Blue is doing great. I have been spending a great deal of time with him as I get better and adjust to my new seizure meds. Blue has been bringing me food, which is a brand new thing he does. Something that began when I became ill. We exchange objects on a nearly hourly basis, sometime much more. But even Blue needs time to himself. Blue is out of his cage most of the time. But he will ask when he wants in his cage. And when he does he organizes and plays and even softly sings to himself.
Here is a video of Blue playing in his cage. You may notice his beak is slightly over grown. I trimmed it yesterday and he is just fine and was not fazed in the least. I have been putting it off and now realize that even Blue knew it was for his best interest and trusts me to do such a thing. Five minutes later he did his dance and song with his wings spread, a show of affection to me. In the wild it is a mating dance. With Spring here Blue is dancing and singing 5 times a day.
During this time of recovery, Blue has saved me once again. I never get bored as Blue is always ready to play, to hide things and bring things to me. To play a simple game of tug of war or sit on my shoulder and take a nap or gently sing to me as I slumber. He sits on top of my laptop as I write, often leaving and coming back and forth with treats. If he gives me something, I give him something in return. Blue now has seven bowls, dishes and caches to hide his booty throughout the house.
When I am home he does demand one thing -- that I am nearby, within eye shot. This is fine, until I need a daytime nap. I have to move his cage near my bed, the only room he is not allowed in freely, as it is not bird proof. Katie makes jewelry and there are too many tempting things to steal for Blue while I sleep, shinny beads and silver strands a plenty for a flying pirate such as Blue. He is never allowed out without being watched. There are far too many things that can happen with such a curious bird. While the cage is at the door of my room where he can watch me snooze, he does so silently, aware I am sleeping. He never awakens me, but often sings the whisper song to me which is very conducive to sleep. He will also squeeze in a few winks with me at times. If he knows I am home, and in the other room ignoring him, he will make noise until I change my act. There are no breaking these rules.
I enjoy the fact Blue is so closely bonded with me. Scrub Jays mate for life. It shows me that all animals, as well as people need others around them to be truly happy. Were not so different, animals and humans -- we all need relationships, friendship and love -- as well as food, water and a warm safe environment.
Peace
Tim Rumford
Enjoy Blue in his cage playing.
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6 comments:
What a wonderful bird an connection you have with him. Its very amazing. Thanks for sharing. I have found great interest in your sharing your life with Blue with... anyone who wishes. Its so cute he watches you nap. Is he a loud bird? Often in the wild I see stellar jays being very loud. They seem to be in packs where I am, where I see the Scrubs in more family groups and less noisy. Is this basically true?
again thanks!
Paul in Ca.
I found you on the internet tonight. My neighbor found 2 fairly young baby bird (eyes closed, few feathers on the wings) on his porch, couldn't find a nest, so he put the 2 birds in a basket with leaves on a nearby bush in hopes that the parents will find it. After a few hours no one came and one of the babies died. The second was weakly flopping around. He said if the remaining one survived the morning he was going to bring it to the pet store. We told him we would take it in. After surfing the internet, I am fairly certain that it is either a Scub Jay or Stellar Jay. Both visit our yard and feeders. I have been feeding it an emergency mix of cat food and egg yolk. The little bits of feathers on the wing are blue grey color and the bird is about 2" long. It has bright yellow around its beak. I have no intention of keeping it. I would like to get it stable, able to survive in the wild and release it. I have not read through your blog fully so, apologize if all info is on your site. I don't want it to get rejected by other birds. Any advice? It does want to eat all the time. I don't have to feed it through the night, do I?
Thanks,
Susan
Hi,
It was good to try and get it to the parents but better to immediately call Native animal Rescue if you have one, or a similar agency.
They must have food and water, which they get at the same time (mixed) every 30 min. So they will die alone very quickly. But, many times the parents will come back, and sometimes not.
I am sorry your friends attempts did not work. But its early and the parents will learn to put the nest in a better spot. Thats what Blues parents did. They moved to a much better tree, far from the eyes of crows and such and had many babies that lived.
You can feed the babies while waiting for the parents. Use the food I describe in the sidebar but also use gloves, and don't talk to them nor let them see you as much as possible. Allot of work I know.
It was a worthy try.
Thanks
Tim
Thank you. All you info. is great. The baby was doing great and I just brought it down to the local Wildlife rescue and they said that they can raise and release it.
Thanks again.
Thank you for posting your stories about yourself and Blue. I was looking for personal stories about scrub jays when I found you. I'm currently laid up (cast and crutches) and have been spending time on my patio, feeding peanuts to two blue jays. They used to follow me in the garden, looking for bugs when I turned up the soil. Now they come down to the patio table and take peanuts (2 at a time). They get close - about a foot away.
One sat above my chaise today, in a tree branch and sang a whisper song. It was so sweet. What a very special animal!
Miss Poppy Dixon
Sorry I missed your comment. as you can see from my current post, I have been very ill, but much better now. I am glad your enjoy the site. Blue has been doing very well, currently sitting on my head.
Peace
Tim
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