Getting to know you

[Michelle & Fids]

Here's a little survey to let us all get to know each other a little bit.

1. What is your first name and location?
2. Family and flock?
3. What do you do for a living?
4. What are your (other!) hobbies?
5. Share something interesting about you
6. How long have you been keeping birds?
7. What sparked your interest in them?

[Michelle & Fids]

1. What is your first name and location? ~ Michelle NW Ohio

2. Family and flock?
B&G's ~ Sarge, Margerrette, Samantha, & Gonzo
GW's ~ Oz, Avalon, Jesse, Ha, Sydney, Gazo, Samson & Dalila
RF's ~ Phoenix & Charlie
Scarlets ~ Mischief, Chaos & Hope
Harlequin ~ Sammy
Amazons ~ Calipso(RL), Cj(DYH) & Chica(OW)
Caiques ~ Emily(BH) & Oliver(WB)
Quakers ~ Doc & Dolittle
M2 ~ Chiefer
Saint Bernards ~ Butt & Tub

3. What do you do for a living? Make bird toys and do consult work for 3 trucking companies

4. What are your (other!) hobbies? surfing the net, watching tv and sleeping

5. Share something interesting about you. If you take my keyboard away, you couldn't get me to say boo

6. How long have you been keeping birds? This flock since 99. In the mid 90's I had a Tiel until my nephews fell in love with her and she went to live with them.

7. What sparked your interest in them? An episode of the Waltons, where Grandma Walton found a bird cage in the attic and wanted a bird and it made me want a bird too

[Irish]

Yay! Someone with more birds than I have! LOL!

1. What is your first name and location?

Irish, PacNW.

2. Family and flock?

Husband, Z, & 3 grown children; Dan, Ms. A, and Robert.
11 parrots (9 macaws, 2 conures), 11 dogs (7 border collies, 2 pomeranians, 2 chow mixes), 3 cats (The Minion is an odd-eyed white Angora, Tommy 2 Cute is a blue Persian with copper eyes, and Orange is an old orange DSH tabby cat with yellow eyes), and a 100 gallon freshwater aquarium.

3. What do you do for a living?

Cater to the whims and needs of my clothed, feathered, furred and finned family :-).

4. What are your (other!) hobbies?

Photography, traveling, beachcombing.

5. Share something interesting about you

Z and I met in an Internet chat world called "The Palace". We married in his hometown of Edinburgh, Scotland, and he immigrated to the U.S. 8 months later. In March, we'll have been married 10 years.

6. How long have you been keeping birds?

Kinda hard to answer. I was given a grown male Moluccan Cockatoo many years ago. He was my first bird, and I had him for a long time. When he died of pneumonia after a tree fell on our roof, it was like losing a child. Several years later, we got a rehomed Severe Macaw for me, who turned out to love Z, instead, so Z bought me a baby B&G Macaw (Bob), which got the whole thing started. 10 macaws and conures later, we've had these guys for about 4 years.

7. What sparked your interest in them? Macaws? I was found to be terribly allergic to 'too dust (I had wanted an M2 again), and so I was drawn to the flashy drama queens known as Macaws :-). I've never looked back--Macaws fit my personality and desires perfectly.

[Michelle & Fids]

Originally Posted by Irish

Yay! Someone with more birds than I have! LOL!

Yeah, but you have more dogs and cats then me

And you reminded me I forgot to list my fish

[Michelle & Fids]

Come on~ I know me and Christie are not the only ones out there!!!!

[WingedVictory]

My wife and I have several macaws, hawk heads, mitred conures, and a cockatoo. Favorite hobbies are taking care of our birds, avian health and photography. We live in the pacific Northwest.

We like birds...........can you tell?

[2horse]

1. What is your first name and location? Angie, Benoni South Africa
2. Family and flock? Teenage son and daughter, dogs, horses, fishies, suns, irn, budgies and Banjo.
3. What do you do for a living?Accounting
4. What are your (other!) hobbies? no time for much
5. Share something interesting about you I built my own house and aviaries
6. How long have you been keeping birds? I have always had birds, but after divorce, the flock just grew, 2003
7. What sparked your interest in them? a very tame, friendly sun conure, I needed one, then when a flock was up for sale, the breeders came home

[Karen]

1. What is your first name and location?
Karen / Western New York

2. Family and flock?
1 Husband
2 Daughters
4 Grandchildren
2 Green Winged Macaws
3 Pomeranians

3. What do you do for a living?
Pet Sit, I only have a few select clients now so can't say I am making a living.

4. What are your (other!) hobbies?
Reading, Reading, Reading....

5. Share something interesting about you
Hmmmm, not sure it's interesting, probably just odd. I used to have the bluest eyes. When I was 16 they turned green and have been green ever since.

6. How long have you been keeping birds?
I've had Kady 3 1/2 years and Kita 2 1/2 years.

7. What sparked your interest in them?
They needed help.

[Macawlvr]

1. What is your first name and location?

My name is mud usually...I stay in trouble with my better half most of the time.
My given name is James...sometimes called Krames since I look like Kris Kristofferson so the names got combined into one.
Um, my location is what I call Cawland, South Texas...which is way out in the country about a twenty minute drive from San Antonio, Texas.

2. Family and flock?

Wife and two sixteen year old boys/teenagers/grey hair makers.
Umm, flock...at the present time, that would be nine macaws..3 B&G's, 2 Greenwings, 2 Scarlets, and 2 Ruby's.
5 eclectus, a cat and a big ol' black lab.

3. What do you do for a living?

Freelance Craftsman...fancy name for a jack of all trades kinda guy. I do just about anything and everything...remodeling houses for the most part.

Let's see, other than working as a craftsman for a living, I used to do custom paint jobs in the automotive field. Graphics, flames, stuff like you see on cars and trucks at a custom auto show. After 25 years of doing that I had to stop and get completely out of that business cuz' the chemicals were getting to me.

As a sideline, I have also been a counselor to many people. Overall, that has been one of the most gratifying things I've done with my adult life.

4. What are your (other!) hobbies?

Getting in trouble and staying in trouble according to my wife.
Actually, I like do-it-yourself type projects...and I like designing stuff.

5. Share something interesting about you.

Hmmm, that's a tough one, I'm pretty boring. Hmm, let's see...oh yeah, I'm the designer of the Hoopball. Oh, ok, ya never even heard of it...that's ok.

Oh, I used to have a pet bear, does that count?

6. How long have you been keeping birds?

Oh, good gosh, since I was a wee kid trying to save a sparrow that fell out of it's nest. I took on a young crow with a broken wing when I was seven. He was an interesting and a very smart bird.

Later on when I was a teenager I rescued a baby Great Horned Owl that got pushed out of the nest. The parents will only raise two at a time, so the third gets pushed out. I had him up until I went into the Marines when I turned 22. I gave him to the Zoo in Abilene, TX along with my pet skunk.

I was given a Blue front amazon when I was in my mid twenties. I had him for twenty some odd years. Ended up giving him to a friend of mine who still has him.

I always seemed to be just a stopping off point for many birds on their way to somewhere else. For many years I took in birds with behavior problems and then after working with them, I either united them back with their original owner or else found them a good home.

The macaws started with a Blue and Gold which was given to me by a friend around five years ago. I got a female B&G shortly after that. Then the pair of Greenwings came not long after. After that, a bunch more just seemed to show up for one reason or another. I'm like Michelle...need a home, here it tiz'.

7. What sparked your interest in them?
They're beautiful, intelligent and most times, ya have to work for their friendship. The overall relationship with a macaw is just a wonderful adventure into the unexpected...much like the Twilight Zone except it's more like the Lunatic/Clown Zone.

[hyacinthlove]

1. What is your first name and location? Emily, from Orlando, FL

2. Family and flock? I am married, with 2 dogs (mutt Bria and papillion Murphy) and 2 birds (cockatiel Artemis and Hyacinth Macaw Ivy)

3. What do you do for a living? I am an art teacher and freelance sculptor/3D modeler

4. What are your (other!) hobbies? Hiking, Dancing, Video Games, Cooking

5. Share something interesting about you. i like cheese.

6. How long have you been keeping birds? Well, I've had Artemis for 7 years and Ivy for 1. I had a budgie when I was pretty young.

7. What sparked your interest in them? My friends, both times. I saw their relationships with their birds and wanted that in my life. The rest is history!