Merlin, Bronze-Wing Pionus

I have decided on a name for my new bronze-wing pionus. I wanted something hawkish 'cause he looks so much like one. But then his attitude of wisdom and intelligence needs to be reflected. Finally settled on "Merlin" - he looks a lot like a merlin falcon and then there is the King Arthur associations.

He is a marvelous bird and is settling in well. The turquoise blue hidden under his wings is stunning and takes me by surprise every time I see it. He is a very calm bird, nothing seems to surprise or upset him, yet he is also very physical with his toys, he loves to bash them around, hang off them, and otherwise kick up dust. He still begs and gets one feeding a day, but he takes hardly any at that feeding so hopefully soon the hand-feeding will end. He is eager to step up, loves sitting on my forearm or on the arm of the chair, but is not very comfortable with being touched - whenever I move my finger close to him he either goes into his begging routine or stands up very straight and pulls back as if frightened. I'm not pushing him, but those gorgeous subtly-colored feathers are so tantalizing, I'm dying to get my finger in there. And he's quiet! The loudest I've heard him is when the vacuum is running, and even that is overshadowed by the babble from the budgie brigade (or is it just that Nanday shrieks have deafened me?).

I was hoping the bird would bond a little more with my son than with me (since Tony is already so jealous of Bandit's attachment to me), but it looks like it's going to be me. Even when Tony holds him and talks to him, he won't take his eyes off me and if I settle down somewhere near them, Merlin climbs (or tries to fly) right over to me. I hope it's just because I'm feeding him and that it'll change as Tony keeps working with him. I've heard that pionus aren't as "obsessive" as conures with their people, so even if he forms a preference for me he'll still interact with Tony (unlike Bandit, who's only interaction with Tony is vampiric).

Modified March 22, 1999