girl bird confirmed in Diary

Lucky (one of my two African grey parrots) laid an egg the other day inside one of her several cardboard liquor boxes. She wouldn’t leave it alone for almost two hours. I put my hand down by her feet trying to get her to step up, but she just nibbled on my fingers and wanted me to give her head scratches. I’m still learning how to give head scratches in the first place. Seems kind of unnatural rubbing a bird’s feathers the wrong way, kind of like rubbing a cat’s fur against the grain. Except bird feathers bend both ways, so it actually feels surprisingly good.

I put the egg in a plastic bag and put it in the fridge. I don’t like eggs, otherwise I’d fry it up and give it a try. Of course I’ll end up having to throw it away sometime soon. According to the internet, African greys lay 2 or 3 eggs a day apart when they gestate, so I’ve been looking for more eggs. I still need to check inside one of her boxes to be sure she hasn’t plopped another one out. They only lay eggs once or twice a year, by the way; greys do.

Lucky is so funny. Every morning and every evening she steps up onto my hand and refuses to get off. Although she actually seems quite amorous toward me, kind of like Grey. Regurgitating, nibbling on my fingertips, pressing her breastbone against the meaty part of my thumb. (That feels really weird. It nearly makes me squirm every time.)

So I’ve got a male bird who has been a breeding bird before as well as a young, fertile female. If I wanted to, I could have them breed and make a healthy sum selling chicks. But I like them both too much to try that out. Also, Grey could easily kill Lucky if he wanted to. He’s a big, aggressive alpha male. So I’m not going to risk it. He’s also a sweetie. But you know how animals are.

I’m really tired. Last day of the work week and all. Sorry I’ve been so absent, here.