The Joys of Foraging

The store was having a big sale on fresh organic broccoli; the kind of broccoli that comes on those huge stalks.

I personally like raw broccoli and all my birdies like raw broccoli, so I try to keep some in the house, when I think of it.

I couldn't pass up this deal, so I came home with two huge stalks of broccoli and some organic apples.

Now Charli loves "helping" me work on the computer, even going so far as to attack my fingers for not giving her scritches, as is her due. Anything that can keep Charli busy while I'm working is a good thing, and one of these stalks was a very good thing.

This is the simplest of foraging toys.  A bit of apple around both ends of the broccoli.  Charli not only enjoys eating apples and broccoli, I think she loves the chomping and dropping from the beak even more. Since she's in her cage, I don't mind a bit how much of a mess she makes.

I hope you can tell from the pictures that the stalk of broccoli is longer than she is.

If I'm lucky this will keep her busy all morning and then encourage her to take a little nap before deciding she must get out and "help" me!

Favorite Toy (of the moment)

This is one of the toys Charli loves -- for the moment.  She's still learning that each one has an almond or two, maybe even a peanut hidden inside. 

The lid is connected to the box by a small, safe chewable bit of wood that keeps the lid from opening completely.  It opens just enough for the parrot to see goodies inside.  The parrot must then chew the safe cardboard to release the treats.  There are no glues or fasteners to worry about. Sometimes this takes hours, with much tossing the box around to get a better chewing surface.  Sometimes she can get the nuts out within a half hour.

She's always very proud of herself when the toy is completely ruined and the treats eaten all up.

Most all parrot owners know how important foraging is for our birds.  I really like this particular toy because it already has an almond or two in it, each one with a tiny hole in it to facilitate breaking open the shell.  There are lots of strands of safe color papers to tear off, and two wooden circles attached with thin suede strips.

This toy is made by Super Bird Creations and is called the Almond Foot Forager.  It is probably available wherever Super Bird Creations toys are sold.

O Happy Day!

I went to the Farmers' Market again this morning.  Among the haul was a nice stalk of broccoli, which Charli fell in love with as you can see (the broccoli is on a skewer).

 

Here, she's hanging upside down with her wings spread out a little bit.  She loves raw broccoli!

Later on I gave her some clean pea pods after shelling out the fresh peas.  She thought they were mighty tasty, too.

Then, miracle of miracles!  I dropped about 5 fresh organic blueberries in her food dish.  O Joy, Joy, Joy!

Yes, I gave goodies to the Bobbsey Twins, too, but they are most definitely not interested in anything edible unless it's seed or nuts, which I'm not providing today.  They'll just have to call the ASPCA and report me!

Now all the birds are taking naps.  It looks like rain, so I think I'll take a little nap, too.

Charli's Foraging Box

This Charli's favorite foraging toy . . . well, at least for today. It's a small bird-safe cardboard box that has a tiny piece of chewable wood inside that prevents the lid from opening all the way. It opens just enough for me to put treats in and that she can see they're inside. The rest is up to her. As you can see, she does her best. I just love her face when she finally chews it up enough to get to the almonds and Power Treats.

Sometimes, as in this video, cardboard boxes need to be relocated.