Lets see them birdies!

[mikey pizano]

I know some of us (Bill Morrow for one) has birds so lets see um! This is my 13 (I think) year old citron cockatoo Tino (aka "da bird" and "Tooey")

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h255/ ... 000939.jpg Me and him

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h255/ ... 000940.jpg Him on my finger

[Trekk69]

There ya go, a 'true bird'!

[mikey pizano]

There ya go, a 'true bird'!

"true bird" What is a true bird?

[Trekk69]

I have no clue!
(I guess a real live one, and not one viewed on a computer screen!?!)

[mikey pizano]

Ah that makes more sense.

[bhurley]

Well, these aren't pet birds, but a few birds that I've studied over various times in my life:

First up is a juvenile mockingbird that we color-banded on a study I was doing in the 1980s. We color-banded a bunch of individuals so we could identify them and map their territories. You can tell it's a juvenile because its eyes are brown; they turn yellow in the adults:

http://web.mac.com/bhurley/iWeb/Main%20 ... ocker2.jpg

The white wing patches are lovely:

http://web.mac.com/bhurley/iWeb/Main%20 ... ocker1.jpg

And here's a juvenile peregrine falcon that we caught in Fire Island, New York on a banding project. This was a tundra falcon that had been banded previously in Greenland. Pretty amazing bird. The guy holding it is Carl Safina, author of Song of the Blue Ocean, but this was in the early 1980s when he was doing contract research for the Audubon Society:

http://web.mac.com/bhurley/iWeb/Main%20 ... grine6.jpg

Here's a shot of the release:

http://web.mac.com/bhurley/iWeb/Main%20 ... grine1.jpg

[mikey pizano]

Very nice! I love birds. Everyone has a dog but not many people got a nice white parrot that says Michael shut up!

[bhurley]

My brother used to have a yellow-naped Amazon named Barnyard (because he smelled like one).

Barnyard was quite the character, and had a lot of amusing behaviors in addition to an extensive vocabulary.

The first time I met him, I was eating hot-and-sour soup from a Chinese takeout, and Barnyard climbed up my trousers, clambered his way up my shirt, and sat on my shoulder, looked me in the eye (his pupils dilating and contracting wildly) and said, "Mmmmm, that good?"

That was his way of begging for food.

If you were drinking a can of beer, you had to watch out because he loved to puncture the can with his beak when you weren't looking, and then the beer would dribble all over you when you went to take a swig.

If he dropped something on the floor, he'd look down at it from his perch and say, "Uh oh."

My brother and his girlfriend kept Barny in their bedroom when they were first starting to live together (Barnyard was actually her bird), and during that time Barnyard picked up some, let's say, sounds that you wouldn't necessarily want to have repeated in polite company. And that's when he used them, he always knew how to embarrass his owners.

He used to laugh by throwing his head back and cackling, and he dropped "bombs" by throwing his head back, whistling while dropping his head forward, and then making the sound of an explosion while shaking his head from side to side.

My brother had a woodworking shop in his basement, and he would call up to Barnyard during the day to check in on him. "Barnyard!" he'd yell, and Barny would reply "Hello!!" They would do this back and forth all day. One day, my brother yelled up "Barnyard!" and there was no reply. He waited a few minutes and yelled "Barnyard!" again. No reply. He started for the stairs and then he heard Barnyard saying "You bad, bad bird!" He had taken a box of pencils and shredded them to pieces, throwing the erasers against the windows and leaving little yellow bits of wood and graphite scattered across the floor. He knew he wasn't supposed to do that, so he "punished" himself by telling himself he was a bad bird.

My brother said that living with Barnyard was like living with a three-year-old who never grows up. It was true.

[mattbiernat]

so i see there is a lot of bird lovers here... so which bird in your opinion is the smartest one?

[mikey pizano]

Man you Canucks! I love how smart some birds are. Mine use to call my name when I left the room and still does sometimes. The phone would ring and he would say hello. Do not eat popcorn in front of my bird or your going to be starred down until you share!

Matt that would be that African Gray Einstein!

[tylerwylie]

I hate how all the geese that like to chill in this pond in my neighborhood(And I really mean chill, the thing is half frozen and they love it.) will like to cross the street right when I have to go to work.

I have a few pictures of them when they're not trying to make me late for work:

http://omploader.org/vZDdz
http://omploader.org/vZDdy

Otherwise. I love birds

[mikey pizano]

No pets? You got to have some pet birds too!

[dietpepsiaddict]

Am I the only one who does not have bird here? I have a Rabbit and a Cat.

The rabbit is a Florida White ( I think!) Is 1 year, one month and his name is Jack. ( hint: Jack, Jackrabbit? ya get it?)

The cat is a light beige DMH ( domestic short haired.) and he is four yars of age. His name is Minou, the adoption center gave him thta name, I think it french or something. ( try saying it with a thick French accent, it kinda goes well.)

The girl who sits next to me in homeroom class has a bird named Ron. I am not quite sure what breed he is or anything like that but she says that he is evil. I like all your pictures, they seem like very nice birds. I might invest in a bird someday!!

If so I will let you know

[mikey pizano]

Pretty cool. We have 10 chinchillas.

[RealBlackStuff]

I do hope your Mum is not planning to wear them!

[mikey pizano]

Nope. There isn't enough anyway! We have different colors too.

[dietpepsiaddict]

I have heard chinchillas are quite interesting! They also manage to keep themselves very clean. So they must not stink that bad!
(my new symbol!)

[mikey pizano]

http://picasaweb.google.com/mikeypizano/Pets Here is some pictures of course. By the way, they are really soft but they don't sit well!

[dietpepsiaddict]

Those look pretty cool! The white one reminds me of my rabbit, Jack.

[mikey pizano]

They are called mosaic actually. We have 2 of them. Some colors are rare, like the black one and the violet (light grey).

[dietpepsiaddict]

Your right... I have never seen a black or light gray chinchilla before.

Say hi to them for me!