bittybirds: the blog

I use images from iStockphoto.com for design work from time to time. While working on a web site yesterday, I decided to check out iStockphoto’s most popular images. A duckling (by iStockphoto member GlobalP) was at the top of the list. Here’s the duckling, and a few other great pictures.

Click here to see more. They’re fantastic!

I have a few pictures of Zack and Zoe. They are both doing very well together. My brother Mitchell teaches Zoe all kinds of songs to sing. She also picks up on songs the birds are singing outside. Zoe loves to nibble on my earrings and my hair. Zack is very protective towards Zoe. When my brother Mitchell or my sister Natalia are playing with Zoe in the living room. Zack leaves his cage and flys out to the living room to check on Zoe to see if she is okay. When he knows she is okay he flys back to his cage. Now..that is birdie love :0) He also sings to her when she is out of the room. Zoe loves to explore outside of her cage a lot. She likes to bite on my mom’s plants so we have to make sure we provide enough treats and snacks for them both. They both make a big mess and love to sing in the morning when everyone else is sleeping.

I just came across this old post on the moltka Board, featuring a picture of Cadie. It’s part of a post of budgie pics, within a larger thread of nice birdie pics.

ذو الوجه الأصفر(سبرنجل

Can anybody read that caption?

Link

The other day, Toby kept me company while I worked at the computer. As the David Bowie classic “Magic Dance” (from Labyrinth) played in the background, Toby perked up and started rocking out—bobbing his head a little and whistling, almost in time with the music. When the track ended, he stopped. I replayed it, and he joined in again; I paused it and he paused until I pressed play. So I grabbed the camera and recorded his antics for posterity.

For your viewing pleasure, bittybirds.com is pleased to present Toby rocking along with “Magic Dance.”

This is a bird with good taste!

(Wie sagen Sie “bittybirds” auf Deutsch?)

Many thanks to Landnelkentulpe for posting the above video of Lily, our “pocket baby,” to Nymphensittich Forum, an online bulletin board for cockatiel lovers. The site is written entirely in German. (”Nymphensittich”=”cockatiel”.)

On Nymphensittich Forum, Landnelkentulpe wrote,

Noch eins!

Ihr Lieben!

Bei YouTube habe ich mich inzwischen angemeldet und dort steht definitiv, dass man die Videos auf andere Seiten verlinken darf!

Deshalb habe ich hier noch was Süßes für Euch.

[video of Lily]

Genießt es!

Babelfish translates this as follows:

Still one!

Their loving!

With YouTube I have in the meantime announced and there stand myself definitely that one may do the videos on other pages left!

Therefore I have here still which sweet for you.

[video of Lily]

It enjoys!

While this is not the world’s best translation, I am glad that Landnelkentulpe (”Land Carnation Tulip”) liked our “sweet” video so much. We’re glad she’s spreading the bittybird word!

Link

Toby just loves to whistle the Andy Griffith tune. He’s been hearing his papa, Reggie, sing it since he was just an egg!

Reggie learned to whistle the Andy Griffith song when he was about a year old. I would whistle a section of it, and then Tyler would whistle it back. I’d ask Reggie, “Can you do that?” and eventually, he figured it out.

When Reggie and Charlie were in the nest box with eggs and then chicks last summer, Reggie sang the Andy Griffith song *incessantly*. Judging by how many eggs she laid, Charlie found it pretty darn impressive! As a result, all the baby birds had a constant soundtrack of Reggie singing Andy Griffith.

Toby, being a smart and attentive little bird, started whistling the Andy Griffith tune at a very early age. He just picked it up from Reggie. I’ve been working with him to fill in some of the parts that Reggie never got, and he’s doing a great job! It’s not perfect, but that doesn’t matter; as the video proves, Toby is awfully cute. :-)

Unfortunately, Reggie hardly ever whistles Andy Griffith anymore. I think he feels like Toby stole his thunder. Poor little boo!

p.s. That video looks way darker now that it’s been compressed by YouTube than it did on my camera. Here’s a shot of what it’s s’posed to look like:

I crocheted a group of animal puppets, amigurumi style, for my nephews. As you can see in the above picture, I made a tiger, a zebra, a bird, an elephant, and a lion. The boys adore The Lion King, Madagascar, and Dumbo, so of course the puppets were big hits.

The puppets were very easy to make. I used extra-thick Lion Brand Yarn (of course!) and crocheted and embellished them without using a pattern. Here’s what I did:

First, make a puppet body–the “blank slate” for any of the puppets.

1. Crochet a chain into a tight circle.
2. Single-crochet (SC) around the chain, increasing in every other chain.
3. Keep single-crocheting around in a spiral, increasing in every other stitch on each round.
4. Important note: Do not increase by putting two SCs in each stitch, or you will create a flat disc, not a puppet.
5. When you have created what looks like a little hat for your hand, and you can see it is going to be wide enough that it would easily slip over your hand, stop increasing. Just continue spiraling, but make a single SC in each stitch.
6. Stop when the puppet body is long enough to cover your hand.

Note that the birdie is much smaller–just a finger puppet. It’s a bittybird.

Then, create the ears.

• For the lion, tiger, and zebra, I crocheted two little discs each and attached them as ears.
• For the elephant’s ears, I made huge discs.

Make sure everything of this nature is attached really well, so that the puppets are safe for little ones to play with.

Embroider eyes using a contrasting yarn.

Then, create snouts/noses/beaks/mouths.

• I embroidered black noses and mouths on the lion and tiger, and a yellow beak on the bird.
• For the zebra, I crocheted another little hat-like disc for a snout, embroidered a nose and mouth on the snout, and attached it to the face.
• For the elephant, I made a long chain and then single-crocheted back along it once, to make it thick enough, and attached it to the elephant’s face.

Finally, embellish their bodies.

• I embroidered stripes on the tiger, radiating out from the face.
• Note that I did not embroider stripes on the zebra; instead, I alternated between white and black yarn so that the stripes were integrated into its body.
• For the zebra’s mane, I used black yarn to sew small loops along the zebra’s back.
• For the lion’s mane, I used fun fur, sewing it in long, loose loops radiating out along the face.
• I gave the birdie a pair of little crocheted wings, too—simple, skinny triangles.

The final step: Give the puppets to kids you love, and have fun playing!