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UPDATE: It’s with great pain and sadness that I report that Nabiki passed away due to an accident on March 5th 2009. I am not going into details since it causes me too much pain to think about it. I miss my baby more than anything in life at this time. The hurt I have felt is unlike anything I have ever experienced. R.I.P. Nabiki. You were the greatest feathered friend any human could hope for. You brought so much joy into people’s lives. Nothing is the same without you; eating, bathing, watching tv….. everything. I love you baby!

This page is dedicated to my Quaker Parrot Nabiki. It will just be used as a place to keep track of her diet, health, and vocabulary, and anything else I want to throw in. If you have any QP (or any parrot) stories to share, please leave a comment!

Basic Information:

• Name: Nabiki
• Hatchdate: July 2005 (estimated)
• Species: M. monachus (Aka Quaker or Monk parrot)
• Genus: Myiopsitta
• Order: Psittaciformes
• Family: Psittacidae
• Subfamily: Psittacinae
• Tribe: Arini
• Location: This species originates from the temperate to subtropical areas of Argentina and the surrounding countries in South America. Self-sustaining feral populations occur in many places, mainly in North America and Europe.
• Colour: The species generally has bright green upperparts. The forehead and breast are pale grey with darker scalloping and the rest of the underparts are very-light green to yellow. The remiges are dark blue, and the tail is long and tapering. The bill is orange.
• Subspecies: Myiopsitta monachus monachus, Myiopsitta monachus calita, Myiopsitta monachus cotorra, and Cliff Parakeet, Myiopsitta (monachus) luchsi.

Personality and quirks:
The name Nabiki means “to bend or yield to a power”. I did not know this originally, but it suits her quite well, as she does have a great ability to get her way…usually by means of total cuteness
She is not very noisy, but when she does vocalize, like all parrots, she can be very loud. She certainly does not appreciate my leaving a room without her. If she is locked in her cage, and I go to another room, we utilize what is called a “contact call”. In the wild, contact calls enable birds to keep in touch when they cannot see each other (even miles apart). Pet birds often use a contact call to communicate with their owners, even though some owners don’t realize it! For me and Nabiki it is a simple whistle that we make back and forth to each other. This whistle is only for contact call purposes.
Nabiki is a very physical bird. She loves to be cuddled and pet. She also has the tendency to use her beak when I do something she does not approve of. Sometimes she will draw blood, but thankfully not often. There are ways to discourage this type of behaviour in parrots, but I let the minor stuff go. I am human with skin. She doesn’t know this and tends to treat me at times like I am another parrot. I respect this to a point. I think it’s important for people to understand the different reasons parrots use their beaks, and to not be offended if those reasons happen to hurt us a bit. As human as they may seem at times, they are not. They are a wild animal and should be treated at such.

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Diet
Various fresh (organic when possible) fruits and veggies
Zupreem AvianMaintenance™ FruitBlend™ Flavor
Zupreem AvianMaintenance™ Natural Diet
Seeds
Millet

Favourite Snacks:
Matzo crackers (plain, unsalted)
Fried rice

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Vocabulary as of January 2009

Examples of words or phrases used in context:
“Come here!”: She uses this phrase whenever she is in her cage and wants me to let her out and pick her up. It’s soo adorable and almost always work! She says it very nicely at first, and then if I ignore her she starts to say it with a -very- demanding tone, more like “Come. Here!” instead of a sweet endearing “Come ‘eeeeere!”.

“Noooooo…”: This one I like to refer to as the “guilty child” syndrome. It’s not just a flat “No!”. It is drawn out a bit like a scold. Nabiki has the wonderful habit of attacking my computer mouse with a vengeance. She also likes to do naughty things like chew my shoes, which is a big no no (dirt, chemicals, etc.). What will happen many times is if I am in another room, I will hear her say this word in this particular tone, and I know she is doing something she is not supposed to be. And she seems to know it too! There has yet to be a single time when I have heard her say “No” like this that she wasn’t doing something she was not supposed to be doing. It’s a nice “self bust”!!

“Go poopy.”: This is still a work in progress. What I would like is for her to tell me when she has to relieve herself. But as it stands, the ball is in my court. The good part is that when I say this to her, she knows what I want her to do, and she does it. It saves on dirty t-shirts Many parrots learn to tell their people when they have to go. But, as with anything to do with parrots, you cannot force them to perform. They will learn it on their terms, IF they want to.

“Go night night!”: This one is not used too often. Normally my birds get to bed at the same time each night. However, there are occasions when, like my weekend, when I am up later and so are they. It’s on these nights when Nabiki will crawl into her Happy Hut (a fluffy tent she sleeps in) and start saying “Go night night!” without my prompting it at all. It is usually accompanied by night time preening and beak grinding.

I hope to add to this list as time progresses. The best part of being owned by a parrot is the fun and amazing things they do and say. There are things that you want them to learn and are happy when they do, and then there are things that they learn unexpectedly, and those are some amazing moments when they choose to reveal it to you!

2+ word phrases:

Come here!
Whatcha doin’?
Good bird.
Good girl.
Step up!
Hi momma!
No bite!
Going night night now.
You be a good birdy okay.
I’m going to work.
Is it good?
Quaker bird!
Peek-a-boo
Go poopy
Hooooowdy-ho!!

Single words:

Hi
Hello
Yummy
Tummy
Beak
Fly
Snake
Yay
Good
Cracker
Birdy
Eww
Delilah
What
Hmm?

Various cartoon-like sounds
Cellphone ring tones.
Wolf whistle
Beeps
Raspberries

Song #1:
I’m a little quaker, green and stout.
Open up my cage and let me out.
Better pick me up or else I’ll squawk.
Rub my tummy and then I’ll talk.

Song #2:
Whatcha gonna do with all that fluff?
All that fluff up on your butt.
I’mma get get get get you drunk.
Get you love drunk off my fluff.
My fluff.
My lovely birdy fluff.
Check it out!

I will add to this list as I remember things she says. It’s difficult to sit here and remember everything.

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