Manzi with Neighbor

My brother went down south, so I had to leave Manzi with a neighbor while I am in New York. The neighbor has three young children, so Manzi has plenty of company. I found a volunteer with a truck and we moved Manzi's large cage. He is now near a T.V. and window. I called my neighbor and she said Manzi is already copying the yelling of her children. I heard Manzi making all kinds of noises in the background which is a sign of contentment (he will only be completely quiet or scream if he is upset). I was quite nervous to leave him for three weeks, but so far Manzi is doing just fine. He will be more than ready to go out flying when I get back (unless he has broken feathers flapping around inside his cage).

Manzi outside

The past two times Manzi has been flying outside have been a success. Manzi is now coming to me on cue to get grapes. He hasn't gotten into any more trouble either. I think it really helped to remember that after he comes to me, to send him back out so he knows that he does not have to go inside if he comes to me. When it starts getting dark, Manzi usually comes back to me and doesn't want to go back out flying. At this point, I bring him in. I give him the option of flying again and let him decide that he doesn't want to go back out. This way, he has a very fast recall at any given point. I still haven't been able to get a good video just because it is so hard to follow Manzi and it is also hard to see him while he is flying since he's so small. I have gained a greater respect for those who film eagles and other birds while in flight.

Manzi and Samuel

Manzi is currently being cared for by Samuel while I am in France for the week. Samuel said they were doing good, but today I got this update (it was hard not to find this funny; Samuel is great):

Alright well we were friends right up until he punched the crap out of my head!! It hurt a lot. And what’s worse he didn’t even bite me it was all his beak blunt force attacking me. I was laying on the couch watching TV in Samuel time (that’s right I’m not just lazy) when all of the sudden I hear Manzi flapping his wings and he is right next to me so I throw my hands in the air but he was too quick. He nailed me in the head. What made it worse was I had my phone in my hands so I accidentally threw my phone straight up, and everybody knows what goes up must come down. So that nailed me in the head too. He made a daring second dive at my head and got me he flew to his cage after that joust. Man I was ready to kill him but instead I put a grape in his cage to get him back in and shut the door behind him.

Whistle Recall

Manzi has been spiraling downhill with recalls. He has been wandering around on patios, chewing on neighbor's belongings and not coming back to me on command. I gave him a manditory furlough from flying for the past two days. I left him indoors, much to his dismay, and just did indoor recalls. I also reinforced the whistle recall. I did that by giving him a very high value treat when he came to me after I blew the whistle. He did he recalls perfectly indoors with no hesitation.

Today, we went back outdoors and Manzi did much better. He did five recalls while he was out and flew to me every time I blew the whistle without missing once. It started getting too windy and Manzi was having a bit of trouble flying with the wind being so choppy. He still did all his recalls and is now inside being well behaved after all the exercise he got today. I have been using pieces of grapes as the reward. That is currently his favorite.