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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsRIP Ms. Samhain...
Ms. Samhain was an African Weaver Finch that I rescued, along with her 2 male companions, 11 years ago when I stopped in a pet store to pick up some supplies and found them jammed together in a teeny cage that was suitable at most for travel, but not for living.
She lost her companions a few years back, but has seemed pretty content without them. Last year she started having balance problems on her perch, and took to hanging out on the floor of her cage, so I moved her food and water to floor dishes and made sure she was bedded on soft pine shavings. This winter, she was having a harder time staying warm, so I moved her cage near the space heater I've been keeping under the bird's cages.
So her passing during the night was expected and yet unexpected. She was a good little bird. I hope her friends are waiting for her over the Rainbow Bridge.
Xyzse
(8,217 posts)I am still smarting over the loss of an adorable little blue parakeet that we had when I was younger.
In_The_Wind
(72,300 posts)fizzgig
(24,146 posts)i am so sorry for the loss of your friend
marzipanni
(6,011 posts)Are African Weaver Finches the cute little birds I've seen in the aviary at Petco whose group conversations with each other sound like miniature traffic jams with high frequency beeps like little horns?
I just looked up bird lifespans and Ms. Samhain may have lived 10x the lifespan little wild birds normally live, although some do beat the odds. You gave her a long life, and with her bird companions, and your kind attention, a happy life.
magical thyme
(14,881 posts)I bought a pair of zebra finches, Mr. and Mrs. Minnever back around '93. I ended up with a couple dozen of them in a large aviary that took up a good chunk of my living room. Mamma and Pappa Minnever lived 14 years or so. The most amazing thing, though, was their last baby, Hannah Finch. My avian vet was shocked that Mrs. Minnever was still laying eggs at her age. I can't remember what year it was now, but she was probably 10 or so.
Imagine my surprise when little Hannah finch hatched on Christmas day. Hannah was disabled, her legs couldn't support her initially, and splayed out to either side. Mamma abandoned her and Pappa early on, and took up with one of her sons . So Mr. Minnever raised Hannah by himself. I set her up with a serie of little nests around the top of the cage that enabled her to "perch" by bracing her legs. One leg was stronger, so on the floor of the cage she could get around a bit by bracing the weaker leg against the side of the cage. Every night I'd get home from work and find her on the floor of the cage, unable to get back to the nests, so I'd put her back in her nest. The next day, she'd try to fly again and I'd find her on the floor again. She got stronger over time and eventually was able to take off like little shot off the bottom of the cage. She'd crash into the wall where it met the top, and then fall into the nest. :lol:
Eventually I moved her into another cage with a brother, and would let them free fly around the living room in the evening. She used to dive bomb my cockatoo, Cody Carrottops!
My mistake, though, was in moving her in with her brother. When she was 2 years old, she started trying to lay egg. It was too much for her little body. She laid one egg on Good Friday, and was severely weakened, and possibly injured, by the effort. But she refused to leave her nest. That Easter Sunday, I found her dead in her nest, laying on that egg and a second, half-sized egg.
But all she wanted to do was live a complete bird's life, and I think she did that in her 2 years. She didn't get to raise her eggs, but she got the joy of sitting on them.
marzipanni
(6,011 posts)At least she could fly, if a bird can't fly that would be so sad. I wonder, if her eggs had hatched would the chicks not be healthy because of inbreeding?
Once my son and I were eating lunch outside at a little sandwich shop at a outdoor mall in Palo Alto, CA. Sparrows were hopping around eating crumbs and I noticed that many had deformed legs and feet, or one leg was missing. Later I read that birds eat human foods like bread dropped at places like that, rather than catch higher protein insects. Also, in urbanized areas the insect population would be lower. This results in lower weight eggs and offspring. I don't know about deformities, though.
One spring we had a big male scrub jay in our yard who stole the cat's kibble when the laundry room door was open- the bowl of cat food was on the dryer to keep it away from the dog. I thought that was a pretty good high protein food, and maybe he was also feeding his mate and babies, so I enjoyed watching him warily eyeing the bowl from the top of the door, and swooping in and out.
warrior1
(12,325 posts)livetohike
(22,145 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)When you cross over. I hope all of my pets are. Heaven will be full of critters when I get there - if it is to be heaven at all.
I'm sorry for your loss. Birds are such individuals once you get to know them.