By next morning, Calum was handling her with ease.
She flew the length of the kitchen between the two of us, often stopping halfway on the kitchen counter before launching herself off again. That evening, she trained for twenty minutes, walking in and out of the crate and hav- ing the door shut for twenty seconds. Her weight was 158 grams.
Calum’s Mum arrived to drive him home. When we
fetched the blue crate, which she hadn’t seen before, she jumped straight in and started to eat the goodies she found there. And yes, I cried a little as their car drove off; I hoped this would work out wonderfully well for her. Ten weeks of careful training paid off for Calumemailed three weeks later:
“Little Flo has settled in faster than I could have possi-
bly hoped. She adventured around my room, exploring the shelves and hanging upside down from the curtain rails. She picked up the noises around her,mimicking the sounds my computer makes and how the door creaks when it opens.As cute as this is, nowshe has started bark- ing like the dogs. It often leads to confusion among them. What is this little green flying creature?
The second day was a worrying one. The carpet
cleaner had to come into Flo's room, which meant put- ting her back in the blue travel cage which she had been in for hours on the car journey from Colchester to Bath the day before. Aftermentally preparing myself for a bat- tle of wits to try and trick Flo back into the cage, I was delighted to see that as soon as I opened the cage door and tapped it, Flo jumped right in. For me that moment sums up how easy Little Flo has been to look after and enjoy, and shows how trusting she is. She will fly to any- one instantly and steps up onto sticks when required without a fuss.” - Calum
A year later Little Flo is flying round the house in Bath.
In my own sitting room her two siblings from this year’s clutch are being trainedwith positive reinforcementmeth- ods to recall and towear a harness. Look for future reports on their progress.
Postscript: Little Flo has been living happilymostly cage
freewith Calumfor fifteenmonths and enjoys regular out- ings on a harness.After her firstmolt, her feathers are yel- low. Turns out she is a male.
Call Me!
IDENTIFY THE BIRD CALL
Although many parrots are champions of mim- icry they often retain the unique calls of their species. Test your skills at bird call identification.
Listen to the audio clip and try to identify the species of parrot based on its vocalization. Answer on page 47
Good Bird Magazine 45
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