Does anyone else here on the boards own any exotic birds, or breed them?
After a dream I had last night/earlier this morning, I started thinking about when I was younger. I used to breed and rear birds. I used to have loads of them, Conures and all variants, Macaws and variants, African Greys, Cockatiels, Cockatoos, Amazons, Eclectus male and females, and a whole slew of others.
The few of notes, the ones that really stood out were my Peach-faced conure, Pumpkinhead, my Blue fronted Amazon Jasmine, my Umbrella Cockatoo Pebbles, and my African grey, Mr. B.
I went in search of photos, and I founds some that closely resembled my little buddies
This Fellow pictured above is a conure, and he closely resembles my pumpkinhead.
Pumpkinhead was a sweetheart, and he was a talker. He would yell at 'the bird in the mirror' and he would play in my bowl of popcorn. He was a little clown and my most favorite of birds.
He has a story all of his own, it would take hours just to talk about his little adventures.
When I moved away from my mother's house, she ended up 'accidentally' leaving his cage door open, and he flew away. Living in the area in Vegas that I did, there were tons of feral cats. I know he didn't last long. Every time I look up in the sky I hope he's alright, but I know he isn't. It broke my heart.
The gorgeous bird above is a Blue fronted amazon. Part of the parrot family, but still not as large as say.. a Macaw, or a Cockatoo.
The bird pictured above looks almost identical to my own, Jasmine. Jasmine was a character all her own, and she was always found with Pumpkinhead, they were Best friends. She too was a talker, and she would laugh when others did. (She didn't consider herself a bird, she was a human just like everyone else). She was known to fly around the house s her leisure, and she'd terrorize our dog and cats. She too was a big sweetheart, and would often taste and sample our food if we were eating. By this I mean if you have some cereal, she'd submerge her head in it, and then it was playtime.
Pebbles was an Umbrella cockatoo, and also another sweetypie. When she'd get lonely, she would hop down and off of her cage, and waddle around our house, looking for some affection. She'd usually find me first, and climb up my leg, and either onto my lap or shoulder, to which she'd start talking to me, with her 'Hello the pretty bird', or she'd preen my hair. When a bird preens your hair, its sort of like 'I want you to look pretty for me'.
Pebbles loves bananas, and she would hold either an entire banana,a or half of one in one of her feeties, and munch on it all day. if you dipped it in peanut butter, you were her best Friend. She would usually ditch everything and snack on the peanut butter by itself.
these two fellows pictured above are African greys. 'Greys are considered to be the smartest birds on the planet, and they roughly have the IQ of a child the age of 6-8. I used to have a few of these ( I owned more than one of each bird species, as I bred and sold them on a regular basis) but Mr B. Stood out the most. What you should know about larger birds, usually the exotics, is that they need lots of attention and mental stimulation each day, or they will turn to self abuse, and pick their feathers, refuse to eat, etc. When I would go to school, or out with friends I would worry about my smarter birds, and I soon found a way to keep them Happy. I would go to Home Depot and buy some bird friendly rope or line, and tie tight knots into lengths of around 4, to 5 feet. By the time I got home from school Mr B would have taken the knots out, and was ready for another challenge. He would often mimic other people's oices, or even the sound of our phone ringing.
With the exception of Jasmine who now lives with my idiot Mother, and pumpkinhead who is no longer around, I was forced to give up all of my birds at the climax of my parent's divorce, making sure to find a good home for each of them. When I'm finished with College and have more time on my hands, I hope to build another bird family, and maybe breed again.
After a dream I had last night/earlier this morning, I started thinking about when I was younger. I used to breed and rear birds. I used to have loads of them, Conures and all variants, Macaws and variants, African Greys, Cockatiels, Cockatoos, Amazons, Eclectus male and females, and a whole slew of others.
The few of notes, the ones that really stood out were my Peach-faced conure, Pumpkinhead, my Blue fronted Amazon Jasmine, my Umbrella Cockatoo Pebbles, and my African grey, Mr. B.
I went in search of photos, and I founds some that closely resembled my little buddies
This Fellow pictured above is a conure, and he closely resembles my pumpkinhead.
Pumpkinhead was a sweetheart, and he was a talker. He would yell at 'the bird in the mirror' and he would play in my bowl of popcorn. He was a little clown and my most favorite of birds.
He has a story all of his own, it would take hours just to talk about his little adventures.
When I moved away from my mother's house, she ended up 'accidentally' leaving his cage door open, and he flew away. Living in the area in Vegas that I did, there were tons of feral cats. I know he didn't last long. Every time I look up in the sky I hope he's alright, but I know he isn't. It broke my heart.
The gorgeous bird above is a Blue fronted amazon. Part of the parrot family, but still not as large as say.. a Macaw, or a Cockatoo.
The bird pictured above looks almost identical to my own, Jasmine. Jasmine was a character all her own, and she was always found with Pumpkinhead, they were Best friends. She too was a talker, and she would laugh when others did. (She didn't consider herself a bird, she was a human just like everyone else). She was known to fly around the house s her leisure, and she'd terrorize our dog and cats. She too was a big sweetheart, and would often taste and sample our food if we were eating. By this I mean if you have some cereal, she'd submerge her head in it, and then it was playtime.
Pebbles was an Umbrella cockatoo, and also another sweetypie. When she'd get lonely, she would hop down and off of her cage, and waddle around our house, looking for some affection. She'd usually find me first, and climb up my leg, and either onto my lap or shoulder, to which she'd start talking to me, with her 'Hello the pretty bird', or she'd preen my hair. When a bird preens your hair, its sort of like 'I want you to look pretty for me'.
Pebbles loves bananas, and she would hold either an entire banana,a or half of one in one of her feeties, and munch on it all day. if you dipped it in peanut butter, you were her best Friend. She would usually ditch everything and snack on the peanut butter by itself.
these two fellows pictured above are African greys. 'Greys are considered to be the smartest birds on the planet, and they roughly have the IQ of a child the age of 6-8. I used to have a few of these ( I owned more than one of each bird species, as I bred and sold them on a regular basis) but Mr B. Stood out the most. What you should know about larger birds, usually the exotics, is that they need lots of attention and mental stimulation each day, or they will turn to self abuse, and pick their feathers, refuse to eat, etc. When I would go to school, or out with friends I would worry about my smarter birds, and I soon found a way to keep them Happy. I would go to Home Depot and buy some bird friendly rope or line, and tie tight knots into lengths of around 4, to 5 feet. By the time I got home from school Mr B would have taken the knots out, and was ready for another challenge. He would often mimic other people's oices, or even the sound of our phone ringing.
With the exception of Jasmine who now lives with my idiot Mother, and pumpkinhead who is no longer around, I was forced to give up all of my birds at the climax of my parent's divorce, making sure to find a good home for each of them. When I'm finished with College and have more time on my hands, I hope to build another bird family, and maybe breed again.
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....i am still looking to have a bird still doing a lot of reading on them.....i always love the bird shows here in fl... 
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