This is simply a thread out of curiosity, to see if there is anyone here who have had experience with non-parrot species.
A lot of you may not know, unless if you read my posts from when I first joined, but I've actually had some experience in birds other than the parrot kind. My mother used to be a breeder, and she had three large aviaries. While she had one for cockatiels and one for budgies, she also had one for finches. Some of her favorite were the Zebra finches.
I don't really remember the aviaries that much (other than the cockatiel aviary, because that one was around the longest), though she told me stories about how they literally used everything as a nesting material. She once watched a pair deliberately weave a really long vine into their nest. They weren't the tamest things ever. Leave them alone for two or three days and they become wild again. There was one she did hand feed, and the first time she released it into the aviary, it flew to her shoulder the next day she walked in to clean.
When my mom wasn't breeding and selling birds, she would raise orphaned wild birds. She knew how to raise them in a way where they would be ready to release. I only vaguely remember some of them, ranging from lesser goldfinches, to even gamble quail. One particular gamble quail was one that the whole family loved. My older sister named it George. He learned quickly that human hands meant warmth, and whenever he heard anyone nearby, he'd call for us. Stick your hand in his cage, and he would climb right into it to snuggle and even fall asleep. If he hadn't died at a young age, he could've become the family pet, just because we all liked him.
(My apologies for the poor quality. This was taken a very long time ago)
A friend of ours gave us their pet canary named Sunny, because her grandchildren would harass it to no end, so she left it in our care for the sake of his health and well being. This was around the time we had our four rescue cockatiels, and he would always sing along to them, as well as any other birds he heard outside if we left the door or windows open (we have a screen door in the front, additionally to the regular door, so we often kept the inside door open with the screen door closed during the brief times where the weather was actually pleasant).
He was very happy here and had a beautiful repertoire that sounded like various car alarms (which is the standard for canary songs). He sang to his mirror quite often as well. He eventually passed at a very old age.
We never really tried to handle him, except for the times where we had to clip his toenails, since they would get super long.
Back when my mom had an aviary full of cockatiel, there were a few button quail that would run around and eat at the bottom. I barely remember them at all, although later, there was another button quail, that my sister found and somehow caught. I named her quirky, thinking that she was really a "he", before she laid eggs. She lived at the bottom of Sunny's cage, and the two were fairly indifferent of each other's presence, except for when Sunny wanted to steal some of her food.
She was afraid of people, so she didn't make a good companion. She had one of the funniest calls though, which sounded like a laugh, and since my nephew was so young at the time, his laugh sounded somewhat similar, and she would actually respond to it. We eventually gave her to someone who had an outdoor enclosure, because the cage itself, while big enough to even fit a cockatiel, wasn't wide enough for her to run around very well in.
Dove species were never really thought about a lot in the family. My mom has raised and released them in the past, though my dad thinks they're one of the stupidest birds on the face of the earth, while my mom doesn't like them because they're messy (and the fact that they leave quite a few droppings around our pond and on the benches), and I had an indifferent opinion for a while. That is, until one specific dove changed the way I look at them.
My sister found a baby that fell out of the nest at her workplace, and a hawk was about to swoop in and kill it. The hawk managed to leave a wound on her back though, since my sister happened to be at the right place at the right time, and convinced my mom to take it in.
My mom taught me how to take care of the baby dove, and so I was in charge of caring for her. Unlike all the chicks in the past, this one was mine to raise. I fell in love with her, and like just about every other baby bird, this one didn't take long to learn that hands meant food and warmth. Feeding her at first was a challenge, because doves have a unique way of feeding their young, where they would open their beaks, and the babies would stick their heads in, and eat the regurgitated food, rather than it being the other way around like it is with most birds.
(This was right after feeding, which is why the face looks messy. Also, it's normal for them at this age, for the bottom half of the face to be bald. It would grow feathers there as it got older, if anyone was wondering)
Most doves are calm and also timid, but she was different. For her young age, she was brave, curious, energetic, and playful. We had her in a container in her cage with a paper towel covering the top, as well as a heating pad underneath, and she decided to perch on the edge of the container to see what I was doing after I finished feeding her. My mom would've most likely wanted to release her, but I loved her like she was my own, and I hoped to keep her. However, one day I woke up, and she was gone. I don't know how it happened, possibly the wound got infected, but I couldn't help but feel like I did something wrong.
It was two months later, when the bird mart held by the local bird club came around. I actually went there looking for a diamond dove, since it was the kind that my mom was most likely to agree with me having, since they are small and wouldn't make as big of a mess (my mom says they make a bigger mess than parrots do). There was someone before me however, who bought every single one that was being sold at the time. In fact, aside from several species of pigeons, the only doves I saw that were still for sale were some ringneck doves that were being sold at the stand next to Carolyn's stand. He seemed to have really wanted to sell them all, since he even suggested buying one along with Lucy as a "friend". Funny how things turned out though. A cockatiel was the last thing on my mind when I entered, and then became the first thing on my mind when I left.
Funny thing is though, the one thing that all of the stories of my past bird experience have in common, is that Dudley has been there the whole time, from the finch aviary to the baby dove. He's the oldest bird in the house, as well as the one that's been around the longest. If he could talk, he would have a lot of stories to tell.
Now, what kinds of experience with non-parrots have you guys had, if any? Has anyone had any non-parrot birds before? If so, what kind of birds? I'd love to hear what kind of stories people have.
for sharing such an interesting story...
