New Bird ;)

[nixity]

Well - I've been quiet long enough!

On Monday, I picked up a new bird at Newark Airport... my first ever soft bill..

*drum roll please*..

It is a 6 week old hand-fed White-Backed Mousebird (Colius colius)
I am totally smitten!

We sent a feather in yesterday to Avian Biotech in Tallahassee and are waiting for the results to come back to tell us if it's a boy or girl to help us with naming, but so far we have been calling it Critter and I think that might stick.

It showed up a total MESS from hanging out in its fruit the whole plane ride, so this was my attempt at trying to clean it up a bit when I got it home Monday afternoon.

Sorry for the poor quality, it was taken with my cell phone.
Took some photos last night, will add them later

[L in Ontario]

OMG - it IS a mouse! Okay maybe it isn't a mouse but it truley is ADOREABLE! WOW

What made you decide to get this "Critter"? Where did he come from to have been shipped to you? Details Tiffany, we need details! Oh and more pics of course!

Congratulations!!

[nixity]

OMG - it IS a mouse! Okay maybe it isn't a mouse but it truley is ADOREABLE! WOW

What made you decide to get this "Critter"? Where did he come from to have been shipped to you? Details Tiffany, we need details! Oh and more pics of course!

Congratulations!!

LOL.. wait until you see the other photos, the ones that show why it's called a "White-Backed" Mousebird make it look even more mousey

I really wanted a hand-tame/fed softbill.. and had been looking at this particular breeder's website over and over. I finally just took it upon myself to email him to see what kind of a wait list he had, and find out about cost - and when I emailed him last week he said he had fulfilled his wait list and had a single baby left over that had just been weaned a week ago (they wean at 5 weeks of age).

I pretty much jumped at the chance after hounding him with novella emails asking a butt ton of questions to make sure I understand everything properly.
I had intended to house him/her in the large 4 ft flight that right now has a single pair of Gouldians and their two recently fledged babies in it simply so it wasn't sitting empty.

But when I got it Monday, it was a PEANUT! Apparently s/he will not be "fully grown" for another two months or so. The tail will get about twice as long as it is now and the adult feathers still need to come in.
This is what it will look like (size/color/etc) when full grown (this bird actually came from the same breeder, too!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKal5HnxBPE

The breeder I got him/her from is Jason Crean - one of the regional VPs for NFSS. I had seen him advertise on the NFSS forum a few times and kept going to his website
He is in Illinois - so was shipped from Chicago into Newark
This is Jason's website:
www.beaksbirdhouse.com

[B CAMP]

Congrat. on your new critter,never saw one before but its sure cute ,lot different than finchs good luck

[earlybird09]

Wow! Amazing and cute little bird! I myself after seeing this bird have been doing research and now have inquired to how much the bird would be plus shipping. I would love to own one! We shall see what happens! Congrats!

[Sally]

Wow, simply amazing bird! On the youtube video, that tail is like a whydah--so long. Fumi, on NFSS, also has mousebirds, and she is in that general Chicago area, I think (Michigan). Great addition to your collection.

[CandoAviary]

These guys are sooo cute. They have the neatest movements....where they get their name mouse from. They slowly scurry around on the ground.
They eat a soft diet and fruit (producing lots of poop) and since they like the bottom spaces they tend to drag that long tail in all kinds of yucky stuff.....so get use to washing this baby I love some of the awesome colored softbills....but hate the watery, smelly, far flying poop that come along with the softbill's diets. If it wasn't for that I would have some.
Will you get it a friend/mate later?

[nixity]

These guys are sooo cute. They have the neatest movements....where they get their name mouse from. They slowly scurry around on the ground.
They eat a soft diet and fruit (producing lots of poop) and since they like the bottom spaces they tend to drag that long tail in all kinds of yucky stuff.....so get use to washing this baby I love some of the awesome colored softbills....but hate the watery, smelly, far flying poop that come along with the softbill's diets. If it wasn't for that I would have some.
Will you get it a friend/mate later?

They actually don't spend a lot of time on the ground unless that is where you keep their food.
Mine is NEVER on the ground unless he is eating, otherwise he is dangling nearly upside down from the roof of the cage or hanging from the side of it.
They actually are very clean? This bird will not poop if he is sitting on you because he does not want to sit in his own mess, which has made helping him learn to be "potty trained" easy.
He starts to get fidgety when he has to go the bathroom, so we just pick him up and he will either hang off your finger or palm to go to bathroom or you can set him in the cage on the bars and he will go, then he is ready to come back out for my scratches!

Also - their poop is soft, because they predominantly eat fruit, but it doesn't squirt :\

To me it sort of resembles the consistency and moisture of banana baby food.
And the poop isn't stinky - it passes through quickly, yes, and to me retains a lot of the sweet smell of the fruit.

I am a clean freak though, so I guess if I left it to sit and fester it might start to smell rancid after awhile

I wanted it as a pet so no mates - if he had another mousebird, he would bond to it and forget about me

[CandoAviary]

Years ago I knew a fellow who had the speckled mousebirds. He actually bred many types of softbells and then the large macaws also. They were messy.... fruit eaters have messy poop. I always wanted a minor bird also..... but too messy, nasty for me.
In the wild I believe they forage most of their food from the ground and low shrubs. That's why they called them mouse...... because they looked like mice scampering around in flocks of 20 or so. They say in Africa they are common in the parks.... kind of like our pigeons.
That is great you are 'potty training' yours.
Do you still have your little parrolet?

[Pukasand]

That is really a cute little bird. Awesome the way it totters around and doesn't even seem intimidated by the doggie. So unique. I have never heard of them before. Nice choice, Nixity, good luck with him/her.

[lovemyfinch]

Absolutely adorable Another case of the I wannas, but,, ok hubby says no.

[cindy]

Tiffany, she/he is a very unique little bird, keep us posted with up to date pictures as he/she grows. Let us know what sex it is.

It must be cute how he hangs upside down. I love interesting different exotics like that. Are they fairly quiet, is their song sweet?
Does it sleep hanging upside down or like a finch does in a nest?

Congratulations on your little one, how wonderful to own something so special.

Years ago my husband and I met a wonderful woman in the Ft. Myers area that bred Hanging parrots. Since they eat fruits mainly and hang upside down and from the sides of the cage she had plastics sheeting on the floors under the cages, it was easily washed and changed out. Since they ate fruit and it was passed in their droppings the whole room had a very sweet smell, like sweet nectar and peaches. She had to clean often with so many. They were really interesting pretty little parrots.

Candace, I owned a Mynah bird, a male. He was very messy and loud but picked up words and whistles easily. His cage was not far from the kitchen table, if you were eating he would try to get your attention by throwing grapes at you through the cage bars. They are very interesting birds and are very hard to come by. We used to see a lot more of them but not so much anymore.

Tiffany, do you think he may know someone with young Pekin Robins? I refuse to have them imported in as it was offered to me to do so by a man who deals in exotics in Naples. They are no longer being brought into the states in the numbers as they were many years ago. It is the one pair of birds I would eventually love to own.

[nixity]

Years ago I knew a fellow who had the speckled mousebirds. He actually bred many types of softbells and then the large macaws also. They were messy.... fruit eaters have messy poop.

Definitely not finch poop, that's for sure!!
It's not too messy to me, though.. my societies are disasters!

[nixity]

As promised - here are a couple of photos from last night of Critter with the Fiance ..

[nixity]

Are they fairly quiet, is their song sweet?
Does it sleep hanging upside down or like a finch does in a nest?

Tiffany, do you think he may know someone with young Pekin Robins?

He sleeps hanging upside down/from the ceiling of the cage

They don't really sing, so much as do these really quick trills that sound like giggling/laughing. It is adorable and endearing.

This is the other one and you can hear the little sounds they make when they get excited.. ours does this as soon as you come towards him, and if you offer him banana - he LOVES banana!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPklBhr2 ... re=related

When I spoke with Jason on the phone I actually asked him about the Pekins because he mentioned he had them. I knew you were looking for them and I also thought I remembered Misty saying she'd been looking for some.
His story is the same - the female he has he bought for $50 and she is quite old (I'm probably remembering wrong but I think he said like 9-12 years or something?!)
He said he has not seen any in a LONG time and the last time he did, it was for like $500.