One of the enjoyable spinoffs of being a parrot freak is meeting others who share your passion. I’ve known Oliver Fry for a year; we met through World Parrot Trust. We found that we hold similar, though not identical views: enriched environment, carefully planned diets, as much space as possible and interaction with other birds. I emphasize positive reinforcement training; Oliver concentrates on husbandry.
A bird lover all his life, Oliver, as a teenager, kept Hahn’s macaws and bred lovebirds. As an adult he thought he’d put birds aside until he was settled in his own home. But Dusty arrived, a wild-caught Timneh, plucked and cage-bound. He set about providing the best environment possible. His small flat has been parrot-proofed and furnished with natural branches and other enrichment items. Oliver, who reads every study of wild bird behaviour he can get hold of, states that Greys are flock birds. As he works full time, he’d never keep one alone. He bought a one-year old, untamed, parent-reared Grey. Now two years old, Clayton is the most delightful pet parrot, disproving the erroneous belief that parent-reared birds make less suitable pets. But Dusty would not accept Clayton, so Oliver, when offered a wild-caught Timneh, who’d lived as a lone pet for 20 years, accepted him as Dusty’s companion. Maybe a recipe for a difficult situation! Each of the three birds remain focused on Oliver, but both Timnehs have stopped plucking. Although young Clayton, the largest, shows no hostility to the others and has often made friendly approaches, Punk and Dusty frequently drive Clayton - and each other - away. However, Oliver is justly proud that after his thoughtful husbandry, both these plucked and barely-able-to-fly birds are now glossy, full-feathered and flighted.
Clayton, at 18 months old, had spent a winter weekend indoors in our house and adjusted to the company of two mature Greys and two lesser Sulphur Crested cockatoos. Now we envisaged Oliver bringing the three Greys for a whole weekend. Would Oliver’s three birds let loose into an aviary, react well with the resident Greys, the parakeets and perhaps improve their own relationship? Would new bonds form? Our plan: spend two days doing maintenance jobs (in a large, wooden homemade aviary these are continuous) and supervise the birds. We didn’t expect aggression between them but would stay in the aviary to intervene if necessary.
On Saturday morning, we put Punk with Timi, a 23-year-old Timneh hen, into the end flight and closed it off from the next section. Punk made a few lunges at her but they settled down on respective branches. Dusty, let free in the next section, perched as high as she could. Artha and Casper, my own Greys, well-used to meeting new birds, took little notice of the visitors. Clayton, jolly bird that he is, simply adjusted to the larger space and started to play acrobatically on a hanging rope. He and Casper perched sociably on the same perch. When Oliver sat down to observe, the nosy cockatoos came to investigate. A light summer rain pleased all the birds.
As a precaution, I closed the 2 pairs of Orange-Winged Amazons into their separate flights, confident that the parakeets would fly away if the newcomers showed any aggression towards them.
The next morning we opened Punk’s flight door. At first, he stayed inside but later flew through the aviary to find Oliver who was relaying paving stones. Dusty perched on the highest bar with her body position horizontal. Oliver said, “See she’s relaxed now.” He’d noted how the previous day she’d perched in a far more hunched up position.
We brought the two cockatoos inside each evening but left the Greys outside. We were pleased to confirm our hunch that a happy, well-socialised parent-reared Grey like Clayton adapts to new situations and gets along with other happy Greys, whereas Greys that haven’t had the best start in life, or have been isolated from other birds, find adapting much more difficult. Clayton, a confident parrot, joined my three Greys and two Timnehs; they made a little flock. Dusty began to fly from one section to another but avoided other birds. I was surprised to see that Parroty, my Crimson Rosella male, one of the most confident parakeets, was eating companionably beside Punk on the same feeding shelf.
We spent far more time discussing birds than working on aviary repairs. The weekend concluded with each of us choosing new resolutions: Mine - to sprout seeds, after admiring the excellent feather condition of Oliver’s birds; Oliver’s - to focus more on training, teaching a more reliable step-up and a neater way to crate his birds instead of luring them. So Punk is staying here for an extra week while Oliver concentrates on stick-training Dusty.
This morning I found six Greys perching together.