Petey Blog

Petey is able to fly pretty well now, but his ability to fly is a double edged sword. On one hand he gets quite a bit more exercise and seems very happy. But on the other, he can get in to more trouble than before. Although he only flies between people and his perches, even that can be a nuisance as he does not like to be left behind. Even if you just want to sit on the couch a few feet from his perch without him for a moment. Then there are the obvious arguments against flighted birds. They can have fatal accidents with windows, fans, or other hazards. They can also get loose and lost, although this can happen even with clipped birds too. Some people report that birds also become less social and more independent. Petey does not seem to be any less social or independent than before, in fact other than flying back to the people he is used to when handed off to a stranger, he is more social now that he can fly back to us. I guess the big question has not been answered yet.

Comments:
Pete : Glad to see Petey back! Fantastic pictures. Quetzal says, "Hello".

Whenever Petey sees his mirror image, he barely takes notice of it and loses interest quickly. I've read that birds can become obsessive of their own mirror images if given a mirror toy in their cage. Some cases say that the birds will start to feed their mirror image, even groom it. Mirrors used to be a popular toy for birds, but new opinions are beginning to question its effect of the bird's social behavior. Either way, Petey seems quite content without a mirror and I would suggest avoiding mirrors if your bird is already social with you and other people. The photo with this post is of Petey perched on a food bowl above his cage, it was taken a while ago. He seems to prefer being up there less now, he likes being in his cage to eat or sleep, on his perch in the living room when people are in there, or being on people when he's awake.