Moved AngelBaby to birdy room

[Chrissy and Flock]

I moved AngelBaby to the birdy room about 20 minutes ago, so far the only one that seems bothered by this is Cassie. She is pacing back and forth on one of her long perches... and keeping a close eye on AngelBaby... I hope this does not stress either one of them..AB is where she can see me just as she could before so I think she will be okay...

[too&me]

I would suggest giving Cassie extra attention today. Make sure she knows that she is still the number one girl.

[Chrissy and Flock]

Good idea.. I will do that.

[birdie]

how did the afternoon go?

[Chrissy and Flock]

It went pretty good. :D Cassie did things I have never seen her do before, she was hanging upside down from the top of her cage just swinging and singing. I have never seen her do that before. :)

There was another behavior I had never seen before, she had her crest up tail fanned and wings spread and was doing her dance moves... :confused:

As the day went on they both were okay with it....

[bonnie]

Chrissy, did you happen to move Casie to move AB in?

[Larry, Baby and Me]

Hi Chrissy,

Without seeing a video of Cassie's behavior it is impossible to tell "exactly" what type of behavior she is displaying.

It could be one of three things or a combination of all three.

It could be that Cassie is showing off for AngleBaby. She could be just goofing around to impress AngleBaby as Umbies will sometimes do. In other words - "Look how neat I am".

It could be that Cassie is setting the ground-rules for the relationship with AngleBaby. She could be showing AngleBaby how angile and tough she is. Just like a kid on the playground doing bunches of chin-ups on the jungle gym to show the others he is a bit better than the rest of the group.

It could be that Cassie is showing AngleBaby how aggressive she can be. In other words - do not mess with me for I am the top bird around here and I will hurt you.

Umbies show that they are tough by making themselves appear bigger than they actually are. They will raise their crest, fluff up their feathers, put their wings out from their sides a bit, have their beak open, their eyes will be wide open, and their tail will be fanned. All this is a show of aggression. If Cassie hisses as well - then you know you have a bird in full-blown aggression mode. Please remember, you don't have to see all of these behaviors - just one of them could be enough with an Umbie.

I do not believe in the "Top Bird" theory. For what I have read about actual scientific field studies it rarely exists in the wild. But - and that is a big but... our birds are not in the wild but in captivity. Their brains have been a bit cross-wired to adapt to our home environment. In the wild - birds are taught proper "bird" and "flock" social behavior - what is accepted and what is not --- for the survival of the flock. Dissention is not permitted within the flock. Sure - there will be squabbles once in a while but they are quickly settled and quickly forgotten. But in our home and without the "natural" flock to set the species examples - our birds do not and never will be able to act like a true bird.

So - by going on what you have described here and by what is known about Umbies naturally being on the aggressive and unpredictable side -- I would err on the side that Cassie might be showing aggression toward AngleBaby. But ya never know - I would give Cassie the lion's share of attention until their relationship is firmly established either way.

[Chrissy and Flock]

No Bonnie there was room for her cage without moving any of the other birds...

Larry I think you may be right on Cassie letting AngelBaby know she is big and bad...:D Cassie usually gets the lions share of the attention... I sure don't want to give her any reason to pluck what new feathers she has allowed to grow back... I thought she had gone back to plucking but when I really looked at the feathers and compared them to a pic of plucked vs molted feathers .... guess what she is molting like crazy...:smiles:

[Larry, Baby and Me]

That is so good that Cassie is molting. I think it shows a sign of health.

Baby's first molt was a whopper. I could have had enough feathers to make another bird.

Unfortunately - she has not had a major molt since - and that was over 4 years ago. She does molt - but not in a major way she did on her first molt.

I don't think Baby will ever grow her feathers back on her chest. She does at times get some nice pin feathers come in - and then she plucks the darned things... so frustrating to me.

[Chrissy and Flock]

Yea Cassie has a couple on her back that she does that also... as for strange behaviors I will be watching and gonna keep the camcorder handy and if she does that again I will try to get it on tape so you can see it... oh and her flock calling tonight was quieter than usual ... maybe just coincidence?

[Larry, Baby and Me]

Her flock calling - she was probably tooo pooopped from all the day's activity. :sleep:

[Chrissy and Flock]

:) She may well have been... my main concern is avoiding any problems that may arise from her being jealous on Angelbaby... and maybe one day be able to have both of them out of their cages at the same time... :smiles:

[Gen120]

aww..I hope Cassie and AngelBaby are ok in the birdroom together!:)

[Debz_Crew]

I bet she is really loving being in there with the other birdies. I'm sure they will work it all out. :)