Mr. Cracker Needs a Good New Seattle Area Home

Little is known about Mr. Cracker except that he may very well be a wild-caught presumed male Ruby macaw (Greenwing/Scarlet mix) believed to be about 45 years old that has gone through about five homes in his life. By the looks of him, his father was a Greenwing macaw and his mother a Scarlet. Cracker has no leg band, and is old enough to be a wild-caught parrot.

Cracker lived with his latest parront and a flock of Cockatiels in Seattle for nearly twenty-five years, since about 1987. Over the past several months, Cracker's owner developed a serious medical condition and eventually could no longer care for the parrot. For a time Cracker apparently was subsisting on sunflower seeds and peanuts! Fortunately arrangements had already been made to place Cracker in a foster home when the owner was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. That person didn't like the name Cracker, so he renamed him Alexander.

Cracker is a big bird! He probably weighs close to three pounds. Our female Greenwing macaw Roxanne is small by comparison. Almost immediately, Cracker let us know that his name is Cracker! Not a great speaker, he does say Cracker, I'm Cracker, Hello, Hello There, Eat the Food, Piece of Cake, and Goodbye, among other words and phrases. He has one tune that he sings often, and he loves to hop and dance. He is a voracious eater, probably because of his situation prior to foster care, and loves his fruit and vegies. His owner told us he doesn't play with toys. Not true! He had one ratty old toy in his cage. He now has a big steel bell that he loves, as well as many chew toys that keep him occupied.

Cracker developed a serious plucking problem that coincided with his owner's illness. His chest, legs, and parts of his wings are virtually bare. We hope that the plucking did not progress so far as to be irreversible, and that as he settles into his new life his feathers will grow back.

Cracker is currently in the care of Northwest Parrots Fund until his condition can be assessed, his diet regulated, and his suitability for rehoming determined. Cracker appears to favor men rather than women, and clearly needs a home with someone who has macaw experience, and preferably other macaws in the household. Cracker's foster home includes a flock of four other macaws, and Cracker clearly is enamored of the female Greenwing macaw Roxanne as well as the male Blue and Gold macaw Aboo.

If interested in adopting Cracker, or to learn about other parrots currently available for adoption in the Pacific Northwest, or if you would like to join our parrot foster home network, please visit Northwest Parrots Fund. Northwest Parrots Fund is a 501(c)3 nonprofit charity registered in the State of Washington.

Parrots, People, Food, and Music at Seattle's Ballard Farmers Market

Seattle's Ballard Sunday Farmers Market is one of the premiere farmers markets in the United States, and probably has the most European feel of any American farmers market. The atmosphere of the market along Seattle's historic Ballard Avenue brings back memories of our college days when for a short time we had the good fortune to live at the Hotel Victoria on Paris' Rue Mouffetard, the City of Light's oldest farmers market. Click here to see images of this historic street.

However, one of the things we frequently see at the Ballard Farmers Market that we never saw in Paris is parrots!

Our parrots love visiting the Ballard Farmers Market. Especially our two Blue and Gold macaws, Aboo and Miss Bubba Boy. Every Sunday when Bubba sees us putting the avian flyer harness on Aboo, she goes nuts, and climbs off of her stand and scurries across the kitchen floor heading for the door even before we can get to it! We're not sure what she loves most about the market, but hopefully this video will give you an idea of how much the parrots enjoy their outings to the market. The video also features our Greenwing macaw and Diva parrot Roxanne, as well as the Camelot macaw Maiya. Presented in High Definition:

For your viewing pleasure, we append our first two Parrots Days Out at the Ballard Farmers Market YouTube videos. The original video features our Greenwing macaw and Diva parrot Roxanne, as well as our two Blue and Gold macaws, Aboo and Miss Bubba Boy:

The second Another Parrots Day Out at the Ballard Farmers Market YouTube video, one of our first videos presented in High Definition, features our Greenwing macaw and Diva parrot Roxanne, and our Hyacinth macaw parrot, Princess Tara:

If you have any photos or video of your parrots at farmers markets, or encounters with others' parrots while visiting a farmers market, please send them to us. We'd love to see and share them!

Feeding Parrots The Twelve Dirtiest Fruits and Vegetables Which Should Only Be Purchased Organic

With farmers markets and produce stands overflowing with fresh fruit and vegetables here at the peak of summer, the temptation exists to grab the brightest and freshest fruits and vegetables to bring home to feed your parrots. But are all fruits and vegetables equally safe to feed to your parrots? Fortunately for parrot people and others, the Environmental Working Group produces a list of the twelve dirtiest fruits and vegetables to watch out for, fruits and vegetables that are most heavily impacted with pesticides and other contaminants. These are fruits and vegetables that should only be purchased organic, or simply avoided:

http://health.msn.com/nutrition/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100261286

Along with the list of the twelve dirtiest fruits and vegetables, the Environmental Working Group also provides a list of the fifteen cleanest fruits and vegetables, that are safe to consume even if not organic.

Feeding Parrots

What goes better with a movie than popcorn?

Especially if you're watching Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill!

We are pleased to introduce our latest YouTube video series, Feeding Parrots. Parrot owners know that parrots can be finicky eaters. Are you wondering what to feed your parrots for dinner? Some parrots have a choice between Mash and More Mash! Are your parrots literally fed up with Mash? Feed them some real food! Here's a tasty recipe for spicy Mexican rice and black bean burritos with peanut butter sauce. The best part is: There's absolutely no cooking and minimal preparation required! And the burritos are so tasty you can finish off any leftovers yourself! Presented in High Definition, Cooking for Parrots:

To eliminate the need to search YouTube for our other Feeding Parrots videos, we are pleased to append them here. Here's an idea for an easy to fix and nutritious parrot meal. Presented in High Definition, Feeding Parrots: Sunday Dinner:

And how about a meal suggestion for a weekend parrot treat? Here's our original Feeding Parrots video, Feeding Parrots: Sunday Brunch:

Bon Appetit!

One Picture is Worth One Thousand Criminal Indictments!

Eleven oil rig workers killed. A way of life and an entire culture put at risk. An entire ecosystem despoiled. It's time to enact the corporate death penalty for BP America! The United States government needs to place the corporation into receivership and assume management of its assets.

For ourselves, we plan to boycott BP America and all its subsidiaries, including:

Aral
ARCO
Travel Centre
BP Connect
BP Express
BP Shop
BP 2go
Castrol
Wild Bean Cafe
Air BP and BP Shipping

If anyone knows of any other BP subsidiaries, please let us know so we can add them to the list.

Yet Another Talented Parrot

We are familiar with literate African grey parrots and macaws that can talk up a storm, or even carry a tune, such as our own Greenwing macaw and Diva parrot Roxanne. There are many fine videos on YouTube featuring talking African greys and dancing Cockatoos. But few of them can hold a candle to a recent vocal discovery.

A longtime friend of ours is the proud parront of a male Eclectus parrot named Sam I Am (or Sammy for short). So we've known Sammy for years. Recently, Sammy's parront had to undergo hip replacement surgery, so we ended up taking Sammy into our flock for a nearly six week stay. We knew Sammy could talk. We were astounded to discover Sammy's musical talent. Apparently Sammy likes to listen to jazz music, and is particularly fond of horns.

It is a singular thrill to discover an unparalleled singing sensation. All the more sensational when that talent is a parrot! It is with great pleasure that we present Sam I Am's YouTube debut:

We are additionally happy that Sam I Am's YouTube debut is also our latest YouTube video to reach 1,000 views! American Idol here we come.

The Wild Parrots of Seattle

A Pair of Mitred Conures in Golden Gardens Park, Photographed January 10, 2010

We have lived in the Ballard neighborhood of North Seattle since 1999. We knew about the wild parrots in Seward Park (see below), but after moving to Ballard we starting hearing that there was a flock of wild parrots in this neighborhood. Unfortunately the only locations we could ever get were really vague, and not very useful as a starting point in trying to locate the parrots. After about ten years of hearing about these parrots we were starting to think they were just an urban myth.

But recently, our local neighborhood newspaper, The Ballard News-Tribune, published a photo of the parrots, taken January 10, 2010, at Golden Gardens Park:

http://www.ballardnewstribune.com/2010/01/11/features/green-my-ballard-wild-parrots-sunset-hill?sms_ss=twitter

The parrots look to be Mitred conures, same as the conures of Seward Park across the city on Lake Washington. We would guess that the Sunset Hill parrots are an independent flock because of the distance to Seward Park on Lake Washington, but we suppose it wouldn't be impossible for the parrots to forage that distance.

After the photo was published in the Ballard newspaper, we started hearing from people who live in the vicinity of Golden Gardens who have seen the parrots, and who were able to provide an actual location to see the parrots. According to this information, the best location to see the parrots is the top of the gully above Golden Gardens Park, west of 29th Avenue NW near NW 85th Street:

http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Seattle&state=WA&address=29th+Ave+NW+%26+NW+85th+St&zipcode=98117&country=US&latitude=47.69058&longitude=-122.39429&geocode=INTERSECTION

From the aerial map, it looks like Edgewest Drive NW may be the best access to the area. But at least it gives us a place to start looking.

This is earlier information from May of 2009 posted about the wild parrots of Seward Park:

The Columbia Citizens neighborhood blog has recently posted updates on the wild conures of Seattle's Seward Park, in the neighborhood of 49th Avenue and Hudson Street. Photos of the parrots taken May 19 and May 20 can be seen on the blog post by going to the following link:

http://columbiacitizens.net/forum/t-154856

According to one local resident: In years past, maybe ten or twelve years ago, we counted fourteen parrots at one time. More recently the numbers seem to be dwindling…these days we see three or four maybe in our neck of the woods—43rd Avenue and Ferdinand Street. I was told they've been around for a long time and originated with a bird (or two) flying out of someone's open window.