Friday, April 22, 2011

Contest with Grand Prize

Quick funny story:
I often scold Manzi in the morning when he begins to get into trouble by saying, "Manzi, stop it!" A few days ago I was eating my cereal when Manzi decided to get into my kitchen cabinets. I stood up to scold him and Maui beat me to it shouting out, "Manzi, stop it!" in a perfect imitation of my voice. That was the first time she had ever said that. I couldn't help but laugh.

Let the Contest begin:
Identify the picture as either Manzi or Maui. If both birds are in the photo, then state the order from left to right (Manzi, Maui or Maui, Manzi). In submission of your results, put the photo number and then your answer (120. Manzi. 121. Maui, Manzi. 122...). Now for the part that some people told me is weird: The winner of the contest will get two bright red, beautiful tail feathers mailed to them!

Just post your answer in the comments. I will delete your answers after I review them and then I will post the final scores in one week.

Number of players (so far): 8

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Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Preening!

There was a break through. Manzi began to preen Maui. Not all out, but he did preen a few of her feathers. Maui was so patient with him as she held her head down for a full 5 minutes. I was a bit worried. Manzi first reached over, puffed up and pupils dilated (showing aggression) and pulled out a beakful of feathers. For some reason Maui didn’t scream and instead kept her head down. Manzi’s feathers depuffed and his eyes de-dilated and he then gently grabbed a feather and pulled it through his beak (in a preening manner). He did that a few more times and then they both got distracted as I moved. Anyway, it was a beautiful thing and I have real hope for these two.


Aviary news: I have decided to build them an aviary. It will not be very big, but still much bigger than either of their cages. I will put it on my patio so they can hang outside with Hercules during the day. I am still deciding on the dimensions, as I would like to be able to wheel it inside in case of a storm. That would mean it needs to get through my sliding glass door. I think I will make it 76" tall, 60" wide and 36" deep. I calculated the living space and that would make it 3 times the volume of Manzi's cage. I will make it out of steel and then also get it powder coated so it won't rust very easily at all. I am estimating the cost to be about $700 (I have to buy a spot welder). Luckily, I made a friend here in Minnesota who is extremely handy and will help in the construction. The estimated time frame is 2 months. Thursday I am going to buy the steel rods. I am going to weld it together out of 120 steel rods spaced at 1".

I am still working on the design. I want to make a wind shelter. I was thinking of using plexiglass so they could still see out, but it is very pricey and would probably cost an extra $100 (I was told it is $130 for a 4' x 8' piece). Maybe I'll do a metal wind shelter. I was thinking of making a shade for them too, but that can be out of material, although they might just chew it up. If anyone has ideas/comments please post them so I can incorporate them (if of redeeming value).

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