20 November 2005
'But, Anna,' I hear you say, 'What about the little birds?' Well, wonder no longer!
Ira's still the same as always -- always thinking I'm carrying something for his nest, and therefore always looking suspiciously interested when I walk by. In the picture above, you can tell he's thinking, 'What's that you've got there? That hair on your head -- are you using that?'
I keep a basket filled with fabric scraps from various projects, and I cut off a small piece for the birds every now and then (ie, several times a day). They're particularly fond of string, but I have to make sure to cut very short lengths of thread (about one inch long), for the safety of the dumb birds.
Still, a long piece found its way into their house last week, and we quickly noticed Frankie hopping from perch to perch with some nice pink thread wrapped around his leg and through his toes. I don't know how he managed to get it so wound up, but it was clear he wasn't going to get untangled on his own, so the chase was on. Little birds are fast, and you have to be careful not to get overexcited and crush them as they go from one side of the cage to the other.
I eventually caught Frankie and held him gently on his back while Rob used a pair of very small scissors to carefully clip the thread in a couple places. Ira stood on the back perch the entire time, scolding us. Brave Ira. Once freed from the string, Frankie went back into his house, looking slightly mussed, but he quickly regained his composure. Here he is, having a bit of a sing-song:
Earl Grey, also a Society Finch, looks at me expectantly when I'm doing something with food near the cage. Of course, some food makes good nesting material....
posted by Pamela at November 22, 2005 02:11 AM
Love bird, yours are so cute - and I totaly love the little story they came with. You could write a bird book about your craft life with the nesting birds! :-)
posted by Hanna at November 23, 2005 07:43 PM