For months now there has been a 9 foot tree for them to play in. For cleaning considerations all the food & water was kept in the cages and only toys were hung in the tree.

The flock that uses the tree: Mary Ann, adult feral female Cuddles, 5/25/98 hatch of unknown sex TIlly 6/16/98 lilac crowned amazon The room used to be a dining room. The tree is centered in front of three windows covered by plantation shutters - shutters are excellent bird ladders but we have the bird stuff backed off to discourage this. On either side of the tree is a powder coated cage. A larger green one and a smaller white one. Mary ANn was living in the green one when I brought Cuddles home.

Cuddles was given the smaller white one. Once the birds were introduced THEY both moved into the white one and stopped visiting the green one. Cages had identical toys, food dishes, perches...so it was either size or color and they haven't told me which. Everyone shared the tree, the toys, etc. The very slender top branches have kept that space exclusively quaker territory - TIlly weight 292 grams is too heavy for them, and she is still growing. I noticed that the boinnng ( curled stretchy cotton rope corkscrew) seemed to have been territorially claimed by the quakers, Tilly has an alphabet/leather knot clump that seems to be just hers and the rest of the stuff is community property.

The slender top branches started to have a shredded appearance like excelsior. Mary Ann is site forman. She would verbally demand Cuddles to learn how to do this. These branches are so slender at the top they bend from Quaker weight. The tree top gradually began to have a spanish moss appearance. Several days ago the pace picked up. Mary Ann is running the show. Gathering has begun and the boinng seems to be the structural foundation. In my opinion this is a poor choice as it is hanging on a branch that just about supports the boing and the quakers. In the last day more tree "fuzz" has been added to extend this web onto two adjoining - much too slender branches.