My living bird badge

Day 4. The baby honeyeater nursery adventure continues. I haven't named it yet. Maybe a Simon? Maybe Honey! But then I already have a friend named Honey. For now, it's still "baby bird" or "birdy".

Now after it's been fed, it flaps out of it's nest and after a series of stumbles and hops on the floor of the enclosure, which is actually Alice's mobile carry case, the baby bird can get up the metal cagey bit of the front door and make it's way up (and out when I leave the cover off). When I pick it up while I have to clean it's beak or it's nest, it proceeds to try and make it's way up to my shoulder. It's really very funny, I don't know why it wants to get up there. Throughout the day it didn't quite make it and just hung out by the strap of my dress near my collar bone, like a living bird badge!

So far the baby bird makes a singular repetitive chirp that means "Anyone there? I'm hungry" and a squawk when it sees food approaching that means "FOOD OVER HERE! ME! ME!". Now it's making a third chirp noise, a twittering, soft whistling chatter, that it seems to mean "I'm happy" and also happy conversation. Because it will make that noise after it's eaten a lot, and also when I talk to it, it starts it's garbled twittering straight away.

In the evening, when I gave it it's last big feed and took it out to clean it's nest, it actually made it onto my shoulder and sat there happily chirping and twittering into my ear. This little bird is the funniest thing! But then the last thing it did that was less funny, was when I took it off my shoulder, it then flew STRAIGHT AT MY FACE between my eyes. I caught it just before it maybe tried to sit on my nose?! A friend suggested the name at the start of "Kissy Face McGee", and maybe it's not too far off. I hope it doesn't have a thing for pecking and clawing people's noses.

Taken from a reader Robyn comment on Kirsty Brook's Honeyeater blogpost:

"white plumed honey eater as a pet. Orbit was the best pet and friend...Her worst habit resulted from her very terriortial nature, she would attack our visitors, grasping their noses with her feet and putting all her might into squeezing. This was a painful experience for the unsuspecting, as her nails grew long. There were some interesting scenes in our home where we tried to trim her nails."