Beaker's Parrot Place

A story of FATE

2011-12-18T07:44:00.000-08:00

This post is really not mine, but one of our special customers, Willie. He can say it best in his own words. What I can say is that Jeremy and I are thrilled to have been a part of God's plan. You will see what I mean...

FATE: "December 8, 2011 was a terrible day, Logan my Yellow Nape died after 31 years together almost to the day. Needles to say the silence in my heart and in my house was deafening! Coming home and seeing an empty cage was more than I could stand. Not wanting to "recreate" my Logan, by Saturday I was researching Eclectus and in my search I found, or was led by fate to Beakers. On Dec. 11 I made the trek from Bellingham to Beakers and found Ruby a beautiful 4mo old Eclectus. Their philosophy and approach to hand raising birds in a home environment is genus, and I would encourage anyone who is looking for a parrot to give them serious consideration since you won't be disappointed!!!!! Thank you Breakers my house and my heart are once again filled! The memory of Logan is now one of love & laughter as the bond between Ruby and me grows stronger every day!"

Here are a couple of pictures of Willie and Ruby, as she is so appropriately named.

We sure cannot take credit for making this match :-)

Elena
Beaker's co-flock Leader

Check your birds feet for Pododermatitis

2011-12-06T22:49:00.000-08:00

Do you offer your bird a good selection of perches to rest their pretty feet on? Here's why I am asking.

In addition to a high quality diet, one of our recommendations to new parents is to outfit their birds cages with a variety of perches to keep their feathered companion's feet in good health. Pododermatitis, or "bumblefoot" as it is more commonly known is a condition of the bottom of the feet defined in varying grades of severity from 1 - 7. (Hari Institute has a great article on Pododermatitis that's worth reading, Grooming and Health Assessment. Besides good nutrition (with sufficient Vitamin A & E) and appropriate perches, lack of exercise, and exposure to cigarette smoke can be the cause of bumblefoot.

In an article on Bumblefoot, Dr. Petra M Burgmann states, "Variety in perch diameter is essential, and can be provided by using natural branches from non-toxic insecticide-free trees. Sandpaper perches are like walking barefoot on a rough gravel road. The new abrasive perches intended to keep the bird's nails short should never be positioned so that they are the perch on which the bird spends the majority of its time. Instead, they should only be located where the bird will use them occasionally, such as where the treat dish is located." (Parrot Life; Volume 1, Number 1; page 46).

Do your birds a favor and check the bottom of their feet. They will thank you for it :-)

Elena

What are Probiotics and WHY should we care?

2011-09-14T19:14:00.000-07:00

BACK IN THE DAY, when our food was pure and untainted from chemicals, additives and the like, our guts produced all the good bacteria naturally.... so when we got stressed, our bodies were able to naturally offset any weakening of our immune system.

Well, long gone are those days. And our companion parrots have the same problem as we do with regards to dealing with stress. Even though we TRY to feed our birds an excellent diet of fruits, veggies and the like, we are feeding them foods that have often been chemically altered or fortified with vitamin this and vitamin that (because food processing has killed all the "good" bacteria).

So, we need probiotics!

What are Probiotics? 
Probiotics are compounds that are comprised of naturally-occurring intestinal bacteria. They have the ability to reduce the proliferation of infectious, pathogenic gut bacteria. There is a process called competitive exclusion whereby "good" bacteria (probiotics) out-compete potentially harmful organisms in the gut. It is every important to provide our birds avian-specific probiotics for their optimal health and longevity. STRESS (good or bad) weakens the immune system, reducing our ability to resist infections in people and birds. Stress leads to many issues. The safest and most natural way to counteract the effects of stress is to add avian probiotics to our bird's diet. The benefits are MANY - helps with feather plucking, fighting infections, skin and feather conditioning... and on and on!

Here is a GREAT article - learn more on the Value of Probiotics

Elena
Beaker's co-flock leader

Free labor!

2011-08-27T20:52:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful day today - and it's great when our customers get into the action... FREE LABOR! LOL

In the photos you below your see Wayne feeding his family's new addition - baby Scarlet, Titan and patiently standing by Wayne's side was our new addition Gertrude Weinstein (Gerty), Greenwing begging for a handout too. Enjoy!

See you guys in two weeks for one more visit before the big "going home day."

Elena
Beaker's co-flock leader

Sleepwalking baby Greenwing????

2011-08-23T11:43:00.000-07:00

OMG (Oh my gosh) what more can I say - It's a startling thing to tip toe into the babies room to get them ready for a feeding and to find that one baby is missing... yes, missing!

Backgrounder - last evening Jeremy and I went to SEATAC to pick up 4 new additions - three 5-6 week old Congo African Greys (CAGs) and a baby Greenwing. After feeding everyone we tucked them into their bins nicely warmed on heating pads and turned out the light. This morning, well I only counted 3! It's a good thing the room is not too big because we found him (we believe his name will be Beaumont)...

God only knows how long baby Beaumont was out of his bed... Did he wake up and take a walk about, or did he climb out and fall to the ground? My guess is the later - It's good thing we have nice kooshy carpet. As you can well imagine Beaumont needed some snuggle time and I was happy to give it.
Aftermath - After snuggle-time with me, I went to put Beaumont back in his bin and it took him (yes, he is a BOY) about 2 seconds to make his way up the side of the large bin and sit on the lip of the bin (hatch date 6/25/2011 - 8 weeks and 3 days old today). At that age, Jeremy and I should have known that he would NOT stay put but - extend some grace please... it's early morning the day after his first midnight feeding... LOL As Jeremy fed Beaumont his morning feeding I prepared a very temporary room for him - a small step up in size until we move him into a big boy cage. Here is Beaumont settling in for a nap in his new digs.

It's always nice when a story has a good ending and we I am happy to say, the end.

Elena
Beaker's co-flock leader

Titan's attempted Escape from the Nursery

2011-08-03T19:55:00.000-07:00

Everyone is fledgling and some are trying to FLY the COOP!!!! LOL

Enjoy this short video of Titan, 13 week old Scarlet Macaw, trying to make an attempted escape from Beaker's Parrot Place nursery.

Elena
Beaker's Co-flock Leader

Loki, Sasha and Pepe's sweet song... Happy Trails!

2011-07-16T20:16:00.000-07:00

Three baby Eclectus down and one to go. We have been having a blast hand-raising four baby Solomon Island Eclectus - 3 boys and 1 girl. The youngest of the four, Sunny, will be with us for another couple of weeks and then he will be going home to his new family in Auburn.

We sang happy trails to three of our babies in the last week - it's sad to say good yet we are hopeful that our new friends will come to visit us and bring their babies back too - we offer complimentary wing trims and nail clipping to the babies we have hand-raised.

The first to go was Loki....
His new mom and dad are Bryan and Liesel. When we met Bryan and Liesel, they were still deciding the specific species of bird they wanted... and then they met our SI Eclectus, Beaker. Sold - they decided on a baby Beaker. We usually don't run into problems finding sweet babies within our breeder network but everywhere we looked, our breeders were only producing baby girl ekkies.... We waited and waited.... and waited. Eclectus are dimorphic, meaning you can tell male from female by site. However, a breeder cannot tell sex until about three weeks of age when initial feathers start to appear on the head - green for male and red for female. We FINALLY found a baby boy and were able to bring Brian and Liesel the good news.

Here are two pictures - one of Bryan and Loki on visiting day and then a great "go home day" picture of Bryan, Liesel, and Bryan's mom. Happy family!

Then we lost two - to the SAME family...
This was a cute story, a true story, and a story that has happened more than once at Beaker's. Kim came to meet her new baby (a male SI Eclectus). And while Kim was visiting her baby Jerry decided to hold the baby girl SI Eclectus we were hand-raising (available without an owner). Kim and her little guy (picture 1 below) and, Jerry, well he fell in love with the little girl he was holding (picture 2 of female baby). One the second visiting day, Jerry pulled us aside and found out the baby was still available so he decided to take her off the market. LOL (it was love at first sight!).

Kim and Jerry came to visit a couple of more times and they named their babies Sasha and Pepe'. Unfortunately on "go home day" Jerry was not able to make it to Beaker's so I captured a picture of Jeremy with Kim and the two babies (picture 3) and then a picture of the two babies in their transport carrier (the last photo).

We are getting real good at singing this familiar song.... and we look forward to singing it again.... and again... and again until we lose our voices LOL.

Elena
Beaker's Co-flock Leader

Boy they grow fast! Baby Greenwing

2011-06-25T22:04:00.000-07:00

Over the past 4 weeks I have captured some video of a baby Greenwing we are hand-raising. I brought three short video clips together so that you could see just how fast these birdies grow. I hope you enjoy the video.

I hope to be more faithful to posting once my consulting gig is up end of June - it has been a very hectic 4 months.

Elena
Beaker's Co-flock Leader

Those Crazy Caiques are back!!!!

2011-05-08T10:41:00.001-07:00

One of the things we LOVE is the variety of birds we get to hand-raise. If you want a FUN bird that has the personality, the looks, and a busy... busy and zany attitude in a small package - check out the Caique. We just welcomed 3 baby Black-headed Caiques to our nursery the other day. Here is a brief video. This lot is selling for $895 each if you know someone interested in a sweet companion.

From Bird Channel: There are two species that make up the Pionites genus have more energy than probably any other parrot kept as a pet. Caiques are nonstop. They’ll dangle from your fingers as you walk around the house, throw toys from the top of their playgyms and summersault on the bottom of their cages. They’re clownish, acrobatic and a – in a word – handful!

Scientific Name: Pionites melanocephala
Size: Medium, 9 inches
Native Region: South America
Life Expectancy: 30 years
Noise Level: Medium
Talk/Trick Ability: Fair, likes to play, so benefits from trick training and can mimic sounds.

Having fun, as always!

Elena, Beaker Co-flock Leader

We're having a Galah time!

2011-04-26T19:33:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
Jeremy and I are having a GREAT time hand-raising our first Rose-breasted (Galah) Cockatoo. For those of you not familiar. Here is a short video clip of baby Galah the day she arrived to our nursery on April 20th. Baby Galah is 7 weeks old - hatched 3/2/2011.

For those of you not familiar, here is a little bit of info about the Galah Cockatoo, aka, Rose-Breasted Cockatoo (Source: About.com)

Origin and Size: Australia; 12-15 inches in length from the beak to the tip of the tail feathers.
Average Lifespan: up to 70 years in captivity.

Temperament: Affectionate and friendly, the Rose-Breasted Cockatoos have a reputation for being loving pets. They are sensitive birds, however, and require quite a bit of attention and interaction from their owners. Those interested in owning a Rose-Breasted Cockatoo should make sure that they have plenty of free time to spend with their new pet.

Rose Breasted Cockatoos as Pets: Their bold colors and friendly personalities have made Rose-Breasted Cockatoos increasingly popular as pets in recent years. While it can be tempting to rush out and buy a Rose-Breasted Cockatoo, potential owners should know that these are sensitive birds and are not right for everybody. If you want to own a Rose-Breasted Cockatoo, the first thing you should do is make sure that you have enough spare time to spend with it. Rose-Breasted Cockatoos are very social, and they require a lot of interaction in order to maintain their emotional health. Birds that are neglected may resort to screaming and destructive behavior, so it's important that Rose-Breasted Cockatoo owners invest as much time as possible into their pets.

It only took Baby Galah a couple of days to adjust to his new surroundings. His mom and dad came to visit (Jessica and Ray). Here are a couple of photos from their first visit.

And babies grow FAST because today baby Galah took his first real flight around the nursery at just shy of 8 weeks of age. Did I say we are HAVING FUN!!!! :-)

Elena
Beaker's co-flock leader

Our first Baby Cinnamon-Blue Green Cheek Conure

2011-04-16T17:02:00.000-07:00

Wow... two posts in a row. I will try to make more of a habit of this.

Yesterday Jeremy made two trips to the airport (50 minutes one way). The first trip was to pick up three babies: a Cinnamon-Blue Green Cheek Conure and two Jenday Conures. Then he turned right around after feeding them their first meal and picked me up at SeaTac following my two week trip in Delaware. Boy do I realize how much I miss home once I walk through the front door.... and my bed never great too :-)

This morning I took a short video of baby Green Cheek for his mom Katie who will not be able to come and visit him right way. I thought you would enjoying see this little guy too. Here is the clip, enjoy!

Elena
Beaker's Co-flock leader

New YouTube video about Beakers Parrot Place

2011-04-15T11:12:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
It's been a crazy month (last 30 days) - your bloggest (me) as been out of town more than in town and it's been hard to keep up on all the stuff I love.... parrot stuff, of course. Thank God for my life's love and partner in crime, Jeremy. He leads the "parrot experience" at Beaker's and I manager the "customer experience".... and could do a better job I guess by blogging more often... hah!

To help get the word out about Beaker's Parrot Place and the unique buying experience we offer local Washington area customer's, I just created an "About Beaker's Parrot Place" video and published it to YouTube. I would appreciate you spreading the word about us to other bird lovers, such as yourself.... Thanks and have a great day.Elena

We hope you like our promo piece!

Elena, Beaker's Co-flock Leader

It's been a LONG and winding road by Moe and Zeus

2011-03-08T17:37:00.000-08:00

This post is compliments of Moe, Congo African Grey...

Hi, this is Moe... It all began back in May 2010 - Zeus and 1 were hatched. We are Californians by birth. When we were VERY young we went to live with Elena and Jeremy. There were 3 of us - me, Zeus, and another cousin they called Silverback who was the youngest.

Silverback was the first to be adopted by very nice lady; her name is Denise. The second one of us to be adopted was Zeus - he went to a nice home too but things didn't turn out so good for Zeus. Due to unforeseen circumstances Zeus returned to Beaker's and rejoined the flock. On the day we were reunited and Zeus and I saw each other again after a couple of months - we actually did a happy dance with beaking and bobbing and all that. We knew then and there that we should be buddies for life.... little did we know then we would be buddies for life.

Jeremy put us together in a large 40" x 30" dome top cage and we were happy as can be (take a look at the picture). It was then that Jeremy decided that IF the right family came along, who wanted to love us and adopt us as part of their family, he would be willing to sing the "Happy Trails" song to us.

Above (Zeus and me in our new cage)

Above (Zeus hanging around)

Above (Me having a snack)

Well guess what??? That day came and we met Wayne, Audrey and the kids.... WOW!!!! it was great, and they thought so too because we are now part of their family. Take a look at the cool pictures Elena took last Saturday when the family came to take us home. Zeus and I now have 3 new brothers (not shown in the pictures - Eduardo (the oldest - like me), Matthew and Elijah. With so many guys in the family now we hope that Audrey can handle all that testosterone!

WE ARE SO HAPPY!!!!! We know that Jeremy was a little sad when we left but we promise to have Wayne and Audrey bring us back for visits - we need to get our nails and wings trimmed in occasion. Thanks for giving us such a great start Jeremy (and Elena) we'll be in touch.

2 lucky guys!,

Moe (and Zeus)

Singing HAPPY TRAILS again to 2 ekkies!!!!

2011-02-12T17:11:00.000-08:00

It's hard to say, if we are being honest, which species of parrots are our favorite to hand-raise. We specialize in the hand-raising process, so we can put any baby bird through our process and produce a sweet loving companion ready for a wonderful life with their adoptive parents - you name it - African Greys, Amazon, Conure, Cockatoo, Eclectus, Macaws and the list goes on and on. We recently sang happy trails to one of our most favorite species - ekkies.

This post is dedicated to Sinatra and Beckett, two male Solomon Island Eclectus who stole our hearts.... I wonder how many times I can say that Here are a few pictures of Sinatra and Beckett and their new family.

Beckett

Beckett as a baby

Beckett's first perch

Proud Parents - Rick, Bonnie and Beckett Scribe

Sinatra

Sinatra as a baby

Sinatra visiting Dylan and London (new family - siblings)

Sinatra on go-home day with his new mom, Sarah!

I must confess, I shed a tear or two (as I often do) when our babies 'fly from the nest - so to speak.' Our joy is knowing that our babies are moving on to a great life with folks who will love them through the highs and the lows (oh yes, there will be the lows) |

Wiping my tears,

Elena
Beaker's Co-flock Leader
Check out our online store Rosie's AvianOutfitters.com

Don't Touch My Eggs!

2011-01-28T18:38:00.000-08:00

Breeding is a NEW EXPERIENCE for us. And not one that we planned, or plan to repeat (at this point). With that said, many of you know that Rosie laid her first clutch on Dec 30 / Jan 2 and she is about to have babies..... or maybe not. God only knows if these two eggs are fertile. She has been faithful to rotate them and do what she is instinctual supposed to do (we think). Now we are close to finding out.

Rosie has her own cage and Beaker, his. The nesting box is in Rosie's cage (of course). She and Beaker are not sharing the same cage during this nesting process but we put them together to see what would happen.... See for yourself.

Ooh...la....ha!

Elena and Jeremy
Concerned parents!

Parrot lovers from the get-go

2011-01-23T14:55:00.000-08:00

Hi fellow parrot lovers!

Today I am in Delaware (Wilmington) starting a very cool consulting project (my non-parrot life) - and while I was here I reached out to a fellow Parrot Place location to introduce myself and get connection to my parrot passion.... What a wonderful experience I had. Last evening I met Kathy and Karen from K & K Parrot Place. An introductory conversation turned into a fabulous dinner and now a true relationship that I hope lasts for a very long time!!!!!

Meeting new people and getting beyond the superficial is sometimes not easy for me, but having a passion - like parrots - as connective tissue, helps me get beyond the surface stuff. I am so thrilled and thankful to have met Kathy and Karen and look forward to developing a real relationship over time. :-)

Elena

Continuing saga of Rosie and her egg(s)

2011-01-10T20:46:00.000-08:00

It's been a few weeks now since our last update about Rosie's first egg laying experience. Well the first egg didn't make it. :-( We put the egg in a home-made nesting box but Rosie broke it within the first couple of days.

Then two weeks later, on Dec 30, she layed another egg..... AND then three days after that (Jan 2) she layed a second egg. She has now been sitting on both eggs for a week to week and a half and both eggs are doing find. :-) At this time we don't know if they are fertile and time will tell. We have not done the candle test on them - we will just wait to see if they hatch at the end of January when she has set on them for 28 days. We won't be peeking in the nesting box - our clue that the babies have hatched will be Rosie's increased consumption of food.

I'll update you later this month!

Elena
Beaker's co-flock leader

Look what Rosie layed!

2010-12-18T07:23:00.000-08:00

We have been letting Beaker and Rosie spend time together recently. As young studs will do, Beaker has been practicing his 'mount' with Rosie and the other day (12/16) I found this at the bottom of her cage.

Now that we have seen one, we expect that she may lay a couple more (about 3 days apart) so I put a box with nesting material in her cage and she has been laying on the egg. Time will tell if the egg is fertile or if she lays any more eggs. I will keep you all posted.

This could be fun!!!!

Elena
Beaker's Co-flock Leader

Vote on this!

2010-11-18T18:36:00.000-08:00

Hi bird fanciers,
The title of this post is just keeping with the theme of my last post. hah! We have been so busy with life.... that I have neglected my posts - shame on me.

Well, Jeremy and I recently had an updated photo taken of us with some of our birdies. We have added this picture to our brochure and also refreshed the picture of us on the main website and I thought I would share it with our bloggers too.

Here's who we have (the birdies) in the photo... from left to right: Our very own Beaker (SI Eclectus), Zeus and Moe (Congo African Greys) and Cupcake (Greenwing Macaw).

Now, ending with the voting theme... who gives this picture a 'thumbs up?'

Yours truly,
The gorgeous gal in the photo... Elena

Exercise your right and VOTE!

2010-10-25T21:11:00.000-07:00

Last night we all sat down to review the ballot and discuss each initiative to understand the real meaning and implications of each, paying particular attention to arguments for and against. Well, I needed some help so one of our babies, Cupcake helped me figure things out. Here are a couple of snapshots, enjoy.

And remember to VOTE next Tuesday November 2nd.

Elena
Beaker's Co-flock Leader
AvianOutfitters.com (online store)

Happy Hatchday Lola!

2010-10-11T20:24:00.000-07:00

One of the things we love to do is remember our babies with a hatchday card celebrating their first year. And we are especially blessed when the baby's parents send us pictures commemorating baby's big day. Here is a picture of 'Lola' Albright, Solomon Island Eclectus. As you may know, Jeremy and I have a sweet spot for ekkies and Lola won our hearts the moment she arrived to our nursery, gosh... one year ago last month.

Elena
Beaker's Co-flock Leader
AvianOutfitters.com (online store)

I took a nap and woke up over 1 month later!!!

2010-10-06T17:59:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
Holy cow, where has the time gone? Seriously, one of our dear customers and friend, Patty, emailed today to let me know that I have not posted in over one month... ouch! [thanks Patty].

I could make all kinds of excuses but I won't. With all the festivities around the wedding and many, many birdies moving on to their permanent homes, I just let things slide.

So what's new.... well, we have three birdies with us - one Congo African Grey (operating name Moe), a Senegal named Kiwi who will be transitioning to her family on 10/18 and then we have a newer arrival, Cupcake, Greenwing Macaw. Here is a cute video clip of Cupcake taken recently. Cupcake's family lives in beautiful Bellingham, WA. Enjoy the video clip!

Elena
Beaker's Co-flock Leader
Rosie's AvianOutfitters (online store)

Wedding Bells!

2010-08-28T09:10:00.000-07:00

On a personal note.... We had the most beautiful wedding here at our place last Saturday - it's hard to believe that one week as passed already! Our son, Lachlan, married Susy Behne and we are SO thrilled to welcome Suzy to the Galbraith family. The wedding was intimate, and the weather held.... outdoor wedding. Here are a couple of pictures...

The lucky in-laws,

Elena and Jeremy

It's feeding time again!

2010-08-16T20:33:00.000-07:00

In this post you will see a very cute video of one of our customers, Eugenia, feeding her baby Mexican Red-headed Amazon, Chelo, some hand-weaning pellets. Enjoy!

Elena
Beaker's Co-flock Leader
AvianOutfitters.com (online store)

Happy Birthday Baby!

2010-08-10T23:28:00.001-07:00

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Dottie and David....happy birthday to you!....and MANY more!"

Blessings to my little brother and sister on your milestone XX birthday!

Hugs from your older sis... :-)

Elena

Shower Pals!

2010-07-28T10:18:00.000-07:00

The following picture and video come to us compliments of Cyndi and Terry - one of our wonderful customers who purchased two macaws from us - Tonka (Greenwing) and Tiko (Blue and Gold).

Tonka and Tiko are bound to be great friends as time goes on and in this picture and video you see them showering....

What a hoot! Here is the picture...

Now, enjoy the video... it is a MUST see!

Elena
Beaker's Co-flock Leader
AvianOutfitters.com (online store)

Pint-size, yet mighty... Watch out it's Sprout!

2010-07-23T09:04:00.001-07:00

This past Wednesday Jeremy and I sang 'happy trails' to Sprout.... what a cool bird! We have had the pleasure of hand-raising many baby Poicephalus parrots, but this was our first opportunity to hand-raise a Meyers Parrot.

Poicephalus means (short-tailed parrots) and consists of nine parrot species that are native to Africa. Here are the most common - Senegal, Meyers, Jardine and Brown-headed Parrot. Poicephalus (poi-ce-phalus) are considered a great choice for those who want to "step up" to a mid-size parrot. Compared to their larger cousins, they are easier to keep in apartments, as they are generally quieter and smaller. They are animated, clownish birds that can learn tricks and many learn to talk. And Sprout is sure to be a charmer and entertainer.

Here are a few pictures of Sprout as she developed while here at Beakers and a cute pic of her and mommy Denise on go-home day. Enjoy!

4 weeks 5 days old

First visit 6/6/2010

6 weeks old

6 weeks old

Go home day 7/21 - Sprout 11 weeks 3 days old

Elena
Beaker's Co-flock Leader
Rosie's AvianOutfitters (online store)

Ziggy wins beauty contest!

2010-07-21T13:22:00.000-07:00

Who's Ziggy and what are we talking about? One of the things we love about our work with parrots is the pleasure of raising any species our customers want and, therefore, work with many different kinds of parrots as we take them through our hand-raising and nurturing process.

Ziggy is a black-headed caique - average length of an adult caique is 23 cm or 9 inches in length. They weight around 150 to 175 grams or 5.3 - 6.2 oz. Their average expected lifespan is 30 years. They are very distinctive and beautiful in appearance, often referred to as the "Seven-Color Parrot" because of their highly defined black, green, yellow, orange, white and blue feathers. Here is little more about the caique:

Caiques have probably more energy than any other parrot kept as a pet. Black-headed caiques like to be the center of attention but do NOT require constant attention.
They can be fun birds to watch as they entertain themselves by playing and wrestling.
They’ll dangle from your fingers as you walk around the house, throw toys from the top of their playgyms and somersault on the bottom of their cages.
Caiques are busy parrots who love to learn. They do best when challenged to learn new things.
They’re clownish and acrobatic and a great companion!

Ziggy's transformation from the time he arrived to the nursery to now is astonishing - therefore, Ziggy wins Beaker's 'first' beauty contest.... congratulations Ziggy! Here are some pictures of his transformation. Daddy Vu is a blessed man - Ziggy is an awesome little guy and a great companion.

5 weeks 2 days old

6 weeks old

6 weeks 3 days old

7 weeks 4 days old

7 weeks 4 days old

10 weeks 2 days

Elena
Beaker's Co-flock Leader
AvianOutfitters.com (online store)

Three beautiful words

2010-07-14T07:47:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
As a parent you are thrilled beyond words when your baby starts to talk and string words together. Today was such a day for me.

I have been hearing Beaker (about 4 yrs old) practice saying words routinely and often you are not sure what he is saying. He says a few things including his name 'Beaker.' Recently he has been practicing a two word phrase which turned to to be 'good morning.'

Today, for the first time, I heard him say 'good morning Beaker' and he repeated the three word sentence clearly and repeatedly.... how cool is that? I just thought I would share with you this great moment. Have a good day.

Elena
Beaker's Co-flock Leader
AvianOutfitters.com (online store)

Everyone holds babies

2010-07-11T20:10:00.000-07:00

If you come to visit us, you hold babies - ANY baby you want. We encourage this intentionally to 'sweeten' babies up and get them comfortable with lots of people. Here are some recent shots taken of visitors and families holding babies... enjoy.

Why not come and see us and hold babies - you might decide you want one!

Elena
Beaker's Co-flock Leader
Rosie's AvianOutfitters (online store)

CRAZYiness & farewells to Squeaker, ZuZu, Arlo and Jonah

2010-07-11T18:56:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
I can't believe that my last post was 6/10 - shame on me. It's been one month since I sat down to update you on happenings. I fully intend to change the frequency of my posts and you will see them more frequently from here on out - there is so much going on these days - with our own personal flock, and stuff - that I'd rather keep the posts shorter and to one topic.

Over the past month we have had some sorrow :-( which I will go into later on another post... and much joy, in the sending off of babies with their new parents. Here is a brief recap.

Adam and Squeaker - Senegal

Lori and ZuZu (with Jeremy, Beaker's Flock Leader)

Kristine and Jonah - Blue-headed Pionus

Judith and Arlo - Congo African Grey

We consider ourselves matchmakers of sorts and we are thrilled when we make a good match - since my last posting we have had four- times the pleasure! This is our true reward.

Elena
Beaker's Co-flock leader
Rosie's AvianOutfitters (online store)

Are we Crazy?

2010-06-10T16:14:00.000-07:00

Well today Jeremy returned from the airport with two more babies - a Hahns Macaw and a Double Yellow Amazon (pictures below). We now have seventeen babies going through our Beaker's Process. You could say the 'Parrots Hilton' has hung out the NO vacancy sign for a few weeks! Hah....

Roll call Please... **Currently in the Nursery**

3 CONGO African Greys - AVAILABLE - Accepting reserves
Hahns Macaw - AVAILABLE
Male Solomon Island Eclectus - SOLD
Greenwing Macaw - SOLD
Eleanora Cockatoo - SOLD
Senegal - SOLD
3 more Congo African Greys - all SOLD
Black-headed and White-Bellied Caiques - both SOLD
2 Blue-headed Pionus - both SOLD
Meyers Parrot - SOLD
Double Yellow Amazon - SOLD

Welcome "Packer" Double Yellow Amazon
7 weeks old - hatch date 4/22/2010

I'm baby Hahns Macaw
4 weeks old - hatch date 5/13/2010

So, are we crazy? Maybe but we are having a blast!

Elena
Beaker's Co-flock Leader
Rosie's AvianOutfitters (online store)

Drum roll, please!

2010-06-06T09:33:00.000-07:00

Announcing the arrival of five new arrivals to Beaker's nursery... We just love driving to the airport to pick up new babies. The airport is about 50 minutes from our place so we make sure we check flight arrival times and get there with time to spare. We want to make sure that we can get babies home and fed as soon as possible since some of our babies are Floridians (hah!)

Over this past week - we picked up two Caiques (one black-headed and one white-bellied), two Blue-headed Pionus and a baby Meyers Parrot. Here are pictures and hatch dates for each one.... With the speed that these babies will grow, we almost need to date and time-stamp our pictures.

Looking ahead to next week - we go back to the airport to pick up two more babies: a Double-Yellow Amazon and a Hahns Macaw - Yippee!!! Of the total 7 babies, all are sold except for the baby Hahns Macaw.

What's really thrilling for us is the initial visit of customer and baby. - And this weekend we had the pleasure of uniting four new parents with their baby! And next week two more. Here's the list of our new parents!

Judith - Congo African Grey
Vu - Black-headed Caique
Denise - Meyers Parrot
Kristine - Blue-headed Pionus
Barbara and Glenn - Double-Yellow Amazon
Jean - White-bellied Caique
Janet - Blue-headed Pionus

Enjoy the pictures of our new arrivals!

Meyers Parrot (hatch date 5/3/10 - 4 wk 5 days)

White-bellied Caique (hatch date 4/4/10 - 9 wks 1 day)

Black-headed Caique (hatch date 4/28/10 - 5 wks 2 days)

Blue-headed Pionus (hatch date 4/17/10 - 7 wks old)

Blue-headed Pionus (hatch date 5/1/10 - 5 wks old)

Elena
Beaker's co-flock leader
Rosie's AvianOutfitters.com

First Feeding and First Flight... a great way to end May!

2010-06-01T07:38:00.000-07:00

Wow... where has the month gone? This has been a very busy month for us - bringing in 3 Congo Grey babies to the nursery, boarding one of our former babies (Buddy the Senegal) here at Beaker's Spa, and making flight arrangements to bring in a Blue-Headed Pionus, Meyers Parrot, two Caiques and a Double-Yellow headed amazon for new customers in the first two weeks in June . It's going to get even busier with 5 new mouths to feed along with the 4 we currently have going through our process (Eleanora, Senegal, Eclectus, Greenwing).

And then there are visiting days, which we LOVE. This past weekend, we had another two firsts - Daddy Steve (of the Greenwing) hand-fed Levi for the first time and ZuZu, the baby Eleanora Cockatoo took her first 'controlled' flights and I captured both on video. You know how I love to take my little videos :-)

Well, enjoy these two latest installments via YouTube. You can see all our videos at YouTube under the Beaker's Parrot Place channel.

Here is the video of ZuZu

And here is the video of Daddy Steve feeding Levi

Elena
Beaker's Co-flock Leader
AvianOutfitters.com (online store)

Precocious Baby Senegal

2010-05-10T19:28:00.000-07:00

About two weeks ago we brought in a couple of new birds to the nursery - a baby Greenwing Macaw, an Eleanora Cockatoo named Zuzu and a baby Senegal. We think about our baby birdies and the early development stages they go through akin to what human babies go through from total dependence, tracking objects, mobility, learning commands/recognizing words, etc.

Jeremy and I have both been amazed at just how alert and precocious the baby Senegal is - we both agree this is a VERY smart bird... not to mention cute. We just know that this baby will enrich some lucky families life.

I captured two short video clips of baby Senegal, aka 'Bruiser' as the operating name, compliments of Jeremy. The first clip was taken on the day Bruiser arrived at the nursery (4.5 weeks old) and the second video was taken today, 5/10 (6 weeks and a few days old). Enjoy!

Cute baby, wouldn't you agree?

Elena
Beaker's Co-flock Leader
AvianOutfitters.com (online store)

Is baby Greenwing a boy... or a girl? Let the credit card test decide

2010-05-02T18:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, two families came to visit their babies for the first time - Lori and Greg came to meet ZuZu, their baby Eleanora Cockatoo (pictures below) and the Bianchi family came to meet their new baby - a Greeenwing Macaw (video below).

Baby Eleanora Cockatoo - ZuZu
50 days old

Now for baby GW - Many of our customers want to know the sex of their babies... and for others it doesn't matter. Jeremy heard about an 'informal' DNA sex test that has proven to be spot on for us almost 100% of the time. Check out this video of baby Greenwing - the first part is baby's arrival to the nursery followed by the family's first visit and the 'informal' DNA sex test.

If you are interested in the outcome of the test, you will need to check back for another blog posting to find out. We need to wait for enough feathers to come in (we chose feather vs blood testing) before we have the test conducted. Enjoy the video!

Elena
Beaker's Co-flock Leader
Rosie's AvianOutfitters.com (online Store)

We're singing the "Happy Trails" song again

2010-05-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

Over the past week (ish) Jeremy and I have said "Happy Trails" to three more babies... And, we are thrilled they have found wonderful families.

We get emails all the time about how baby did this and baby did that. One of our babies, rides on a motorcycle, another uses the toilet by himself and walks down the hall to check out what mom is fixing for breakfast, and another does gardening with mommy! We just love to hear these stories.

In this posting we celebrate three SWEET babies - in order of leaving we have: Anuli (Timneh African Grey), Layla (Congo African Grey) and Starbuck (Timneh African Grey). Here they are...

Kristi Ann and Teyanna with Anuli
4/23/2010

The Carter Family and Layla
4/24/2010

Mark and Starbuck
4/28/2010

Congratulations moms and dads and kids!

Elena
Co-flock Leader
AvianOutfitters.com (online store)

Baby Senegal Arrives!

2010-04-27T22:06:00.000-07:00

Today we welcomed two new arrivals to the Beaker's nursery - an Eleanora Cockatoo baby and a Senegal. I took this very short clip of the baby Senegal.... so cute, if I do say so myself. Enjoy.

Elena
Beaker's Co-Flock Leader
AvianOutfitters.com (online store)

Who is playing games with whom?

2010-04-25T19:18:00.000-07:00

Can you tell who is playing games with whom? I think that the Greys are gaming Jeremy - take a look!

Too cute... I caught this very short video clip recently. Jeremy was playing Halo and the baby greys were out of their cages playing. It didn't take long for them to decide to play with Jeremy or try to play Halo themselves, you decide!

Elena
Beaker's Co-flock Leader
Rosie's AvianOutfitters (online store)

It's a feeding frenzy!!!

2010-04-09T17:08:00.001-07:00

When birds of a feather flock together... Well, just take a look at this short video that I captured yesterday evening at feeding time.

Jeremy was feeding hand-weaning pellets to the four baby greys we are hand-raising. You will hear us mentioned Anuli (Timneh), Layla (Congo) and Zura (Congo). And just today, the last baby Timneh was adopted by Mark. Congratulations Mark on your new baby.... Your next action is to give baby a name!

Elena
Beaker's Co-flock Leader
AvianOutfitters.com (online store)

Singing 'Happy Trails' to 3 Sweet Babies!

2010-03-30T09:51:00.000-07:00

Over the past two weekends, we had the joy of sending off three sweet babies - all unique in species and personalities! This posting is a tribute to Leeloo (Timneh African Grey), Archie (Umbrella Cockatoo) and Tonka (Greenwing Macaw). Enjoy our walk down memory lane.

Leeloo - hatch date 12/18/2009

Learning to roll over

Precious sleepy baby!!!!

3/21/10 Leeloo's go home date with family

Archie - hatch date 11/6/2009

New to the nursery - Archie at 63 days old

Hand-Feeding time during one of Barbara's visits

3/27/10 - Archie's go home; traveling in style!

Tonka - hatch date 11/22/2009

Sleep baby - Tonka at 9 weeks old

Tonka showing off his wings for Jeremy at 18 weeks

3/28/10 Tonka and family on go-home day

Again, it goes without saying... these birdies are blessed beyond measure - we had the pleasure of spending a little time with these babies to help them get off to a good start in life and then they moved on to their permanent families - sounds like a triple blessing to me: 1) for Jeremy and me, 2) for Leeloo, Archie and Tonka, and 3) for their families.

We just love the match-making business!

Elena
Beaker's Co-flock Leader
AvianOutfitters.com (online store)

Supervised Playtime for the Greys

2010-03-28T09:31:00.000-07:00

The sign of a confident bird is a bird that can play on the floor and the birdies going through our process get lots of that! In this short video clip, enjoy four baby African Grey babies (two Timneh and two Congo) having some fun learning how to share. You will also see a short fly-in visit from Leeloo, a Timneh African Grey we were hand-raising for Lanie from Everett. Leeloo is now home with her family, and knowing here, settling in nicely.

Enjoy the video...

Elena

Beaker's Co-flock Leader
Rosie's AvianOutfitters (online store)

Gizmo's Breakfast Conversation

2010-03-21T18:37:00.000-07:00

Gizmo has blessed our lives in ways you cannot imagine. Originally we brought this baby Hahns Macaw into our nursery as a traveling companion to another bird already sold to a customer (we like to save on shipping costs so it we can bring a traveling buddy along, and pass the savings along to our customers).

We love Macaws and were very intrigued with this mini version. If you research the Hahn's Macaw you will learn that the Hahn's Macaw is the smallest of the three sub-species of Red-shouldered Macaw - a very tiny Macaw reaching only about 12" (30 cm) in total length. Owning a hand-raised Hahn's Macaw is an ideal bird for a beginner or someone who lives in an apartment or condo. They have a very friendly social nature and are easy to take care of. They are small and easy to handle and they can be pretty fair talkers. The Hahn's is an all around good choice for individuals who want big personality in a small package!

Well, after baby Hahns got settled into our the routine around the nursery, we soon lost our hearts to this little fellow. It didn't take long for Jeremy and I to say, let's keep him!.... and we did :-). And we named him Gizmo.

Here are a shot of ours truly and Gizmo.

Well, Gizmo has been a part of our personal flock for a few months now. Each morning when I prepare breakfast for the birds I often like to take one of the bird with me into the kitchen to help me prepare - or supervise preparation. Today I took Gizmo and I captured the below video that give you a sense of what a chatterbox Gizmo is.... enjoy!

Elena
Beaker's Co-flock Leader
Visit our online store Rosie's AvianOutfitters

Archie is in Heaven - lovely snack time!

2010-02-26T20:08:00.000-08:00

Our customers never know just what to expect when they come to visit their babies. On this visit, it was feeding time for Archie (U2) and Barbara got the pleasure.... Enjoy this short video clip.

Elena
Co-flock Leader
Beaker's Parrot Place
AvianOutfitters.com (online store)

It's fledging all over the place!

2010-02-26T19:29:00.000-08:00

As they say, when it rains it pours.
While I was out the other day (2/24), Jeremy took a short video clip of Leeloo, the baby Timneh African Grey we are hand-raising for Lanie, as she was practicing wing flapping and getting minor lift off... What a cute baby and SO fast on her little feet. Jeremy had a hard time keeping ahead of her as she raced across the nursery floor after him.

Enjoy this clip!

Elena
Co-flock Leader
Beaker's Parrot Place
AvianOutfitters.com (online store)

Baby Greenwing (Tonka's) FIRST fight - Caught in Action!

2010-02-22T19:23:00.000-08:00

Boy, I have been having such fun with my camera and video capability in MAC.

For the past couple of days the Greenwing Macaw baby, Tonka (operating name), we have been hand-raising for Terry and Cyndi, has been giving all us the signs of wanting to take off: he has not been interested in eating,... lots of flapping going on, and MAJOR frustration when he has to go back in his cage.

Today was THE day. And I had my Lumix ready. Enjoy this VERY short video clip of the momentus event!!!

Elena
Beaker's Co-flock Leader
AvianOutfitters.com (online store)

Customer gets thrill of hand-feeding her baby!

2010-02-14T10:41:00.000-08:00

One of the thrills of hand-raising baby parrots is getting to know some GREAT people who buy them. The purchase process is an 'experience' and over the time that the baby parrot is in our care (and home), customers come to visit. At times, their visits coincide with feeding or flight training. On Friday 2/12 Lanie and family came to visit their baby Timneh African Grey (still to be named). The baby Timneh (TAG) in this video is 8 weeks old.

Enjoy!

Elena
Beaker's Co-flock Leader

Two FIRSTs in 2 bird's lives

2010-02-11T21:02:00.000-08:00

Trying out new things is not always easy - whether you are trying 'on' a new friendship or stepping up to an new challenge. Over the last couple of days we had both.

Baby Greenwing met his new 'forever' friend and sibling for the first time
Archie (baby U2) tackled a challenge with flying colors

I captured both on video and wanted to share the clips with you. Enjoy!

First we will start with Tik9 (B&G Macaw) meeting baby Greenwing for the first time.

Now, watch how Archie masters his first experience with a new swing.

Elena
Co-flock leader
Beaker's Parrot Place
Rosie's AvianOutfitters.com (online store)

Importance of Floor Time! U2's prancing and dancin!

2010-02-08T18:04:00.000-08:00

They say (whoever 'they' are anyway?) the sign of a confident bird is a bird that likes to spend time on the ground. Well, we agree with them... And we give our babies lots of time on the ground to walk around, play with toys and explore their surroundings... and playtime with us, of course!

Here is a cute and quick video of the Umbrella Cockatoo we are hand-raising for our customer, Barbara of Federal way. Archie is now 13 weeks old and we captured video of him doing some prancing around the floor - don't confuse him for a drunkin sailor! LOL

Elena
Co-flock Leader
Beaker's Parrot Place
AvianOutfitters.com (online store)

Baby Greenwing's first perch!

2010-02-02T17:02:00.000-08:00

Another first here at Beaker's Parrot Place. We have a lot of them these days BUT I am not always able to 'catch' them as they actually happen like I did today.

Today I was lucky enough to witness our 10 week old (10 weeks and 2 days to be exact) baby Greenwing Macaw perching for the first time. [Terry and Cindy - your baby is growing up FAST]

We have a home made PVC perch with two levels and I put it in the baby's play area today because he is starting to climb the play area fence. Enjoy this short video clip of baby's momentous 'first' and, please forgive the gushing surrogate mom in the background (that would be me, LOL).

Elena
Beaker's Co-Flock Leader
AvianOutfitters.com (online store)

Celebrating Piper's BIG Day

2010-01-29T11:23:00.000-08:00

Happy hatch day PIPER - big 1 year old on 1/27/2010.

For Piper's birthday Patty took Piper to the pet store and bought him a new shreddy toy and some peppers. They also had a party. Piper and Patty live in Hayden, Idaho.

Elena
Piper's former surrogate mom
Rosie's Avianoutfitters (online bird store)

Attempted Escape from Beaker's by baby GW!

2010-01-27T15:01:00.000-08:00

I caught the 'big guy' as he/she was trying to make the great escape from Beaker's. Check it out!

Elena
Beaker co-flock leader
AvianOutfitters online bird store

Welcome Baby Greenwing - first feeding at Beaker's

2010-01-25T10:06:00.001-08:00

Boy I am having fun with my digital camera! Here is a video I captured yesterday (Sun 1/24) of the arrival of Baby Greenwing to Beaker's.... Cyndi and Terry are the proud new parents of Baby GW and they will be coming to Beaker's this week for their initial visit. We can't wait for them to meet this big, gentle giant!

Enough said... enjoy the video.

Elena
Beaker's co-flock leader
Rosie's AvianOutfitters (online store)

Abundance Feeding - U2's NEW experience

2010-01-24T11:32:00.000-08:00

There are two schools of thought out there among breeders and those who hand-raise baby birds - feeding by the clock or abundance feeding. We chose the later for a few important reasons.

Every bird is unique - you cannot judge by weight or species alone
When you're hungry, you are hungry and when you are not, you are not
If you listen, you can tell the difference in baby's cry - hungry, fussy, etc.

Well, yesterday (1/23/10) we were preparing hand-feeding formula for baby Timneh (TAG) and baby U2 indicated that he was hungry (yes, DNA testing shows that baby U2 is a boy!). So, what do we do? We gave him a snack.... Jeremy decided to try some softened hand-weaning pellets (We use Scenic products). These hand-weaning pellets are the same formula as the hand-feeding formula.

Well, take a look at this video clip and you tell me how Baby U2's first hand-weaning pellet experience went. And then immediately following that clip you will see a cute short clip I took this morning of baby U2 right after his morning syringe feeding. Enjoy! And Barbara (U2's mom) I just know you will love seeing this clip.

If you enjoyed this clip... please pass it on!

Elena
Beaker's co-flock leader
Beaker's Parrot Place
Rosie's AvianOutfitters (online store) January - Foraging toy DISCOUNTS

Happy Hatch Day Tiko - Big #1

2010-01-22T20:18:00.000-08:00

What a big girl you are Miss Tiko... and beautiful too!

Happy Hatch Day

Tiko reading her hatch day card from Beaker

Sent with love from your surrogate parents,

Jeremy and Elena
Beaker's Parrot Place
Rosie's AvianOutfitters.com (online store)

Forever friends move on to their FOREVER homes!

2010-01-22T09:55:00.001-08:00

We thoroughly enjoy all the babies we hand-raise. Even though species have common personality traits, each is unique and special. We had a great time hand-raising Unah (Congo African Grey) and Hoku (female Solomon Island Eclectus) and met an amazing family in the process.

This post is dedicated to two forever friends.

Unah (Cherokee for 'friend') and Hoku (Hawaiian for 'star') now live in Rochester, WA with their new parents. They love next door to each other (on the same property) and hopefully will visit each other often. The Ledl's have a spread in Rochester and raise miniature horses.

Knowing that Unah and Hoku would be friends and family, we made sure that the two birdies had a chance for some playtime. Here are a few snapshots for your enjoyment - pictures as babies, playtime and then go-home day. Enjoy!

Unah at 5 weeks

Hoku 7 weeks (not sure which is Hoku)

Hoku and Unah getting to know each other

Two friend sharing - how cute!

Left to right
Larry (Sr.), Larissa, Jan (with Hoku) and Larry (with Unah)

We help all our babies get off to a great early start with lots of love and affection, enrichment and a high quality diet of pellets and fruits and veggies. For customers who cannot come to visit us often (which I suspect will be the case with Hoku and Unah given the busy lives their parents have) we have an on-line bird supply store called Rosie's AvianOutfitters and offer a extensive, high quality, high value selection of birdie essentials so your birdies will never be without what they need.

Well that's it for this post.... Happy trails Hoku and Unah!!!!!

Elena and Jeremy
Beaker's flock leaders

More on Baby U2!

2010-01-12T19:47:00.000-08:00

Well, baby U2 has been in our nursery for a few days now. I promised in my last post, that I would provide a little more information about the Umbrella Cockatoo. Here you go PLUS a short video of our new arrival, Baby U2, (sooned to be named by his mommy, Barbara).

About the U2
U2s extremely friendly and love to be handled (that's an over statement). Like most cockatoos, Umbrella Cockatoos make very loving pets that need 'lots' of attention. They can learn to talk, as can most cockatoos and are easy to teach all kinds of tricks. They tend to form strong bonds and may grow to regard their owners as mates (watch out!). If allowed, they can learn to manipulate their owners (establish boundaries and keep consistent in following nurturing guidance techniques).

Umbrella’s are not known to be prolific talkers like the African Greys and Amazons. However, some U2s do acquire a significant vocabulary. They are generally good at doing tricks and some excel at mechanical feats such as undoing locks and bolts. Make sure you have a Cockatoo-proofed cage

U2s are a full-sized cockatoo about 18 inches. They are primarily white with long wide crest feathers that resemble an umbrella when raised. The underside of the wings and tail is also frequently tinged with yellow. They have black beaks and dark-gray feet.

A little about their origin - U2s are found in Obi, Halmahera, Ternate and Tidore in central and northern Moluccas, Indonesia.

Another look at 'our' baby U2 (or should I say, Barbara's)

Thanks for watching!

Elena
Beaker's co-flock leader

Welcome Baby U2

2010-01-09T09:09:00.000-08:00

We meant to send our New New Years greetings a week ago but missed the window with all that is going on here - babies going out and babies coming in. While we have your attention, we would like to wish you joy, peace and good health in 2010!

In this blog I want to introduce Baby U2 (Umbrella Cockatoo). We have the privilege to hand-raise baby U2 for Barbara who lives in Federal Way. Jeremy and I look forward to getting to know Barbara while baby U2 is in our care.

Baby U2 arrived yesterday 1/7 to our nursery. Baby's hatch date is 11-6-09 (a special day since it is our anniversary date) and baby is 63 days old. Here are a few snaps - visit often because this baby will grow fast!

In our next blog, we will talk more about this amazing bird!

Shannon and Oliver - match made in heaven!

2009-12-18T06:26:00.000-08:00

Oliver is a Quaker parrot and a VERY special Quaker for two reasons. The first is more obvious in that Oliver is not the typical Quaker or 'Monk' parakeet as they are sometimes referred to. You see Oliver is a hybrid blue Quaker and quite the cutie. Oliver is considered a smaller parrot - about 11-13in., mostly green and gray in color with blue under his wings. Although Oliver is smaller in size, he the possess a personality of a much larger parrot and shares all the same traits and demands. Here are some Quaker Stats.

Shannon and her mom and dad came to learn about parrots and decided a Quaker would be a great first companion for Shannon s they gave us a deposit. Soon after baby Quaker arrived in our nursery. Below you see a picture of Shannon meeting Oliver for the first time. It looks like love at first sight!

Little birds grow fast and we would have loved to have kept Oliver (as he became to be known) with us longer but when a fledgling bird is ready (fully fledged and weaned - eating on their own), it's time to transition to their forever home. Oliver went home to be with Shannon in time to start decorating for Christmas 2009. What a festive way to start a new life. Here's a picture on go-home day!

Congratulations Shannon and Oliver - a match made in heaven. Please keep in touch and since you are so close, we hope you will stop on by for a visit and a wing trimming!

Jeremy and Elena
Oliver's surrogate parents

Announcing AvianOutfitters new on line birdie store

2009-12-09T13:42:00.001-08:00

We are excited to announce that last month we launched Rosie's AvianOutfitters on line store. As you know Beaker is our mascot for Beaker's Parrot Place. Well, Beaker's girlfriend - Rosie - is quite the shopper and she has put together a select number of great birdie products for the discriminating parrot. You will find cages, cage stuff, a huge selection of high quality food, and toys...toys... toys. We want to personally thank Debbie Tejada from Tejada Design for the fantastic job building the site!

During the month of December, all visitors who make a purchase will receive a FREE foot toy for their birdie. What a great stocking stuffers this will be.

For all our local friends and customers - we love to have you come and visit us and bring your birds so please continue to do so. Also, we are now carrying a great new line of bird toys from Sensible Parrot - quality toys and a great value. Please give us a call and plan to stop by soon.

Elena and Rosie
http://avianoutfitters.com

I believe in Miracles - Beaker's NEAR miss!

2009-11-14T16:13:00.000-08:00

For those of you who have birds, you well know just how smart and crazy they can be. Well, Beaker, our male Solomon Island Eclectus, is an escape artist of sorts. On occasion he escapes through one of this food dish doors. Well, yesterday was one of those days, but this time, he ran into Rizzo, our 6-7 month old rat terrier.

It was NOT a pretty picture. I was downstairs working and heard lost of barking - what's new with two dogs, right? This time, there was something different in the persistence of Rizzo's barking. I ran upstairs into the sunroom to find Beaker's food door open and Beaker no where to be found. I cleared the two dogs out of the room and got on my hands and knees calling for Beaker, I finally saw him and my breath was sucked out of me. Beaker was hobbling towards me with his neck and chest all wet and his wing hanging out.... oh my gosh Rizzo has been toying with the bird!

It was around 4:15pm in the afternoon and I called the avian vet right away. We put Beaker in his tranport carrier and off the vet we went. Beaker was in shock. I didn't see any blood. Our drive to the vet took about 45 minutes - about 45 minutes TOO long.

The vet kept Beaker over night - Xray, exam, fluids, etc. - they were concerned about the shock and possible infection.
Well, good news!!!!! I called the vet this morning and Beaker was doing much better. No puncture wounds, very sore on the right side of his neck and wing, and the vet said we could pick him up today.... yeah!

Beaker was now at home resting.... It remains to be seen if he and Rizzo will be friendly again. All I can say is God is good ALL the time - and He is in the business of miracles.

Here's another picture of our one and only Beaker!!!

Signed,
Beaker's grateful mom

Change of season and change of guard!!!

2009-11-08T17:44:00.000-08:00

It's been SO crazy busy around here that we have not been good about writing posts other than the launch communications we have done where we acknowledge formal sendoff of our dear babies into the loving arms of their 'forever' families. This post is dedicated to Claudia, Ethel and Kevin and their new family members. Hang on.... here goes.

First out the shoot on Oct. 31st - Kiwi
In our October 4 post we highlighted the two traveling Timnehs. Well, one of the two owners, Claudia from Eastern WA, also purchased a second bird from us - a baby male Solomon Island Eclectus who she named Kiwi. When Claudia originally called us to talk about parrots, I mentioned that we happened to have a baby male SI Eclectus available and she stopped dead in her tracks because her grandson, Chance, had been doing research on the Eclectus species and had his heart set on one.... Long story short, Claudia, Chance and Kiwi are now forever friends. Enjoy these snaps.

Kiwi and Chance first meeting
taken Sept 26, 2009

October 31, 2009
Claudia and Kiwi forever friends

Two out the door at one time - first... Huey
Huey is one of two African Red-Bellied Parrots. For those who are not acquainted with AR-Bs, they are smaller parrots (approx 9") with a BIG parrot personality. AR-Bs can be good talkers and sound a little like Mickey Mouse on helium. When we bring babies in, we like to bring them in with a traveling buddy so they don't travel along. Huey traveled with his/he sibling, whose name is now Mickie. Here is a snapshot of Huey and Mickie when they arrived at Beaker's nursery.

From left to right... who knows (hah!)
Taken on October 9, 2009 - AR-Bs about 7 weeks old

Kevin lives in the local area in Fife and recently graduated from Fife High. From what we understand, Kevin has had a passion for birds for a long time and we have a strong sense that Huey will not be Kevin's last companion - possibly a blue crown conure! Here is a snapshot of Kevin and Huey taken on go-home day.

From right to left taken Nov. 7, 2009
Huey, Kevin and Kevin's Mom

And then Mickey - last but not least! We got a call from Ethel a few weeks ago now. Ethel recently lost a special companion parrot she had for years (an African Red Bellied parrot). And when she saw our online ad, she just gave us a call. Well, she came to meet Huey's sibling on Oct 29. Ethel knew then and there that this little birdie was the right one for her. She named him Mickie and within two short weeks Ethel was taking Mickie home....what a lucky bird he is. Jeremy and I sent both AR-Bs home on the same day... double the joy all the way around.

And today I got an email from Ethel and she shared, "Mickie made it to the new home and has all the new toys to play with... Chirps a lot and is just looking around at everything. We are going to have so much fun together. The cage is high so he is able to see outside and all that goes on. Thank you so much for giving me the privilege of giving Mickie a home." We just love it when we can help bring parrots and people together in a 'forever match.' Here's a snapshot of Ethel and Mickie with friends.

Center stage - Ethel and Mickie with special friends
taken yesterday - Nov. 7, 2009

We have one more pic for our viewing pleasure. I captured a VERY short video clip of Huey and Mickey on Saturday morning that we wanted to share with you.

Enjoy!

Jeremy and Elena
Beaker's Flock Leaders

Homecoming for Helo

2009-10-09T07:57:00.000-07:00

We enjoy writing these kind of posts - and get great satisfaction and joy when we can make an amazing 'forever' match between human and parrot. In this post we are thrilled to acknowledge HELO!!!

Customers, Reece and Margorie came to Beaker's looking for a macaw. During our initial visit they got the chance to meet Beaker, our male Solomon Island Eclectus. Anyone who wants to, gets to hold Beaker when they come to the house. (As part of our process, we talk about personality and lifestyle to help the customer select the best parrot species for them - then we find a sweet baby and bring it in to our nursery for hand-raising and loving ). Well, at the close of our appointment, the Reece gave us a deposit for a baby macaw, a severe macaw, I believe.

To make a long story shorter, Reece called us the next day and asked to change his request from the macaw to a 'baby Beaker.' And the rest is history.... (For those who don't know Eclectus are known as the hypo allergenic bird because they don't have dust gland like most other birds. And this was one of the draws for Reece and Margorie).

On Sunday September 27th, we sent Helo off to his 'forever' home with Reece and Margorie. Helo will always have a special place in our heart, He is a sweet, gentle and confident bird - not to mention just down right gorgeous bird - just wait until is beak turn candycorn yellow and orange - now that's amazing!

Here are a few pictures of Helo's time with us and his new family. Enjoy.

Elena
Co-flock leader

Helo at 6 weeks 5 days old

July 26 - Meeting Helo for the first time

August 9 - visiting day

Aug 25 - feeding Helo

Sept. 27, 2009 Forever Home Day!

Double the pleasure, double the fun!

2009-10-07T18:52:00.001-07:00

Back in August, a prospective customer, Amber, came to see one of our Timneh African Greys. ...Well, it was love at first sight.

Then, over the time the Amber came to visit 'Tango' (great name for such a special bird), her partner, Rich, would come along and while he was here he spent time visiting with another baby we were hand-raising (a male Solomon Island Eclectus). To make a long story shorter, Rich fell in love with this baby Eclectus and decided to buy him... so, in this household, it's double the pleasure and double the fun!

Here are a few snapshots of Amber and 'Tango' and Rich and 'PeeWee' for your viewing pleasure.

Tango the day he arrived in the Beaker's Nursery

Amber and Tango on 'forever' go home day

The day PeeWee arrived in Beaker's Nursery

Rich and PeeWee on 'forever' go home day

We have been penned match-makers, and in this case, the rumor is true!

Elena

Co-flock leader

The Two Traveling Timnehs

2009-10-04T07:25:00.000-07:00

They came together and the almost left together...well, not exactly but they left Beaker's soon after they got here to move on to their 'forever' homes. While here they blessed our nursery with their cute coos, and playful antics.

I want to acknowledge the breeder for the excellent job he did in giving these two baby Timneh African Greys (TAG) such a GREAT early start. Thanks!!!! This breeder is one of the fine breeders we work with through our Nationwide Parrot Place organization. Our breeders produce such wonderful healthy babies and then we have the pleasure and the fun of hand-raising, nurturing and socializing them through the fledging and weaning process until ready for their 'forever' homes.

Here are two snapshots of the Timnehs the day they arrived - at the time the TAGs were 4 to 4 1/2 months old. These are the oldest babies we have welcomed into our nursery. Most of the time our babies comes to us at 6 - 8 weeks of age but Timnehs have a specific breeding season (from Jan through June) so we were fortunate to find these two cuties for Claudia and the Newcomb family!

Timothy on the left and Mojo on the right

Mojo on the right and Timothy on the left

As I mentioned, Mojo and Timothy were not with us long, but long enough to steal our hearts. Here are four snapshots of go-home day. Yours truly (Elena) was behind the camera.

Sept. 26, 2009
Claudia Stewart and Timothy

Sept. 26, 2009
Timothy going into the carrier

Oct. 2, 2009
The Newcomb's - Dakota, Cierra, Lilly (with Mojo) and Zander
Daddy, Chris is in the US Army serving in Afghanistan

Oct. 2, 2009
Jeremy saying good bye to Mojo

We hope you enjoyed this post!

Elena
Beaker co-flock leader

Happy Trails to Prem!

2009-09-24T07:34:00.000-07:00

Just like waves that come in sets, so it seems that the sweet birdies we hand-raise LEAVE in sets....

In this posting we want to acknowledge the moving on of 'Prem' - an absolutely amazing, sweet and smart Congo African Grey. It's interesting to watch the matching of people and parrots - When baby Congo and Sahaj met for the first time, it was SO obvious that they were meant for each other; there was no denying it and both Sahaj and Prem (not his name at the time) knew it. During the short time that Jeremy and I had to privilege and pleasure of working with Prem, both he and Sahaj carved a special place in our hearts.

A week ago Saturday on Sept. 12 we sent 'Prem' on to his 'forever home' with Sahaj and Tom. Here are a few snapshots to tell the story.

Picture #1 - Prem's and Sahaj's first meeting. Jeremy is in the background giving some special time to Prem's traveling buddy, 'Tango' (Timneh African Grey baby).

Picture #2 - Prem's and Tango saying good bye - Tango is on the right and Prem on the left.

Picture #3 - Prem's and Sahaj having one last snuggle before Prem goes into the travel carrier.

Picture #4 - Prem's ready to rock and roll on to his new adventure with Sahaj and Tom.

Prem, don't be a stranger now - you only live in Kent, just a stone's throw from here so make sure your mommy and daddy bring you by for a visit. Blessings on a wonderful life!

Hugs!

Elena (and Jeremy)

New Water Feature!

2009-09-18T13:02:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
There is nothing like the sound of white water - especially when it is in your back yard. We are thrilled to be able to say that we have finally executed on a key aspect of our 5 year landscaping plan - adding a water feature. Not only will we benefit from the therapeutic sounds, Beaker and Rosie and the other birdies will love it in when they spend time in the new aviary we will be getting sometime soon. Here are a couple of stills and a video to show you what we are up to... Enjoy!

Elena

We found this crack (fischer) in the bottom of the pond area. When we dropped a rock into the crack, we could NOT hear it hit bottom!

Here is a snapshot of the north stream bed under liner.

Here's a view from the pool area looking up the hill at the two streams.

Now the short video to put things into motion!

Nowhere to be found.... and then there was Rizzo!

2009-09-07T11:56:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

My last post was a VERY hard bit of prose to pen. Since 8/16's post we have looked high and low for Memphis but she has not turned up. The signs are still up and, in our heart, we can continue to hope for a miracle.... there is ALWAYS hope; Hope springs eternal!

Looking at Lucy was the hardest thing... I am sure the birds knew that Memphis was missing but they never commented (smile). Jeremy and I could not take it any longer so we got Lucy a new friend... Welcome Rats Rizzo - we call him Rizzo for short. He is a 4 and a half month old Rat Terrier... I have been known to call small dogs, rat dogs before but I never knew there was an 'official' breed... go figure LOL.

Here are a couple of snapshots of our newest family member. Isn't he cute!!!!!

Elena

Tribute to Memphis

2009-08-16T13:49:00.001-07:00

Dear friends,

This is one of the hardest posts I will ever write and I dedicate it to Memphis.

On Saturday Aug. 8 Lucy (our American Standard Pitbull mix) and Memphis (our brindle whippet mix) escaped, again, under the fence in our back yard. The neighbors called to let us know they were spotted in the neighborhood so Jeremy went out to get them - he came home with Lucy but not Memphis - she was nowhere to be found. She didn't come home that night, nor any night since. She has been missing 8 days.

For those of you who know us, we live on the edge of Mt. Rainier timberland (literally across the highway). At this point Jeremy and I fear the worst. Memphis had a collar with identification and she was micro-chipped. We put up flyers, posted to Craig List's lost and found, notified the neighbors, contacted the local vet, continually check the shelter listing and drive the neighborhood just in case she is finding her way home. We don't know if she is dead or alive... what we do know is that she is in God's care. It's a bitch not knowing.... and we are VERY sad.

We love you Memphis! We will continue to hope and know that we will see you again someday in heaven. Here are a few more snapshots of our amazing Memphis!

White is Beautiful!!!!!

2009-08-07T17:24:00.000-07:00

As some of you may know we are hand-raising two African Greys - a Timneh and a Congo Grey. Both are sweet babies and at 9 weeks old they are learning what their wings will do for them. It's so cute to see them using their nails to grip the carpet so that they can practice flapping their wings. It won't be long and they will take off - I can't wait - flight without control - LOL.

Now for why white is beatiful.... Well you see, the Congo Grey has two white toe nails. I have heard of this before but have not seen it until now. Here are two snapshots taken today - one featuring baby CAG's feet showing the white nails and the other snapshot of baby CAG playing. Enjoy!

Elena

Launch of first newsletter

2009-08-01T16:43:00.000-07:00

There are SO many different channels to keep in touch and get our messages out these days - One of the ways to build a social network is through Twitter (Beaker's is now on Twitter - 'beakersparrotpl') - it's amazing how many tweets you get.

At the end of July we also launched our first newsletter called Beaker's Bits. We will be sending Beaker's Bits out to our mailing list. If you would like to be on our mailing list, please visit our website and click the join mailing list link. We promise not to spam folks and to communicate newsworthy info.

Take it easy!

Elena

Baby Beakers!!!!! How cute is this?

2009-07-23T18:22:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

Today Jeremy and I went to SeaTac Airport and picked up two new arrivals to the nursery. We have anxiously been waiting this day for a couple of weeks now; because, our two new arrivals are baby male Solomon Island Eclectus... little baby Beakers!

We captured the unveiling on video - enjoy!

Elena

Buddy and AR-B's First Play Date

2009-07-21T18:40:00.000-07:00

July 19th began like any other ordinary day in AR-B's young parrot life - the sunshine's early morning wake-up call followed by fresh pellets, a morning treat and fresh water. But July 19 would be a special day for this little parrot and his friend, Buddy - for today Buddy would visit for the first time since he moved on to his 'forever' home with John and Sonja Garland.

Buddy and AR-B were VERY excited to see each other again. Dad and Mom Garland brought Buddy for a visit and the two kids played while John and Sonja took a hike in Mr. Rainier Park (Carbon River entrance.)

Here's a short video clip of Buddy and AR-B during their first play time... enjoy!

Elena

Amendment.... for Kozy

2009-06-26T13:27:00.000-07:00

Since I cannot amend a post once I have posted it, I need to correct my previous entry.

Happening more times these days than I care to emit..., I was off on the date that Barry and Cindy picked up Kozy. To set the record straight, Kozy moved on to his 'forever' home Tuesday evening June 23. We trust you are settling well to your new digs!

Elena

Kozy's New 'Forever' Home

2009-06-25T09:34:00.000-07:00

It was our joy to send Kozy on to his 'forever' home last Sunday, June 21. We have so enjoyed getting to know Kozy's new parents, Cindy & Barry Fulgham, over the past couple of months that Kozy was with us.

I must say, African Greys are the sweetest birds; well I guess I say that about all the bappies we hand-raise. In this case, Kozy definitely dispelled any myths that greys are shy or phobic, or that they are one person birds. Kozy, nor his brother, Elvis were shy or hesitant to get on the floor and play. About the only thing they didn't care for were the dogs.

Here is a cute snapshot of the happy family....

Happy trails Kozy!!!! Stay in touch.

Elena and Jeremy
Kozy's temporary flock leaders

Happy Trails to Elvis!

2009-06-22T20:05:00.000-07:00

One of our great joys is to send off a bappy to his/her 'forever' home. For the Maldonado family, this Father's Day was an extra special day - it was Elvis's big day. In the picture below you see the send off snapshot I took of the family (from left to right Christian, Miguel Jr., Heather and Miguel Sr.) followed by a snapshot of Elvis in his new transport carrier. The family likes the outdoors and plans to take Elvis on their camping trips.... sounds like fun.

Enjoy your new 'forever' home Elvis - you are a lucky bird!

Elena and Jeremy

Milestone for Elvis!!!!

2009-05-28T12:33:00.000-07:00

It's amazing just how smart CAGs are. I went down to visit and feed our babies Tuesday morning and was greeted by Elvis.... Amazing, at 11 weeks Elvis spoke his first full sentence, or two... Check it out!

Elena

Happy Trails to Tiko and Buddy!

2009-05-28T10:11:00.000-07:00

WOW... the month of May was a very busy month for us. Not only did we send Piper to his new home with Patty and welcome two new CAG babies to the flock - Elvis and Kozy - we sang happy trails to Tiko (Blue and Gold Macaw) and Buddy (Senegal) sending them on to their families on May 24, over the Memorial Day weekend.

If I am being honest with myself, I must confess that parting is SWEET SORROW for me. It's really a double whammy... because not only did I fall in love with Tiko and Buddy, but I have so enjoyed spending time with and getting to know their families - I value the relationship we established and look forward to keeping in touch in the weeks, months and years ahead.

Jeremy and I captured their exits and the smiles of Tiko and Buddy's new families. Enjoy these two shots!

Elena

Happy parents
John and Sonja Garland from Anacortes, WA

Happy family
Cyndi Hodge, Terry and Katey Soos

Celebrating Piper!

2009-05-15T15:27:00.000-07:00

Parting is such sweet sorrow.... and so the saying goes. Yesterday we said good-bye to Piper. This cute and crazy little Sun Conure was in our care for the last couple of months as we took him through the development process. In addition to the nurturing guidance and development process we provide, we also taught him a trick or two - one of them, playing dead. Enjoy this short video clip showing Jeremy putting Piper in his cross-hairs.

Piper Perching for the first time!

We bless you Piper and know that you and Patty will have a long and wonderful life together. Enjoy your new digs in Haden, Idaho.

Check Us Out. WOW... how we have grown!

2009-05-14T11:36:00.000-07:00

It never ceases to amaze me just how fearfully and wonderfully we are all created - even baby birds. My last post was on May 9 and you saw a picture of our new arrivals, two baby CAGs. Three weeks later these two little guys are quite accomplished - perching, playing, and now practicing vocalizations. Enjoy this video clip featuring Elvis Maldonado and Cozy Fulgham.

Baby Congo's at Play

2009-05-08T14:02:00.000-07:00

We are having fun... fun... fun watching our bappies grow. We welcomed two baby Congo African Greys (CAGs) to Beaker's nursery on April 21st. These little ones were hatched on March 10. Here is a snapshot of the two on the day they arrived to the nursery. Now take a look - just a little more than two weeks later - here they are at play. Enjoy!

Easter Greetings!

2009-04-12T17:23:00.000-07:00

The Easter Bunny came to visit us today. Tico (the baby Blue and Gold Macaw) and Piper (Sun Conure) were on hand for a picture with the bunny and flock leader, Elena.

All kidding aside, from our house to yours, we wish you a wonderful Easter (Resurrection Sunday).

Piper's first round-trip flight

2009-04-06T18:56:00.000-07:00

Today was an exiting day at Beaker's Parrot Place. Piper, took his FIRST round-trip solo fight and Jeremy and I caught it on video!!! Pipe will soon be going home to Patty Lynch, his new flock leader, in Hayden, Idaho. Check out this video - it's a 13 second clip that captures this very speedy and intentional guy.

It is AMAZING to me just how quickly parrots seemingly grow up and just how quickly I can loose my heart to one of them... Saying good-bye to one of our 'bappies' is always a challenge for me.

Enjoy the clip!

Elena
Piper's Temporary Flock Leader

Reflection... and the gift!

2009-04-01T16:04:00.001-07:00

Today I was reflecting as I looked at some of the photos we have taken of our bappies (baby parrots), actually our customer's babbies that they have entrusted us to loving hand-raise for them. I was struck by the fact that bappies grow SO fast - it is amazing what a couple of weeks can do. In an instant, they will be grown and gone to their new home. I must confess, saying good bye is not easy and we are thankful to have these little guys in our stead for a short time that we have them.

In today's reality - it's TOO easy to get distracted from the things that are really important - like faith, family and friends. I want to encourage you to take some time and reflect on what is important to you. My friend, ever day is a gift... and YOU are a gift, so give yourself away and make a difference in the lives of others!

Elena
Beaker's flock leader

What's cookin' in the kitchen?

2009-03-08T15:23:00.000-07:00

At our place, we like to spend time in the kitchen. The kitchen seems to be where the action is - at least Beaker and Rosie think so. We often hear their 'where are you - I can't see you?' call when we vanish out of site and head for the kitchen. Well not any more... Take a look at Beaker and Rosie's new play stand! Very cool - and they like it too. Before long Beaker will want to help prep his own dinner Enjoy the snaps.

Babies coming!

2009-02-17T18:07:00.000-08:00

Well, I must confess, God is teaching me patience - wow, that is hard! The remodel is just about done. We are now ready to bring babies in.... finally. We have a baby Blue and Gold Macaw and Sun Conure arriving soon and I can't wait to give them some good ol' fashion TLC. I will update the site with pics soon. Until then, you can use your imagination.

Like sands in an hourglass...

2009-02-01T07:34:00.000-08:00

Yikes..., I wonder if our remodeling project will ever be done! You can call me impatient OR call me excited, which is what I would prefer. As soon as we get the the remodel done we can bring in 'bappys' meaning baby birds for those who don't know this term.

Here are two snaps shots of the current state of the remodel. The birds will love all the room in the shower and our guests will be able to enjoy a cup of coffee or tea while visiting their birds. Well, that's it for now.

WOW... 2009

2009-01-09T19:06:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year! Welcome to our blog.

We're VERY excited - just finishing a small remodeling project to get ready for new babies! Here are two snapshots of our beautiful Eclectus parrots. Rosie is our female on the left and Beaker is on the right. Eclectus parrots are dimorphic, meaning the male and female can be identified by distinct difference in plumage or coloration. Lots more about parrots in later posts. :-)