As the first week with Cookie came to an end, I see that she is a really great bird. Cookie is very calm, quiet and not really spooked by movements toward or near her cage. I have been able to touch her toes without her moving away from me, I have once been able to get her on to a stick (i hope to work on that a lot more, as well as getting her on my arm), and I have had a few "conversations" with her (with her talking to me as I make noises).

Her former owner said that she usually rings her bell when she is happy, and I am happy (myself) to say that she does this quite often. this morning, when my husband and i were about to leave the house, she started ringing her bell and making cute noises along with it. its wonderful! im honored to get such feedback from her within the first two weeks.

She has been happily coming out of her cage and perching on her door.

She allows me to come into her cage (while she is sitting inside of the cage on the top) with a scrubber to clean her cage every night.

Whenever my husband or i talk to her, she constantly seems to try to speak along with us. when i say "hi", she opens her beak just slightly and distends the bottom of her chin, as if she is blowing air through her mouth. its interesting to see. not sure if this will lead to humanspeak, but i don't really care about that. (speaking ability is not what makes a parrot a good companion - its just a bonus with their happiness and friendship).

she still has her pin feathers on the top of her head, but it seems to have soften a bit. Cookie won't allow me to preen her yet, so i can't break them.

with fresh food, Cookie likes to eat the green beans, lima beans, edamame and corn. Cookie is also DEFINITELY a Harrison's pellet bird.

and the ultimate honor so far she has graced me with? (besides stepping up on the perch and allowing me to give her a bath) last night as I cleaned her cage, she sat on her cage door and did a body shake (something like what a dog does after a bath, but much shorter - this loosens any stiff joints and realigns feathers) and a tail wag (a show of happiness and contentment)!

i cant wait to see what her time with us brings!

Cookie's First Small Outing

it seems that cookie favors me a little more than my husband so far. she has lunged at his hand as he was offering her corn once and another time, i think she was confused at what he wanted from her (he had his palm open in front of her with some white seeds) and she put one foot on his hand and then bit down...not as hard as she could have done so it was probably a warning.

Cookie seems to looooovvveee safflower seeds. she takes them very nicely from my hand. i have to make sure that i don't give her too much since they are seeds afterall. she also takes Harrison's pellets from my fingers greedily as if they were also treats...that was really cute!

oh, so what about the outing, you ask? well, we opened her cage door and stepped out for a few seconds...when we came back in, she was crawling on the bed to an area where i had placed a few safflower seeds for safe-keeping...well, she decided she wanted some of that so she started munching away. my husband and i were wondering how to get her away from there and so we decided to use a stick. i approached her slowly and although she didn't seem phased by it (she kept on chomping on the seeds in front of her) she didn't really care for it, but when i insisted, she eventually stepped up (yes, there were a few safflower seeds still left on the headboard..:-) ).

anyways, since she has a WHOLE BUNCH of pin feathers on the top of her head and around her neck, i decided to take this opportunity to take her into the shower with me and get her wet. this will help break those pin feathers on the top of her head, as well as put a shine on her feathers. well, she allowed me to take her into get a shower as my husband filmed a little of it. at the end of the second film, she decides that my husband's nosy camera was a little too scary and bit the top of my right index finger knuckle. i think it was to move me away from the weird camera. it wasn't terrible tho.

i dont think it was a scary situation for her...hearing the sounds that she made, she might have been a little excited and intrigued. she is sure a character! the other films are of her finding the mirror next to our bed as well as her ringing and making noise with her favorite bell. we also have some pictures of her to show off. :-)

cookie with her favorite bell...




cookie enjoying her reflection...




cookie in the shower part #1...




cookie in the shower part #2...




cookie enjoying her reflection in a mirror...




pictures of cookie on a stick...



cookie on the stick and i am rewarding her with a safflower seed...



cookie on my arm (she walked up the stick and on to my arm)...



cookie in the shower...

Building Trust in Cookie

Pictures of the beautiful Cookie...









So far, I think things are going well with Cookie. She (we actually don't know her real gender, but I think Cookie has a different "feel" than the other guys in my home, so I will say Cookie is a she until we have evidence to prove otherwise) is not afraid of my husband or I very much. On alert a little, but does come out to sit atop the cage door to see us. She takes small safflower seeds very gently from both my husband and myself as we hold them between our fingertips and hardly makes a sound, unless you rattle her favorite bell.

Cookie makes such a cute sound...I have mentioned earlier that it is a trill...but its more of a gutteral sound, something similar to a short purr. Ever saw Jurassic Park? it sounds similar to a veloceraptor's "purr". ;-) another evidence of a bird-dinosaur relationship?

Right now, its all about building trust. I read to Cookie, sing to her, talk to her and just next to her cage as I do my own thing. every once in a while i will give her pieces of nut or seed. I am very encouraged to see that she is so gentle when taking these pieces out of my fingers. She also loves her pellets and does pick out her favorite things from her morning and evening fresh mixture of some fruits, veggies, beans and rice. I think her most favorite ones are lima and edamame beans.

till next time...

Cookie comes to our home...

Yesterday, we picked up Cookie...a beautiful 42-year-old blue front amazon. He went straight into his quarantine room (our bedroom) and once in, he went to his food bowl and dove right in!

First impressions show that Cookie doesn't seem to be afraid of us. He sits quietly and intently looks at us with big orang eyes. No eye-pinning, no tail flayed, no aggression. Very curious. He has numerous pin feathers all over his head which gives Cookie a comical look - as if someone put gel in his feathers and a few got clumped together.

Cookie has made a few cute noises as he calmed down in our bedroom. My husband sat with him a while and I also sat with him later on, reading to him from a book I am currently engrossed in. He has made some light grunting noises and a few soft, low trills.

We will see what the next few days bring as he gets used to us and his surroundings...