Subtle, yet stunning!

Poicephalus parrots tend to be on the "less colorful" side of the parrot species spectrum, but that doesn't mean they have NO color!  Under Raptor's dark olive/brown/gray (I can't describe the true color!) wings, he hides vibrant shades of blue, turquoise, and yellow.  We rarely get to see the beautiful blue rump, due to his wings covering the area, but my absolute favorite coloration is his underside!  I just love the mix of turquoise and yellow...  :)

Stunning colors!

 

Messy beak!

The photo speaks for itself...

Mmmmm...  birdy bread!

Since I'm on the topic of food, I bought something I haven't had in a very long time - li hing pineapple!!  Li hing mui powder is used on a lot of fruits and snacks here in Hawaii...  li hing gummy bears, li hing mango, li hing martinis, etc!  My current favorite is a li hing pineapple sherbert sold at a store right down the street from my workplace called Tanioka's - I end up buying it at least once or twice a week.  It's sooooooooooo good!  Today I decided to get actual li hing pineapple on my way home from Kaiser (yeah, been sick all week!!).

Tasty!

 

Mika's Wingdow.

Mika's #1 favorite spot to hang out is on me (or the bf if I'm not there), but he also loves to spend time on his Wingdow - especially after filling his tummy.  After eating a millet treat, he went to his usual warm spot.  :)

 

Finished travel cages.

I finally finished the travel cages for the boys, color matched and all!!  Hehe.  ;)  

Mika's new travel cage!

Left side

Right side

Raptor's new travel cage!

Left side

Right side

Grey Feather Toys!

Since June or July, all bird-related hardware had been changed over to s/s.  Why?  While s/s is the only "bird-safe" metal used to make bird toys, that isn't the primary reason I made the switch (neither of our boys chew or even beak metal so that was not a concern).  I switched over because I found nickel-plated toys to either develop rust spots or get that yucky white cloudy film over them rather quickly.  I have to sanitize our birds toys, especially Mika's, quite often because of Mika's weak immune system so that tended to speed up the rust spot/cloudy film process.  

This past summer Mika was very sick and had to stay at the vet for five days.  Rather than sanitize all his things yet again, I tossed it ALL out.  My vet had said as long as I sanitized well enough, the gram negative bacteria should die and illness shouldn't recur again...but I was paranoid and did not want to chance it.  All I kept thinking was, "What if I miss something??"  I threw away garbage bags full of toys, perches, boings, etc.  I even got rid of his cage, which was only eight months old and still basically brand spankin' new.  

When I started anew, I decided to go with all s/s items because I got tired of throwing things away at the first sign of a rust spot or that cloudy film (I am anal).  Yes, s/s stuff is much more expensive in the short run but, in the long run, well worth it as I won't have to toss toys and other items out as frequently.  These s/s items should last a LONG time.

Anyway...

My favorite place to shop for non-destructible bird toys is Grey Feather Toys.  Not only are their toys extremely unique and fun, they are all 100% stainless steel (s/s).  Mika, my non-toy player, actually likes quite a few of their toys so they will have me as a customer for life!  

Rebecca at GFT is so wonderful.  She is always happy to cater to my annoying color and tweak requests.  This time around, I ordered custom 15" rope perches and toys in yellow/clear and green/clear to match Mika and Raptor's travel cages, respectively.  

Mika's 1/2" perch and Raptor's 7/8" perch.

Mika is a big fan of the Baby Possession and Groovaliscious, of which he has four of each now (in different colors)!  He loves the dangling chains and will nap with the chains draped over his back.  Sometimes he'll grip a chain with one foot and nap that way too.  So cute!!  ^_^  Since GFT doesn't carry clear extra small pacifiers, Danita at Things for Wings was kind enough to send me some so I could have my Baby Possession look exactly how I wanted.

Mika's Baby Possession

Mika's altered Groovaliscious (stars rather than pacifiers)

Mika's Tinker Bell

Raptor isn't a big fan of non-destructible toys, but I'm an advocate for variety so I got this toy (I <3 the pleasant sound it makes!) to go along with the green and clear Tinker Bell I already have in the travel cage.

Raptor's Dingaling

I'll have everything set up and will take photos tomorrow.  I am LOVING how they look and I am so glad that their travel cages will now be complete!!  :)

Avian Organics Bird Bannock.

I had bought several different bird breads from Avian Organics back in December.  Neither of my boys like bird bread, but that doesn't stop me from trying to get them to eat it. LOL  In the order I bought Bird Bannock, Flatbread Fusions with blueberry powder, Calypso Carrot Bird Bread, and Papaya Berry Bird Bread - along with a few other items.  

I decided to make some of the Bird Bannock today.  I only need to use half a bag to make a batch that lasts me roughly three weeks to a month because I add so many other things to it.  Here is what I added to the Bird Bannock mixture, along with an organic egg and a little water:

Avian Organics blueberry and apple powders, organic nuts, Harrison's pellets, Totally Organic Pellets, dried sweet potato, organic fruit and veggie pulp and juice, Just Veggies, red palm oil, seed mixture.

   
The reason I add a lot of seed to the mixture is because neither of the boys will go NEAR bird bread unless there's a ton of seed in it.  I honestly don't think they ingest any of the "bread" part, but we're still in the phase of them just going near food they normally wouldn't touch with a ten foot perch (HA!).  I do hope, eventually, that they will eat the bird bread without leaving everything but the seeds behind.  >_<

Here is the mixture ready to be put in the pan:

Yum...??

   
And here is the finished product!  Nice and golden brown, cooling down and cut into individual portions.

Cooling on the stove.

I had added so much "extras" this time around that not all of it would fit into my bird bread container for the freezer and freezer space is limited...  so...  I'll be sharing some of it with a person I know that only feeds his birds seed and, only once in a while, fresh foods.  Every time I have extra food of any kind, I call him up and give it to him because I feel so bad for his birds (as well as most other birds on this island - but that's another story).  He said he has so many (!!!) that anything other than seed is a "treat" for them.  So I hope his birds enjoy this bread and some other overabundant goodies I'll be giving him.

Homemade swings.

Natacha guessed right!  I ordered more s/s skewers to make swings for the boys!  Not just any swings, though...  foraging swings.  I know Raptor will love having yet another place to retrieve treats from, while Mika will just let the treats stare him in the face if he can't get to them within the first minute or so.  :P

I color coordinated the swings - blue to match Raptor's boing and yellow to match Mika's boing.  We all know I love color coordination!!  ;)  We used gum tree branches as the swing base, and added wicker, clear cups, paper cups, etc. to the skewers for foraging opportunities.

Here is the end product of Raptor's swing:

Right side

Left side

Here is Mika's swing:

Right side

Left side

Mika on his new swing!

 

Take a guess...

What will I be doing with these stainless steel skewers that just arrived from Mother Pluckin' Bird Toys??