Ranger, a Bronze-winged Pionus, came to live with me on January 11, 2003. He spent the first year of his life in a pet store with his sibling. He and sibling were shy, gentle birds that didn't go out of their way to woo a prospective companion person, so it took a long time to find a buyer.
He was finally adopted by someone who really had no idea how to handle a Pionus. At some point, Ranger's sibling was given away. He probably spent much of his second year alone in a cage.
Ranger is HUGE compared to my other birds (whose top weight is 5 ounces (150 grams). Ranger weighs over 246 grams.
(April 2009 - I cannot believe I have had Ranger more than 6 years! He is a part of the family, but has lost none of his opinionated personality, although he is not biting me as an expression of dissatisfaction.)
Ranger is slowly learning to appreciate fresh foods after a year on pellets at his fomer home. He still gets pellets, but I've added a good seed mix and vegetables/fruits twice a day.
Ranger makes a variety of funny guttural noises. He also says, "Hello" when he's "talking" to himself. He clucks and whistles.
He loves all his toys and we are slowly building trust. He let me scratch his head. It's still an uneasy session, though. He won't let me get past a certain spot on his face. He only steps up when he's gotten himself down on the floor We have a way to go before he will let me handle him.
I am delighted to have him join the flock.
April 10, 2003 - Ranger's been here for three months and how he has blossomed! He and I have strange sounding duets: he makes a sound and I repeat it. I might change the sound after a bit, or he might change it. Then the other graciously imitates that sound.
Ranger likes me to talk on the phone because I look at him. He climbs down to his cage door and lets me scratch his neck. Sometimes even lifts his foot and extends it toward me. I offer my finger (not always a good thing to do even now) and he steps up. So I hold him while I talk. He still has lots of rules about fingers and touching, but we are learning to meet each other's needs fairly well.
Aspen visits him often - eating his food, tossing his toys, dashing around his cage top with her great and silly enthusiasm.
Ranger gets all fluffed up when I turn the vacuum cleaner on. Many parrots prepare for a shower with that low rumbling sound - it must remind them of thunder. One day I grabbed the sprayer and my camera. Here's my lovely bird getting a joyous shower (he gets loud, squawks, and generally wild when he takes a bath.)
