Aviary & Birds - Monster

Monster is ALL PERSONALITY!!  He started talking at about 3 months old and I don't think he's stopped yet.  Monster is very active, he's almost always in action unless he's asleep.  If he's awake he's wiggling and talking.  

Our family begins to start the day around 6am.  Monster is quietly sleeping under the cover of his cage.  I sip my first cup of coffee and all is quiet.  I can hear Monster slowly waking, but he's just moving around a little.  At 7am I wake up the kids for school and they go about getting ready for their day.  By now Monster is on the floor of his cage, watching our every move.  He normally tells the kids "HI!" (softly for him which is about normal talking level for us) at least once as he continues to mumble and move around.  Each of the kids usually stop and tell Monster Good Morning too, sometimes my daughter will give him a kiss.  She tells him, "Give me a Kiss Monster" and Monster will reply with "MMMMMMMUAAAAaaa".  Then he'll tell my daughter to give him a kiss.

His morning officially starts around 9am when my dad, Frank uncovers his cage.  By this time Monster is excited, he sounds like a young kid in a paper bag as he slides down and around the bars of the cage and yells out "HI MONSTER!!" in a happy voice.  He is so happy to see Frank that he starts singing to him... "Whop bob aloo lop, a whop bam boom... AAAHHHHHHHH Tootie Fruity".  Monster's favorite part of the song is the "aahhh" and he puts his all into it, he does such a great job that the glass on the windows rattle!! (or is that just my ear drums?)  This is one of his favorite times of the day.  He and Frank will sing together as Frank gives him his breakfast.  They start out with one fresh grape, and Frank sets two monkey biscuits in some warm water to soften.  Next it's a warm monkey biscuit followed by a few banana chips, a pecan, a wall nut or two, some dried papaya, a few sesame sticks and a handful of Pretty Bird.  

We purchase all his dried fruits and his fresh cracked nuts from Whole Foods or from a grocery store in bulk form.  This way he only gets what he likes and we limit the nuts he eats.  The Pretty Bird complete diet  is purchased from an online store called Pet Warehouse.  

Frank will take Monster out and bring him into my office.  He will tell me "HIIIII!" and then give me a kiss.  I ask him to pick up his "arm" and he lets me rub under his wing.  We will sing a little of the Tuttie Fruity song and he goes back to Frank.

Dinner has become very interesting in the evenings.  When we gather in the kitchen, he starts talking.  He'll call us for kisses and offer plenty in return.  He practices all his vocabulary words, and sings a song or two.  When we sit down to eat he starts circling the cage.  If we don't pay attention he proceeds to fan us with his wings.  You would be amazed at out how much wind he can move with a 5 foot wing span.  If we don't give Monster some of what ever we are eating he gets upset with us.  He'll look at  us and say "GOOD??" "Mmmm"...  until you share what you're eating.

We put Monster outside on the patio this fall.  He loves it.  He always surprises us with new words and the volume of which he can say them.  The happier he is, the louder he talks.  I wonder what my neighbors thing when Monsters yells out "HI BIRD!!"  "AAAHHHHHh.. Tootie Fruity" and tops it all off with his own special melody that echoes for blocks.