Multiple Clutches, Musings...

Fuchsia with two babies on Feb. 3, 2012.

I've posted before about Fuchsia laying eggs while babies from her third clutch were still in the nest. I broke my rule to not allow birds to have more than three clutches a year.

If you remember, Fuchsia and Flame (both hand fed birds) had their very first clutch last summer. She laid, hatched and raised all five youngsters. Her next clutch she laid five eggs and hatched and raised three. The third clutch she laid five eggs and hatched and raised four. That's 12 offspring ... enough for any year.

Yet, she laid more eggs before the last two in her third clutch had left the nest. I let her sit on them. She laid six eggs for her fourth clutch. I made sure she had lots of calcium available. All six eggs were fertile. Three hatched, but a pink-eyed baby died almost immediately. She has two babies who are doing well. To avoid any more egg laying, I'm going to take them out of the nest in a few days and hand feed them, removing the nest box until late next summer. 

Banding a 9-day old baby Bourke from Fuchsia & Flame.

Second colored band goes on to identify the parents.
A toothpick helps release the last and smallest toe after
the three longest toes are pushed into the band and held.

 

Mei-Ling agrees to look, but it's just another one of those birds. Boring.

Musings and observations:  Are first clutches always the strongest? Do subsequent clutches get slightly less vigorous and less likely to survive? Do young parent birds have healthier offspring than their grandparents or great grandparents who are still producing?

Thoughts: Rhett and Cherry are my elderly pair and their offspring seem very healthy and vigorous. I did limit them to two clutches this year because of their age. I don't want to wear them out and cause them to die sooner than they might otherwise. All their "kids" are active and already wanting to breed themselves ... not allowing it yet though!

Does hand feeding Bourkes mean they will later be less able to raise their own clutches? No. Mine have all been excellent parents even if not raised by their own parents. My young, first-time parents, have all done very well, so have their babies, now grown.

If you won't give me a bathtub, I'll use my water cup.

Me first, you're next.

Another observation: Most of the babies who died shortly after hatching, or in the egg, were Opalines with pink eyes. A genetic weakness? Yet, those Opalines who have survived to adulthood seem healthy and strong. Having survived, does that mean they inherited a tendency toward good health whereas those who did not survive missed out on it?

It will be interesting to see if the Opalines with white faces and pink eyes live as long as the Rosies with dark faces and eyes, but it will be over a decade before I know. Also, I'm eager to see how well their offspring do. I will be putting cousins together ... We shall see what transpires next summer.

Peace & Blessings.

Breeding Bourkes, Splendids or other Parakeets

So many times in this blog I've stated that three clutches a year should be the maximum number allowed for any pair of birds, with two clutches a year being optimum.

Fuchsia, happily covering six eggs for her fourth clutch.

 Although not a New Year's resolution, I broke this rule the first month of 2012.

These two are siblings, both with white faces and pink eyes.
They were not hand fed, but unafraid of people.

In 2011 I restricted my oldest pair to only two clutches, and another mature pair to only one. However, my two young handfed hens − who had not raised offspring previously − were allowed three clutches. This was because they were so eager and healthy, plus I hoped to get more white-faced, light pink Rosy Bourkes like those shown above. 

These youngsters are all hand fed and very tame.
They're outside their cages for some free flight time.
Sweetheart in front is my favorite bird.

When Rosie's third clutch left the nest box, I immediately removed the box.

She'd been asking Pretty Boy to mate and unfortunately laid an egg on the floor of the cage. When I picked it up there was a small crack in it. She didn't lay a second egg because there was no nest box and no stimulation to continue mating and laying eggs.

Another view of siblings, a male and female, with white
faces and pink eyes. Rather tame, although not hand fed.
Male is for sale.

In the cage next to Rosie's, Flame and Fuchsia had four in their third clutch. Two were out of the nest and two remained in the nest box when they started mating again. Frown.

Tame birds out for free flight and visiting cages that aren't theirs.
Cages below them house parents with offspring not yet weaned.

At that point, I could have removed the remaining two babies and completed their weaning with hand feeding. Then the nest box could be removed and Flame and Fuchsia's attempts to have a fourth clutch would be thwarted. But, Christmas was approaching and I was away from home too much to feed baby birds 100% of the time required.

This cage houses four tame young Bourkes.
When the door is open, they go in and out on their own.

When Fuchsia's smallest bird finally left the nest box, she was sitting on three eggs! What to do? Toss them?

My "Sweetheart" ... favorite bird.

I am strongly Pro-Life. Okay, so these are only birds and not people. But... Everything inside me said, "Don't do it."

Now there are SIX eggs! None of my other Bourkes have ever laid that many. But then, none of the others ever hatched and raised five babies before either. Flame and Fuchsia did it with their very first clutch.

Flame and Fuchsia are young and healthy. As hand fed birds themselves, they love Exact Hand Feeding formula and often get some when I'm feeding Pipsqueek (I've written about her eating problem before). I believe the hand feeding formula, which is full of extra nutrition, has left both birds heavier and healthier than most birds who are feeding young ... especially when feeding large clutches like Fuchsia and Flame's. 

The angel holding a dove gazes down on these cages
and gently keeps watch over these sweet, lovely little birds.

Instead of looking thin and worn out, these busy parents appear very healthy. So ... in another week Fuchsia's eggs are to begin hatching. When this fourth clutch is two or three weeks old (or maybe less), I'll remove and hand feed them. That will be easier on Fuchsia and Flame. And, I will remove the nest box! 

When the Gouldians arrived, Mei-Ling decided to perch on
the back of this chair where she can see them better. The
Bourkes are old news, but the active finches have caught her
attention for now. Eventually, they will probably become like
another piece of furniture to her, and less interesting.

As noted before, we've had many cats (now and in the past) and they've all learned to live peacefully with our birds. So can dogs. It takes some diligence on an owner's part, however. It is necessary to ensure that a cat or dog are not left alone with birds until adequately socialized.

This can only be determined after keeping close watch on them for an extended period of time ... probably months. Also, each animal is different. Some learn quickly and want to please, others may not. I've taught both adult cats & dogs or kittens & puppies to accept birds and leave them alone. Puppies tend to be the slowest to comply ... even more so than kittens.

However, I can't honestly say which is easiest to train. It all depends on the animal (and an owner's patience).

Peace & Blessings.
May all your 2012 bird adventures be joyful.

CATS and HUMMINGBIRDS, Hummer Update

Admittedly, this photo is borrowed
from Google. Aren't they pretty?

Yesterday as I replaced a refilled hummingbird feeder, a little Anna's hen lit on it and stared at me. Instead of eating, she seemed to want to communicate something. I'm convinced it's the little hen we rescued last summer, unafraid and grateful.  

This morning, as I looked out our front door (we have a window in it), there was a gray tabby cat at the top of the steps leading onto our deck. More spotted than striped, he is quite a regal looking fellow.

I thought he was begging for food, but later decided he'd been drawn there by the many buzzing hummingbirds. I've seen this cat before. He's one of the strays who sadly lives in the woods. We've caught many of them in our "Have-a-Heart" traps. If they've been sick or injured, we've healed them before moving them to new homes or a shelter. Don't want them catching birds and chipmunks to survive.

He has evaded capture, but this morning he came back for a bowl of canned Friskies mixed grill. He left the Purina cat chow untouched. With a full stomach, maybe he will be less inclined to hunt. If I can win his confidence, perhaps we can catch him and relocate him to a shelter or, better yet, a loving home.

Mei-Ling considers Bourkes just other family members.
Boring, actually. To avoid being scolded,
she will seldom even look at them.

Interestingly, for the first time in her 8 years of life, my black Mei-Ling hissed. I've never heard her do that before. I lifted her up to look out the window at him as he ate, and she let us both know in no uncertain terms that she did not welcome him.

Other times I've brought stray females or kittens indoors, she never hissed at them.

Patches likes to watch the birds sometimes, but she never
threatens them. Admonished to keep her distance,
this is as close as she ever gets, and then only rarely.

In fact, our tiny calico is her best friend and she was a stray we decided to keep. That was because the first day I brought Patches home she walked up to our 75 lb. Malamutt (malamute and lab) and rubbed up against him, purring. He likes cats and apparently this is one dog she decided she should befriend immediately.

Our affectionate Patches is funny. This tiny calico will walk right under the dog, or over him, without any hesitation.

When I started this post, I wanted to comment on the hummingbirds. Our cats understand, "NO BIRDS!" It helps that they live with over 20 parakeets ... 31 at present, counting babies for sale. When they leave the house they are admonished with that command. We see them with mice, voles and moles, but not birds, even with all our feeders.

Wild or stray cats are another matter, however. Cats are meant to be domestic lap pets, not wild. People who release them into forests are not doing them or the wildlife any favors. It's sad. Animals deserve our respect and care, not to be mistreated or abandoned. I'd like to know who is responsible for the lonely cats that have, or are, prowling our woods. 

Peace & Blessings 

Cat & Owl Friends ... A Fascinating Video

Warning, you may need to turn the volume down, or mute it. The music is loud.



Aren't animals wonderful? My favorite cats have all been solid blacks ... all three (Panther, Shadow and Mei-Ling)  have all had an amazing sense of humor. This one reminds me of my current black cat, Mei-Ling who is five years old.  

I love how well animals can learn to love and trust one another.

Some Cats are Great with Birds

"Chama and U-chan are very good friends, but it is a rare case.The relation between the cat and the budgerigar is very dangerous.Please do not do imitation easily!"

The quote above is not mine, but from the cat and bird's owner in Japan. See, some cats will accept and even "like" birds. But, as he says above, be careful! By the way, thank goodness this family was not affected by the devastating earthquate and tsunami in Japan.

CATS WITH BIRDS ... IT CAN WORK ... CAT TALES

Cats love to watch birds, and can be taught to leave them alone.

Many years ago, before I had a cat of my own, I visited a home with a big, beautiful, solid gray cat that slept on the sofa. On an end table next to the cat rested a cage with two cockatiels. I was incredulous that the cat didn’t bother the birds and asked if the cat had been raised from a kitten with them.

“No,” they said, “we got him as an adult from the animal shelter.”

“Why doesn’t he bother the birds?”

“He never has. He’s just a good cat.”

Since then we’ve had many cats and our experiences with them and the birds have been mostly positive. Here are a few that I hope you’ll find interesting and won’t be afraid to introduce a cat into your life…if you don’t already have one.

PAWS CAT: Possibly the worst experience—which wasn’t really so bad—was with Paws. He lived to be 19 years old and over time co-existed with many tame birds. However, when he was very young, we had a pair of white zebra finches in a bamboo cage in the family room. My two children at the time were instructed to never leave the cat alone with the birds. If they were leaving the family room, they were to take the cat into their bedroom with them and close the door.

Well…one day I went shopping and when I returned and opened the front door, I immediately heard “chee, chee, chee!” It was an obvious distress call from one of the finches. Somehow the bird had exited the hanging bamboo cage (never did figure out how), and Paws had him! There were white feathers everywhere. I yelled at the cat! I chased the cat! He ran under furniture! He ran from room to room! Always with the bird in his mouth, feathers flying!

White zebra hen & pied mate. Young in nest.

After what seemed like forever, with me chasing and yelling, he finally dropped the bird! It was limp and lifeless. I picked it up, carried it into the kitchen and gently dripped cold water on the edge of its bill. I don’t know what convinced me that it wasn’t dead…maybe because there were no visible wounds and no blood on the white feathers. I put the unconscious bird on the floor of the cage and left it there. The next morning, it was sitting next to its mate, singing and acting like nothing had happened. Still fearful, however, I gave our zebra finches to Magnolia Bird Farm a few days after the “cat event.” If I had kept the finches, I doubt the cat would ever have gone near them again.

One lesson I’ve learned about birds. They can knock themselves out and still recover, so don’t give up on them right away. For instance, hummingbirds often fly into windows, can appear dead, and still recover. Once a bird is stiff, you can figure it’s a goner…

*****



Black cats are usually intelligent and have a sense of humor.

PANTHER CAT: One of my favorite cats was sleek & black, named Panther. Our youngest son had a tame blue budgie named Skybird. He lived in a cage in our son’s room. Well, the inevitable happened. One day the bedroom door was left open. I heard a crash and rushed into the bedroom. The cage was on the floor, split apart from the fall. The bird was up on the curtain rod, looking down nonplussed. No cat to be seen. I leaned down to look under the bed and drug a cringing Panther out. In the middle of his black nose was a red divot. He’d put his nose up to the cage and been bitten. In leaping back, he apparently knocked the cage off the table. Bird was fine, and Panther never went near Skybird’s cage again. Later, we added another budgie and two cockatiels. They moved into the family room where both Paws and Panther ignored all four birds. By the way, that was the only time that sweet budgie ever bit any living thing. Smile.

*****

Blue Point Birman. Our sweet Barley-cat loved the finches.

BARLEY: This gorgeous blue-point Birman actually came from an animal shelter. He joined our family when he was five years old. At the time, we had two cages of white and pied zebra finches behind closed doors in our bedroom.

These were not the same finches Paws went for in his youth. By now, Paws was elderly and had long ago proven to be reliable around birds. It wasn’t long before we found that Barley was safe around them too.

Two successful pairs of zebra finches.
A pair is in each cage.

The cages were on hooks from the ceiling and he would stretch out on an inside window ledge and watch them. Now, this was a cat that could jump straight up and onto the top of the refrigerator from a standing position. His high jumps were amazing. If he’d wanted to reach one of the cages hanging near him, he could easily have done so, but all he ever did was watch them. They raised numerous clutches and none of the birds feared Barley. They were very used to being watched by his incredibly lovely blue eyes. I still miss him.

*****

This is really Muffin, Me-Too and Fancy in our window seat,
not far from cages of birds. The birds are family too, and left alone.

MUFFIN, RAGS & ME-TOO: These three black and white guys were all related, I’m sure. Two were strays from a nearby horse ranch that was sold for an apartment complex. Many of the barn cats were forced across a highway when demolition began. Neither the former owners or the new buyers seemed to care about rescuing the cats, and those of us who lived in adjoining neighborhoods didn’t know about them until several appeared in our neighborhood.

None were house cats, yet they weren’t wild either. Those who survived oncoming cars crossing the highway entered our adjoining housing development. Unfortunately, I saw several who didn’t make it. There were four I know of who found homes among kind people.

Muffin made friends with our old Paws cat, and eventually I was able to lure him in with food. He was a sweet guy who only wanted to please. I could even tell him to go get in his bed at night and he did! Scolding him once for looking at the birds caused him to ignore them from then on. Muffin’s brother, Rags, (as in the two Ragamuffin’s) survived on his own for three more years before we coaxed him in. But, he never got along with Muffin, so we didn’t keep him even though he ignored the birds and got along with our two small dogs. Two weeks after Rags left, Me-Too showed up, hungry and injured. He was a juvenile, very likely a son of Rags, although we had each cat neutered within a day or two of their arrival.

Me-Too, being young, quickly acquiesced to Muffin and they became friends. Me-Too (as in I’m here too), was always friendly and out-going. He never bothered the birds. In fact, we once made an 8-hour trip away from home and back, not realizing we’d left Me-Too asleep in a window seat inches away from several cages. He never bothered a bird, and probably slept the entire time we were gone.

*****

Pretty Fancy was a Snowshoe from the Animal Shelter.

FANCY: This pretty Snowshoe cat joined Paws and Muffin before Rags or Me-Too came along. She was a replacement for Barley when he passed away. She, too, came from an animal shelter, age unknown.

It was her blue eyes that reminded us of Barley that won us over. Again, she quickly accepted the birds as part of the household furniture. Speaking of furniture, it’s always been easy to train our cats to leave the birds alone and to stay off counters and table tops, but furniture is more difficult. We are regularly reminding most of them NOT to scratch the furniture, and to use their scratching posts instead.

Fancy, like Barley, was already de-clawed when we adopted her, so neither she nor Barley had an issue with scratching. I do believe both of them had overly sensitive feet, however, because of the de-clawing. Neither one wanted their feet handled or touched. I can only assume there was some discomfort from losing their claws, which also included most of their toes. Fancy, like most female cats, was quite a huntress. She caught countless mice and other small rodents. I never saw her with a bird or found a dead one though. I really believe being expected to leave the indoor pet birds alone can carry over to outside birds too…a very good thing.

MEI-LING: I have a special fondness for black cats, and when looking at a litter of black kittens, intending to adopt one, she chose me. I stood across the room and called, and she was the one who came. Ever since, she’s been my constant, loving companion. I love my birds immensely and they give me great pleasure, but I wouldn’t trade Mei-Ling for any bird, or even any number of them.

Mei-Ling currently lives with us. She is
one of my favorite cats of all time.

As a kitten she quickly responded to a scolding voice. As of this day, she won’t go near a bird unless I hold it up to her and tell her it’s okay to look at it. Once I was hand feeding a baby bird, fully feathered, that decided to fly and landed smack-dab right in front of Mei-Ling! I don’t usually put the cats outside if I’m only hand feeding. Well, Mei-Ling froze until I came and picked up the baby. She made no attempt to harm it. Although, I was also yelling, “No Mei-Ling” at her and she knew why. She has internalized that birds are “off limits” much more than the cats we adopted as adults. Mei-Ling will be five in May, 2011.

PATCHES: This pretty calico has been with us for four years now. Judging by her missing teeth we think she’s very mature. She appeared on our back porch one cold November. My husband tried to feed her, but territorial Me-Too chased her off.

A few years earlier we had moved to the country and knew all our rural neighbors and their pets and she wasn’t one of theirs. I thought she might have been dumped, but no longer believe that. I prayed for that pretty little stray for months before I saw her again. In January it snowed and I worried about her out in the forest all alone.

Then in March I saw her! It’s a long, spiritual story, but we were able to bring her home and heal her bloody ears (mosquitoes), get her wormed, shots, etc. Her stomach was bloated and I wondered if she was going to have kittens. We always spay and neuter. Because she’s so pretty and kittens are so much fun, I actually hoped she was expecting. I would have enjoyed the kittens without any guilt over it. Smile. However, Patches was already spayed.



Patches' favorite window seat viewing site. Our birds don't fear her.
There are four Splendids in this cage.



We soon learned she isn’t afraid to climb into a car’s trunk. That’s how I think she ended up away from her original home, wherever that was. If my niece hadn’t seen her behind the suitcases in their trunk one day, Patches would have ended up thousands of miles away before the trunk was opened again.

We call her Patches only because so many calico’s are already named that and we thought she might find it familiar. She’s used to it now, but in retrospect I don’t think it was her original name. I could have called her what I wanted to, which was my miracle cat, “Miry-cat.”

In spite of Patches’ advanced age, she too quickly learned to leave the birds alone. However, like Barley, she loves to lay nearby and watch them.

Patches was a stray we took in. She's not young, but quickly learned
never to scare the birds. She watches them without getting excited,
and doesn't harm them.

When I let the tame birds out of their cages, I always send the cats outside or into a bedroom with the door closed. One morning though I didn’t realize Patches was not outside…my husband had let her in and she was curled up on the couch. Normally, the birds come out for a flight of 15 minutes to a half hour. Rarely, maybe an hour of play time with me. Well, this morning, I sat down at the computer and let time get away from me. The birds flew everywhere, including all over me, around the computer, over and onto the couch. When I finally came out of my “computer daze” and realized I should put them away, it was two hours later!

I turned around in my chair and saw Patches. She looked at me, got up from the couch and leisurely stretched. Shocked I picked her up and took her to a bedroom. She’d had every opportunity to snatch a bird out of the air if she’d wanted to, even had them walking on the back of the couch just above her. She never made any effort to try to catch one…Amazing…If ever she were going to be tempted, the opportunity was there. Living wild in the woods for many months, she had to have done a lot of hunting. In fact, once I removed a chipmunk from her mouth and held her as it ran off into the woods, unharmed. Now, she leaves them alone too.

This white Budgie lived to be over 12-years-old. Despite how it looks,
the dog never hurt her...in fact they became quite friendly with each other.
Never leave your dog or cat alone with your bird, however.
It's best to ALWAYS be present, just in case.

 God bless cats & dogs. They can be trained.

Cats with Tame Birds, a Tale of Five Bourkes and one Splendid Parakeet

Sweet Patches asleep on a pillow.

This is a cat story. I've talked about my cats with the birds before, but our cats never cease to amaze me!

I have six very tame birds within my menagerie of over a dozen parakeets. Five are Bourkes and one is a Splendid. These favorites of mine get to come out of their cages for free flight and lots of attention fairly frequently.

When they come out to fly around I generally keep them confined to two rooms of the house where it's safe. They can fly back and forth between the two rooms (living room and kitchen), visiting the other birds and my husband or me by landing on our shoulders, arms or hands.

Baby birds being handfed are in box inside cage.
Patches likes being near their electric heater too.

When the birds are allowed free flight, the cats are either outdoors, or shut in a bedroom. It's not that they aren't always trustworthy when the birds are in their cages, but why tempt fate with birds who are flying everywhere.

Yesterday, after the birds had been out of their cages for about an hour, it was time to put them away. I'd been puttering in the kitchen over dirty dishes, watering plants, and assorted odd jobs while the birds flew on and off me, tickling my ears, flying onto my hands and generally having fun. Of course, they'd made lots of wild flights into the living room, circling around many times. They like to exercise and chase each other.

What makes this time different is that when I walked into the living room to gather them back to their cages, our elderly calico cat stood up on my desk chair, leisurely stretching. On the wood floor about five feet in front of her was my Splendid, Rainbow, walking around on the ground as he likes to do. She could easily have leaped on him! The birds had flown over and around her for an hour or so and she had made no attempt to harm them! She could easily have swiped or pounced on several of them while I was in the kitchen and I might not have known.

Patches likes keeping me company as I
pursue another past time, knitting.

Now, this is a cat we have not had since she was a kitten. I think it's easiest to train cats you've raised. However, she was a sickly stray who survived in the woods near our home for at least four or five months before I was able to catch her and get her well. We've rescued other cats that we didn't keep, but in very short order she walked up to our big Malamute/Lab mix and rubbed up against him. I figured if she was going to make friends with him that easily, she deserved to stay with us. Besides, she's very pretty. 

Over time we've come to trust our cats enough that we don't worry about leaving them alone with caged birds while we're outside in the garden, or off to another room to work on a project or something. However, if we expect to drive away to go shopping, to church, or wherever...then we confine the cats to a bedroom or let them outdoors if that's where they prefer to be when the weather is nice. I don't leave them alone with our birds for hours at time. Yet, we have accidentally left a cat asleep in a chair and gone off for a full day, only to find it was in the house all that time with access to the birds, but nothing happened.

But, leaving them alone while the birds fly free is a different story. A bird's flight should excite a cat, right? One swipe and a cat can bring a bird down. I've seen Mockingbird's with a nest in a lime tree chase a cat who ignored them until one day she reached up and killed one. Fortunately, the bird's mate continued to feed and raise their young, but it never again dived at that cat.

One of my favorite cats of all-time, Mei-Ling. Introducing her
to a baby Bourke while also getting him used to her. Notice she
has no claws out. She's curious, but not overly so.
She quickly lost interest.

Sleek black Mei-Ling has been with us since 7 weeks of age and is now 4 1/2 years old. I'd be less surprised if she ignored free flying birds.

Yet, as a stray Patches survived many months alone by hunting birds, mice and anything else she could catch! With yesterday's peaceful acceptance of birds flying all around her, she has gone up in my estimation by over 100%. My husband says she knows which side her bread is buttered on and isn't going to risk being tossed out. Not, that I'd do that. Nor will I deliberately release the birds in her presence again. Why tempt fate.

Oh, by the way, our big old "Malamutt" is safe around the birds too. He's even had them land on him. He doesn't particularly like it, but he doesn't hurt them. They think he's just one more member of the family, which he is. Smile.

May all your pets bring you boundless love, comfort and blessings.

Precious Pretty Pink Parakeets & Cats ...



Rosy Bourke Baby showing some blue on rump.
Normals have a blue rump. Rosy rumps can have wide variations.

 This little Rosy Bourke Parakeet is ready to leave the nest. In fact, she did, the very next day.



Patches Kitty is more interested in me then the bird.

 Even though Patches is a rescued cat who came to us as an older adult, she immediately learned to "ignore" the birds in spite of the fact that she survived on her own living in the woods and feeding herself, even through a snowy winter. Well-fed now, she has also learned to leave the wild birds alone. A stern, "No!" is all it took to convince her which side her bread is buttered on.



Our birds are part of the family.



Cats, Baby Swallows & Wild Mama Birds

We have three indoor/outdoor cats. As I've posted before, they know to leave our birds alone and also realize that they are expected to never threaten birds outside either. 

As baby swallows were growing up in the bird house outside our back door, their parents flitted back and forth ignoring the cats. Not so today! 

Fortunately, I saw them dive down to target our calico. As one swept down at her for the 3rd time she raised a paw in its direction and I shouted, "No!"

She crouched down and looked at me. As I walked over to her, I told her it was okay, that I understood. I lifted her and took her into the house. Much to their dismay, the other two cats were also relegated to be house-bound for the day. 

The young swallows are about to fly the coop, so to speak, and their parents are suddenly aware of the danger cats present. It's one thing to have cats around when your nestlings are snuggled safely in a secure box, but something else entirely when they are about to take their first flight.

Mei-Ling, our sleek black cat, isn't happy about spending all day indoors.

Something to watch for:  I'm starting another blog and currently setting it up. As soon as it looks the way it should (I'm close to having it ready), I'll post the link here. I'm an avid reader and writer, so a book review site seemed a logical step. I'm the moderator plus three reviewers at present, with more reviewers and more books to come. Smile. Actually, I started this bird blog as practice for a blog about writing, but this has become a joy to do! 

Aren't birds wonderful!?

Good Morning Young Bourkes!

Actually, only the three in back are youngsters. The one or two in front are tame adults from earlier clutches. They still like to beg a bite or two once in a while. Something about the Exact's taste, or maybe they just like the extra attention they get when being fed.

I missed a good picture this morning, but by the time I got the digital camera on, the scene had ended. One of our young birds landed on a chair arm and Chinook, our big old malamute mix...mala-mutt...sauntered over and put a nose up to him. The baby nibbled his nose a bit, but by the time I had the digital camera on, their introduction was over.

Never leave other pets, or young children, unattended with your birds. Even the most reliable can have an "accident" or forget to be careful. Chinook is more curious than anything, but I watch him around the birds. He knows he's not to hurt them, and I doubt he ever would, but pets can do the unexpected.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, one morning we made a shopping trip to Eugene about a three-hour drive away. We were gone nearly 12 hours and when we arrived home, our oldest cat had been asleep in a window seat and left there all day. He never bothered the birds, but I would not intentionally let a cat stay alone in the same room with them all day.

We live in the country and usually put the cats outside when we leave...where the other two were. Although, one night one of our adult children was visiting and let another cat inside with the birds. About 1 a.m. she meowed outside our bedroom door wanting to come in with us. Who knows how long she was in the same rooms with the birds. She never bothered them either, and she's a stray we took in two years previous to that incident. She isn't a cat we raised ourselves, yet she's probably grateful to be rescued. She quickly accepted our big dog, and responded by looking away any time she glanced at a cage and was told sharply, "No Birds!"

As another aside. We love the wild birds around our place too, and when I'm outside and there are birds at feeders, I tell the cats, "No Birds!" and they seem to leave them alone too. They catch mice, moles and voles and I had to rescue a chipmunk from one of the cats a few months ago. But, I've never seen them go after wild birds ... a benefit of their indoor training, I'm sure. 

My tame birds like to fly around and visit their relatives in their breeding cages. The birds in the cages have gotten used to it, but they don't particularly like having someone walking around over their heads.

May God Bless You and our Beloved Pets. 

Recognize Dangers to Birds

If you allow your tame birds to fly free, be aware of potential hazards. Here are photographs of the hazards in our home that we try to stay aware of.

When we built our home, and chose the lighting fixtures, we didn’t keep birds. Now we do. To keep our birds safe, overhead lights with exposed bulbs like these are turned off and allowed to cool before we release any birds to fly. This includes when I’m handfeeding youngsters outside their cage. Some have been known to fly off even before all their feathers are in! All they need is the will, a few wing feathers, and a loose hold by me.

You should already know that hot stoves are a high risk. As a child, I remember my grandfather’s yellow budgie, Goldie, who had crippled feet from landing on his hot frying pan. She recovered, but her feet were never the same. Make sure all burners are off and cooled before you release your birds. Even though you might be in another room, if doors are open, they could fly anywhere!

Windows are the most likely risk to birds. We’ve tried to cover our windows with curtains or blinds so that birds won’t fly into them. However, the laundry room has a large window that isn’t covered. The master bath also has windows that are open, as shown. The frosted pictures help prevent wild birds from flying into them, but small parakeets like ours might decide to fly through the areas that aren’t frosted. I close all doors with access to either of these rooms before allowing any of our birds to fly free.

The biggest hazard in our home is two small windows in the peak of the living room. Covering them would be a problem. Fortunately, our tame birds seldom go up that high, but I’ve had youngsters head for them. We have a disabled male Splendid whose wing never healed correctly after flying at full speed into a window. We call him “Flip” because whenever he attempts to fly, he flips. He has lots of toys and sticks to climb, but it would be so much better if he’d never injured his wing. It happened on his first solo flight when he escaped while being transferred from his parents’ cage to another cage with his siblings. Now, he lives in a large cage with “retired” Bourkes and one other bachelor Splendid (who I’d like to find a hen for, by the way).

We have three cats and a big dog … any of whom could dispatch a bird in quick order. However, we’ve spent time training the cats and dog to leave the birds alone, and they do. Yet, we’re careful to never leave the birds alone with them over night.

Admittedly, we do run outside for a few minutes without any concern for the birds’ safety while cats sleep on a nearby couch or chair. We even forgot and left one of the cats asleep in a window seat once, and were gone from home for 8 hours with no harm done.

I honestly don’t think the birds would be at risk, but why take chances? Our cats and dog sleep elsewhere at night…away from any access to the birds.

It is important to train your pets to accept one another though. We’ve had three instances where a baby bird escaped from me and flew over a cat (or all three), even landing in front of one of them. When that has happened, our cats freeze. They know they’d be in trouble if they hurt the bird. Even the old stray cat we adopted leaves the birds alone. She appreciates being taken in. My kitties amaze me, but if animals love their owners (or fear reprisals?), they can be trained to behave as you want them to.

If you haven’t already, go through your home and identify potential risks to your birds. Better to be prepared. Luck and Love …