Mitch on the line

[Schelle]

Mitch loves to play with wooden pegs... so I just had to introduce him to the clothesline! He loves it, and won't let me go out to hang the washing without him (his favourite phrase is "Come for a walk?")

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v680/myth_schelle/clothesline.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v680/myth_schelle/clothesline2.jpg

[Shirley]

Oh how adorable! The long-billed Corellas aren't seen in the states much... just the little corellas aka Bare-eyed.

Thank you for the pic! :D

[Jean]

Your little guy is adorale!!! :heart: :wub: :heart: How old is he?

:thanx: for sharing his pics.

[Sue]

He's beautiful:heart:

[Schelle]

Hi Shirley, Jean and Sue,

Mitch says Hello and thanks you for all the kind words about him...

Shirley, I haven't heard much about Long Billed Corellas being kept as pets here either. However, they are VERY obvious in 'the wild' (suburbia) - I have even heard them referred to as 'flying rats'!!! They fly in pairs, calling back and forth 'anxiously' to each other, and collect in huge flocks - I have counted over 40 stalking around together on the lawn of a public park, and seen several hundred fly together at migration time. It is funny, but I never really noticed them before we rescued Mitch... now I look out for them all the time, and always say 'Hello' to Mitch's family!

I believe they originated in Victoria, but they were brought interstate to NSW by the pet trade several decades ago... they are VERY noisy and demand a LOT of attention, so many 'pets' were released and formed a 'wild' population here. I think that's why the vet wanted to put Mitch down when we first rescued him - the corellas are considered something of a pest, introduced to this area, not 'natural'... and he said Mitch would never fly again, so I guess he didn't believe we would take care of the little squawker for the rest of his (hopefully very long) life... little did he know!

Jean, we rescued him in November 2002. His parents watched and 'talked' to him as my husband picked him up from the gutter, after he was hit by a car. He was obviously VERY young, and had not been weaned. It is my belief that he was taking his first (and only) flight when the accident happened.

That's one reason why the clothesline is so much fun for him. I hold out both my arms and say "two wings... you've got two wings" to him, and encourage him to spread them both out. His good wing is VERY good, but his bad wing is a problem. He is finally starting to get enough strength to hold it out (though he uses his head to prop it up and keep it spread). Problem is when he gets startled and tries to fly... he flaps and flops and nearly tears the bad wing off :( The wound at his shoulder where the wing joins has never fully healed - I can always tell when he's stressed it because I find a little dried blood at that point on the feathers. We just keep working on building strength in the wing, and building confidence in him, so he stays quiet(er) and calm.

Sue, I agree entirely. He's beautiful and he's my baby :D

[Jean]

Schelle, Iam so thrilled to know about your sweet baby. Sorry for his injury , and very happy he has a good home with you. :heart: It was truly fait that happend for your hubby come to his rescue. Poor little darlig! Please give him extra love and scritches for me! :wub: Please keep sharing his pretty pics! :heart:

[Ginny]

awww what a sweet story. I am so glad you saved his life and he has a wonderful home with you now. He is a lucky little bird.