Plucky Girl

With most parrots, you really can't tell from looking them whether they are male or female. The only true ways to tell are the following: if your bird lays an egg, it's a girl; either that or get a DNA test. I have called Tupelo a girl from the day we got her, figuring that if she did lay an egg, then I would not have to "change" her sex. Nine years later, tupe has never laid an egg, but some of her favorite things to say are "Good girl!" and "Tupee-girl!!" so she is now invested in her girliness, so to speak. Needless to say, I was in no mood to rush out and get a DNA test to prove her wrong.

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But when we got home from our week in Florida recently, we realized that Tupe had started plucking her feathers out. This is (unfortunately) a common issue with Quaker parrots, and could be the result of an infection, parasites, skin problems, or behavioral issue. So Andy brought her to an avian vet in Concord, where they took all sorts of tests and blood samples including, yes, a DNA sex test. And so, it turns out we were able to confirm a few things about our little green chicken:

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1) Tupe is too fat. (20 grams overweight, to be exact)

2) Tupe is a GIRL! (awww...)

3) Tupe is bored.

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The prescription is an interesting one. And very labor intensive. We have to teach Tupe (and Zaitsy, who by the way is SOO ANGRY about this) to forage. The theory is that birds in the wild spend about a third of their waking hours preening, a third of their time foraging and eating, and a third of their time socializing. If eating takes them only a few minutes since all the food is provided in a known spot (their bowl) then they have to fill up the remainder of their day with something else... and that something else is preening for tupe. So she is an "overpreener."

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To fix it, we have to "hide" her food and make her look for it, thereby occupying more of her day so she does not "overpreen". Like wrapping up treats in paper or wedging them around her cage in different places every day, and just generally not making it easy to find. So far it has been slow-going. Zaitsy is absolutely livid that his nutri-berries are not where they should be, but Tupe is just dumbfounded. The fourth thing we've confirmed about Tupe: She's not the brighest egg in the easter basket. If she can't see the food in her bowl directly, she figures it doesn't exist. Even if she watched you wrap it in paper. Sigh. At least she will lose that 20 grams in short order :)