Shower Pals!

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!

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!

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

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

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

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)