Human "Bird" and bird fosters....

Bird welcomes Eclectus parrot - or maybe not?

"Bird" was always interested in whatever I had in the box.  She knew that boxes usually had am animal that I was bringing home for whatever reason.  Mostly if they stayed in the box there were no issues.  But once they started flying she'd freak.  What is this thing?  Why is it following me?  She always thought she was a human - so birds were not her thing at all.  I'd have to come up with alternatives when my hand-reared birds got to this stage.

Most birds, especially parrots, once hand-reared have major psychological changes and we as the guardians are challenged everyday to address the issues and fulfill the companion role.  Birds are very social creatures by nature, but when they think they're a person they want to be with people - or often one people in particular.
 
The red bird in the photo is "Roseann" a female Eclectus parrot I was rearing at the time for Dreamworlds' Australian Wildlife Experience where I was Vet nurse / Bird keeper.  She was named after my mother because her and her brother were hatched on my mother, Roseanns' birthday, 28th Dec...  I think the year was 2002 and we were living at Coomera right next to Dreamworld and down the road from the pub (The Boat House Tavern).   

Roseanns' brother died but taught me a valuable lesson about round worms in birds. Transmitted from their parents the chicks were infected quite badly.  After drenching to rid them of the parasites the boy died as a result of a bolus of worms impacting in his gut.  Note to bird keepers - have a preventative medical program for your birds too - worm them as you do your dog!  Have a vet check every year. 

The eccies also taught me about mapping stress in feather growth.  As their feathers grew they had stress lines horizontally across them - like you have on your fingernails from time to time.  I could map when they were stressed.  A line that represented the growth stage when they were abandoned by their mum and dad and taken into my care.  A line that represented the day that I took them to the vet and drenched them for parasites.  And a line were they were weaned from their hand-rearing formula.  There were probably more but I don't remember now.   Bird never had any stress lines - I was always checking :).