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A friend/acquaintance just died. She had many birds so three of us went over to take care of them. Well, she's been paying a teen to feed and clean them. The kid didn't notice that the 85 cockatiels' food wasn't flowing, so they weren't getting much to eat. We pulled 22 babies that were half starved (I'm feeding 7) and 20 some fertile eggs. There was this white cape pionus that had probably had a stroke (her picture below). Because of her neck position, she was only able to get peanuts out of her seed. Darn kid didn't notice that no food was being eaten from her bowl. She should be 220 grams, but is 175. We pulled her and brought her home. She bite me hard twice while catching her. She's been a breeder for years. Well, turns out she is about the sweetest bird I've ever met. She is eating everything I offer her and seems grateful for the food and attention. She has stolen my heart and now has a home for life.
I named her Phyllis after the woman who died.
Love, Jean
PS You should not be able to see the keel bone on her chest, that's how starved she is. In this picture she's holding her head up as well as she can. At rest, her head is completely upside down.
Be kind to everyone, because you never know what battles they are fighting.
Awwwwwww, she's beautiful! And a lucky bird! She will adore you for life for rescuing her. What are the chances she will regain function with proper nutrition and loving care? Thank you for saving her - it made my day!
Love,
Polly
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.
I don't know how much function she can regain. I'm going to do some research. Humans can do well with physical therapy, right? I'll see what I can do. When she gets excited, she flips her head up and down and goes in circles. It's like she has her steering wheel permanently turned to the right. She is able to raise her head to normal position for a moment, so I'm hoping that will improve.
Any suggestions?
Love, Jean
Be kind to everyone, because you never know what battles they are fighting.
Does she have any other impairments......like nystagmus (eyes moving quickly side to side), or weakness of whistling or of a wing or leg? How is her balance? Are strokes common in birds? How old is she?
Love,
Polly
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.
She's lovely, Jean. You and she are both lucky to have found a new friend. I'm sorry for what she and the other birds went through before you checked on them.
Speaking of birds, Polly, I see the bald eagle at Blackwater NWR is already sitting on her nest. I've seen her in other years (at times) buried in snow. She must be enjoying this! Here is the webcam address: http://www.friendsofblackwater.org/camhtm2.html
Oh Jean, I got tears in my eyes. Thank you so much for rescuing her and the others as well. I'm so glad you found them in time (or most of them anyway).
Phyllis is a beautiful bird and I hope she will regain some of what she has lost but if not, it still sounds like she can have a very nice life with you.
Love, Shirley
When the eagles are silent, the parrots begin to jabber"
-- Winston Churchill
I assume that you are having to guess about the stroke, based on the twisted neck. I'm sure you're aware that there are a lot of diseases that can cause a twisted neck. Most of them, of course, involve other obvious symptoms, such as labored breathing, or abnormal breathing sounds, discharges, diarrhea, etc., which, I assume, you have ruled out.
There are a few other possibilities, if the neck is just limber, such as botulism, yellow jasmine poisoning. Another possibility is vitamin E deficiency.
I'm hoping that with your tender, loving care, Phyllis will make a complete recovery.
Love,
Wayne
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
I'm having a hard time finding anything on avian strokes, but they are mentioned on some vet sites. I'm not sure it's a stroke. The previous owner thought it was a stroke as she found her on the bottom of her cage in this condition, no blood. So it was sudden. Of course, we can't ask her pervious owner about it. I know it happened at least 6 months ago. I have no idea how old she is, at least 10 years and probably much older than that.
Polly, I don't see the eye movement you mentioned. She may be having vocal problems, as she is very quiet. I'm not familiar enough with this species to say for sure. She is very touch sensitive on the effected side. She is able to raise her wing most of the way. She does have trouble balancing and is doing better with a 1"x1" as a perch. Of course, if my head was upside down, I'd have balancing problems too. When she moves her head, she has a tick.
I notice when I have her perched on my right shoulder, she raises her head to see me. Seems like good therapy.
Wayne, a vitamin A deficiency is certainly a possibility. Pionus are especially susceptible. I'll keep researching.
Love, Jean
Be kind to everyone, because you never know what battles they are fighting.
What a beautiful bird, Jean! I adore birds and have one lone cockatiel named Sydney (probably a female although we call him a "he" as in "pretty boy"). I'm sure you will get to the bottom of the problem and do the very best with her.
I would love to have an African Grey, I think. Larry wanted love birds when I got Sydney but it was my bird and I chose him. Such a goofball!
Good luck with Phyllis!
Mars
"Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful." -- Buddha
Good for you, Jean, for taking that bird in. Most teenagers just don't think of things like that, do they?
The last time it got a bit cloudy around here, there was a little wind in the atmosphere blowing the clouds around in a funny pattern. We see hawks around here all the time, which is what I believe this bird was, but without the sun on it, I just had to guess from the size and flight of it. Usually, they are perched up high or you might catch one flitting hurriedly from tree to tree, etc.
This time, this one was sort of making broad circles on either side of the street I was driving on, so I just drove slow enough that I could follow this longer flight. Instead of just flying STRAIGHT down the street, the circles moved down the street, if that makes any sense, so I got to see lots of the beautiful wing action in flight.
I suppose it was the funny wind currents that made it necessary for the bird to fly in this kind of pattern. Is that what you experts think? Good thing I didn't have a wreck, but only one car came up behind me, so I just pulled over to the wrong side of the road to allow it to pass while I watched.
I agree with Jean. That hawk was probably hunting for rats/cottontails. He/she has apparently adapted to an urban environment, and maybe found it to be easy pickin's, due to lack of competition.
Wayne
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Ugh!
They can have the rats!!! Better leave Peter Rabbit alone though. Don't remember seeing a rabbit around here in a long, long time. Last time I saw one out in the wild, we were down at the Audobon birding place right across from the tables for when you first check in. My visitor was from Atlanta, and thought that was the biggest rabbit she'd ever seen. You just reminded me of that rabbit.
We have seen evidence of rats lately, and where this bird was circling is much closer to the bayou. They really like to hang out down there, for some reason. I think there is some gang activity down there, actually. Ha!
By the way, does anyone know whether rats become more apparent to us humans, anyway, during times of drought? What's the best way to scare them away? I know that some people have told us of a time during a flood a long time ago, when they got in this ladies garage, and ate the lining out from under the hood of her car. Fortunately, that didn't happen during T.S. Allison. I'm too young to die!
Seriously, does anyone have any ideas? I do hope those hawks have a very successful year! Same goes for any other birds of prey around here. Don't see the snakes around here, but they are around this area, so I would imagine they like to have a rat burger now and again, wouldn't you?
Oh Jean, I got tears in my eyes. Thank you so much for rescuing her and the others as well. I'm so glad you found them in time (or most of them anyway).
