Quaker Parrots, Do Parrots Have Intuition.

I have never been quite sure how to answer this until recently. Shortly before Christmas when my boiler reached the end of its shelf life, I had to call in the gas company and it soon became apparent that we needed a new installation immediately. I was shocked to be advised that our combination boiler in the bathroom was now illegal under Health & Safety Regulations. It appeared at first that we could no longer have a boiler in the bathroom.

This discovery was one I could have done without because lots of work was involved, including ripping out my boiler and having a new one installed, not in the bathroom, but in our neat, fitted kitchen.

My main concern, however, was that Max, my blue-and-gold macaw, who loves to play in our bathroom, would be mortified when he could no longer turn on the central heating switch with his beak when HIS room turned chilly! He would no longer be able to sleep on the pull-down shelf of the boiler, his favourite spot. My fears that he would be quite put out by this were realised before the workmen even arrived.

I had to spend a few days clearing out cupboards and just my activities alone upset not only Max and my two other birds but also Ollie, the mealy Amazon, and his friend, Tweety Pie, the budgerigar, which both belong to my friend Phyllis. They were staying with us while their owner wasin Scotland, helping her family welcome her fourth grandchild.

As soon as Ollie and Tweety left,I was due to take delivery of two more birds belonging to friendsgoing away for Christmas. As two left, two more featheredboarders would move in the I next day.
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As Max was quite annoyed about not being allowed in the bathroom I had to spend a lot of time entertaining him, and this upset Ollie because he likes to have a lot of my attention when he visits us. Ollie is a noisy bird, which is common with mealy Amazons, and he has a particularly raucous yodeling sound which he usually reserves for when he is at home, but not this time.

I found myself having to move birds from room to room to give them a change of scenery and to placate them from joining in the vocal duals that Max and Ollie were letting rip every now and then. I did not want the neighbours to be upset. As a rule my birds are quiet when in their normal routine.

Noise trigger.
I HAVE noticed that the breaking of an established routine frequently triggers excess noise from pet birds.

Adding to all this was the fact that I had a television job lined up during the same week and the schedule for the work being done was very tight. I was due to start filming a new programme for Channel 4 called Name Your Price at an antique auctioneers in Islington.

I was beginning to feel quite stressed. Pacifying my feathered chums and finding places to put all the junk that seems to accumulate in kitchen cupboards was just the start.

This was compounded when all the boiler equipment arrived the day before the work was due to commence. Now my hall was full of boxes and copper pipes as well. Next day I received a call from one of the installers. Things were running behind on another job and he could not arrive until 11.30am.

Due to problems discovered, a senior technician then arrived as the new boiler was not the correct model. When he used his mobile to call back to the office there was an immediate noisy serenade from all the parrots present and he was convulsed with laughter, as were his colleagues on the other end of the telephone.

By this time, Max was really enjoying himself. Some floorboards had to be taken up in the hall and he perched on my shoulder and then on the stair rail, making encouraging noises and closely watching the work taking place. To cut a long story short, there was no further work which could be done that day and, indeed, the job had to be postponed until the New Year.

However, the following day more of the technical team arrived to go through details of the revised arrangements. Expecting lots more noise, I was primed to take action to keep all the birds quiet but all was peaceful now the birds had got used to the idea of several visitors at a time re-arranging their premises. They were calm and contented. I found the answer was to let them feel involved in the job. If they could see what was going on, particularly at close quarters, they were perfectly happy.
I think that Max especially had felt the stress I was feeling at the start of the proceedings and his intuition led to him being very alarmed at first and then extra protective towards me.

Once the situation was sorted out and I learned I would not have to site the new boiler in my kitchen after all, the stress I had been feeling dissolved. All the birds relaxed once more and peace and quiet was restored.

Intuitive powers.
HOWEVER, I was soon to have another insight into the intuitive powers of birds. I had two further boarders to stay over Christmas and New Year. One was an orange-winged Amazon named George who had never been away from home before and was of a rather nervous disposition. At the same time, my second charge was a delightful sun conure named Montezuma,
or Monty for short. She was the opposite of George, very confident and bossy, full of herself and totally content, although it was also her first time away from home.

What amazed me was how my own birds reacted in different ways to the newcomers sharing their home. Carlos, my double yellow headed Amazon, took to George right away and was quite happy for the visitor to sit on his cage all day. Within a few days George had lost his nerves and was so much more confident and really seemed to be enjoying himself.

Monty did her best to hog the limelight but Max my macaw was quick to call out "Be quiet!" when she made a noise. She was quite noisy for about two days but finally Max only had to speak and she turned to talking rather than screeching. When she wanted me to make a fuss of her she cajoled me by saying "Come on". It was a most entertaining holiday and yet again I marvelled at how well my own birds accept strange birds in their midst with such grace.

Incidentally, Michael Hogben, who was the presenter on Name Your Price, told me that he has always wanted a parrot. I prepared a portfolio for him about parrot keeping because he would be a newcomer to the hobby, but his lovely wife Lesley, who was also on the programme, is not too keen. At least I have prepared them for what to expect should they decide to become parrot owners.

_{source Bird Keeper Mag.}