Weeks 11 and 12

(remember that I still do not know Mardy's gender.  I'm simply using the male pronoun to make it easier to read this blog)

I visited Mardy the last two weekends.  He's been much less frantic.  On week 11 he sat calmly on my lap and let me scratch his head feathers and under his wings.  I stayed away from his chest since his crop was distended due to recent feeding, and I didn't want to trigger him into regurgitating any of his formula.

This past weekend was week 12.  Mardy was now three months old--half way to coming home.  As I entered the breeder's pet store the breeder's aunt told me with a smile that Mardy had been a bad bird and had scared her.  I thought she was going to tell me another story about Mardy chasing her Chihuahua around the house, but instead she told me that Mardy had occasionally been acting listless and would lean to one side or the other.  She laughed this off as playfulness, but I think she was concerned. 

 When I walked into the back Mardy was laying on his back with his feet in the air. 

While laying on his back Mardy was animated and did not seem listless, in fact within 30 seconds Mardy was on his feet cawing for attention.  He was very alert and energetic during my two hour visit.

The breeder said they would schedule Mardy for a checkup with an Avian Veterinarian just in case Mardy's leaning and back-laying behavior was a sign that something was wrong.

Mardy was perching.  He sat briefly on my arm then climbed up to my shoulder.  He was very stable in both places.  His feathers were getting longer.  I measured him at 23 inches from the top of his beak to the tip of his tail.  When he sat on my shoulder his head came to the top of my own.  He actually had to look down a little to look me in the eye.

Mardy likes very much to have his underwing rubbed and the top of his head scratched.  Five or six times during my visit Mardy started exercising his wings by vigorously flapping as if to take off.  The breeder said he expects to see Mardy flying within the next two weeks.

Mardy is continuing to pick at solid food, but still consumes three feedings a day of special formula.

I spoke with the breeder about getting Mardy sexed so I would know what pronoun to use when referring to him/her (whew!)  He will send off four or five feathers to have Mardy's DNA checked.