Preening as Group Therapy

With four birds in my home, a lot of preening gets done every day. I don't know how many feathers any of my parrots have individually, but an interesting factoid I found was that a bird may have as few as over 900 feathers (Ruby hummingbird) or as many as 25,000 (whistling swan in winter). Any way you look at it, that's a lot of feathers to care for.

Preening is what takes care of the feathers, besides taking a bath - which my birds do regularly. Even after bathing, preening is necessary to get the feathers properly groomed and maintained; to add oil to the feathers to keep them waterproof and insulated. In the wild, it also helps to remove parasites and debris. (You can see tiny bits of down and keratin here on Sam's head.)

And when birds are molting seasonally, it helps to remove the keratin sheathes that encase the new feathers. I've also read that it helps to strengthen relationships. That makes a lot of sense.


Whenever my birds preen, it is often "contagious" - that is, when one bird begins, usually everyone else follows suit. Group preening. It is one of the most soothing activities I've ever witnessed. Everybody quiets down to the focussed task of preening, and it can last for many minutes. I think it must be very important socially and emotionally for birds to preen in a group. Maybe it's the original group therapy. After all, birds have been around a lot longer than we have.

One of the unexpected side benefits to me is that whenever this preening business happens and I'm present, I get caught up in the quiet, almost meditative atmosphere. When everybody has finished with a nice stretch, I sigh and collect myself for the next task ahead. Ahhh....

The Bird Who Came in from the Cold and Left in a Hurry

Morning ritual is: Get up, wash teeth and face, prepare fresh food and water for my parrots, raise their night covers, and let them sing!

This morning, I had only gotten to the washing-teeth stage and I heard a scrabbling of bird nails against metal. It did not sound like one of my birds' scrabblings. Hmmm. I wonder if it’s one of the resident skunks living under my house. I listen again. This time I investigate after the noise continues. As I enter the living room from where the sounds originate, I then hear frantic fluttering. Oh-ho!!! A bird of undetermined species is dashing himself against the glass-fronted fireplace hearth from inside the chimney. He’s desperate for release from his dark prison into which he fell – when, I wonder? Not earlier than dusk last night; more likely this morning, just before I woke up.

By now, Sam the Jardine’s Parrot, has freaked out and is making the same frantic noises inside his still-covered cage. He spooks easily if one of his other flock members frightens, and he clearly feels scared.

I lift his covers so he can at least see what’s happening. The other flock members start commenting (in English) about the rude and unusual awakening. They are still under cover themselves. “Whatcha doing?” “Hm?” “You be!!!” (Pippin’s abbreviation for “You be good!”) - and other assorted peeps, chirps, squawks in a questioning/affronted tone….etc.

I’ve managed to open the front door wide and keep the blinds closed in the living room. I’m hoping that the bird thrashing at the bottom of the fireplace will seek first whatever light source he sees. I open the glass cover to the hearth and, like a bat out of hell, Mr. Incognito Bird zooms at high speed to the open door and is gone.

All I see is a blur. It’s a medium-sized bird. My suspicion is that it’s one of the two baby scrub jays that have been around the house being fed by their over-worked parents. They are fully fledged and eating for themselves, but they are still obviously clumsy and new to the dangers of large dark holes on the roof. And they are incautiously curious.

Sam calms down after being removed from his cage with kisses, the other flock members don’t even know what happened and are ready for anything, and a lovely sunny day begins after a pre-breakfast adventure! [I planned to insert some photos here, but Blogger won't upload photos tonight...]

Welcome To My Blog

My interests are varied and wide, but always find their way back to my passions: nature, wildlife, sun playing shadow-games with what I see, and my attempts, through my artwork, to capture something of the essence of what catches my eye. There is a lot of joy in discovering something very beautiful and sometimes hidden, then bringing that aspect to light through a painting.After having lived in Los Angeles for over a quarter century (yikes!), I now revel in the countryside near me and never tire of it. Blacktail deer and wild turkeys wander freely and unmolested through the small town I found five years ago. (Of course, lots of other critters also wander through my front yard, but they tend to keep to the shadows and at night. Some, like skunks, find perverse pleasure in living under my house and spraying occasionally, especially in winter when I can’t air out the house without freezing. Phee-uwwwww!!!)




My paintings are inspired by what crosses my path, what I see on my walks and travels – whatever makes my heart beat a bit faster when I get hit with a sense of awe and delight.






Nature has also come to live with me in the form of four beautiful parrot companions: Sam (Jardine’s parrot), Chipper and Charlie No-Toe (cockatiels), and Pippin (lovebird). You will hear more about them in future blogs, but a brief visual acquaintance is in order. This is Sam looking out the window:

Chipper: eldest and in charge -- sensitive, highly interactive, always thinking (and conniving), and literary critic (aka Chipperoo, Roo) after which the blog was named Charlie No-Toe: singing, hanging out, and copying Chipper is his game



Pippin: the smallest and the sweetest and the smartest ball of energy




And Sam again: biggest, cuddliest green eating machine – and very shy.

So you have now met the main cast of characters that influence what and why I paint. I will be happy to share more with you in future postings. Stay tuned!