for some reason I really like that she’s called Hilda.
This happened on my grandmothers farm when my mom was little,
baby ducks act a lot like baby chickens so in the beginning it wasn’t so bad
the main problem is that baby ducks LOVE water, but baby chickens get very very dead from it,
so you can imagine the mother hens surprise and horror the first time they go by the farm pond and ALL THE BABIES RUN TO THE WATER AND JUMP IN
my grandmother had to come out of the house to investigate all the noise the hen was making
The mother hen was clucking and screeching in distress and running circles around the pond while the duckies were having the time of their lives.
This happened a few more times before Momma hen was like FUCK IT YOU WANNA SWIM SEE WHAT I CARE , and would sit a distance away watching them in the pond.
if the ducks ever abandoned any eggs my grandmother would always put it under that particular hens nest cause from then on she always knew how to deal with her “water loving” delinquent children
Fledgling dove! Saw the mama sitting in the middle of the road with it, so stopped to check on them. Baby was fine (no visible wounds, wings flapped easily, clear eyes, nice and plump, gripped with both feet) so I moved it out of the road and under a bush. Heard it calling for mom as I left, she’ll be back soon.
Annual reminder that any birds you find like this, I.e. feathered and on the ground with a parent nearby, is a fledgling. The process is dangerous, but they’re learning how to be birds. Doves look especially helpless during fledging, but they need to be left alone. If a bird isn’t in immediate danger (near a predator, in a road or other dangerous area, injured, badly underweight, or in any sort of contact with a cat) the best thing you can do is not touch it. I took the opportunity for a cute photo, but only while in the process of moving this bird about 10 feet to get it out of the road.
A naked, helpless baby bird should be put back in the nest, or kept indoors very temporarily until a new nest (any sort of basket, including plastic strawberry ones, lined with grass or shredded paper) can be made and put in a tree near where it was found. Easter baskets are good as they have handles.The parents should find it easily enough.
An emaciated, unresponsive, injured, or cloudy-eyed bird, or any bird that a cat may have scratched, bitten, licked, or mouthed at all should be taken to a wildlife rehabilitator for treatment. Signs of injury include bleeding (beyond minor cuts), legs or wings that don’t work, and large, visible bruises along the featherless underside. Not having feathers under the wings is absolutely normal on fledgelings, as is looking scruffy and being unable to fly.
And, again, if a cat has scratched a bird, even just slightly, or touched the bird with its mouth at all, or if you think it may have mouthed the bird, the bird needs to be taken to a wildlife rehabilitator for antibiotic treatment or it has a high chance of dying of sepsis. Cats have gram-negative bacteria on their saliva that is meant to kill prey animals like birds, and baby birds in particular have extremely thin skin. The bacteria can be dangerous even through intact skin.
Traits that we commonly associate with birds, such as warm-bloodedness, feathers, and flight, arose independently along bird’s evolutionary history; making it hard to draw the line between bird and not-bird.
New research shows climate change is altering the delicate seasonal clock that North American migratory songbirds rely on to successfully mate and raise healthy offspring, setting in motion a domino effect that could threaten the survival of many familiar backyard bird species.
A growing shift in the onset of spring has left nine of 48 species of songbirds studied unable to reach their northern breeding grounds at the calendar marks critical for producing the next generation of fledglings, according to a paper published today in Scientific Reports.
That’s because in many regions, warming temperatures are triggering plants to begin their growth earlier or later than normal, skewing biological cycles that have long been in sync.
The result, researchers say, could be a future much like the one Rachel Carson hinted at more than 50 years ago.
“It’s like ‘Silent Spring,’ but with a more elusive culprit,” said Stephen Mayor, a postdoctoral researcher with the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida and first author of the study. “We’re seeing spring-like conditions well before birds arrive. The growing mismatch means fewer birds are likely to survive, reproduce and return the following year. These are birds people are used to seeing and hearing in their backyards. They’re part of the American landscape, part of our psyche. To imagine a future where they’re much less common would be a real loss.”
To the people in the comments saying the guy is doing this “just for show”
He’s not
With this kind of bird, they are VERY attached to their cages, so if you need to replace the cage, you need to the show the bird you’ve destroyed it so it will accept the new one. It’s upset bc the cage it liked is gone, but the cage was too small for it so it needs to be replaced. The bird is fine.
Thank you for explaining that! I’ve been wondering about this video.
That bird was livid!
@arciifer is so incredibly wrong about the behavior here I can barely form coherent thoughts to explain how and why, it’s just 100% wrong.
It is absolutely a myth that “you need to show the bird you’ve destroyed it so it will accept the new one” or that the bird is angry at all; their whole comment shows a 100% lack of understanding about parrot behavior. I don’t know what facts-I-just-made-up blog that came from, but it’s laughably untrue.
You don’t need to destroy a parrot’s previous cage to ‘show’ it that it’s gone, you could just do what pretty much every other parrot owner does if they need to replace a cage: Either sell it or give it away if it’s a safe cage and still in good condition, or throw it away. You don’t have to ‘show the bird’, that’s completely and utterly absurd to think that.
That cockatoo isn’t “livid” either, it’s having fun and joining in the noise party; that particular bird just happens to have been taught to swear by previous owners and is just yelling along with the noise and having a great time.
Our parrot’s last owners taught him to swear and, though he mostly doesn’t anymore, if he gets SUPER excited, he’ll start dropping f-bombs in his excitement; it doesn’t mean he’s “livid”, it means he’s excited.
See, the thing about parrots, and especially cockatoos: They LOVE a good noisy, banging, bell ringing, clanging, screaming, lots of movement and LOUDNESS party and everything about that ‘too’s body language says, “THIS IS AN AMAZING LOUD PARTY I WILL JOIN!”
So….is the guy in the vid just trashing a crappy cage to have a good time with his parrot (because who wouldn’t to have a healthy screaming match and noise party with their beloved parrot) and posting it on line because it’s a thing that bird owners do or was he promoting the myth that the bird has to see the cage destroyed and get angry to move on?
I can’t really tell what’s going on- I don’t speak bird or bird owner.
I mean, if it’s a guy and his bird having a good noisy fun screaming match time and that’s just what some bird owners do to have fun with their birds- great. I promote this level of pet bonding. Fantastic happy, healthy bird moment.
This is also why I will never own a bird.
The guy is destroying the shitty round cage because round cages are bad for all birds (lack of corners makes them feel constantly exposed and stressed), he’s doing it on camera and with the cockatoo likely just for the fun factor and because birds like to be included in safe flock activities, which smashing this piece of shit cage is.
It’s noisy, it’s not dangerous, it’s full of movement, it’s fun for the cockatoo.
Some random dingus on Tumblr made up the nonsense about “needing to show the bird” and the rest of you non-Google using people went along with it.
Local birb dad here, wanna add onto @why-animals-do-the-thing because birbs are the love of my life, that particular cage was awful for more than just being round.
Okay, so there’s A LOT people don’t consider when it comes to bird cages, which is super sad considering those are their homes, and a good cage set up can make the difference between a happy, healthy bird and a horribly depressed and anxious one.
For one, that cage is PITIFULLY small for the Eclectus parrot it housed. It may not be so apparent in this clip, so here’s a screenshot of the entire cage standing upright in the original video
I actually cried the first time I saw this because I felt so, so, SO bad for Jojo (name of the bird) – whoever the hell thought they could put a such a large bird in such a tiny cage, one they could barely move in, is, I’m sorry, fucking heartless. I’d put maybe, what, a budgie in a cage that size? Maybe? And though I can’t really see, it looks like the bars would be too wide for one anyhow.
Speaking of which, the bars. Dear god those bars.
For those who don’t know, parrots are climbing birds. They climb about A LOT. They’ll be doing a lot of climbing in their cages. And vertical bars suck for this. It’s incredibly uncomfortable to climb with vertical barring.
Last off, an addition to why the actual shape of the cage is bad – parrots are prey creatures, and they aren’t too far from their wild ancestors. They, even in households, still are on the lookout, and round cages make them anxious for this reason like @calleo mentioned. Not only that, but round cages are harder to climb in AND have less volume/space.
Overall this cage was a 2/10 for, what, a budgie, and a -10/10 for this bird, and he had every fucking right to destroy it, and I’m happy Pebble (the moluccan cockatoo in this video) had fun watching it be destroyed.
The man in this video works for a parrot rescue center in Saskatoon, Saskachewan, Canada, and he is doing god’s work. They work so hard for their birds and educating others about them and they’re all around great folks. Literally fuck anyone who said he was endangering the bird.
Please for the love of fuck do your research guys. Birds and fish are probably the creatures that suffer most in captivity, and I’m biased to birds half because of my extensive upbringing around them, but they’re such, such intelligent and emotionally complex creatures, that it pains me so much to see them mistreated.
The big five things to look for in a parrot’s cage:
-Corners!!! Corners corners corners!!! Parrots love corners because it makes them feel safer and are easier to climb. It also helps A BUNCH to put a cage against a corner, so that they don’t have to worry about something sneaking behind. if that won’t work, you should REALLY have them against a wall.
-Material – If I ever see another fucking parrot in a wooden cage I’m going to sCREAM. Parrots CHEW through wood dang it, wood should be a toy to destroy, NOT their home walls. Galvanized wire? Do you WANT to give your parrot zinc poisoning? Because, spoiler alert, your bird will climb a lot if I haven’t made it clear yet, and they use their mouth like a third hand along with their feet to do so. And some birds develop a habit of mouthing at the cage, which increases this risk.
-Big!!! Bigger is almost always better. If you can splurge for a few extra dollars for a bigger cage, please do so.
-Watch your bars! Horizontal bars are the best for parrots. The diameter of bars varies from species to species, so read up! You don’t wanna splurge too much on a bigger cage to end with bars that your bird could slip through – or tries to and god forbid gets stuck.
-Look for an easy to clean cage! This helps you not be de-motivated to clean, which is optimal for your pet’s health, as well as allows quicker time cleaning and more time to spend with your buddy. Stuff like wheeled cages, a pull-out tray, a seed skirt, a large door, etc. Oh, and on the topic of doors, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE avoid the ones that slide up and down. There’s been more than one case of these ending up injuring a bird – think of it as a non-bladed guillotine. Y eah. You don’t want that. Usually it’s just toes that go missing, but there’s been sadder tales.
I’m sorry for this long ass rant/ramble, but the welbeing of parrots is so dear to my heart.
TL;DR – Do you’re fucking research, this man is doing god’s work, and fuck round cages.
I read an anecdote from someone whose African Grey didn’t particularly get along with her Amazon parrot, Paco. One night she was preparing cornish hens for dinner, while the grey hung out with her in the kitchen. He got a closer look at one of the hens, looked his mama dead in the eyes and asked, “Paco?” Then he laughed.
that is one sadistic bird
I am slightly afraid now.
I love birds?
African Grey Parrots are one of the smartest birds, and seems they can be known to play “jokes” or “pranks” on their owners or any visitors.
I was visiting a friend of the family one time and I was just casually watching tv when I thought I heard the water running. I go into the kitchen but everything’s fine. the parrot looks at me and says “gotcha”.
Parrots are awesome.
I have an African Grey named Loki and he lives up to his name.
He likes to scream and mimic the sounds of things falling off the shelf and when we run into the room to see what’s happening he says “The cat did it! Bad Sammy!” and laughs.
Whenever he gets mad at me he flies away from me, but since he can’t fly very well, he always crash lands. And the first thing he says when I go to pick him up, without fail, is always “You need to vacuum,” in a very bitter grumble.
Loki likes to call our cat to him. He’ll sit there for minutes saying “here kitty kitty kitty.” The cat will come, walk up to the bird, get bit and then Loki will laugh as the cat screams and runs away. This goes on for hours.
If it’s late at night and he’s tired, but I’m still up with the lights on, he’ll say “Loki go night night.” It’s starts of in a normal tone and then gets louder and louder until he’s screaming “LOKI GO NIGHT NIGHT!”
If he sees my dad fall asleep, he screams like a little girl to scare my dad awake. And then laughs. He’s kind of perfected that evil laugh.
But the best one was when I brought home the man who has since become my ex for the first time, Loki looked him dead in the eyes and said “I’m going to bite you.” My parrot was the first one to see what a bad person my ex. He was smarter than us all.
African Greys are like the greatest animal on the planet
When I was a kid, we had a rescued african grey called Dodi, and once I was arguing with my mum about my bed time, and the parrot (who had some very foul mouthed previous owners) just shouted at me “for fuck sake go to bed!”
also whenever we hoovered he’d call us “yoooou dusty cunts”
best thing was he had a scottish accent
Reblogging for Scottish swearing parrot
I almost died choked with a piece of cake because of the last one.
lovingdread 