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Post by raylsd on Feb 2, 2008 12:53:18 GMT 7
Hi,
I'm the proud owner of a pair of "breeding" Bourke's Parrots. These very underestimated little birds are part of our family, coming out of their cage every day to be with us.
Each night the little girl waits to be lifted into the cage, but the little boy, independent little soul, likes to put himself to bed, but will then call me to come and close the cage and cover them over.
They are gentle and loving and spend a lot of time sitting on our shoulder. Usually where we are, they are.
The only time we have any trouble is at breeding time. We have just gone through their second breeding year, but no babies, only eggs. We think the little boy is a "throw back" because the breeder we bought him from was trying to breed Rosa's and this little fellow was amongst that lot, and we don't think he is fertile.
They become so aggressive at breeding time, constantly biting our feet whenever we walk past. They will even chase us and I'm terrified I'm going to walk on one of them one day. They will not use a nesting box, preferring to lay their eggs on the floor, usually in a corner in the hallway. Next year I'm going to build a little "house" for them so they will feel protected. Just a roof and side walls so they're still on the floor.
Their breeding period this year was very extended, being from August until only a couple of weeks ago. Their first year was only the normal time period. I think the weather had something to do with this.
I do love these little delights and my husband and I have so much fun watching them and their antics.
Now, they eat seed and some fresh vegies such as broccoli, cauli, carrot but what else should I be feeding them. Oh by the way, they prefer cooked vegies. They also love cooked rice, pasta, corn and peas but I have to remove the skin from the corn and peas.
That's it for my first time here I guess.
Bye for now.
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Post by Helen on Feb 2, 2008 13:52:42 GMT 7
Welcome!!! They sound like real characters.
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Post by karen on Feb 3, 2008 13:13:34 GMT 7
They sound gorgeous, I would love it if you could post pics of them interacting with you. Most people (especially on overseas forums) don't believe that these little treasures can be tamed. It is lovely to meet someone who not only has 1 but 2! One of my boys loves whistling at me behind my back but when I go to the aviary he is silent and gives me that famous Bourke "I am innocent" look.
LOL your are spoilt, mine get their veggies raw and I don't peel them either! hehe
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Post by raylsd on Feb 3, 2008 16:09:32 GMT 7
Hi and thanks for the nice welcome girls.
I'll try to get photos to put on here.
Yes, they are very spoilt, but they just give so much to us it's easy to spoil them.
I didn't mention yesterday.....these little dears are the second lot. The first one we had, my little "Buddy", used to talk. He could say "Whatcha doin'?" and "Hello Buddy". He was even more spoilt than the 2 we have now. He used to sit on his little feed tray on my lap and we'd have breakfast together. One morning my husband came down stairs and Buddy went looking for him, found him in the bathroom. Buddy stood between my husband's legs, looked up at him and said "Hello Buddy". My husband replied "Hello Buddy". Buddy then said "Whatch doin'?" to which my husband replied "I'm doing a wee". Buddy then wolf whistled. Now we're not silly enough to believe he knew what he was doing. It was just so funny though and we nearly split our sides laughing at the way it all unfolded.
Anyway, we lost our poor little Buddy and I was broken hearted. We found another bird, a Kakariki whom I named Riki. About a week after we brought him home we found the little girl Bourke's, Paddy, but when we brought her home, Riki was most upset. He didn't like this interloper at all and used to pounce on her. Because we wanted them as indoor pets, not having the facility for outdoor pets anyway, we ended up getting rid of Riki. But whilst we still had him, Paddy used to sit on my shoulder and I'd hold her food bowl up so she could eat in peace. She still does that. She'll walk past her food bowl and fly to my shoulder to eat.
Bobby, the male, feeds Paddy too, all year round. I don't know if that's normal behaviour for them, but it's beautiful to see. So you see, she's spoilt by everyone in the house. LOL
Thanks again and I'll be back later.
Raylsd
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Post by silkiechick on Feb 3, 2008 16:21:12 GMT 7
Welcome! They sound like so much fun! i love having birds around me all the time, it would be soo boring with out them!!! as for the breeding problem i have no idea! as i am stil trying to get it right!
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Post by Helen on Feb 3, 2008 18:01:06 GMT 7
I am afraid I don't know much about them but we do have some experienced people on the forum. They may be able to help you.
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Post by Matt on Feb 3, 2008 19:22:06 GMT 7
Hello and welcome to the forum! Your bourkes sound very special, and you must have put a lot of effort into making them the great pets you have today. In regard to the breeding it is possible that the eggs laid on the ground are losing too much heat and not incubating properly. That is why a nest box is perfect because the ambient temperature does not change too much and the humidity can build up a bit inside. I hope you can get them to breed successfully in the future it would be a rewarding experience. Maybe try the house as you suggested to keep them covered and mimic a nestbox type situation? In regard to the aggression, I think that is fairly normal and the only way to stop it would be to place the birds inside their cage for the breeding season. Look forward to hearing more about them soon.
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Post by Silvercloud on Feb 4, 2008 7:26:37 GMT 7
Hi and welcome. Your bourkes sound like lil treasures. They are special birds hey. I bought a rosa to keep my disabled elegant company as I couldn't find any elegants at the time. Rosie (how original :  is such a sweet, gentle girl and even though she isn't tame will sometimes sit on my hand to eat and will fly to the side of the cage to say hi. |
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Post by raylsd on Feb 4, 2008 18:04:03 GMT 7
Hi Everyone,
Matt, I have tried them with a breeding box, actually 2 breeding boxes. One is the deep box and the other is a lower style of box. They aren't the least bit interested in them.
I have thought about a small basket with grass or nesting material in it, but I don't know if they'd be interested in that either. I understand that they are ground dwellers and do lay their eggs on the grass.
Silvercloud, just keep trying with your Rosa. It doesn't take much for them to get used to you. They truly are a gentle, loving little bird and will happily accept you as part of their flock.
One thing I didn't do with mine is acclimatise them to being handled. Whilst they're happy to sit on our shoulders and the little girl will come up onto my finger, neither will allow us to pick them up in our hands. That's something I should have trained them to right at the start. I can pick them up out of the cage if I need to, but I really don't like to do that. I prefer that their cage remain their "safe haven".
Silkiechick, do you have Bourke's too?
Helen, the people on here are very nice so maybe someone will know something that can help.
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Post by silkiechick on Feb 6, 2008 4:09:43 GMT 7
No i dont have any (yet!!!!!) will get some one day!!
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Post by raylsd on Feb 8, 2008 16:23:26 GMT 7
Hi everyone,
My little Paddy has been very "clingy" over the last few days, not wanting to leave my shoulder. Makes changing clothes very difficult. I don't know why she's like this at the moment, but I'm not really concerned because she's still eating and seems to be up to her normal mischief.
She sits on our shoulders so quietly that my husband and I have both forgotten she's there and opened the screen doors with her still sitting on our shoulders. Did give us a dreadful fright but, luckily, she made no attempt to fly away. If it had been Bobby it would have been a different matter. He's definitely the more adventurous of the 2 and would have been gone like a shot.
They're losing their feathers at the moment so I've got feathers all over the place. Luckily I've also got a good vacuum cleaner.
I hope I'm not boring anyone with my stories. I just thought other bird lovers would like to hear them.
Bye for now.
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Post by raylsd on Feb 17, 2008 13:50:03 GMT 7
Hi,
A few more stories about our Bourke's Parrots.
Bobby like to sit on my husband's shoulder and pull whiskers. Bobby gets a good hold, digs his heels in and just pulls. It looks so funny. My husband doesn't think it is though. LOL
Paddy has turned into a very fussy little lady. We have a food tray for them which sits on a little fold up table (only about 18" x 14") alongside our table. That's supposed to keep them off our table. Anyway, We have 2 white food bowls hooked onto the side of their tray. One is whiter than the other and that's the one we always use for Paddy when she sits on my shoulder for her meals. We mistakenly gave her the dull white one the other morning and she wouldn't have anything to do with it. As soon as we changed it over, she was quite happy. I couldn't believe she knew the difference, but then I'm constantly underrating the intelligence of these little beauties.
I'd love to have a larger parrot, just to see how intelligent they are and how much they could be taught. If it's like have 2 x Two year old children around the house with these little ones, it must be like have a 4 year old around the house with a larger parrot. WOW!! That'd be great.
I don't think I've mentioned that Bobby and Paddy like to have a shower with us. Paddy sometimes sits on my shoulder and I let the water spray off my hand onto her. She just about turns herself upside down to get the water all over her. Bobby is a bit more reserved and prefers to sit on the wall of the shower and allow me to splash him.
Washing up is a delight for Paddy too. She loves the soap suds and I have a dreadful time trying to keep her away from them. She loves the taste and I can't leave the sink with suds in it at any time. I have to put water onto a plastic plate and set it down near the sink so she can have a bath while I wash up.
I have to make sure that everything is put away, or at least covered, if I'm called away from the kitchen. Paddy loves butter (she doesn't get any though), and they both love bread so making sandwiches with them around is quite a challenge.
They also love nothing more than to nibble on the tiny little bit of cooked meat left on a bone. My husband has tropical fish and gives them "blood worms", but he always has to make sure he has enough for the fish and for Bobby because Bobby always turns up for his share. Paddy isn't so interested in them though.
As I'm typing this, Paddy is sitting on top of my monitor, preening herself and Bobby is sitting on my shoulder. He's preening too.
Well, that's enough for today I think. Talk again soon.
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