Nani knows very well she is not supposed to crawl to the floor. But, of course, she takes any and every opportunity to do it. Examples of what she sees as opportunities: me leaving the room, me busy on the computer, me talking to someone on the phone, me watching a movie just when it's getting to the good part...me sitting, me staring directly at her, me saying "no! no! not on the floor!", etc.

So this morning I was watering my plants and I hear a plop onto the floor. Caiques are quite heavy for being such small birds and it is almost impossible for her to do anything quietly (thank goodness!). So there she is on the floor, but she's no fool! She would never run out in the open where she could easily be scooped up and put back on her stand! She must stay in the safety and cover of the forest. What forest? Why, the forest made up of various tables, chairs, and other large objects no one could possibly fit under other than a naughty Caique.

Although frustrating I can't say I don't get the giggles from time to time. She IS entertaining! Today was one of those days. But am I laughing at her, or she at me? You be the judge...

"Can I take Nani in the shower with me Mommy" my daughter asks, "Pleeeeeeaaaaase?". "Alright, I guess so but don't torture her" I say. Why do I say that? Because my daughter seems to like to torture Nani. I don't mean she ties her down and plucks out feathers all the while making an evil laugh, but she is always doing little things to annoy her. Oh Nani can handle it, in fact I think she secretly likes it. She will make this growling noise if my daughter messes with her but then immediately hops around saying "hop, hop, hop" in her squeaky Caique voice and falls onto her back ready to wrestle. They have a sibling relationship, always squabbling but can't live without one another. This may sound horrible to anyone that doesn't own a Caique, but trust me when I say they are unlike any other pet bird. Slightly human, a tinge of dog, and just a bit of a monkey that never sits still.

So after the shower I hear "Mom come here quick, *giggle* come here!". And what do I find? Hint: it was really cute...

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...and no torturing involved.

She just calmly laid there for a few minutes, warm and cozy. :-)

I still cannot decide whether or not I want to find out Nani's true identity, aka her sex. I have the money to do it but I'm scared. Pathetic? Yes. You see I like to think of her as a girl. After all, the vet said she was almost 100% positive that she was. She said it was the shape of the head that gave it away. Then again, Caiques are not sexually dimorphic so does she really know what she's talking about? I don't want to think of her as a he. But whether I want to or not won't change who she (ehem, or he) really is. So I'd like to put it to a vote...is Nani a girl or a boy? (and should I get the test done????)

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Nani is a fun bird to watch. Her antics while playing are so entertaining, I never get bored when she's around. Bird toys can be expensive especially because she gets bored with them after about 1 day! I'm still in shock, Watson my Quaker never got bored with his favs. That's what I get for falling in love with a Caique. Anyway, I check out garage sales and second hand stores for baby toys that are appropriate for her size. NOTE: I do not choose toys with exposed metal screws or those that can be easily broken and taken apart for safety reasons. Here's a quick video of her playing around:

Where has the summer gone? It's been so crazy around here...just how Nani likes it. Last night my husband started flying is toy helicopter (we all know men are overgrown children, right? hehehe) and Nani was on alert. She's actually not afraid, never has been to my astonishment. She's rather chew it to pieces. My husband is careful about not doing it too close to her so the propellers don't hurt her. Here she is:

Since she was so badly chopped at such a young age (she never learned to fly) I had decided, as some of you know, that I would let her wing feathers grow in. Well the day has arrived and she can fly!

Rub a dub dub, Nani's in the tub...well not tub but sink didn't rhyme. I wanted to share a video of Nani taking a bath. She's not really that excited about getting wet but occasionally she'll be in the mood. And when she does she goes all out.

Well, maybe not luxury but she's sure upgraded. Last summer when we took her home I wanted to have a nice play gym for her to enjoy but couldn't afford to buy one. Caiques are quite expensive and I bought the largest cage I could find so my funds were pretty much wiped out. I decided to make my own out of tree branches. So I did some research to be sure I'd be giving her branches that weren't poisonous and ended up choosing Sumac (not Poison Sumac mind you, Rhus typhina which is not poisonous at all and it's flowers can even be consumed). It didn't turn out too bad but it definitely looked home made. Another problem was since the branches sprawled out so much I had to lay newspaper all over the surrounding floor which looked bad and never stayed in place so I had bird bombs all over the place anyway.

So I'm have some mother-daughter time the other day and someone decided she was also my daughter and wanted to participate in all the fun:



P.S. See her flight feathers finally growing in? For those of you who read my blog you know she was severely clipped at a very young age. I'm happy she has been experiencing a little flying (not much, she's only got 3 on each side) but as you can imagine she thinks the house and all that's in it belongs to her. *sigh*