The Abdallas' Nest -- Aviary

The Abdallas' Nest
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The Aviary
Here you'll find Geno, Pascal, Squirtle and Ernie. Mind the bird poop.

Latest Stupid Bird Trick: Squirtle has discovered the joys of ice. If she comes across a glass of water she will fish out a piece of ice and attempt to eat it, despite the apparent brain freeze (which shouldn't take much). She'll crunch on a bit, shake her head in surprise, then take another bite, shake her head, etc. It's like it is painful for her to eat it, but she just can't help herself.

Geno is a quaker, and my first parrot, so it doesn't need to be said how precious she is to me. When I bought her, I named her Papageno, after a the birdseller in Mozart's The Magic Flute, assuming Geno was male. He turned out to be a she and let us know with three egg-laying bouts. She is crippled now, from an unfortunate household accident, and while she cannot stand without assistance she can move her legs and manages to squirm her way around quite well. Since the accident, she has actually been healthier, since she no longer lays eggs. Previously, she would go into terrible, life-threatening spells of lipemia, when the fat to make the eggs would cloud her blood. I worry far less about her now than I did when she was able to perch and walk. She is still quite happy, as far as we can tell, and loves whistling along with us, eating, and being cuddled. More pictures of Geno.

Pascal Pascal is our Senegal that we adopted from another family. He's quite neurotic, but is by far our most intelligent bird. He can imitate many sounds including sneezing, car horns, creaky doors, keyboard typing, and, to our annoyance, the more screeching sounds of the other birds. He's not a cuddly bird, but is sweet and loving in his own sort of way. Having his head rubbed is just about his favorite thing and he will brave just about anything to get it. Pascal is particularly mischievious and will quietly sneak around if he knows he doing something wrong. He also likes to beg for food, being admired, and quacking like a duck. More pictures of Pascal.

Squirtle is certainly the princess of the family, and is constantly demanding attention. She is very personable and likes anyone that will spoil and adore her. Squirtle is most likely our most snuggley bird and is the sweetest thing when she cuddles against your cheek when she's sleepy. However, she is a conure and is remarkably screechy. When she gets going she is definately our loudest bird. She is a fallow mutation of a green cheek conure, which gives her a beautiful, foresty coloring with olives and rusts and periwinkle blues. She has a special talent of picking things up and dropping them off the edges of desks or tables. She really seems to enjoy watching them fall and to entertain her sometimes we'll give her a whole pile of coins to drop. Her favorite things are attention, attention, attention. More pictures of Squirtle.

Ernie Ernie was a charity case we picked up from a local Petco. We had seen him for six months and everytime we would request that they put toys in his cage, which they never did. He was a neglected quaker in a barren cage and apparently had terrible issues with hands. After I spent some time with him in the store, I could see that he was quite cuddly, but was just scared of hands in his cage. In addition to being terribly bored and frustrated, he did not know how to step up on a finger. After convincing Petco to give us a (not nearly adequate enough) discount on him, we took the unmarketable bird off their hands. He is now a wonderful loving bird that will happily accept a hand in his cage and step up onto anyone's finger. Ernie is still a bit timid, but he's gaining some confidence. And I have never seen a bird love to play with his toys like Ernie does. It really is fun to watch him play! He's a big momma's boy, but he also likes irritating the other birds, singing himself to sleep, and not taking baths.

	Geno is a quaker, and my first parrot, so it doesn't need to be said how precious she is to me. When I bought her, I named her Papageno, after a the birdseller in Mozart's The Magic Flute, assuming Geno was male. He turned out to be a she and let us know with three egg-laying bouts. She is crippled now, from an unfortunate household accident, and while she cannot stand without assistance she can move her legs and manages to squirm her way around quite well. Since the accident, she has actually been healthier, since she no longer lays eggs. Previously, she would go into terrible, life-threatening spells of lipemia, when the fat to make the eggs would cloud her blood. I worry far less about her now than I did when she was able to perch and walk. She is still quite happy, as far as we can tell, and loves whistling along with us, eating, and being cuddled. More pictures of Geno.
	Pascal is our Senegal that we adopted from another family. He's quite neurotic, but is by far our most intelligent bird. He can imitate many sounds including sneezing, car horns, creaky doors, keyboard typing, and, to our annoyance, the more screeching sounds of the other birds. He's not a cuddly bird, but is sweet and loving in his own sort of way. Having his head rubbed is just about his favorite thing and he will brave just about anything to get it. Pascal is particularly mischievious and will quietly sneak around if he knows he doing something wrong. He also likes to beg for food, being admired, and quacking like a duck. More pictures of Pascal.
	Squirtle is certainly the princess of the family, and is constantly demanding attention. She is very personable and likes anyone that will spoil and adore her. Squirtle is most likely our most snuggley bird and is the sweetest thing when she cuddles against your cheek when she's sleepy. However, she is a conure and is remarkably screechy. When she gets going she is definately our loudest bird. She is a fallow mutation of a green cheek conure, which gives her a beautiful, foresty coloring with olives and rusts and periwinkle blues. She has a special talent of picking things up and dropping them off the edges of desks or tables. She really seems to enjoy watching them fall and to entertain her sometimes we'll give her a whole pile of coins to drop. Her favorite things are attention, attention, attention. More pictures of Squirtle.
	Ernie was a charity case we picked up from a local Petco. We had seen him for six months and everytime we would request that they put toys in his cage, which they never did. He was a neglected quaker in a barren cage and apparently had terrible issues with hands. After I spent some time with him in the store, I could see that he was quite cuddly, but was just scared of hands in his cage. In addition to being terribly bored and frustrated, he did not know how to step up on a finger. After convincing Petco to give us a (not nearly adequate enough) discount on him, we took the unmarketable bird off their hands. He is now a wonderful loving bird that will happily accept a hand in his cage and step up onto anyone's finger. Ernie is still a bit timid, but he's gaining some confidence. And I have never seen a bird love to play with his toys like Ernie does. It really is fun to watch him play! He's a big momma's boy, but he also likes irritating the other birds, singing himself to sleep, and not taking baths.