Katie

Katie is the youngest of our "fids" (feathered kids). Another Quaker Parrot, she was born January 21, 2005, and is still learning how to do things, and trying find her place within our family.

Katie decided when we brought her home that she was the "top dog" and that hasn't changed much. She will knock anybody off their cage - except Ziggy. She's not very sure of him just yet, so she still approaches him with caution.

Katie is curious about everything, and like most birds, loves anything shiny. I forget about this when I come home from work and head to her cage without removing my necklace or earrings. I have to force her beak open to remove my pendant, so you'd think I'd learn to take them off before going to her cage!

As I mentioned in Ziggy's post, Katie has learned several of his words. She will rarely say them directly to us, rather, she will sit in her cage (irritated with me because I won't let her roam anymore) and let loose a string of words - all of them Ziggy's! Last night, I heard her say tickle-tickle, thank you, mommy, and ok. Like Ziggy, a lot of her words couldn't be understood. Speaking birds tend to work out their new words at volumes difficult to hear until they have it down pat - and then they save them to try out when you least expect...or least want, in some cases!

I've been working on my consistency with all the birds - trying to feed them at the same time, put them to sleep at the same time, and playing with them at the same time. One of the things that I needed to do consistently for Ziggy and Katie was to give every item its name, and describe my actions verbably - it's important because it helps them understand what's going on and what I'm doing. Since I started working on being more consistent with them, Katie's training has been going much better. Instead of throwing herself at her cage door, I will tell her "open the door", and she will sit and wait for me to do just that, and then will step-up on my finger quite prettily. She's getting it :)

I'm not sure how the birds are going to react to our move. They'll have a pretty area to hang out in, looking out the window towards the lake. Eventually, I'd like to have Scott build an aviary for them, so they'll all be housed together, but I have to see proof first that they'll all get along in one large cage. Could be interesting!