order just to accomodate our needs. We still don't have nearly enough perches for this thing yet they don't have more java perches available.

But for all these problems, they do have some other wood perches available for the gym and I do like that. Got to try something called "dragonwood" and that is rather interesting. It's a rougher wood than manzanita that is good for the nails. Easier on the skin than cement, but trims the nails.

Java is excellent on the feet. I cannot praise it enough. it's everything you want in a perch and more. It is an Asian and Australasian wood (also called "coffee wood") and yes, its fruits are coffee beans. When the trees cannot produce coffee anymore, they tear the trees out and use it for aviculture products. My birds LOVE IT.

I seriously wish more businesses carry it. A few places make toys from it. But where it really shines is as a perch or playgym.

Honestly...I am NOT impressed with bird.com as a business. The Parrot Tower design and product...mostly. I hope a competing product comes out just like it so that the same benefits are out there without dealing with this company or at least that this company gets there act together--my experience the last three months with them have them HORRIBLE.

but the actual product itself...GREAT. My birds LOVE their playgym and they love the java wood.

Holding Mithril in court garb

SCAdian kiss for the precious 8-10-06
Originally uploaded by aisinbiya.

Hi all. I just received this from the Edgewater Parrot Society and would like to share it with all of you:

Bill A1237 passed unanimously (77-0) in the Assembly last May. We are now on to the Senate as Bill S1768!
I am havng a tough time trying to convince the Senate Environmental Committee to post the bill in the Senate Environmental Committee for a hearing, and I could sure use your help on this one. All it takes is for an individual to send a postcard to Senator Bob Smith, the Chairman of the Senate Environmental Committee. If he receives enough cards, he will recognize how important the bill is, and he will post it.

So, please send a postcard, and ask your friends to send postcards, and feel free to cross-post this info on any bird lovers board you know of. It will take but a minute, but it will make a big difference in the lives of the wild Quakers in New Jersey. Thanks, in advance, for your kind offer to assist the wild Quakers of NJ. You can, and WILL, make a difference!

A press release with details pertaining to the bill and who the postcard should be sent to, what to say, etc. are below.

If you know of anyone in the media who would be interested in publicizing our cause, please let me know.

All the best,
Alison


P.S. I have "Save the Wild Parrots of Edgewater" postcards and notecards in my on-line CafePress store that would be ideal for this purpose (and they're cute too!). All profits from the sales of the cards (and any other merchandise) go to the Edgewater Parrots Foundation.

To see the cards, and some other cute wild Quaker merchandise, visit my on-line EdgewaterParrots.com store at: www.cafepress.com/edgewaterparrot

P.P.S. I know you already signed our on-line petition, but please forward the following link to your friends: http://www.petitiononline.com/njparrot/petition.html


----------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE ON NEW JERSEY BILL S1768: SEEKS TO REMOVE WILD QUAKERS FROM THE LIST OF POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS SPECIES

URGENT! Bill S1768 must be heard before May! If not, we lose everything we have worked for thus far and will have to start all over again beginning in the Assembly!

Please send a postcard to Senator Bob Smith, Chairman of the Senate Environmental Committee, and ask that he posts Bill S1768 for a hearing!
Be sure to include your name and address, as well.

Senator Bob Smith, Chairman
Senate Environmental Committee
SenBSmith@njleg.org
216 Stelton Road, Suite E-5,
Piscataway, NJ 08854
732-752-0770

SUMMARY : In brief, the Monk Parakeet (or Wild Quaker Parrot) has been living wild and free in NJ for over 30 years (originally released intentionally or by accident).

They have never harmed native species nor posed a threat to agriculture as the State thought they would when they put them on the "potentially dangerous species" list. By being on this list, they are afforded no protection under the law. This bill would remove them from the list and afford the birds, their nests, and their eggs protection from inhumane treatment. It would also allow us to construct alternative nesting platforms and provide safe sanctuary and new homes for the urban parrots. Presently, any efforts to assist the wild parrots while they are on the list of "potentially dangerous species" would result in a $5000.00 penalty!

UPDATE: On Monday, May 22ND, in a bi-partisan triumph, Bill A1237 was unanimously passed (77-0) by the full Assembly! http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/bills/BillView.aspBillNumber\u003dA1237

I am hopeful that we will get the support of the Senate Environmental Committee, and then we will appear in front of the general Senate, where I am also hoping for a win. At that point the bill will be submitted for review by the Governor, and, hopefully, turned into law! If the bill is passed into law, it will be mark the first time-ever-that legislation was enacted to protect wild Quaker Parrots in our country!

Your postcard will make a difference, and it only takes a few minutes.

Thanks, in advance, for your kind assistance!

Alison

Alison Evans-Fragale RN, MSN, CFNP, CLNC

Mithril remains a Bird of Wonder

Just when you think you've seen your bird do everything, she comes up with some new way to amaze and suprise you.

Take my albino cockatil, Mithril. For dinner tonight I heated up some Chunky clam chowder, tore up some romaine lettuce, and brought both bowls to the small table near the bird cage to spend time with the fids.

Mithril flies right up and, careful about the temperature of the bowl and the soup, jumps onto the ledge and carefully, before I can dip a spoon in, begins to completely take over the clam chowder. After about five minutes, I wrestle my spoon in for a taste and we begin to share the soup.

Not wanting my access obstructed all night, I remove her and then, sipping the bottom of the spoon each time, offer her tastes from my spoon.

Sure enough she's taken two large pieces of clam and several small pieces of potato, devouring each until there's nothing left.

Mithril the wonder bird!

First test with Flying South cage

Well, we did it! Mithril, Aragorn, and I went to Prospect Park today in the new travel cage. A first test run to see how it measures up.

While it takes some getting used to and really ought to have some handles on the canvas frame near the base to make it easier to get on and off your shoulders for carrying, it is overall a good cage. Much harder to service the cage at all once the birds are in. I really noticed that design flaw of not having a door in door for smaller birds--they nearly got out when i tried to put a toy in there at the last minute! But overall...I would say it gets a B grade. Had the cage been designed by someone with cockatiels, I'm sure those couple problems i found wouldn't exist. but really...once you figure out how to put it on and off without jarring the birds too much and once you get used to how to move through doorways--it's an overall good choice. Not perfect, but good. The canvas window coverings work well and the removable dome top is great so you can see into the cage while on a park bench. Once you get used to walking, it's rather easy to trek a bit in a park with them.

naturally the cage and the birds get lots of attention. I think as much for the design of the cage as for the birds themselves. Definitely got positive remarks from people who thought the idea was neat to make a travel cage more outdoor activity friendly.

I still wish the canvas frame were a quarter of an inch wider so that it's easier to zip up the back around the corners where cage and base meet. that's tricky and a bit hard.

But we had a nice day and the birds really enjoyed themselves being out and about.

Flying South Travel Cage Review

Hi all. Thanks to Aragorn being bratty lately, I had to give him the gift of his new travel cage on Thanksgiving instead of Yule.

The cage I purchased for my fids is the Flying South backpack cage. It is about 13x11x18 inches with a canvas harness around it so you carry the cage as a backpack.

Overall, this is a good cage. The harness has three windows with roll down coverings to protect your birds from the elements and a removable canvas dome top that doubles as a storage area for food and other items your bird may need along the way. Comes with two plastic food/water cups that hook over the bars (spaced for a budgie or parrotlet), and two narrow plastic perches--fine for tiny birds, but not so good for cockatiels or other larger birds. Fortunately the harness accomodates use of standard manzanita perches as long as one is a little careful about the additional half inch the perch hardware sticks out from the cage. 12" wide manzanita perches are perfect for going across the cage--there's just a tiny tiny gap on one side if using this kind of perch.

But when they were designing this cage they forgot about something: Birds might not always want to go into it and may try to get out of the cage when the human is trying to remove her or his hand from it. This is really problematic when trying to put more than one small bird into it. Cockatiels are little escape artists, especially when they don't want to be caged. This cage doesn't have cockatiels in mind when it comes to the door! The door is a single door style and is about 10 inches wide. That means one cockatiel can ready escape when you are trying to put your second cockatiel in it.

Now to this design's credit, it's finally a travel cage where cockatiels aren't banging their deck (falconer's term for the center most tail feathers) feathers and almost breaking them. You can set a perch up at the perfect height for clearing the crest with the ceiling and the tail from the bottom grate. it also has a removable poop tray--which is great! No more walking onto their droppings!

But the door issue...do cage designers ever think about the fact that parrots are smart and little ones are really good at avoiding being shut into little cages?

Someone thought this cage only about 80% through.

And the yellow color--terrible for moving around in New York. A blue or pastal blue would have been much better. I think the harnass looks terrible, even if the cage is good overall.

Cost: around $120-$130 plus shipping/taxes depending on if you find it online or if you're lucky enough to see it at a bird store.

http://birdfarm.com/miva/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=W&Product_Code=APPC&Category_Code= is where I ordered mine. The shipping is around $15 or so, so figure around $135 total--plus whatever other items like manzanita perches and toys you want to add. Altogether, to get my cage plus have it bird-ready, it was around $150. Not bad.

i just wish it had a more cockatiel friendly opening to it!

Ani 2006

Ani 2006
Originally uploaded by aisinbiya.

Anakin turned out to be female. Here she is as "Ani" at one year old.

Luke 2006

Luke 2006
Originally uploaded by aisinbiya.

Leia was renamed Luke when he turned out to be a male. here he is in a new photo at one year old

Amadala 2006

Amadala 2006
Originally uploaded by aisinbiya.

Amadala at 1 year. "she" turned out to be a "he".

Rebecca tiels 2005

Rebecca tiels 2005
Originally uploaded by aisinbiya.

Here's the Star Wars chicks at 4 weeks in october, 2005

Song: Pavane for the Brooklyn Parrots

The medieval pavane, Belle Qui Tiens Ma Vie, is a love song. Of late, the wonderful quaker parrots of Brooklyn have been poached.

In response, here is my love song to these birds whose suffering bring me to tears. The name "Aragorn" in the song refers to my cockatiel, Aragorn:

Pavane for the Brooklyn Parrots to the tune of "Belle Qui Tien"

Fair one whose brilliant feathers
Light up the Brooklyn skyWhose nests of twigs and branches
Are built here way up high
Come back oh parrot friend
I love you to the end
Come back oh parrot friend
I love you to the end


Green ones with breasts of grey
From far away you're heard
Whose laughter brings me such joy
And also in my bird
Aragorn sings with thee
When you perch in ne'r tree
Aragorn sings with thee
When you perch in ne'r tree


Humans should always help thee
Not steal thee from thy nests
We lowly avicultur'sts
Swear thee we shall protect
N'er harm to thee must come
Thou needst your freedom
N'er harm to thee must come
Thou needest your freedom


Now come to me beloved
Quaker keet in the sky
Come over here to me now
With swift wings shall you fly
Love you forever we
Together must we be
Love you forever we
Together must we be

Pulling the nutriberry out

Pulling the nutriberry out
Originally uploaded by aisinbiya.

Great shot showing how cockatiels use their mallet shaped tongues to forage

Foraging closeup

Foraging closeup
Originally uploaded by aisinbiya.

Aragorn reaches into his foraging toy for a nutriberry

Looking for Nutriberries

Looking for Nutriberries
Originally uploaded by aisinbiya.

Aragorn manipulates the spring to get the nutriberries to fall down

Mithril sits with mommy in garb 1 8-17-06

Mithril sits with mommy in garb 1 8-17-06
Originally uploaded by aisinbiya.

A better, less formal shot of Mithril and I

SCAdian kiss for Mithril 8-10-06

SCAdian kiss for the precious 8-10-06
Originally uploaded by aisinbiya.

As stated before, we create personas in which we recreate the middle ages. My persona is Aisin Biya, a Jurchen shamaness who has just emerged from a few years cloistered in northern Manchuria as part of her study to become a shamaness of the oracle.

The dragon robe I'm wearing is what I wear to our reenactments. Here is Mithril and I together with me in persona.

Mistress Brianna and Clarice 8-5-06

Mistress Brianna and Clarice 8-5-06
Originally uploaded by aisinbiya.

Mistress Brianna holds Clarice steady in their shaded pavillon to keep cool at the Peekskill demo in Northpass (Westchester and Putnam counties, New York)

A lesson in falconry 8-5-06

A lesson in falconry 8-5-06
Originally uploaded by aisinbiya.

Mistress Brianna teaches about falconry. Note the very cool staff used to help support her arm when holding Clarice. Red tail hawks are big birds. Clarice weighs around 1200-1400 grams!

A Hawk's gotta perch!

A Hawk's gotta perch!
Originally uploaded by aisinbiya.

This and several other photos that follow was taken at a demo we attended at the Peekskill River Fest on August 5th. To keep her cool, Mistress Brianna sets up a pavillon for Clarice to both provide shade and privacy. Unlike parrots, who want to be looked at and given lots of attention, raptors prefer to see less of the world and have more quiet solitude until or unless they are hunting. That box in the picture is actually Clarice's travel carrier. Though it is well vented, it's designed to keep Clarice from seeing too much, allowing her to feel safe and secure.

Mistress Brianna & Clarice--photos begin

As just stated, falconry is an important art and science in SCA. Mistress Brianna is a federally licensed falconer. That means she has the federal government's permission to keep a hawk in a mews and hunt with her. Brianna's hawk is a 2 year old red tail hawk named Clarice. Here is a photo of Brianna supervising King Brion of the East Kingdom (our regional head) as he holds Clarice.

Birds in the SCA

I know I have not been writing and posting too much this year. Things have been extremely busy--poor Mithril hasn't been getting nearly enough head rubs!! :(. A new apartment in Brooklyn has certainly kept me on my toes. So has been the need to get a life outside of work and home.

For many years I have enjoyed the current middle ages in a living history group called The Society for Creative Anachronism. Current middle ages because we recreate the best parts of life around the world from around 600 to 1600 CE. We acheive this in part by creating alter-egos that might have existed in a particular time and place. These we call "personas" and it's through a person that you focus your efforts, at least in part, on learning how life was lived for a particular geography and time frame.

My persona lives in the late 1230s in a region now called Manchuria or simply "the north-east" to use an English translation of the Chinese. We started calling them "Manchus" in the late 16th century when all the different tribes and peoples united under a single leader, Aisin-gioro Nuerhachi, the founder of the Jin-Hou (two generations later renamed "Qing") dynasty. Jurchens are the name of one of those peoples before that time, but there were others as well, all being considered "Manchu" after Aisin-gioro Nuerhachi united them.

Since we pick a name in the native language of our chosen nationality, my name in SCA is AISIN BIYA--but that wasn't my SCA name when I started this blog. Instead, Aisin Biya is my modern name in the Manchu language, a heritage name reflecting my descent from the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing dynasty. But it works just as well for SCA as anything else.

Now what does this have to do with birds? Well one of the arts and sciences you can learn about in SCA is FALCONRY and for the past month or so I've been learning about it. So this blog will now also include photos from SCA activities. Because a red tail hawk is no less wonderful than a parrot.

SCA may color this blog, at least at times, because it is something I do enjoy. And besides...I'm now pioneering the study of parrots in the middle ages. ;) Yes PARROTS IN THE MIDDLE AGES--doing research and working hard on the subject.

I am guided by a lady who has won the highest award in our non-profit organization. I know her best by her SCA name, Brianna. The award she won means I put "Mistress" in front of her name to recognize the great contribution she has made to learning about and teaching an art/science. Mistress Brianna's award is for falconry, so it's appropriate she should be helping me learn about parrots. :) After all, she's the top bird person in our region (called East Kingdom). And though she is moving to where a new regional border is set, I think everyone who lives here will always feel she belong to our home region. :)

Vivat to Mistress Brianna!!!

Brooklyn Parrots Ballad is a hit with birds

From time to time, I check http://brooklynparrots.com to see what is new with our feathered neighbors. After reading a very upsetting report about the poaching of these wonderful wild parrots at, coincidentally, my favorite spot for feeding them, I scrolled down and saw something to lighten the heart: the Ballad of the Brooklyn Parrots.

If you click on the title link to this post, you should go straight to it. Otherwise, please http://brooklynparrots.com/ballad-of-the-brooklyn-parrots.mp3 from here. If that doesn't work, the post is dated June 25th, 2006 on http://brooklynparrots.com, which is also where the lyrics are listed.

When I played the ballad, my cockatiels in another room when WILD! The back track on the song is filled with Quaker vocalizations that naturally get attention from other parrot species. Maybe those squaks mean something in the cockatiel dialect?

Anyway DOWNLOAD THIS and watch your own birds go crazy with delight.

A sad list of lost feathered friends

For all of us who care about making sure more wild populations don't disappear forever, here is a list of parrot species the world will never see again. List published here with permission from the UK Parrot Society for non-profit use.

--------------------------------------
"Extinct Parrots
Broad-billed Parrot (Psittacidae Lophopsittacus mauritanicus) Extinct c.1650 Mauritius

Rodriguez Parrot (Necropsittacus rodericanus) Extinct c.1800 Rodriguez

Rodriguez Ring-necked Parakeet (Psittacidae Psittacula exsul) Extinct c.1880 Rodriguez

Reunion Ring-necked Parakeet (Psittacidae Psittacula eques) Extinct c. 1800 Reunion

Mascarene Parrot (Psittacidae Mascarinus mascarinus) Extinct c. 1840 Reunion

Seychelles Parakeet (Psittacidae Psittacula wardi ) Extinct c. 1881 Seychelles

Cuban Red Macaw (Psittacidae Ara tricolour ) Extinct c. 1864 Cuba

Yellow-headed Macaw (Psittacidae Ara gossei ) Extinct c.1765 Jamaica

Green and Yellow Macaw (Psittacidae Ara erythrocephala) Extinct c.1842 Jamaica

Dominican Macaw (Psittacidae Ara atwoodi) Extinct c. 1800 Dominica, West Indies

Labat’s Conure (Psittacidae Aratinga labati) Extinct c. 1722 Guadeloupe, West Indies

Puerto Rican Conure (Psittacidae Aratinga chloroptera maugei) Extinct c. Mona Island, Puerto Rico

Guadeloupe Amazon (Psittacidae Amazona violacea) Extinct c. 1750 Guadeloupe, West Indies

Martinique Amazon (Psittacidae Amazona martinica) Extinct c. 1750 Martinique, West Indies

Culebra Island Amazon (Psittacidae Amazona vittata gracileps) Extinct c. 1899 Culebra Island WI.

New Caledonian Lorikeet (Charmosyna (Vini) diadema) Extinct c. 1860 New Calidonia, S/W Pacific

Norfolk Island Kaka (Psittacidae Nestor productus ) Extinct c. 1851 Norfolk & Phillipine Islands NZ

Macquarie Island Parakeet (Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae erythrotis) Extinct c.1890 Macquarie Island
New Zealand, Southern Ocean.

Red-fronted Parakeet (Psittacidae Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae subflavescens) Extinct c. 1869 Lord How Island, Tasman Sea


Black-fronted Parakeet (Cyanoramphus zealandicus) Extinct c. 1850 Tahiti

Carolina Parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis carolinensis) Extinct c. 1914 Carolina & Virginia USA

Carolina Parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis ludoviciana) Extinct c. 1910 Louisiana USA.


Information from Vanished Species, by David Day. Published 1981.

You may find information regarding Parrots in a booklet called “I NAME THIS PARROT” by Arthur A. Prestwich.

I am sure I have seen early Egyptians depicted with a parrot on a Stand / or Arm

Hope this helps you

Yours Cliff Wright."

Photo from Wikipedia

Loving cockatiels as much as I do, I looked up "cockatiels" in Wikipedia and found this photo of a wild cockatiel. One of these years, I'm hoping to go on an ecotour to see the wild flocks in Australia. In the meantime, look at this handsome guy on his nest!!

The question is: what can we do to protect these flocks?

Shopping for Perches

Well, it's that time again: time to add to the perches in Mithril and Aragorn's cage.

Last autumn, I posted the url for a place I found online called Manzanita Burlworks, http://manzanita.com. If you shop their site, you see the best prices out there for manzanita wood perches.

Last night I ordered four perches: two 12", one 8", and a 12" multi-branch. Total cost: about $15 plus $9 shipping!

Now when I went to Bird Camp, my single 18" manzanita perch was about $15 after taxes...for that price, I'm getting FOUR perches from Manzanita Burlworks.

Though the website doesn't have online ordering, in some ways that's for the best: when you order by phone, you can tell Rich exactly what kind of bird(s) will be sitting on the perch and he can not only guide you on size, but you can get very specific about what you want. What's more, the quality on these perches are higher than the pet store perches--I'll find out how much higher in a few days when they arrive.

But in terms of price and service--completely unmatched! My perches are from $2.80 to $3.20 on the regular style and just $6 for the multi-branch!! Compare that to over $25 for the same multi-branch at a pet store! Plus you can get custom lengths to fit your cage exactly. He also makes custom play gyms and table top perches. Definitely worth looking into.

I cannot wait to get my perches. Now I can move the seed cups around and let my birds forage! :)

A Proper Clip for Aragorn

A Proper Clip for Aragorn
Originally uploaded by aisinbiya.

Lorelei at the Center for Avian and Exotic Medicine holds Aragorn's just clipped left wing to demonstrate a proper wing trim for a strong avian. If you count them, that is SEVEN flight feathers on each wing. Be sure when trimming to never clip closer to the secondaries than you see here. Better yet, let a vet or LVT like Lorelei do the trimming. For just $20, it was well worth having a professional do it!

A Kiss for Good Luck

A Kiss for Good Luck
Originally uploaded by aisinbiya.

Lorelei Tibbetts, LVT at the Center for Avian and Exotic Medicine gives Aragorn a pre-trim kiss good luck to test the training we've been giving him since his last wing trim

Group photo of New York Cockatiel & Parrot Society

Group photo of New York Cockatiel & Parrot Society
Originally uploaded by aisinbiya.

A great photo of the New York Cockatiel and Parrot Society with guest speaker for March, Mattie Sue Atlan, author of "The Guide to a Well Behaved Parrot" that is a bird companion's Bible.

Found a treat!

Found a treat!
Originally uploaded by aisinbiya.

Aragorn takes his first bite of the treat seed inside the box!

Is there a treat in there?

Is there a treat in there?
Originally uploaded by aisinbiya.

Upon further inspection, Aragorn notices a treat is inside the cardboard box of the foraging toy.

Aragorn considers something new

Aragorn considers something new
Originally uploaded by aisinbiya.

Aragorn studies a new foraging toy by Kaytee placed on his cage window on 4-8-2006

Mithril shows off to Aragorn

Mithril shows off to Aragorn
Originally uploaded by aisinbiya.

Mithril raises her wings to Aragorn as she gets comfortable on the window to their cage. April 8th, 2006

Quakers showing off

brooklyn parrots
Originally uploaded by anniebee.

This fabulous photo of three Quaker Parrots was recented posted (April 1) to my flickr group for photos of Brooklyn Quaker parrots. Thanks, Anniebee!

Greenwing Macaw verses Corgi

so you wanna play now?
Originally uploaded by sansanparrots.

Isn't it obvious who the really intellegent one is?

Sansanparrots captions her picture from the dog's pov, but I think this should be told from the parrot pov. After all, what could be better than a big beautiful macaw around the yard? Okay...a COCKATIEL on the shoulder!! :)

Gotta admit the dog is either really foolish, really trusting, or really naive! There are PEOPLE who won't get that close to a large macaw!

...and a 'tiel in a little christmas tree

...and a 'tiel in a little christmas tree
Originally uploaded by sansanparrots.

Sansan's cockatiel shows that Aragorn is more normal than we thought. Just like Aragorn, this little guy enjoys the family's tree!

SanSan's Tiel Explores the Tree

just checking out all the goodies on the tree
Originally uploaded by sansanparrots.

Here is proof that Aragorn is not the only cockatiel to love playing in a holiday tree!

Baby Quaker from Flickr

QP 2-15-06
Originally uploaded by Stag 1942.

When I saw this baby Quaker parrot, I couldn't resist posting it! What a beauty!! Flickr entry says it was taken on February 15, 2006. Absolutely adorable!!

Hi, Mom!

Hi, Mom!
Originally uploaded by aisinbiya.

A great shot of Mithril and Aragorn at play, finally sitting for a good picture.

Don't Worry, Mithril, I'll get this for you!

Don't Worry, Mithril, I'll get this for you!
Originally uploaded by aisinbiya.

A very cute shot of Aragorn getting some silk cording out for Mithril to chew on.

A full view of the new cage

A full view of the new cage
Originally uploaded by aisinbiya.

Finally a full length view of the King's Cage I bought for Mithril and Aragorn in September. The perches and seed cups continue to be a work in progress. Gone is the long perch that came with the cage but is too thick for cockatiel feet. In its place I plan on putting some custom built manzanita perches on stands.

Nest Building at East 13th & Ave O

Having put together the previous twigs, our feathered friends seek another branch

The empty nest

Flying home

Working the new branch into the nest

The Quakers at East 13th & Ave O group 2

More photos of our favorite new neighbors:

The Quakers at East 13 & Ave O group 1

Brooklyn College is no longer the only option when looking for Quakers. This afternoon I took a borrowed camera and grabbed these great shots of our favorite Midwood residents hard at work:

More to come in next grouping

Kudos to Chelsea Petland

When you think of a pet store worthy of praise, Petland Discounts may not be at the top of the list. After all, their selection of bird toys, foods, and supplies seems to be dwindling in favor of the very lucrative cat and dog markets--just as it is at most pet stores.

Yet the Petland Discounts Store just west of 23rd and 8th Avenues in Manhattan does deserve a bit of praise.

Last week they took on a Molcuccan cockatoo of unknown age. Unlike most stores who would be keeping the bird in its cage all the time and isolated from others, this store has finally grown a little compassion for the bird who may have been passed along to dozens of owners in its life. Here is a big bird who is out most of the time and being played with. In just one week, I've already gotten to spend nearly an hour already preening and petting this cockatoo. I'm told the bird is quite spoiled; I am apparently not the only visitor s/he is getting. The store is actively letting people in to see the bird, talk to the bird, and handle this bird.

Finally a cockatoo in a pet store that is being given the sort of attention cockatoos need!!

Congrats to Petland for something very well done!!!

And as a sidebar, the is the only pet store chain location I've found that is selling bulk seeds. I feed Mithril and Aragorn three types of food plus fresh greens: budgie parakeet, finch, and cockatiel. I get the budgie and finch food from this location because it's less expensive and I can buy whatever quantity I want--from half a pound to several pounds--so my food is always fresh. I really like this and wish other stores would try offering the bulk seeds.

New Quaker Nest Spotted in Midwood Brooklyn

When you think of bird watching in Brooklyn for Quaker Parrots, Ave O is probably not at the top of your list. In fact East 13th Street and Ave O in Midwood, Brooklyn is not exactly near the Brooklyn College athletic field where so many of the nests and so many birds reside. Yet this week a friend of mine spotted a new nest while taking a walk on Ave O. Curious, this morning I had to see for myself if there really is such a nest.

Sure enough, I spotted three Quakers in a small twig nest that cannot be more a few weeks old. True to Quaker nature, they were all hard at work with lots of rejected twigs on the ground beneath the utility pole. The nest is about 8 inches wide and about 8 inches tall with a few twigs circling the pole. There is just one aperature for the birds to sit in. It looks just barely big enough to squeeze the three birds I saw, yet I'm sure that is changing as I write.

It's spring time--time to get that new nest built!!

The Uniqueness of Cockatiels--Lesson 2--Cockatiel Pair Bonding

If you just saw Lesson 1, you know that I saw Mattie Sue Atlan recently and learned that a "rainy season" is very important in parrot behavior modification. However, cockatiels are from the outback of Australia where it rarely rains. This means that the idea of a rainy season may not apply to cockatiels. To help unravel the mystery, I am researching more about Australia's climate which I will post when I learn more.

But more directly relevent to training, I learned of another confounding variable that cockatiels have that most other companion birds do not: cockatiels often are able to form pair bonds with each other, to "marry" each other, just as they would in the wild.

This is a huge confounding variable when it comes to training. Even after many questions, I didn't feel I really got a clear sense from Ms. Atlan what, if anything, should be changed when training birds who are bonded to a bird spouse. So much of what is written about parrot training relates to birds whose only companions are either humans and/or birds of other species. These are birds who never get the chance to bond to another, opposite sexed member of her or his own species. As a result, these birds naturally do not behave the same way within their flock of humans and/or other types of birds as a male and female cockatiel who have chosen to marry and have an active sex life with each other and may even be producing chicks from time to time.

The marriage dynamic is something that happens with other birds, but because of numbers and accessibility, is much more likely to happen with cockatiels than other birds. You just don't see the typical macaw or cockatoo household with married pairs of birds the way that cockatiel households do.

Yet despite the central role the pair bond plays in the lives of these birds, I have yet to see training literature that truly addresses how best to train a bird for whom the bird to bird relationship may be at least as important as the human to bird relationship. The nearest to this sort of discussion comes from the basic ideas of role modeling a desired behavior with another bird in the flock and of praising a good bird in front of a bad bird to instill good behavior through peer pressure.

But these social dynamics in training apply with situation where more than one bird is present--different genders, different species--it doesn't matter.

And so the question remains: how does the pair bond between two married birds affect socialization and training. What qualities make pair bonded more difficult and more easly to train than birds in different social situations.

Certainly many problems relating to possession of a particular human and jealousy issues between a bird and multiple humans are avoided when the bird focuses her or his sexual/romantic energies at a bird spouse. But are there other problems that come from birdy marriage?

Perhaps sometime soon, researchers will uncover the answers to the questions. In the meantime, I found myself confounded by this very important confounding variable in my day to day work with the cockatiels who stole my heart: Mithril and Aragorn.

The Uniqueness of Cockatiels--Lesson 1 from Mattie Sue Atlan

Cockatiels...when thinking about how to teach your bird to do or not do something, you wouldn't think that cockatiels are really any different from any other parrot family bird. After all, parrots are parrots--one works for one species tends to work with another. For example, the game "blink" is a solid passive game with any bird. Macaws, cockatoos, cockatiels, budgies, quakers, amazons, etc all respond the same way to this game: if the bird is afraid of you, s/he won't blink. However, if you can get the bird to blink back, then the bird is not terrified of you.

So when reading parrot books, I've tended to always believe that everything applies to cockatiels. Why shouldn't it?

It never occurred to me that cockatiels need extra study until I attended a lecture from famed parrot behaviorist Mattie Sue Atlan on Sunday, March 12th, in Manhattan. This was an event hosted by the New York Cockatiel and Parrot club that I am so glad I found out about.

So what did I learn that makes me believe there is some difference between cockatiels and other parrots? Well one of the more important new techniques that was taught was the use of a "rainy season" to affect the hormones of your bird, to provide a seasonal context that will modify behavior. This technique works wonders with ecletus, macaws, amazons, conures--basically any bird that lives where there are weeks of down pours. Essentially it's getting your bird wet and keeping her/him wet for a similiar amount of time as they would have in the wild, usually for about a month or so.

But cockatiels are from the Outback of Australia, the driest habitable region in the world, a place where there may not be a single drop of rain in one or more consectuative years. What then?

I asked Ms. Atlan and discovered that half the time she is truly undecided about it--half the time she thinks it's good for desert birds like cockatiels and half the time she doesn't.

What then? If it seldom rains and certainly never rains to the degree it does in a tropical climate, then it says to me you have to look at cockatiels differently and assume that the hormonal changes the rain produces in other birds, including grass parakeets, won't happen in the same way for cockatiels.

As a followup, I have contacted an organization in Australia that tracks the rainfall and climate in the outback and asked for more information.

We know that cockatiel migratory patterns are water related. They live near rivers and streams. Learning more about the water context for cockatiels will certainly shed light on what is appropriate for companion cockatiels. How do you bathe a cockatiel comfortably? How often should you let or encourage your bird to get wet? These are questions best answered by looking at the actual conditions in interior Australia.

There is another area of uniqueness of cockatiels that very directly relates to training. More on that in my next post: Lesson 2.

Out of the Bird Club But Still Helping Birds

If you have been to the website for the New York Companion Bird Club you will notice a couple names missing from the "contributing members" list on the left hand side.

You guessed it: my name is no longer there. Why? About two weeks ago the group founder and president, Anna Dove, had a disagreement with me over something dear to my heart: COCKATIELS.

Over the past few months, Anna and I discussed some outreach and advocacy programming designed to do more than simply talk about birds among ourselves. We wanted to actually go out and make a difference in the world--by educating people about birds.

Or so I thought it was a "we." It has always been MY aspiration, certainly, which is why this blog exists in part.

I care enough about birds to put my action where my mouth is.

In what way? For months, Anna and I discussed having me serve as the featured speaker for a club event. I was supposed to, at least from the sound of it, be able to come up with a topic and then give a talk about it.

Somewhere between last summer and now something must have changed--without me being informed of it.

When at last I moved to NYC and was finally in a position to give a talk, I decided to create a class about cockatiels. Not your typical "show and tell" about cockatiels, but a CLASS. My class idea was modelled after the very excellent presentation given about Quakers in Connecticut that my long time friend, Marc Johnson of Foster Parrots, gave for our club in January. He created a full audio-video presentation that was then followed by group discussion. With my screenwriting background in hand from my undergraduate days, it seemed only logical that what worked for Marc should work for me.

Beyond just the creative inspiration, the idea for a film presentation followed by a lecture and discussion came for very practical reasons: bringing in Mithril and Aragorn for the talk is not realistic. There are three reasons for this: 1) the date selected for my talk was to be in November, 2006 which is too cold to bring out a small bird, 2) the location for the talk presents tremendous escape risk for a fully flighted bird, especially of the skill innate in all cockatiels, and 3) video presents greater flexibility and easier logistics for showing items that might be too big, heavy, or otherwise impractical to bring to the location required; a video can show these things where they are located and then be transported readily to any location.

So with idea and outline finally in hand, I brought it to Anna.

What I found really suprised me. Apparently Anna wanted me to speak to a cockatiel only audience of people who already have cockatiels. She very specifically did NOT want me to speak to those who do not have cockatiels--which was the audience and high concept behind my class.

Why not speak to the group as a whole? CREDENTIALS. You see, a Mattie Sue Atlan or Marc Johnson can speak because they have fancy titles behind their names that sound impressive and would, to Anna, draw people more readily than a mere commoner like myself who lacks a fancy something after my name. My name is not a headliner sort of name, and therefore she didn't feel that anyone would attend a meeting with me as the featured guest.

Nevermind that titles and fancy degrees from the speaker do not mean great presentations.

With the exception of my dear friend, Marc Johnson, I have yet to hear a lecture about birds specificially by an "expert" on birds who I thought gave a better than average talk. One veterinarian, whose talk immediately preceeded Marc's, gave a gruesome talk on parrot illness complete with graphic surgical photos of each step in multiple operations.

Not exactly for the faint of stomach--or appropriate for the numerous children in attendance. Yet a vet has a fancy degree, so naturally this person was not queried in advance nor spoken to about what he planned to include in his presentation. There was most likely never a word by him to Anna saying "I plan to show surgical photos" with a query about the audience. I have no doubt that if the good doctor knew there would be many children in the room, he might have conducted things differently.

Same thing on other talks. Instead of a directly, planned program, too many of them were chaotic free for alls that only made to someone who already knew the subject well.

But what if your experience is with a different sort of bird than the focus of the roundtable? The speakers did not address the needs of novices to their subject matter, even when probed for basic information.

Knowing that the New York Companion Bird Club has maybe a dozen cockatiel companions and several dozen large parrot companions, it only seems appropriate to design something for those who know nothing about cockatiels--or whose knowledge is mostly incorrect.

But for that I am apparently no longer welcome in this club.

You see, I know that most people do not know much about cockatiels. So I want to share what I know. I want to talk about the need for flight and very large cages to accomodate that migratory nature. I want to talk about the special needs of hens and how much they need to be held and cuddled. And I want to talk about wild cockatiels and the special needs cockatiels have because of the environment they are adapted to.

In other words, I want to help make sure that cockatiels have great homes.

And so I will continue to blog and hope that the word will get out: this is a great place to learn about one of the most wonderful species of bird in the whole world: the cockatiel!!

A great day for Edgewater

This past summer when I started this blog, the idea was to show how beautiful and wonderful birds really are. Here are two pics that Alison of Edgewater Parrots sent me that really drive that point home.

The birds: wild Quaker parrots who just took up home on the nesting platforms built for them by concerned citizens who want to keep ConEdison, PSE&G, and United Illuminating OUT of the parrot killing business.

The experiment: see if we can build a suitable nesting site the birds will accept that is not on utility poles and are placed on private property where they can be protected.

From these first photos, it looks like our experiement is working--saving the lives of these precious birds. Now at last there is hope for these wild parrots.

Together, we are making a difference.

If you would like to help--by volunteering, by donating a space on your property for one of these "Monk Bunker" poles, or by a financial contribution towards the building of these platforms, please contact Alison of Edgewater Parrots at (646-345-3424) or email Alison@EdgewaterParrots.com. If you would like to assist with the work in Connecticut, both our friends at Foster Parrots and Steve Baldwin are assisting there. Email marc@fosterparrots.com or steve@brooklynparrots.com.

Sample Letter to help NJ Quakers

In the last post, you learned that a letter to the NJ Legislature would save many Quaker parrot lives. Here is a sample letter for you to use. Thanks, Alison, for providing all this great information!!

"Sample letter:

The Honorable Assemblyman
Douglas H. Fischer
Chairman
Agricultural and Natural Resources Committee
14 East Commerce St. 3rd Floor
Bridgeton, NJ 08302

Re: Bill #A1237

Dear Assemblyman Fischer:

This letter is to express my support for Bill #A1237, asking to remove Monk Parakeets (aka Quaker Parrots) from the list of potentially dangerous species in New Jersey.

In the 1970's, when feral Monk populations became apparent in the United States, lawmakers became concerned that these populations would pose an agricultural threat, and a threat to other birds, so the parrots were placed on the list of “potentially dangerous species” for the purpose of monitoring their effects on crops and indigenous bird species. 30 years later, we now know that the wild Monks are neither agricultural pests nor menaces to indigenous wildlife populations.

Although the Monk Parakeet may be classified as an invasive species in warmer climates like Florida, this classification cannot be extrapolated at this time to the Monk parakeets of New England or northern climates in general. Populations in northern geographic regions like New England and Chicago suffer from high annual winter mortality (death) rates due to severe winter weather. Thus, while their numbers may increase significantly during the breeding season, they usually decline to a more or less stable baseline population number due to extreme winter mortality."

Population studies in Chicago report typical yearly figures that illustrate the point: In April 1992, Hyman and Pruett-Jones counted 64 birds and a total of 26 nests on power poles and one antenna tower in Hyde Park, a suburb west of Chicago. After the nestlings fledged in July, they counted a total of 143 birds, but after the winter of 1992-3, they counted only 95 birds in the same area (Hyman and Pruett-Jones 1995). The following websites provides more information on this species http://invasions.bio.utk.edu/invaders/monk.html, http://www.brooklynparrots.com.

Given this information, Monk Parakeets cannot be unambiguously classified as an invasive species in the northern reaches of their distribution at this time.

If Bill #A1237 is passed, it will allow the Borough of Edgewater and other communities with wild Monk Parakeet populations to develop alternate nesting arrangements for the birds that they are currently prohibited from doing. It will also lead to a more productive relationship with the utility company, PSE&G, since PSE&Gs only recourse currently is destruction of the nests, eggs, and unfledged birds. Finally, and most important, it will prevent the indiscriminate, unnecessary killing of the birds that recently happened in Connecticut."

I ask only that you and your Committee please re-examine the classification of the Monk Parakeets in light of what is now known about them 30 years after they were placed on the list of “potentially dangerous species”.

Thank you very much for your consideration, and I hope you will support Bill #A1237.

Respectfully,

(Your name here)"

Letter from Alison Evans-Fragle: Help the Edgewater Quaker Parrots

Hello all. I am pleased to inform you that I have recently heard from the Alison Evans-Fragle, the head of Edgewaterparrots.com.

I wanted to know what we can do as concerned citizens and lovers of these wonderful wild parrots to help stop the killings.

Here is what she wrote. Please watch the next blog post for a sample letter you can send that will help the cause of stopping the meaningless slaughter of wild parrots. It doesn't matter where you live--a letter from you will help save lives. Please see the details below and in the next post here:

"Right now, I have two projects that I could use some help with, for sure.

#1: The first is getting help with letters to support our Bill, currently before NJ Legislature, which asks for the removal of Monk Parakeets (aka Quaker Parrots) from the list of "potentially dangerous" species.

These letters are even MORE important than signatures on our petition. Legislators will be looking at letters from both local constituents and other states to determine whether the bill will be passed into law...and how important this issue is, not only locally, but nationwide.

If we can get this bill passed NOW, we can prevent the possibility of horrific killings of our NJ birds and prevent them suffering the same fate as the wild Quakers of Ct. (We are all aware that all utility companies communicate and attend seminars together-if we can stop this from happening here in NJ, we should try!)

Apparently, the Committee decides the vote before the bill is read in Trenton, so we need to act now and get the support of the committee before it is too late.

For your convenience, I have attached a sample letter that you can copy and paste to use to make it even easier!

Just insert your personal information, and you're ready to print and mail! (see "SAMPLE LETTER" below my signature)

PLEASE ask your club members, visitors to your websites, recipients of your newsletters, friends, etc. to write a letter in support of NJ bill #A1237 and send the letters ASAP to:

The Honorable Assemblyman
Douglas H. Fischer
Chairman
Agricultural and Natural Resources Committee
14 East Commerce St. 3rd Floor
Bridgeton, NJ 08302

#2: The second project we could use help with is building the alternative nesting platforms for the wild Quakers in Edgewater.

We need volunteers to help build the platforms before the scheduled nest tear downs by PSE&G in March.\nI will be scheduling a platform-building workshop that will take place in the very near future as soon as I have enough interested participants..

And it would be great if we could find someone who has a truck or van that can help transport the PVC pipes or steel poles to the workshop and/or to deliver the assembled platforms to the site(s) where they will be erected.\n \nAdditionally, we can always use donations of seed (the monks LOVE safflower) and platform materials or money for same.

So, there are my thoughts as to where we can use help, and I am always open to suggestions.

Basically, we can use help from anyone who has time to spare and wants to volunteer.

If you want to put the message out there, I'd be happy to hear from anyone who wants to help--and I would be happy to take suggestions from volunteers as to how they could help (offer suggestions as to how they could help that I have not already mentioned).


Fondly,
Alison
---------Alison Evans-Fragale RN, MSN, CFNP, CLNC
Founder
EdgewaterParrots.com
The phrase "further research is needed" must never become a euphemism for failure to act."

"Illuminating" Slaughter in Connecticut

Hello all. As friends of birds, especially parrots, it is with great sadness to report that in mid-December, over 200 beautiful wild Quaker parakeets were taken from their nests in Connecticut during the middle of the night and gased to death by the USDA.

Why, because the DEPA considers Quaker parrots a menace to US wildlife and agriculture.

I wasn't fully aware of how bad and nasty all this is until I attended a New York Companion Bird Club meeting a couple weeks ago. I went largely to this meeting (which began while I was still at work) so I could finally meet, face to face, a dear friend of mine: Marc Johnson at Foster Parrots.

Marc was in Manhattan to give a talk and show video of the Quaker parrots in Connecticut and the slaughter that just happened.

Deeply concerned, I went into archive posts at brooklynparrots.com and found some very important names and numbers to call relating to this matter.

The utility company responsible for nest removal is called UNITED ILLLUMINATING. These are the guys who are putting these precious little birds into the hands of a government whose concept of "wildlife management" is to kill any species they deem not native to the US (nevermind how many native bird species were brought to complete extinction by the same, "enlightened" US government and that these birds merely replace those extinct species in the ecosystem).

I personally saw the video of these birds being captured and killed. May I say that NOTHING is more horrifying in all the world to someone who is so deeply in love with her own avian companions.

I take great joy in visiting Brooklyn College every week and letting the flock have whatever my birds don't eat during the week--it's the only humane and responsible thing to do for birds that are constantly in danger of dying out thanks to our "enlightened" government.

Let me tell you--these birds don't harm ANYONE. In fact, they are VITAL to rebuilding ecosystems.

But at the moment the law says that Quakers are a THREAT AND A PEST.

We the people must change those laws.

Steve Baldwin has several useful names and numbers to call on his website. Search for the post dated NOVEMBER 18, 2005 called YOU CAN HELP STOP THE KILLING OF WILD PARROTS IN CONNECTICUT.

Lots of very useful stuff in there.

I have just begun to call and contact people.

The one I got a hold of is Al Carbone, PR Rep for United Illuminating. His number is 203 671 4421. I asked him about the "slaughter" and what is being done to stop it from happening again.

What he did was justify the killings. "Slaughter" is too biased and strong a word. He didn't like that one. A "pest" cannot be "slaughtered" apparently. Nevermind there is NO SCIENCE that says that these birds are causing any harm to anything or anyone.

But if it's not a slaughter, then why the middle of the night captures? Why not let the public know what they are doing. And why paint concerned and respectful citizens as if they are somehow extremist for simply saying "what is being done to prevent the slaughter from happening again?"

That's all I said.

Ultimately, the problem is letting the government define these birds in terms that allows for UI, the USDA, and EPA to do what they are doing to these adorable and beautiful little songbirds.

We, the people, must stand up and demand that the government rethink their concepts of harmful.

A harmful species can be destroyed. But not an innocuous one. We must talk to our leaders, tell our lawmakers that we want these birds PROTECTED.

A Federal protection on Quakers is needed. Very much so! Without their nests, these poor birds cannot hope to survive the bitter winters that are normal here.

We have to call, have to write letters. It's in OUR hands to stop the killings. We have to make them listen--respectfully, intelligently, calmly, but persistantly.

Quakers are truly wonderous birds. Let's protect our wild populations and get the public to see them outdoors and free--where they belong!

A quaker belongs in a twig clan nest--not a cage!

Moved to Brooklyn--the cage is damaged!!

Well, I made it! I live in Brooklyn, New York now.

Unfortuantely it's been quite an adventure that there's little time to recount. If you want to see just how badly the move went, I will refer you to the more recent posts on my other blog, http://aisinbiya.blogspot.com. There will you see all the details--like how my original mover, Gotham Express, canceled without a word, and how I had to use a racist guy living in the Bronx and originally from Harlem tell me how bad whites and Jews are for the move. This guy who made my move so miserable also failed/refused to put any sort of protective coverings on my cage, even though he KNEW the value of the cage.

Last weekend, about 2 weeks after my move, I discovered that not only did the guy stratch off the special finish (ASPCA approved and very expensive, hard to come by) that is safe from busy beaks, but HE BENT TWO OF THE LEGS!!

Can you imagine having a mover destroy your most expensive possession like that out of sheer neglect of the basics? NOT EVEN A BLANKET when he was piling heavy boxes on the cage???? What an A******! So if you live in the NYC area, whatever you do, DO NOT HIRE MELVIN FROM THE BRONX who I found on Craig's List! Just in case you need to match numbers, his phone # is 718 975 3615. AVOID HIM AT ALL COSTS!!! And forget about Gotham Express because they set appointments they don't keep. I would have seriously been better off hiring the mover a friend hired: Moving Your Way in Park Slope, Brooklyn. They cost more, but really took care of my friend's stuff and didn't damage any of his stuff. Too bad he moved after I did, so I couldn't know in advance that they are a real professional company.

So that's part A of the moving hell.

Part B was Mithril's post-move health crisis:

It was a very close call when Mithril fell deathly ill on christmas eve--right after bringing her in from the move!

Thank heavens I have the experience to recognize illness for what it is.

I took her to Pet Haven where the least experienced and skilled of their vets saw Mithril (Dr. Pilny had already left for the holidays) and gave her a 50/50 chance to make it through the night.

Talking scary!!! So no, I did NOT have a good christmas! I spent it nursing a very sick young cockatiel and weeping out of fear that the next breath she took would be her last.

Stress stress stress!!

Fortunately the antibiotics WORKED and Mithril is still with us!!! But she easily might not have, so I thank all the fine folks I know from the internet who sent prayers and energies for Mithril's safe healing. Regardless what your faith is or to whom or how you pray, I seriously appreciate the divine intervention. Mithril is a special soul whom I want with me for many years. She is as precious and priceless as her namesake!

With good fortune, I'll be able to post some information about the Brooklyn Parrots. I am counting on everyone here to please help the Quaker Parrots who live in the NYC metro area. There was recently some shocking events in Connecticut that no caring person should allow to go unanswered--wanton killing of parrots is NOT acceptable!

More later!!

A ball for Mithril

A ball for Mithril
Originally uploaded by aisinbiya.

A friend caught this great shot of Mithril and I playing together in my former apartment in New Jersey in November, 2005. While normally I wear glasses, I did not on this occasion.

Playing with Mithril

Playing with Mithril
Originally uploaded by aisinbiya.

A friend offers Mithril a large vine ball toy which she eagerly chews. Taken in New Jersey apartment, 11-2005.

A Kiss in the Chaos

A Kiss in the Chaos
Originally uploaded by aisinbiya.

A friend captures a quiet moment with Mithril while preparing to move from New Jersey to New York.

An alternative to high priced perches

Hello all. Yesturday I went to Petco and overpaid on two manzanita perches. Basically did no better than Bird Camp--in part because of the lack of those price scanners that clarify confusions on what the price is supposed to be and because apparently the prices on petco.com are lower than and don't correlated with their actual stores--by about $2 a perch difference!

But Mithril and Aragorn really like these perches. Fortunately I just found this website that ONLY SELLS manzanita wood products:

http://www.manzanita.com/index.htm

The good news: the prices are reasonable and, unlike the other places I've seen, they break down the perches not only by length, but DIAMETER which is just as important, if not more important, than the length. Diameter is vital for making sure the perch will be effective with your species of bird--too narrow or too thick will affect your bird's ability to grasp it securely.

Since regular stores seem to want to charge too much, in this case I am finding this specialty place that ONLY sells manzanita products is the best bet. Since ordering is by phone, fax, and email, you get to talk to an actual person and specify what you need to them.

I also like this site because they do CUSTOM PERCHES. This is great because you can literally specify the length or width of your cage and they can make sure the perch will fit. For better cages like Mithril and Aragorn's, this is really the only way to get any perches that will go completely from one end to another--32" inches long is too short for the standard 36" length.

So next time--try Manzanita Burlworks.

Save the lives of these birds

Hello all. A few hours ago I received this link from the New York Companion Bird Club for a petition to save the lives of the wild Quaker parrots living in Connecticut. Anyone who cares about animals should sign this immediately. The full details are in the petition itself. Suffice to say that wanton and needless slaughtering of hundreds of innocent birds is happening. We need to stop it!

http://www.petitiononline.com/CTMonks/petition.html

I have had the pleasure of seeing these birds in Brooklyn. It is the most wonderous and life changing experience to watch parrots being parrots--no cages, no human controls, just living their lives as nature intended. Please help protect these birds. Isn't it enough that over 20 species of bird are going extinct every year? Here's something we all can do about the problem.