Back to two cages

Manzi and Maui were in the large cage for two days without problems. After work on Monday they began to fight. I was home sick on Tuesday and they fought all day long. I finally separated them Tuesday evening. I have a new plan. I will keep them separate for a week and then start again.

One reason for their fighting became evident Tuesday evening, when Maui laid an egg. Last night she laid another egg (she's up to two, three more to go). She has been very defensive over her eggs. I am taking them away from her.

I am also going to continue to give Maui first feeding/petting/etc. to show that she is the dominant bird. I still give Manzi as much attention, just after Maui first receives attention. Hopefully after a week of this they will get along better when reintroduced.

Another minor tuffle

Maui ran into the bathroom. I chased after her and Manzi after the both of us. When I turned on the light, Manzi launched himself at Maui. He jumped back quickly and then she went after him. I grabbed him by his tail and pulled him back to separate the two. I thought he would bite me, but surprisingly he didn't seem to mind. There were a few feathers on the ground, but despite how close they were fighting, no one got any bites. I imagine puffing up is a good protection against beaks. I would have known if either of them got bit as they are both babies and would scream to let me know of their pain.

Tomorrow I am bringing in the large cage on the patio and the birds will begin their lifelong companionship in the same cage. I have only seen the two fight when I am in close proximity to them. Otherwise, they entertain each other and whistle to each other. It is only when I am around that they seem to fight over their relationship with me. I have recently begun a new technique to help make them both more comfortable with their positions. Maui has asserted her dominance over Manzi the last few months and Manzi have given way, for the most part. She goes after Manzi when I am around to put him in his place. I heard, from my old neighbor (the behaviorist), the if I give her attention first, feed her first, scratch her first at every interaction, that she will not feel the need to continue asserting her dominance over Manzi. I cannot neglect Manzi and immediately need to follow the attention I give Maui, with attention for Manzi. It might be a bit stressful for Manzi at first, but then he will not get hurt or attacked by Maui.

On the plus side, they will have a huge cage to play in all day and companionship while I am away.

I realize the webcam was a big failure. I found a much nicer webcam (that can be controlled by users, which is really cool), but now my internet connection is limiting. It is ridiculously slow. I am working on upgrading that. Once done, I will set up the new webcam and hopefully post it to this site or something like that so it can be easily accessed by others (including myself while at work).

Neighbor's cat

The neighbors have a cat that looks out from his patio and meows at Manzi and Maui in the outdoor cage. The cat will sit and meow for a good deal of time. A couple days ago, I heard him come out while my birds were outside and he began meowing at them. After just a few minutes, Maui began to meow back. She did such a perfect imitation of his many different meows. It drove the cat crazy and it meowed all the more. The whole scene was quite funny.

Manzi and Maui can now imitate all of the local wild birds, the neighbor's cat, the police sirens and the whistles of all my neighbors who get suckered into giving the birds attention.

I think the birds will be disappointed come winter and they have to stay indoors all day.

Update on the webcam: I only get it set up a couple times per week. Unfortunately, the weather here is unpredictable with frequent storms (in which case I must keep the birds in for the day if there will be storms at any point during my workday). In addition, my webcam is of very poor quality. I will buy a much better one, as soon as I find one I like. I plan on using it every day, even while they are indoors during the winter. I haven't quite yet setup an easy system. Hopefully that will come along soon.