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More from LOLcats

If You Were a Parrot: A Children’s Book

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This fun children’s book, If You Were A Parrot, leads the young reader into a magical world where children can imagine what it’s like to be a parrot. We learn about parrot behavior and the children in the story mimic these behaviors.

Particularly noteworthy is that the book even has a section that encourages would-be parrot owners to think carefully about the work, expense and inconvenience before getting a bird for a pet.

The book includes an craft project where children can make their own beak.

A delightful book suitable for young children who love animals and are interested in learning more about parrots. Get If You Were A Parrot at Amazon.

Parrot Responds Well to “Training Video”

Just have to share a funny anecdote.

I’ve been trying to take videos of Stewie during our training session.

Recently I had to laugh so hard when I was going through, editing a clip, and Stewie — who’s sitting on my arm — starts doing tricks in response to the cues he hears in the segments as I’m editing them … he was clearly a little confused, but when he heard my voice (in the video) say “wings up” he was a good boy and lifted his wings … even though, of course, he didn’t do it right in the video itself.

Of course he got a treat.

And then I had to stop editing the video because it was driving him nuts.

Good Vacuum Cleaner for Birds

I’ve been doing some research on vacuum cleaners because my floors are always a mess now (because of the bird, d’oh). The challenge is that it needs to pick up all the crap Stewie throws on the floor (seed hulls, seeds, whole nuts, pieces of fruit) as well as hair; however, my whole apartment is less than 600 square feet. The size of my apartment means 1) something really powerful and expensive is overkill and 2) I have no room to store a big vacuum cleaner (none at all!).

After some research on BirdBoard and getting some input, I put in an order for a small (1.5 gallon) ShopVac. But then someone mentioned the iRobot Dirt Dog. The Dirt Dog is like the Roomba but designed for garage workshops. If it can pick up bolts and pieces of wood, it can handle the detritus of Stewie’s eating and playing, I figured. And I have hardwood floors, so it seemed like exactly the right machine for me. It’s so small, I can store it under Stewie’s cage and it easily goes under the couch, too.

So I got one, and it arrived this week. Tonight is the first time I’ve set it loose and let me tell you… this thing is hilarious. It’s like a big toy that you watch rolling around the house running into things, but it cleans at the same time! At first, of course, Stewie was wigged out! But I put him in his cage and gave him a treat and then showed him that I wasn’t afraid of it. I followed the robot around like I thought it was fun and soon Stewie calmed down about it.

I’ve only used it once (in fact, it’s still running right now) but so far I’m liking it. It does take a lot longer to vacuum this way than with a regular vacuum cleaner, but that’s no problem since it runs itself. So if it can hold up to heavy use, this thing will have been well worth it!

Two thumbs up for the iRobot Dirt Dog!

Update: I’ve discovered a drawback. Unlike the regular Roomba, the Dirt Dog doesn’t have a spot clean setting. That means there’s no efficient way to clean just around Stewie’s cage and underneath the playstand - where the majority of his mess is concentrated. For this, it seems I still want a small handheld vacuu — or I keep using the dustpan.

Amazon Singing “I Shot the Sheriff”

Another one of my favorite parrot videos. Here’s an Amazon groovin’ to Bob Marley: Whoo-hoo-HOO!

Cockatoo (Advanced) Escape Artist

This isn’t about conures, but this has got to be one of my all-time favorite video of parrots. Check out the smarts on this cockatoo:

Video of Stewie McSkittles, my sun conure

Video of Stewie on his best behavior.

Stewie Bird is on Facebook

Stewie is on Facebook now. Find him under “Stewie Bird” and add him as a friend. You could “poke” him, I suppose, but he’ll bite you! But if you give him some sunflower seeds he’ll love you forever.