A New Tree House for the Birds

A New Tree House for the Birds

I had plans to meet a group of friends at the museum this afternoon until one of my birds disappeared this morning. I was vacuuming and cleaning around their cage and forgot to shut the cage door. I usually let them hang around the outside of their cage when I'm home because they need lots of stimulus or they will screech and demand my attention. These parrotlets are known as the world's smallest parrot and can be as smart as a parrot. This morning was the exception though because one of the two became frightened with all the noise I was making and flew away. I didn't notice at first but when I saw the other one in the cage alone, I began frantically looking. I checked everywhere I could think. I dumped out all the trash cans, removed furniture...I looked for 5 hours! Right about the time I called to cancel, I heard a faint chirp. I kept calling to get her to chirp again but they only screech when they want to annoy me. When they are in trouble, they don't think to chirp. (Sometimes they are as smart as a parrot...not always!) Right around the sixth hour, I heard another faint chirp and followed the noise to behind the dryer. There she was just sitting on one of the hoses and staring at me. When I put her back in the cage the other one nipped angrily at her as if to say; "Stupid! You had us both worried!"

I need to get back to making their new tree house. I destroyed their old one when I moved; thinking it was time to make a new one. Here's what it looked like:

I use discarded paper and junk mail to roll the 'bamboo' tubes. I glue them with non-toxic glue because they love to chew their perches and walls. I use a glue gun for the base and any joints that they cannot reach with their little beaks. As long as I had that tree house, it kept my parrotlets busy enough to stay out of trouble. Now, I'm regretting throwing it away. The structures are easy to make but are definitely a labor of love. I'm so grateful I found my bird unharmed this afternoon. I think I'll spend the rest of the day on their new tree house...then take them to the vet next week to have their wings clipped!