As those of you, who visited the blog yesterday will remember , Quicksilver being a mature African Grey male, is drenched in hormones and he is bound and determined to guard a "cavity",- in this case, a shelf in the laundry room. (If you haven't seen yesterday's blog, scroll down and read the first part then come back up for this one.
You will also remember I ended up nailing a blanket across the entrance to the laundry room, while holding an umbrella over my head to avoid parrot dive bombs. The laundry room doesn't have a door hence the blanket so Silver couldn't go back in, inhabit a shelf "cavity", and do fly outs at my head some more..
Well, Silver got up this morning, looked at the blanket over the door and decided revenge would be sweet. So periodically he landed on my desk, my nightstand, where ever and attempted to chew paper,
books, pens, bobby pins...anything he could get his beak on out of sheer pique.
I covered the desk and it's contents with a sheet.
I also covered the keyboard of the computer with a towel. He once popped every single letter, number, whatever, off the keyboard. Sure they'd pop easily back on.
But who knew exactly where each one went. I had to have a friend take a
picture of her keyboard and give it to me so reconstruction could occur.
Silver says, "Want carrot". I get him a carrot and put the carrot and the parrot on his play area by the window so he can watch the outside birds at the feeder while he eats.
He appears unimpressed but decides to eat the carrot anyway.
Suddenly about an hour later I look at Silver's play area....no parrot.
The bottom of the blanket over the door is in a different position. The little bugger has gone under.
I go to the laundry room and there he is sitting as above, with one foot on a box of Arm and Hammer and the other on a can of Resolve carpet cleaner in a bottom shelf, looking baleful.
He does not fly at my head.
Fine. I leave him there.
I go back into the laundry room to check on him.
11:25:42 AM Well,
my my, he's gotten the cupboard door open, he's hanging by his feet...and staring at me.
11:25:48 AM Silver puts his head down, and appears to be attempting to slide his feet toward the unattached corner of the cupboard door. He loves the top shelf of the top cupboard best.
11:25:58 AM He looks at me again. I guess he doesn't want me to see his technique. Fine. I head for the living room.
11:44:45 AM I return. Silver is hanging from his beak feet scrabbling for purchase.
Is he stuck? Did he go up the side of the door but now that he's no longer in reach of the side while his beak is on the top of the door...is he having a problem? His expression is either very intent or...
11:45:03 AM I come round the door for a different angle. His feet continue to grope for purchase. Is his beak stuck? Maybe. I better get him down. I get the perch stick and put it under his feet. They grip. He turns around and flies at my head.
Stuck or not he didn't appreciate the help. He is on the dryer now, feathers on end, glaring at me, crouched for another pounce.
I leave the laundry room.
2:13:07 PM I return to the laundry room. Silver is still, or back on the dryer, one foot up, dozing.
I say, UP. He steps up onto my hand nicely. I take him to his cage for a nap.
And while he is napping I decide I have to do something so he doesn't get stuck on the cupboard door again.
While Silver is sleeping I take the perch stick, actually a length of PVC pipe, and zip tie it to the handles of the cupboards.
OK, I know it isn't foolproof. Conceivably he can even stand on the pipe and clip the zip ties off with his beak. Zip Zap. Though he couldn't stand there and clip the second one...likely anyway. It would take awhile...
With a parrot there isn't much that is parrot proof. We'll see what tomorrow brings.
In the meantime,
Photo courtesy of http://morningsidehawks.blogspot.com/
Rob Schmunk, of Morningside Hawks took a trip over to see the Washington Heights Red-tails and yes, there has been a hatch. For more click on the link under his photo above.
But while I was looking at the photos I noticed that Dad has a very long cowl. The length of it over the front of the shoulders of this hawk is somewhat rare.
Photo courtesy of http://morningsidehawks.blogspot.com/
See how the color of Dad's head continues down past his shoulders? The only hawk in Manhattan that I know of with this characteristic is Isolde, one of the Morningside Park hawks at the Cathedral Nest of St. John the Divine. And the Mom of the Washington Heights nest appears from the photos to have the physicality of Pale Male's line.
All conjecture of course but we do know now that Red-tailed Hawks do tend to come back and nest in or near their original natal territory.
And Last But Not Least...Wisconsin Waterfowl...taken near dusk.
And I will be the first to admit my waterfowl identification skills are rusty...Blue Winged Teal...
And the mystery birds of the day, two little shore birds...
This one?
And this one?
Both taken near the end of the day on the Mill Race of the Sugar River, Brodhead, WI
Anyone want to take a crack at them?
Happy Hawking!
Donegal Browne
Photo courtesy http://www.palemale.com/
Pale Male and Octavia copulate on a favored light fixture on The Essex. No matter the mate, she often chooses that particular spot to present herself to Pale Male.
Which gets me thinking about Red-tailed Hawk criteria. They definitely have criteria for nest building as we've discussed before.
What would be the criteria for the spots chosen for copulation?
I would think that having the hawks protected from the rear might be advantageous. In this case by the building.
But the male would still need a route to fly to the female without any undue obstructions.
Though the female will perch at the ready in a place with a somewhat obscured view, I would think part of the male's responsibility would be to make sure there were no intruders to which they would be vulnerable for the limited time Red-tail copulation lasts.
Digression Alert!
"Treading", to use the archaic term, in the avian specie we most regularly see, is rapid by mammal standards-- often less than 15 seconds.
This makes evolutionary sense as the pair isn't at their most alert against possible attack during these interludes. They are vulnerable during copulation.
Why is it then, in African Grey Parrots for example, copulation between pairs can last comparable periods of time to that in humans?
What is the evolutionary advantage in lengthy copulation for some species and not in others?
I would posit in some species it has to do with building stronger pair bonds.
Hawks go through a lengthy courtship which tests their abilities of flight and of hunting acuity. The coordinated moves of courtship give them time to learn the physical cues their partner displays in flight and changes in flight patterns which will be very important in coordinating defense of the nest later on.
And as only the pair holds the territory they must be ready at any given moment to hold that territory. They can't be off spooning when a concerted attack to take over the nest site occurs.
What characteristics do humans and African Greys have in common?
Both species have a tendency to live near their own kind. Therefore there are other cooperating members of the species who will be "holding the fort" while the pair is entranced with each other for lengthier periods of time?
Both species are intelligent and can talk. Could bonding in both species be linked in some ways to finding pair synchronicity through speech and coordinated movement during lengthy copulation?
My, my, my.
More thoughts on that later...
In the meantime....what about DUCKS?
Photo courtesy of Francois Portmann Mallard Copulation
Of course, ducks do it in the water.
Amazing wildlife photographer Francois Portmann took stunning photographs of Central Park waterfowl in February.
Do check them out.
You will be very glad you did.
http://www.fotoportmann.com/birds/
Donegal Browne
