#how much is a african grey parrot

[franabz]

★Random 141 headcanons

Ghost is on the aroace spectrum, only having sexual feelings towards someone under very specific circumstances or a very strong bond. He's probably only had one or two "partners" in his life, both spanning throughout grade school. He also has commitment issues due to the amount of people he has lost in his line of work.

Ghost is a very good listener, despite popular belief. You give him a good story or gossip and you best believe he is sat down directly beside you, his eyes never leaving yours between small invested nods or subtle reactions behind his balaclava-concealed face.

Ghost is a picky eater, though after having been in the military for years now it has significantly gotten better. Well, anything is better than those god forsaken MRE packs, anyway. He still has certain foods he will scrunch his face and glare at behind his mask, but still eat; though begrudgingly.

Price is definitely a gift giver. Randomly showing up one day in front of your barracks to present you a little trinket that he claimed reminded him of you.

Price is always checking up on his fellow soldiers, making sure they are taking care of themselves and not neglecting their own needs. He knows how many soldiers tend to neglect their mental health first hand.

Price had a massive sweet tooth. He claims to hate anything sweet and says chocolate tastes like "dog shite", but the second he's along with some good pastries or sweets, you bet your ass they're gone by the time you get back. He somehow never gets caught.

Soap is a huge adrenaline junkie. You ever going to a theme park? He's already begging on his hands and knees to go with you, practically dragging you by the arm onto every single roller coaster and giddy with adrenaline the entire time in the line. He has definitely been on the slingshot ride more than once.

Soap has definitely slipped the Scotland national anthem into your playlists more times than once, silently wheezing to himself as he watches you go about your day, only to suddenly stop everything you were doing to slowly turn to look at him, knowing exactly who did it.

Soap gives the best hugs. You having a rough day and just need some alone time? Well too bad, he's already halfway to your barracks just to pull you into his arms in a huge bear hug (bonus points if you're shorter and he can lift you). Somehow always seems to lighten someone's day no matter how upset they are.

Gaz takes up photography on his free time. He even invested in a fancy expensive camera to take logs and photos of places he's been, food he's eaten, scenery, and friends. His personal favorite is a picture of Soap in a bar piss-drunk while mid way singing his heart out to whatever was on the karaoke machine, his arm slung around Ghost's shoulder to support himself and a half empty scotch on-hand.

Gaz can play piano, and very well at that. It is one of those hidden talents that nobody would have suspected from him until it actually happened. The group is strolling around a plaza during their off days between missions, finding a stray piano and watching in shock as Gaz suddenly hops into the seat and gives the rest of the group a knowing look, before completely taking the show away. "The hell'd you learn t'do that, Sergeant?" Price practically choked on his cigar.

Gaz has a roommate back at home, as well as a pet... parrot? An African Grey to be exact. He is always eager to get back home to his beloved bird and roommate, one of which practically became family to him at this point. He doesn't talk about his personal life much, hence why the rest of 141 was so surprised to hear he had a roommate. The one day he invited 141 to his apartment after a mission just to hang out gave them quite the surprise when they heard two unfamiliar voices; one from his roommate, and one from the bird. Definitely scared Soap more than once.

[reidsbookclub]

comfort fic for spencer reid x badass!reader watching one of those ASPCA-like commercials and spencer looks over and reader is BAWLING and he is so confused and yet wants to comfort r. maybe he promises to take her to the shelter the next day or something 👀? thank you <3

2 + 1 = 4?

AN: I’m sorry if this feels rushed. Also yes I know theoretically it’s virtually impossible for it to be the same cat but work with me here please I tried to make the timeline work since this is S1- S2 Spencer

Spencer was in awe of the sight before him here she was crying her eyes out, one would think something terrible and life threatening had happened but no, it was a commercial. Here she was, the person who Spencer had seen just a night earlier take down an unsub all by herself , crying her eyes out because the local shelter would be closing.

“Sunshine? Sunshine someone will adopt them it’s going to be ok” he said in a low whisper trying to calm her down

“But—but what if they don’t? What’s going to happen to them Spence? Will they be homeless—or worse?” She replied in between sobs.

“Ok what if instead of sleeping in tomorrow we wake up early and I’ll take you to the shelter. We can adopt one together—we we have been talking about expanding our little family after all” he said blushing to which looming up at him with excitement in her eyes she responded “now let’s go right now”

Spencer was amused at her child-like excitement “sunshine we can’t it’s 3:30 am” he said giggling.

•

She was the first to wake up, making sure to be ready by the time a half-asleep Spencer finished his coffee.

The ride to the shelter consisted of an excited Y/N screaming Taylor Swift and an wonderstruck Spencer taking in the view from the passenger side.

“I think we should get a puppy” she said, “a big fluffy one with a brown patch in his eye”

“That’s specific” Spencer muttered, and continued looking at our the widow, “ I was thinking more in the likes of a caramel colored bunny”

“But babe,” she replied, “bunny would be too much to take care of”

“And a puppy won’t?” He said chuckling.

They spent the whole 45 min drive talking about what animal they would adopt.

Once inside the shelter they passed a an African Grey parrot called Buckley, he used to belong to an elderly couple and would scream “spank me!” Every time someone passed. Spencer couldn’t help but be startled at the parrot shaking his head immediately.

As they approached the dog kennels Spencer could tell she was begins to feel discouraged not finding a pet that she felt connected to. It all changed when they stopped at the last kennel she saw a white and light grey fur Ragdoll cat. “Can we please see this one?” She asked the shelter volunteer.

They were both amazed at how the cat, whose name they learned was Dusty, walked right up to them and began asking for head and tummy scratches. “What’s her story?” Spencer looked up towards the volunteer. Who answer in a whisper, almost as if he didn’t want Dusty to hear and be reminded of it, “Dusty was abandoned two blocks away from here, she hadn’t eaten anything in a while it seemed like due to how skinny she was. But she never lost her friendly personality”

Spencer looked from the volunteer towards y/n and knew just by the look in her eyes that Dusty would be coming home with them. “Spence, babe I want her. Let’s take her home with us.”

“How soon can we take her?” Spencer asked the volunteer who scratched the back of his neck nervously, “well you see I don’t think you’ll want her..maybe how about…” but as he was looking for another cat to show them Spencer asked, “why not her”

“Well she got attached to another cat we have here at the shelter, a Chartreux, we wouldn’t want them separated but we also won’t pressure you to take both since the Chartreux, has been through a rough time. He is actually nameless at the moment which is sad because he’s a senior cat but his previous owner was brutal so much so he is blind in one eye.”

“Can we see him?” Spencer asked.

“Sure, he’s being checked by the shelter’s vet as we speak follow me”

The minute they saw the second cat from the window Spencer and Y/N knew that he would be going home with them and without looking at Y/N for confirmation he spoke loudly, “we’ll take them. Both of them.”

“Let me go tell the vet then”

As they were waiting Spencer couldn’t help but feel drawn to the Chartreux cat he hadn’t taken his eyes off

“You ok Spence? You seem spaced out babe.”

“He reminds me of Reginald”

“Who?”

A spaced out Spencer replied in a sad and nostalgic manner “He was my mom’s cat. She had him since he was a kitten, I was 8-9. I would call him Reggie, he was exactly like this cat but he wasn’t blind in one eye. I used to take care of him when my mom was first institutionalized. During my first year of college my roommate left the door open and Reginald left, he never came back.”

“Spence?” She asked, “was Reggie microchipped?”

“I don’t know”

“Excuse me?” Y/N said knocking on the window that overlooked the vets clinic station

“Yes?”

“Is either cat microchipped? We just don’t want any trouble if they are”

“Dusty isn’t but Im not sure about this one he’s been here since before I was working at this shelter, let me see” the vet replied.

“I’m sorry it looks like this cat is microchipped it belongs to a Diana Reid from Las V…”

“Las Vegas, Nevada address 42 Wallaby Way Apt 13B—she’s my mom. OMG Reggie is alive” Spencer interrupted. “I lost him my freshman year of college and he’s here in DC. How? Oh Reggie!”

The drive home consisted of Spencer telling Reginald everything he had lived through and for a split second she could see specks of child-like happiness in Spencer and with a job like theirs, that was the same as if she had won the lottery.

That night their bed felt smaller with two cats sound asleep by the end of the bed, using their feet as pillows but for the first time in the year they’d been together Spencer’s cold feet pressed on top of hers weren’t and issue.

•

Taglist

@samuel-de-champagne-problems | @fightingdragonswithwho | @writer-in-theory | @pretty-boys-book-club | @kodiakwhiskey | @the-chaotic-cow | @nygmaperry | @reidslibrarybook | @luredwithpretzels | @justreadingficsdontmindme | @nomajdetective | @lilibet261 | @dontjudgemeimawriter | @serenity-lattes | @reidselle | @lcvingprentjss | @alexxavicry | @cafeacademia | @spencer-reid-wonderland | @paperbackprettyboy | @esoltis280 | @milla984

[twistedwonderlandshenanigans]

TWST Characters And Unconventional Pets I Think They Would Have

Heartslaybul

Riddle - Hedgehogs, obviously Trey - African Grey Parrot Cater - Fennec Fox Deuce -Chicken :D Ace - Tarantula (bc if he forgets to feed it its ok for like 3 - 12 months)

Savannaclaw

Leona - Needs an actual ESA, please Help Him Iguana (they Also Sleep So Much) Ruggie - Raven -it can steal shit, he can train it to speak, and he can make people pay him to teach it certain things Jack - Potbellied Pig PLEASE

Octavinelle

Azul - again, needs an actual ESA, Help Him Blue and Gold Macaw Jade - Sugar glider Floyd - An emu those things are assholes, and a tortoise that Jade rehomed behind his back bc he thought it was the same thing as a turtle

Scarabia

Jamil - (Great Horned) Owl would have been a snake but when they're young they eat stuff like mealworms and whatnot and Jamil DOES not vibe. Kalim - Absolutely Not (I want to let him raise cockroaches simply to be a nuisance to Jamil)

Pomefiore

Vil - He has chinchillas idk how many anywhere from 2-6 Rook - banned Epel - BEEEG FUCKING SNAKE (probably a Burmese Python or something)

Ignihyde

Idia - Possum Ortho - A capybara for the baby :D

Diasomnia

Malleus - an ant farm (something something a reminder of the constant cycle of life etc. etc. its kinda depressing) Lilia- fuckin bats Silver - A llama/vicuna/alpaca (he can shear it and get the comfiest freakin sweaters, and its a good nap buddy and it will spit at Sebek Sebek - Squirrel :) Others

Neige - Pigeon Che'nya - If he could, he would have a fucking condor, but I think he has a bunch of Atlas moths Cheka - Leopard gecko bc he wants something like Leona's

[bayofwolves]

Rereading Broken Ground

Fall of the Beasts continues! We are once again back at it.

Fun fact: When this book's cover was first revealed, I assumed the three Redcloaks on the archway were in fact Abeke, Rollan and Anda. I thought Anda would be sticking around for the rest of the aboveground adventures. RIP.

Something I find interesting is that the Evertree's tremors reduce even the Four Fallen to a beastlike state, stripping away their greatness as well as their link to their humans. We see this with Uraza and then Briggan. I suppose it could be a callback to the Great Beasts' origins; before the Wyrm struck the Evertree and gave them their godly forms, they lived as common animals.

"This one called himself Worthy. He came asking for the Keeper. They left together and haven't returned." I love it when the books reference the game. They're off to save Talon!

There's an inconsistency here: In the last book, Abeke and Rollan sail to Amaya on the Tellun's Pride II. There is no mention of a crew, and no Greencloaks accompany them on their trek, which suggests they were manning the Greencloaks' finest ship all by themselves. Not a problem, since Abeke has proved herself to be up to the task, but an odd choice of vessel. In this book, it's said that they went alone, but on a smaller boat more suited to their little party. Then, of course, they board the Tellun's Pride II as if for the first time and are introduced to the captain and crew. Funny little mistake I noticed.

Apparently marriage between Greencloaks is unusual. No idea why; it's not made clear.

"Rollan thought he could see Anda beside the gate, dark eyes wide and watching. Rollan lifted a hand, but the boy -- if it was him -- didn't respond." This is so haunting and sad. I wonder what Anda was feeling in that moment. Apathy? Or anger at being left behind?

"Ever since they'd faced Zerif in the forest, [Abeke]'d been closed off, distracted." Imagine if that was not only because she was stressed about the strain on the spirit bond and worried about Anda, but because she was wondering if the mysterious masked man was Shane... I know it's not canon, but man, the story would have been so much better if she started to wonder and wrestle with herself about it as he kept appearing and saving their lives. In a vague sort of way that wouldn't directly spell out her suspicions to the reader. Considering how little time she got with Shane in the end, that was the least they could have done.

Here we have another case of the usual laws of the spirit bond being broken: Arac, a Euran, is bonded to a spider monkey, an animal that would presumably be native to southern Amaya. There are no monkey species anywhere near the select few northwestern European countries that I base Eura on, so my solution for A Revised History of Erdas was to make Nexi a stoat instead -- an entirely new animal, but one present in Eura and more suited to a seafaring life!

I imagine Nisha's spirit animal, Relis, is an African (Niloan) grey parrot. It'd be funny to have the captain and her parrot hold animated conversations with each other.

"Back in Nilo, she had seen a man die of infection." I like to think that this was Chinwe's husband and Irtike's father.

I like how this book shows Abeke has had time to think about what Shane said to her during their fight in The Evertree. She wasn't ready to consider his reasoning back then, but many passages here make it clear that she sympathizes with the people of Stetriol, sees where they were coming from and understands that the Greencloaks were wrong to condemn them. That kind of nuanced perspective is something I very much appreciate.

I do wish Magda had made an appearance. I suppose she would have been released from her position when the Greencloaks took over, but I doubt she would have left.

"Abeke had eventually come to terms with her family, but she knew she'd never see such a look in her father's eyes." The look she is referring to is the look of pride that Tasha's parents gave her. A look of pride. So here we have one of our protagonists, the black girl, the famously distrusted and mistreated, admitting to the reader that she has made up with her abusive father, but he has not changed, and she has simply learned to deal with it. Can we talk about how awful and disturbing this is? That Abeke stays trapped in the cycle of abuse, and it's only a footnote in the story?

Something about Abeke lingering in the same halls Shane grew up in... walking in the gardens, maybe standing in the very spot where he learned of the Bile from Zerif... they're so intertwined.

James appearing right after the castle is mentioned to be inhabited by some of Shane's cousins, and coincidentally looking near identical to him, makes me believe the author intended for them to be related. I've always thought of them as cousins, so that's a win for me.

Aidana was presumably at the Evertree with Lenori, since Wikerus was the one to deliver the seer's ominous message to the kids. (Of course, it's not explained why. In my heart it's because they are lovers, but I'm sure that is not what the authors intended.)

This post was a bit short, but make no mistake, I loved this book. It may even be in my top three of the series. I don't have much to say about the underground plot, other than I still find it interesting and am grateful for the quiet moments and slower pace to even out the often action-packed aboveground plot. The bonds being built between Abeke and Rollan on one side and Conor and Meilin on the other have my whole heart. Tasha was great, and so was seeing all the positive change happening in Stetriol, even if it ended horribly. Love, love, love Arac and Nisha (both of whom are alive and well in ARHoE, by the way). This was King's time to shine, and he kind of stole the show, I'm not gonna lie. Also, a couple of minor characters were introduced who have much bigger roles in ARHoE, so I got to point at them like I was seeing my OCs in print. Very cool. Lots of good things in this book.

This is part of an ongoing series.

Wild Born | Hunted | Blood Ties | Fire and Ice | Against the Tide | Rise and Fall | The Evertree

Immortal Guardians | Broken Ground | The Return | The Burning Tide

Heart of the Land | The Wildcat's Claw | Stormspeaker | The Dragon's Eye

Tales of the Great Beasts | The Book of Shane | Tales of the Fallen Beasts

[arsenicflame]

silly Izzy situation: he gets a parrot.

HE GETS A PARROT OH THIS GAVE ME BRAIN WORMS

-Stede is the one to get him the parrot- something about how hes got the wooden leg he has to complete the look? honestly izzy wasnt listening, stede was using his excited voice and izzys learnt he can zone out a bit when he gets like that. there was a hat too but that went to someone else Real quick (the parrot was trying to eat it anyway)

-i know nothing about parrots but im gonna say stede gets him an African grey. it's the goth-est parrot and they're Friends Now, hes got to give a gift that fits in with izzys Look

-when stede gives it him he protests LOUDLY but when stede gets all sad and says he will return him izzy draws a knife. wtf you can't return my gift Stede

- the parrot learns to say fuck REAL quick

-izzy learns bird care from buttons, obviously- izzy is Rules autistic he needs to know How you look after his pet. he is super rigorous with following the rules and at least one crew member has faced a tirade for feeding him something bad

-the bird rides everywhere on his shoulder. frenchie makes him a little pad so his claws don't scratch izzys leathers and so he can grip better

-he starts stroking the bird as a comfort (in Correct places, thank u buttons) he doesn't notice hes doing it but everyone else does. lucius has a sketch

-you know how some pets are like? exactly like their owners? yeah. this is the grumpiest fucking parrot and they are perfect together. he only likes izzy. after a while he mimicks izzy yelling at the crew and nobody knows what to do they all just. stare. izzy laughs.

- the parrot spends a little too much time with the swede somehow (jackies? izzy & jackie friendship my beloved i will force you in anywhere) and picks up his singing. its. something. they end up using it on raids as part of a fuckery. two haunting tones to create a sense of unreality, of being surrounded.

-i didn't give the parrot a name here because i genuinely believe izzy wouldnt give it a name, hed just call it 'the parrot', occasionally 'my parrot' when drunk. the crew call it mini Izzy.

(buttons asked the parrot its name)

-someone once gave the parrot a knife because they thought itd be funny. we do not talk about the parrot knife incident.

[flock-talk]

Hello! So I'm sure you've seen from my previous comments that I'm in the facebook group Reptile Lighting. Someone posted today looking for uvb recommendations for their African Grey parrot, and mentioned that a lot of parrot Facebook groups claim that uvb causes blindness. Do you know more about this, and why people think that? Could it be that someone was using a bulb in a very small cage where the bird couldn't self regulate their exposure?

UVB in high doses does cause damage to a parrot’s eyes, that’s the main reason why they can’t use reptile bulbs and have to have parrot specific ones. The UVB output is much lower and the bulbs will have set regulations on how long they’re recommended to be left on for (usually one hour in most cases) as well as how far away the bird should be from the light

Parrots are usually spending the majority of the day in shaded areas in trees when the sun is at its peak and do the majority of their active foraging during sunrise and sunset when the sun is less intense so their eyes just aren’t evolved to handle the intensity of the sun at high noon like basking reptiles are!

[s-pirth-lemonade]

*shyly peers around corner*

Requests?

Uhhh... this sounds specific, but I have a reason...

Could you draw Captain Rex with two African Greys? A Congo and a Timneh.

I... have a Congo and a Timneh. So, it is very specific.

If I am asking for too much, I understand! Either way, I am following. I look forward to seeing more of the Echo and the Hyacinth.

I might have a winged AU where several Clones are given parrot wings, and Rex's is a Hyacinth. You know how the underside of a Hyacinth's wings are dark grey to blend in with the underside of the jungle's canopy? Rex's wings are dappled dark grey, to match Kamino's stormy skyh.

Here ya go luv 💓 this gives me more ideas to draw more clones with birbs, thanks for the request 🥰

[solarishashernoseinabook]

what fursonas would you assign the rangers apprentice cast?

oh boy. well. i'll do my best

full disclosure. i know very little about furries. the "jesus's fursona is a carpenter ant" thing was a one-off joke based off of his profession. but i'm gonna approach this as "what animal is this character like", and try to work with that

Will - Crow Will is clever, and a prankster, and also loyal, so I made him a Crow. They quite often play with wolves, and play tricks on them, pulling their tails and stealing food from them, but also show loyalty to people who look after them. Crows are highly intelligent, making tools to do what they like, and are skilled mimics - better than parrots. These fit with Will's ability to blend in to any group he finds himself in and his ability to find creative uses for people to do seemingly impossible things. (Ravens do all this too, of course, but crows are significantly smaller than ravens, and a defining trait of Will is his height - or lack thereof).

Halt - Wolf Wolves have reputations as solitary, independent creatures (think of how "lone wolves" are spoken about as though they're cool creatures even though we know they tend to live in packs), and also strike people as quite scary. In truth, wolves live in extended family groups, male wolves make good and protective fathers, and they tend to avoid people. Plus everybody mistakes certain dog breeds for wolves, and Halt has his identity consistently questioned by people who expect the legendary ranger to be someone much different.

Horace - Horse Gonna be honest, I was pretty torn between this and dog, but I went with horse. People often don't expect much of horses, and they're not known for their intelligence like dogs are. But horses are very dependable, do what they're trained to do very well, and can absolutely fuck you up if you get on the wrong side of their hooves.

Cassandra - Peregrine Falcon I hummed and hawed over this one, but peregrines fit Cassandra's vibe best. All birds of prey have a certain regal air to them, but peregrines are well-known for being highly effective hunters, dive-bombing their prey to snatch them in their talons, and I think that parallels Cassandra's use of a sling quite well.

Alyss - Swan Couriers in Araluen are known for wearing long white dresses (like swans), and Alyss is frequently described as very graceful. Swans also have a mean streak and can break your arm with their wings, and Alyss showed her mean side plenty of times during the series. Nevertheless, they're very caring parents to their cygnets, paralleling Alyss's willingness to sacrifice herself to save a child.

Pauline - Dove This one's pretty basic. Doves are considered symbols of peace in much of the world - and what better symbol of peace is there than the head of Redmont's diplomatic corps?

George - African Grey Parrot Parrots are well-known for their ability to mimic speech, and African Greys are among the best. Alex, an African Grey studied by Irene Pepperberg, famously asked questions about himself, generated entirely new sentences, and otherwise indicated he understood the words he was saying instead of simply parroting (heh) them back to Pepperberg. Thanks to him, African Grey Parrots are considered some of the most intelligent birds and are thought to have a similar capacity to human toddlers. So, the character who uses his words the best, and speaks at length, is the parrot.

Jenny - Cat Humans may be the only animal that cooks, but cats are still well-known for feeding each other. They over-hunt any area they're in to create a stockpile for cats in a colony who can't hunt as well, or to teach kittens how to hunt. Despite living in these colonies, cats are also quite independent, not adhering to a strict social order like dogs do. Finally, it's commonly accepted that cats basically domesticated themselves (there's more nuance to this, but go with it). Thus, Jenny, who decided who she wanted to be apprenticed to and got herself that spot, who struck out on her own to create her own restaurant, and never met a person she didn't try to feed, is a cat.

[budgie-city]

"Budgie City" — how is it organized and what is the story about?

Hello, I'm glad you decided to read my lore article about "Budgie City". The second article talks about where this world came from in general and how I came up with the idea. If you haven't read that article yet, you can check it out here. This article right here will tell you about the world itself and the society of the budgies, as well as describe the plot of the book in general terms. I remind you that the book is currently in the process of writing and will only be published when I have finished it completely.

Fundamentals of the "Budgie City" world

Yes, this is a story about talking animals, in particular, about birds! Set in a world much more wild than our own, filled with lush forests and untouched lands, you can meet the wild variety of birds (the story focuses on parrots though) you may know from all across the globe. From Australian (Cockatoos, Cockatiels, Grass parrots, etc.), African (Lovebirds, Ring-necked parakeets, Grey parrots), and South American parrots (Macaws, Amazons, Short-tailed parrots) to Weavers, Sunbirds, and occasionally even birds-of-paradise - you may find a broad spectrum of non-predatory birds residing right here.

But, of course, the bulk of the population of Budgie City, the main setting of the story, consists of colorful budgies. The city is essentially a large colony that has developed enough to turn into a complex system that depends not only on internal organization, but also on foreign trading. Trading between colonies in their world is based on barter, though inside cities there are local currencies — in most cases they are not metal coins, since metal is a rare and heavy material for birds, but they have their own kind of money equivalent.

The only species that has mastered metallurgy are African Grey parrots. Their colonies settle near volcanoes, and they are one of the only birds strong enough to handle such heavy materials. Therefore, metal is the main trading resource for them.

To show you what other species living in the city have to offer, I have this small excerpt from the first chapter that summarizes this quite concisely:

"Large parrots, due to their large carrying capacity, could easily transport quite bulky baskets with all kinds of food or raw materials, therefore, instead of independently transporting goods to other colonies, the budgies simply unloaded the goods large parrots brought, loaded them with their own and sent them back. Macaws most often brought figs and wild apples, cockatoos were famous for their special success in growing berries and gathering wild bee honey, grey parrots were the only birds in these forests who tamed metal... each species could provide something of its own to others, and as a result, all neighboring forests lived on trade links with each other. Budgies were skilled craftsmen in the manufacture of wooden utensils, and their chicks were believed to have the softest fluff among all parrots. So the fluff of the chicks that came down with molts was carefully collected, and other birds used it for the most delicate bedding in their own nests."

For such mentioned exchanges between the different birds, there is a trading base in the city — a group of large platforms on the trunk of the main baobab, where birds arriving with cargo are received, and cargo from the budgies is sent to other similar colonies.

The Budgie city stands "on seven baobabs" — an analogy to one well-known large city in our real world, which I came up with in 2014, and has since then remained more or less unchanged.

As can be understood from the scheme, the Seventh Baobab is considered the main one — it stands in the center and it is surrounded by the main structures that secure the functioning of the city. The remaining six baobabs are mostly residential. Instead of roads there are rope bridges connecting the structures to one another, which prove quite convenient in the case of carrying something around or to simply reduce the energy consumption that continuous flying demands. They start from the platforms on the baobabs, form multi-tiered intersections on the lower and branching trees standing between the baobabs, whereby, of course, this web converges on the seventh central one.

As for common areas, there are the market, the canteen, the baths (some are located on the Third baobab + the pool in the crown of the Seventh) and numerous interest clubs scattered throughout the city. For example, there are several board game clubs based in the crown of the Fifth Baobab, which the main characters tend to visit, especially Gesha and Gosha (since the two initially met at checkers).

Seventh Baobab concept art (artwork by me and @blackteaarts)

How did Budgie City come into being? Are there other cities in this universe?

Budgie City was founded by Phoenix. A bird whose species is unknown to anyone, so she is considered unique by the other residents. In addition to that no one knows her real age — she outlived those who helped her founding the city, outlived their children and their grandchildren, and so on. At this point no one is even trying to guess how old she is and where she came from. There were rumors about her, which had long become urban legends that every chick knows — they say she has magical abilities and can control fire. But there is no real evidence of this anywhere. In fact, no one living in the city has ever noticed anything supernatural about her — she is just a wise, kind bird with beautiful plumage, who treats every citizen like a mother treats her chick — with love and care.

Chroniclers often tell stories about how she herself was once raised among budgies and considers them part of her kind, and therefore decided to create a place where her sworn brethren can live in harmony and prosperity. Until then budgies had never lived in a colony this large before — usually they resided in rather small communities scattered many hundreds of square kilometers away from each other. Therefore Budgie City is the biggest known colony around. In number of citizens, it surpasses almost all others, which is why it is the center of attention of all the inhabitants of the surrounding forests.

Other parrots and some weavers live in a similar way. Small colonies have built their settlements right around the baobabs — in so-called suburbs, but similar formations exist in other places very far from the Budgie City as well.

What is the plot of the book?

I want to clarify that the book is currently in the process of writing in the form of a paper draft, and will be published only after the completion of the full work. Here I will give a brief description of the plot in general, without spoilers or delving into details, but so that you can have an idea of what this story is about.

In the peaceful and steady life of Budgie City — a life without any prerequisites ever before, there is a sudden turning point — Phoenix disappears. Moreover, she does not just go missing, but literally incinerates, leaving behind only one golden feather. In its entire history, the city had never had to change its mayor before, since Phoenix had ruled continuously since its foundation, so confusion and panic among the residents ensues. The so-called Royal Family, a circle of Phoenix's close advisers, who are direct descendants of the budgies who helped her founding this city, decide to hand over the reins to whom they deem the most responsible and emotionally resistant of them — Clementine and Jack.

But in a fit of desire to preserve their relationship with their son Fenya, who is slowly distancing from them, the couple, without putting it out as a question to the rest of the advisers first, use their new powers, and hand the reign to him. Subsequently, Fenya is now at the head of the city — an unstable, egocentric, arrogant yesterday-teenager. Having been partially raised by a zebra finch nanny, he sees more traits of finches in himself than those seen in other budgies. Therefore invites them to live in the city and he certainly does not go into details about why finches were never favored in the colonies of parakeets. Because there are good reasons for that... Finches are not just small and harmless birds, especially when there are a lot of them. And very soon the residents of the city will feel the effect of the appearances of the uncalled visitors…

In the midst of the ever growing chaos lives Gesha. A quiet florist who loves his routine filled with greenery and quiet pastime, who had always rested in a rather small circle of acquaintances, is forced to get out of his comfort zone and starts acting against the messy situation at hand. All because, it seems to him, that everyone around him prefers to believe and hope that everything will get fixed by itself, when this is clearly not the case. His friend Gosha is of the same opinion — although he often gets a bit carried away by his desire to administer justice (periodically turning into stupid brawls). He's just like that — against everything bad and for everything good, but tends to cross the line sometimes. Together they decide to create a secret society where they keep records of everything that upsets the citizens in this new reign, and try to find ways to solve these problems. While Gesha wants to deal with the situation through negotiations, Gosha, as usual, is more eager for a showdown.

Further down the line, Yasha appears — a native of a remote village who came from distant forests, where Budgie City is only considered a legend. He is a hopeless dreamer and a restless talker, but just as he is looking for a cozy home in this, for him, new and magnificent place, it is meanwhile literally bursting at the seams. Which soon forces Yasha to take off the metaphorical rose-colored glasses and, together with his new friends, face the harsh reality head-on.

Will the united citizens be able to solve the problem of the finch invasion and pacify the restless Fenya? Or maybe even bring Phoenix back? You will find it all out when the book is completed!

Huge thanks to @annchanorsomethin for helping with translation of this article!

[transgenderer]

it would be so sick if humans were like a tenth the size. i feel like probably you could have human intelligence in something much smaller, african grey parrots are way smaller than like, baboons, and probably smarter. anyway. it would be great because physics would be so much more convenient. like we're at this weird size where theres a lot of things we CAN do but theyre really expensive. you can totally imagine a species thats too big for boats (with more than one or two passengers, maybe) to be viable, too big for aircraft to be viable, too big for manned spaceflight. our size isnt a limiting factor at all for boats (boats dont get much bigger than the biggest boats that exist now because theres not much demand but especially because beyond a certain length, waves can break it apart just from the sheer difference in height between parts of the boat) but it is for planes, and extremely limiting for spaceflight. also because humans are megafauna this limits how useful animals can be for us, very few animals are big enough to be able to do work on our scale. can you imagine like elf size humans. we would struggle early on of course from like, predation, but biological stuff would be relatively way more powerful if we harnessed it. also blimps would be viable

[notdeezy]

I'll already tag it but just In case I'll say it in post again but Trigger Warning for Animal Death

I'll never understand smokers who smoke INSIDE the damn house and then suddenly are bewildered and devastated when their pet dies from secondhand smoke.

My mom owned an African Grey Parrot and she always smokes inside the house in the same room with him multiple times a day over the course of half a year. One day he reportedly made a weird choking sound before he dropped dead. I wasn't there when it happened but I don't think it takes a genius to find out that the secondhand smoke killed him, especially when birds have a notoriously sensitive respiratory system and the fact that he wasn't even a year old at the time.

I didn't say anything to my mom because I know her grief is very much real and I didn't want to say anything where she could interpret it as me blaming her but I can't help but think that his death was predictable. I knew he wouldn't last a year when I saw how much he was neglected by my mom and that she kept smoking inside the house. I, an adult human being, can barely handle secondhand smoke. I can't imagine how horrible it must be for an avian.

For the love of the universe stop smoking around your pets. It's borderline abuse because pets cannot consent to you smoking next to them. It kills your pets and in the end you can't blame anyone but yourself if they eventually pass on too soon.

[skatingbi]

So i finished the first AA game and heres my notes (in no particular order) as a new fan:

I had a mental breakdown over realizing i had to fucking cross examine a parrot. Then my bestie TOLD ME theres an IRL case where an African grey parrot was a fucking WITNESS and i just fucking lost it. Why would this game put me through this. Do they want me to go insane? To claw at the fucking podium? To cry while i desperately ask this fucking parrot to recite something? Im gonna-

Uhhhh this game gives off ACAB energy and i live for it

I never want to dust for fingerprints again

Gumshoe is literally perfect and if you disagree then we gonna FIGHT

Edgeworth had me simultaneously ripping my hair out and wanting to kiss him on the mouth

FUCK YOU BLUE BADGER I WILL INCINERATE YOUR ASS AND THEN FEED YOUR ASHES TO THE PARROT

Phoenix <3

thats it. Thats the bullet point.

No but fr whys he so hot??? And relatable hes such a hater deep down somebody let him be a hater and let him speak his truth!!!

Gant deserves so much worse than whatever sentence he got

Speaking of Gant that mf made me so uncomfortable the whole time i wanted to run away fr

Speaking of murderers fuck you von karma i hated you being the prosecutor and prayed for edgeworth's return the entire time u were around

Legally speaking, every single witness would have ended up in jail but its okay (i tell myself as larry jumps up onto the podium)

Me, tears streaming down my face as the witness lies to my face for the third time in a row: its just and game and it cant hurt you-

SOEAKING OF LAWS PHOENIX SHOULD BE IN JAIL??? WHY ARE YOU DUSTING FINGERPRINTS UR A LAWYER

Do NOT play this game while studying criminal justice or criminal law. You will only hurt urself.

Ema i will protect you with my life idc if u moved away

Somebody diagnose Edgeworth...idk what but hes got something going on

The crime rate in wherever this game takes place must be CRAZYYY aint nobody moving there once the census drops

Theres no heterosexual explanation for the way Edgeworth talks to Phoenix in court. My bestie has literally had to hear me rant about how fucking gay this guy is several times already. Please...Just kiss or something. Its painful to watch.

Anyways i fucking love this game and will binge the next one in one sitting after finals!!

This game single handedly got me through my breakup. Thanks Ace Attorney <3

[allwaswell16]

A fic rec of One Direction fics where a character has an unusual pet as requested in this ask. If you enjoy the fic, please leave kudos and comments for the writers! You can find my other fic recs here. Happy reading!

—Louis/Harry—

🐒 Ace of Spades by @allwaswell16

(E, 80k, monkey) Living as a sheltered omega in a farming village has not prepared Harry for life aboard the most notorious pirate ship to sail the Atlantic.

🦜 A Certain Romance by DragMeDownFuckMeUp

(E, 53k, parrot)  the one where Harry and Louis meet on tinder and things are going swimmingly until they realise that their daughters know each other... not only do they know each other, they may or may not be trying to date each other!

🦔 our friendship will never die, you're gonna see it's our destiny by yoobanana

(NR, 43k, hedgehog, monkey, turtle) The adventures of Louis and his hedgehog Bernard and how they inevitably lead to Louis meeting Harry and then even more so inevitably of them moving in together, adopting loads of animals, and then getting married. (Harry and Louis, not Louis and Bernard)

🐿️ But Why Wonder, Why Wonder? by @100percentsassy

(E, 30k, squirrels) The one where Marcel Styles has improbably landed a job in the fashion industry, and Louis Tomlinson is the actor-turned-lingerie-designer he’s been infatuated with for years.

🐹 Lost My Senses by louislittlesuns

(NR, 20k, chinchilla) Your classic university best friends to lovers story but with an unhinged Niall, the fluffiest chinchilla named Peach and far too many descriptions of Louis' mesmerising eyes.

🐮 What To Do With Magic Beans by  LadyLondonderry / @londonfoginacup

(T, 22k, cow) a Jack and the Beanstalk AU featuring Harry as Jack, Louis as a prince, Zayn as a nanny, Liam as the reasonable one, and Niall as whatever the fuck he’s doing.

🦎 I Didn’t Fall For You (You Fucking Tripped Me) by @allwaswell16

(E, 20k, monitor lizard) These days Louis tends to steer clear of dating alphas. He’s dated too many knotheads in his time, and he’s ready to just focus on school and his friends and his pet monitor lizard, of course.

🦎 Apparently by Chance, at Precisely the Right Moment by @lousmoonshine

(E, 19k, bearded dragon) Alpha Harry doesn’t believe in soulmates. Omega Louis has been looking for his soulmate all his life.

🦜 That’s How I Know by @allwaswell16

(E, 19k, parrot) the one where Harry’s African grey parrot spills his dirty secrets to his very hot neighbor.

🐐Maple by tobesokaylee

(T, 5k, cow, goat, pig, snake, hedgehog) Louis is crazy about animals, so Harry is determined to get him all the pets he wants even if they are unconventional

🕷️ Lonely Boy by RBBLivvy

(T, 4k, spider/snake/crab/lizard/gecko/squirrel) He really wishes his resident Harry wasn't so cute, because that's a no-go, but he also wishes Harry would stop trying to keep hermit crabs and lava lamps and every other code violation in the world in his room. 

🦜 Ours is Organized Chaos by ILoveLouis4Ever

(G, 3k, bearded dragon, parrot) upon stepping into their lush estate one is immediately assaulted by children with nerf guns seven dogs of varying sizes and energy levels a parrot with no manners

🐀 a complainy popstar by snsk

(G, 2k, rat) Harry wants a baby. He settles for a pet rat. Louis sort of hates the pet rat very much a lot.

🦆 summertime and butterflies by dadlouis

(T, 2k, duck) Louis and Harry go in for a pet and get something a bit different

—Rare Pairs—

🐒 Hi, Hey There, Hello by orphan_account

(T, 14k, Louis/Nick Grimshaw, monkey) Louis can talk to animals. Nick can't, but he tries anyway. Louis likes that in a guy.

🐀 Creature Fear by @dearmrsawyer

(G, 8k, Niall/Harry, opossum) Louis is an Opossum, and he's moved into the walls.

🦎 I Pray to God I Didn’t Waste All My Good Years (It Was Always You) by versacezayn

(M, 5k, Zayn/Liam, lizard) It’s been four years since Zayn left the band.

[bucketspammer4life]

Punch out boxers and what pet(s) they would have

hey bestie, exam season is almost over so im recovering a bit so why not give this to you all??

Glass Joe - small, fluffy and cute white cat that is the spawn of satan, knocking shit over, eating your food, wrecking the couch, massacring the toilet paper, all while looking adorable, named "Bouffon", sometimes called bonbon because of it

Von Kaiser - a doberman thats scary as shit but a complete angel, very loud barks when scared but very cute otherwise, named "Turm"

Disco Kid - an african grey parrot that never shuts up, really cool but still the spawn of hell to a certain point, always singing or quoting stuff,named "Angel"

King Hippo - a capybara & a turtle, he lets the capybara on his bed and the turtle has its own pond, both of them are pretty chill and the most evil they do is just bumping into doors, the capybara is named "coco" since Hippo made a hat for it using a coconut shell, the turtle is named "Reef" since he ran out of ideas

Piston Hondo - some koi fish & a praying mantis, he has a pond for his fish and decorates it, meditating there when the weathers right, the praying mantis has its own terrarium and doesnt let it out unless he has to change up something since hes paranoid about crushing it, the koi fish dont have names but the praying mantis is named "リーフ" (Leaf) since he found it fighting some bug on a leaf

Bear Hugger - besides the squirrel (we dont count mrs bear since shes more of a friend and it would be rude to call her a pet)he has a pet snail and a rabbit, the snail is one of his first pets and he got it when he first started his boxing career and found it in the showers after a match, its named "squeaky" because of that, he actually found the rabbit not too long ago after feeding it some dandelions, it just came over to his house on a daily basis after a while and he accepted it, the rabbits named "Dandy" since bear hugger saw it eating a dandelion and ran with it

Great Tiger - has a pet snake & a gecko, the snake has a pattern somewhat reminiscent of a tiger with its Orange & Black stripes, despite its fierce appearance, its pretty shy and hides a lot, the gecko is the opposite of that: it may look not very intimidating but its a menace, the snake is named "tiger" (how creative) and the gecko is named "Woob", aran came up with the name after taking a glare at it and just saying "woob."

Don Flamenco - other than the spider that carmen owns, he has a pet goldfish named "Fish" that he he just feeds and fucks off, he has 0 emotional attachment to it, he could see it dead and he would go "damn sucks to suck" And move on, hes not the one for pets

Aran Ryan - a mountain lion he thought was just a really big cat, he gave it a bath, fed it some meat and just adopted it, it doesnt really mind but its like... really confused, aran named it "princess", the way he found out was him inviting bear hugger over and seeing him go "IS THAT A FUCKING MOUNTAİN LION" the moment princess walked out of the bathroom after eating the toilet paper again

Soda Popinski - a husky thats absolutely running from place to place 99% of the time, its sometimes a bit mishievious but pretty well behaved, its named "soda" since thats pretty much his idea of a cute name

Bald Bull - a lazy fat ass street cat that sleeps most of the time or just eats food, its mishievious but not enough to bother moving, its suprisingly good at opening cabinets and eating to its own hearts content, he really has no way to stop it, named "Tombili"

Super Macho Man - a shi tzu named "puffy" that likes to nibble on wood, its very fluffy since he takes great care to brush it

Mr Sandman - Not the type own a pet since hes indecisive about it, had a few pet goldfish before but thats about it for him