Suspicious quiet in the kitchen; look what I found...

[AlienGirl]

The bird was being suspiciously quiet, so I went to find out what he was destroying this time. Imagine my surprise when I found he had only figured out how to get onto the top of the stove and sneak some chili...

Tucker

[SlavesandBulldozers]

1. lol!

[ikojo]

2. He may need bird therapy

A BIRD jumping on top of a STOVE with POTS and PANS seems to be a call for help of some sort.

[AlienGirl]

4. He knows it's where the food is cooked

He likes to watch me cook dinner, and "help" with some tasks like peeling potatoes and tasting the food! There's no help like parrot help...

Tucker

[Lisa]

8. the Victoria crowned pigeon I babysat knew this too ...

He would walk into the kitchen when I was cooking, and sit on my feet.

[AlienGirl]

9. Awww! I haven't had pigeons, how smart are they?

[Lisa]

12. smart enough to be good pigeons!

This was an incubator-hatched member of what's presently the largest species (or group of species) of pigeons left in the world. They're native to the forests of New Guinea, so I assume that they are reasonably able to find food, evade human hunters (they're said to be quite the delicacy), and survive in a dangerous environment. The grownups I looked after certainly did seem to be more alert than domestic-type pigeons. Their crests reach to knee-level on me.



http://www.worldwildlife.org/expeditions/newguinea/spec_pigeons.cfm

[AlienGirl]

13. What a beautiful bird! How did you come to babysit one?

[Lisa]

17. school friends of mine ran a breeding facility ...

... for various kinds of rare waterfowl, pheasants, cranes -- and pigeons/doves. They were desperate for help one winter, because they needed to scout properties for a move to California, and they asked me to feed and water everybody while they were away for a couple of weeks. The crowned pigeons were on loan from the Metro Zoo in Toronto. Sometimes my friends' place was so crowded that they would farm out babies for hand-raising, and that's why the pigeon ended up with me for a few weeks. Too bad my friends moved to the new farm, since I'm more prepared these days to deal with animal guests! (I invested in a heat lamp and a folding cage, so I just whip those out whenever someone finds an injured bird after SPCA closing hours -- or if I manage to hatch out a bunch of chicks or ducks in my tabletop incubator.)

[AlienGirl]

19. Neat! I've been involved with wildlife rehab too

I've dealt with mammals and occasionally reptiles, but overall birds are my favorites--they are so like us in some ways and so unlike us in others.

I haven't gotten anything to hatch in an incubator, though I tried to incubate quail not long ago. I suspect the eggs were damaged in shipping.

Tucker

[Lisa]

21. I know what you mean ...

There they are, walking around on 2 feet, and yet they are quite different. I was looking after a brood of chicks at around the time of the Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction", and I was so focused on avian stuff that when I did actually see an image of the Notorious Nipple on the news, I momentarily thought "what a weird thing that is!". This despite the fact that I myself have two of them -- I'd gotten so used to seeing bird breasts without nipples that I had to mentally readjust!

Re: the incubator, one thing a supplier told me was that if you let the eggs sit for about a day after they arrive, before putting them in the incubator, it improves the fertility rate. I've tried this and it does seems to work. Also, not turning the eggs for the first day that they're in there. Apparently there are times when the eggs are more vulnerable to jostling.

[AlienGirl]

22. Two feet, and they think in familiar ways, and talk

Then, just when they seem perfectly like little feathered toddlers, they go and do something completely dinosaur-like and make obvious that they are different!

Tucker

[hunter]

38. Dogs are much more like people.

You can almost always figure out what a dog is thinking and feeling, and you sometimes you fall into the habit of thinking birds are the same, but then, wham, something they do is just entirely wrong. For example, their sense of humor seems to be rather grim. If you fall down the stairs or otherwise injure yourself and you are not dead, I swear, the parrots laugh. Do that again! Do that again! We love stupid human tricks! The dogs will come over to see if you are okay.

Our dogs are terrified of the parrots because the parrots don't follow the rules of good dog society. To a parrot a friendly face sniff by a dog is an open invitation to pierce a nostril. Our dogs are very, very, careful whenever the parrots are out because they have been well trained as puppies to respect parrots -- trained mostly by the parrots. Rule number one: Do not press your curious puppy nose into the cage. Rule number two: even though it looks smaller, a parrot is much bigger than a dog because it can make more noise. And so on...

[Lisa]

39. luckily, most humans don't think that rolling around in garbage ...

... is the high point of their day!

Dogs (and cats too) are mammals like us, but there are some issues on which the species part company. Just as well, or my house would be even messier than it already is. (And then there was the time I noticed a couple of high-schoolers going up to admire the rabbits "dancing" on the lawn ... unaware that the rabbit mating ritual involves the squirting of urine. Poor kids! One of them took a direct hit ...)

Re: the face sniff, the cat also learned (from the chickens this time) that some interspecies advances are just not welcome!

The photo of Bill Clinton on the White House lawn, trying to get the cat and dog to make friends, breaks me up every time.

[Lisa]

3. glad he didn't burn himself! (n/t)

[AlienGirl]

5. The burners were off; the chili was just sitting there being warm

I keep a much closer eye on the kitchen when burners are turned on!

Tucker

[LiberalHeart]

6. This could be bad...

Had a canary once that flew into the kitchen when I was boiling some hotdogs. Flew to the water and landed. Scalded so badly he died.

[AlienGirl]

7. Like I said, burners were off!

The budgies (who fly pretty well) are always locked up when I'm cooking, and Mr. Giant Cockatoo (who is scared of flying, even though we've taught him how) sits firmly velcroed to my arm, waiting for me to give him bits of the food and looking for ways to "help" me.

Tucker

[Sanity Claws]

10. too quiet -- that's when you know something is going on.

Our mothers figured this out when we were little.
As for my menagerie, I had a cat and a dog and somehow I knew it was too quiet. I deduced -- something is up! So I looked for the critters and found them in the kitchen. There they were - quietly fighting over the tuna sandwich I had made for lunch. My guess is that the cat jumped on the counter, knocked it to the floor, and then the two of them were try to get at it through the plastic baggie. I was amazed that they were fighting quietly. They must have realized that if they made noise, I'd come and take the sandwich away.

[AlienGirl]

11. LOL! When I was a kid, the cats and dog teamed up to steal a roast

The dog ran to the door and barked her head off like there was someone out there, and while everyone was looking out the door for the reason for the frantic barking, the cats knocked the roast off the table. The dog immediately ran back to get her share of the booty--and of course, there was nobody outside and no reason for the alarm barking!

Tucker

[Kajsa]

15. LOL !

That is a great story!

They are smart, aren't they?
I like the fact that they teamed up to scheme
this together.

Every time it gets too quiet, I check to see where my
two cats are. They are always getting into things.

Sure enough, they're raiding some food or destroying
the stored paper towels,etc.

Too quiet means trouble!

;-)

[Sequoia]

41. Too bad you couldn't tape it for "America's Funniest Animals"!

That sure is one funny story!

[Kajsa]

16. That's so funny!

They are rascals, aren't they?

[Mike03]

14. LOL

Love the pic and the post. One of my sisters had an adventuresome parrot--they love trouble and, miraculously, like cats, seem to avoid the calamities of their curiosities.

[u4ic]

18. Mine used to

make a huge fuss while I was making Ichiban noodles, potatoes or rice. Would't shut up until I gave her some.

Never got into quite as much trouble as your beautiful Cockatoo, though...;-)

Great pic!

[AlienGirl]

20. Potatoes are a big favorite here!

[Kat45]

23. When I saw your subject line, somehow I knew a bird would be involved.

Great picture. :rofl:

[AlienGirl]

29. Gee, how'd you guess?

[everythingsxen]

24. Eeeek! The Chili Beak!!!

[AlienGirl]

25. CHILI BEEEEEAAAAK!

[everythingsxen]

26. BUCK!

[AlienGirl]

27. Buck... buck... buck... buck... buck... buck

[everythingsxen]

30. Bucka bucka bucka buck buck buck

[AlienGirl]

31. Ba-BUCK!

[everythingsxen]

33. ......

BUCK!

[AlienGirl]

35. Are you passing the BUCK?

[Broken_Hero]

28. ha, I bet he/she like the chili...:) nt

[AlienGirl]

32. Yep, and just look at that innocent "Who, me?" expression!

"What giant bird eating chili? Where? I don't know what you're talking about!" :rofl:

Tucker

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

34. friggin adorable

:D :D :D

thanks so much for sharing!

:hi:

[sakabatou]

36. Parrots and such birds are really smart

[xchrom]

37. Zen we slowly put zee chilis to saute wis zee onions --

he's cooking!

i love that parrots like chilis -- shows how smart they are.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

40. What a stinker!

:rofl:

[bumblebee1]

42. My sister and brother-in-law recently got a cockatoo.

I don't think it has tried to go into the kitchen and sneak some chili yet. My BIL jokingly threatens to make soup out of the cockatoo. They got it from a bird rescuer.

[idgiehkt]

43. I'd love to have one someday

I think they are beautiful.

I keep hearing they have the reputation of being fragile birds...I wonder if this is true?

[yellowdogintexas]

44. I thought my cats wer sneaky! That is too funny ...

and a very pretty bird too