# The outdoor world



## Sweety's mom (4 mo ago)

Sweety loves when I take his cage out on the deck and sit with him out there. I have many squirrels and crows around, who I used to feed before I got my birdie. So they are accustomed to coming around my deck. Sweetie loves them all and gets so excited when any other bird or animal is around. None of them come onto my actual deck, they hop around in front of it and climb the tree that’s right there.

It’s sometimes hard because he wants a real bird friend so bad. And as a parent of a single bird I want to give him all the companionship he needs so he will be as healthy as possible. But he can’t help wanting to make friends with the crows and squirrels.

Its been too cold to take him outside for over a month now so he’s adjusting to life with only a window to see his crow and squirrel friends. He’s doing well but he sometimes gets mad when I go out on the deck but don’t take him with me, since I used to take him out daily in the summer and it was his favorite enriching activity.

Just curious about others and if you take your bird outside, how they behave and if it is overall a healthy and happy thing to do. 

A couple notes, he’s never out there unattended. My body is between the outside and his cage when we are out there so I know there are never any animals close to his cage or on the deck. 

But some of the crows have taken a curiosity with him and watch us from above on wires. He calls to them and flits around his cage to get their attention. It’s so cute but …. Sad too?


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## StarlingWings (Mar 15, 2013)

Some birds do well as single birds (my girl is a single bird and she sees any other animal or bird as an immediate threat to her "kingdom", lol) and others do not, is Sweety bonding well with you and does he seem engaged and happy?

Additionally, Sweety seems to be a definitely curious and outgoing little guy! Most budgies would be afraid of crows, etc.

My girl has been outside in her cage once or twice and she hated it, lol. She couldn't stop looking nervously up at the trees, making sure there were no owls. She is very outgoing now with her flock (of humans, lol) but is naturally a skittish bird so in new situations she is very scared. It was causing her a lot of stress to be outdoors so we don't take her cage out anymore. She is content to watch the world through the window 

Additionally, she calls out to birds in the yard too, but for her it seems more like she's just automatically responding to bird calls rather than trying to say anything friendly. She gets mad if there are other birds (especially the loud bluejays), lol.


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## Sweety's mom (4 mo ago)

Yes he’s always engaged and happy with me. And he is not afraid at all of the outside birds when he’s out or sees them on the porch. So I think he’s ok with it I just don’t want him to be sad he isn’t “free”


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## ShleeTheRat (4 mo ago)

Sweety's mom said:


> Sweety loves when I take his cage out on the deck and sit with him out there. I have many squirrels and crows around, who I used to feed before I got my birdie. So they are accustomed to coming around my deck. Sweetie loves them all and gets so excited when any other bird or animal is around. None of them come onto my actual deck, they hop around in front of it and climb the tree that’s right there.
> 
> It’s sometimes hard because he wants a real bird friend so bad. And as a parent of a single bird I want to give him all the companionship he needs so he will be as healthy as possible. But he can’t help wanting to make friends with the crows and squirrels.
> 
> ...


It's only natural for him to want to make friends, budgies are very social, community driven animals. I think anything that gives your bird a new, positive experience is one worth doing. They need more mental stimulation than most common pets just because of their intelligence alone. As long as he doesn't seem stressed, aggressive or afraid, why not let him enjoy a little outdoors time? It's also great for their feathers! Perhaps your birdie might enjoy videos of similar creatures he's seen, I know my guys really love watching song bird videos! And that dancing birds series on Netflix is a hit too. They also really enjoy videos meant for dogs/cats of squirrels, pigeons, mourning doves, chipmunks, etc. Just some ideas to get the visual and audio stimulation enrichment ideas flowing.


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## Sweety's mom (4 mo ago)

ShleeTheRat said:


> It's only natural for him to want to make friends, budgies are very social, community driven animals. I think anything that gives your bird a new, positive experience is one worth doing. They need more mental stimulation than most common pets just because of their intelligence alone. As long as he doesn't seem stressed, aggressive or afraid, why not let him enjoy a little outdoors time? It's also great for their feathers! Perhaps your birdie might enjoy videos of similar creatures he's seen, I know my guys really love watching song bird videos! And that dancing birds series on Netflix is a hit too. They also really enjoy videos meant for dogs/cats of squirrels, pigeons, mourning doves, chipmunks, etc. Just some ideas to get the visual and audio stimulation enrichment ideas flowing.


He used to enjoy seeing videos of birds and small animals, but it’s almost like once he made friends with the crows outside he no longer cares about the “fake” TV animals. 

Sadly it will be too cold here to take him out again until probably late March, the poor little guy. But he sees the crows and squirrels out the window and it always cheers him up.

Tomorrow my daughter is bringing her two small very well behaved dogs over and Sweety will get to see another animal a little closer up for the first time. So that will be a treat for him. If for some reason he is afraid of them we will put them in the car while we visit but I’m pretty sure he will not be afraid as they are both so sweet and gentle and he will be fascinated by them.


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## ShleeTheRat (4 mo ago)

Sweety's mom said:


> He used to enjoy seeing videos of birds and small animals, but it’s almost like once he made friends with the crows outside he no longer cares about the “fake” TV animals.
> 
> Sadly it will be too cold here to take him out again until probably late March, the poor little guy. But he sees the crows and squirrels out the window and it always cheers him up.
> 
> Tomorrow my daughter is bringing her two small very well behaved dogs over and Sweety will get to see another animal a little closer up for the first time. So that will be a treat for him. If for some reason he is afraid of them we will put them in the car while we visit but I’m pretty sure he will not be afraid as they are both so sweet and gentle and he will be fascinated by them.


That sounds fun! I hope he enjoys the novelty of seeing something new. My last suggestion was since he's stuck inside due to weather, why not take him to other places in the house or other windows too? I take my boys all around my small dwelling. They seem so full of energy after a little safe exploring, like they got inspired by even a change in scenery. Recently I brought them into the laundry room while I had to get some things out of the dryer. You should have seen those corndogs! Complete captivation. They also seemed to enjoy seeing me folding clothes in the living room recently, I usually do it on my bed but I had just washed all the bedding hahaha.


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## Sweety's mom (4 mo ago)

ShleeTheRat said:


> That sounds fun! I hope he enjoys the novelty of seeing something new. My last suggestion was since he's stuck inside due to weather, why not take him to other places in the house or other windows too? I take my boys all around my small dwelling. They seem so full of energy after a little safe exploring, like they got inspired by even a change in scenery. Recently I brought them into the laundry room while I had to get some things out of the dryer. You should have seen those corndogs! Complete captivation. They also seemed to enjoy seeing me folding clothes in the living room recently, I usually do it on my bed but I had just washed all the bedding hahaha.


Ah yes! Well I only have the one window, which is a sliding glass door he can see out of from anywhere in my front room. But I do actually move him around with me, even though it isn't very far from his normal place, but to him it is a whole new world each time. When I sit on the couch to watch TV or read I put him next to me on a small table. Sometimes I take him into the kitchen while I do dishes or clean up. He especially loves seeing the cupboards and drawers open up like "whoa!!!! there's a whole extra space in there with interesting things!" I have taken him to the bathroom and my bedroom also, though there isn't anything that fun to do around there, he still just likes the newness of it. He is so sweet and calm when I move his cage, just hops on his perch to balance and gets excited about where are we going this time??


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## Sweety's mom (4 mo ago)

I just remembered a cute first thing Sweety did. When I used to be able to show animal videos to him (before he got bored of them) one time I had jungle birds on for him. Mixed in with birds they had other jungle animals I wasn’t expecting and some of them were lions.

After a bit of seeing the lions strut around the desert, he suddenly called out a danger sound. He has never done that before or since but when I heard it there was no mistaking he was saying “danger tell everyone help danger run if you can danger!”

So thus far the only noise or sight I’ve ever heard him be afraid was actual prowling lions. Everything else he has experienced so far doesn’t faze him. My brave little guy.

Of course with the caveat that I mean things outside his cage only. Hands or anything too close or inside the cage he is definitely afraid of. But he seems to see himself protected by this force field (cage) and he has a really high tolerance for sounds and things going on a foot or more away from his cage.


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## Sweety's mom (4 mo ago)

Here is Sweety flirting with his crow friend. This crow noticed him flitting around (trying to get its attention) and sat here above watching the curious little cage bird for a long time. They interacted several other times for several weeks this summer. The very first sound he makes is his attempt at a crow-like sound.

And now that Sweety can’t go outside, I swear this same crow still parks himself in a place where he and Sweety can see each other. Because sometimes I’ll notice Sweety is completely fixated on a certain point of his vision outside and when i look, there is the crow on a wire, and seems to be looking back at Sweety!








Sweety trying to chat with his crow friend







www.youtube.com


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Crows are extremely intelligent birds. As the crow and Sweety have struck up a friendship, I would not be at all surprised if the crow returns often to see him.*


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