Yep! Maxie is potty trained! She backs to the edge of the cottage cheese container and does her thing. Plop! Usually it lands on newspaper.

Except when I'm in the car driving home and holding the cottage cheese container so she can enjoy a little sunshine.

Then it lands on my lap!
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She is doing fine today. I let her sit outside on the steps for about 15 min. to see if she would respond to Mama and Papa, but no luck.

She has been doing some more preening. Been feeding her soggy doggy food most of the day. So far, she hasn't complained. I left her with the bird-sitters for a few hours while I shopped until I dropped.

Now I'm tired, but my company will be showing up very soon. At least I was able to wash the sheets and the bed is made.

I rented "The Bucket List" THREE DAYS AGO!!! By the time I watch it tonight for the first time, it will have cost me $7. Oh well. I saved $257 today, so I guess I can afford it. (See my Oh Joy thread if you really want to know).

Well, I've about decided that this little birdie is higher maintenance than a human baby! At least you don't have to feed a human baby every 10 minutes!

Okay, that's it. Thanks to Ms. Doody for posting my pics!

I'll check in tomorrow morning after I feed my guests. Wonder if they'd both eat dog food?
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grows up... it should be easier for you. It doesn't take long.

I guess Maxie is now old enough not to foul the nest. Very young birds make they droppings in a little sack ...the parent then picks this up as a whole little baggie and dumps it.

At a certain point, this ends and the baby learns to poop outside the nest.

From your pictures, the wing feathers seem only 1/2 developed.
In another week or so, there should be some wing action flapping, etc. Keep looking for the parents, as the other babes become mobile, they may show up on your bushes etc. You can then try to insert the baby back into the family, that way. Hopefully he will follow them then. That would be best, so the adults can teach him how to catch food for himself.
The goal is to release him successfully back into the wild.

You can test flying potential by having him sit on your finger, and then you drop your hand down, and see if he reflexively flaps. This is a sign you need a cage.

P.S. my kitty is recovering. We brought her home yesterday.
She is more sedate, and not frenzied and sick, as she was (from that vaccine). The vet says she can not have any more!
Ever! This was the second reaction, in 10 yrs.

Good morning! Now, if your name is Maxie, you'd instinctively open your mouth when you heard me say those words!

I had an idea. While standing on the front porch in my jammies (neighbor's are all off celebrating the 4th) so Maxie could listen for her family, I was wishing she could spend more time outside w/o fear of the big ole orange kitty. The tree's crotch (can I say that here?) is too high for me to reach, and the limbs seemed too precarious.

And then I saw my hanging petunia pot! Perfect! I put Maxie and her cottage cheese nest in the petunias! Now she is out there enjoying the cool morning air and has the opportunity to exchange messages with her peers.

My kitchen timer just went off. Time for the 2nd course of raw burger.

*sniff* Now none of my NT friends will ever want to visit me! I promise if you come you have bacon and eggs! Pancakes even! With homemade syrup! Now I'm making myself hungry. How am I ever going to lose weight?

They say that some people "eat like a bird." Well, lemme tell ya, if you ate like a bird, you'd eat about 6 times an hour at this B&B!
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Psssst, Koala: B&B = Bed and Breakfast! teehee!

Twink, you're so funny!!
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I've been tellin' people I eat like a bird for years and nobody would believe me! Now...maybe they will! I have the rear end to prove it!!
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LOL you all! Twink, I've said it before and I'll say it again, you crack me up!

You are really giving this birdy your all. I can just see everything you're describing. I love the visual of Maxie in the petunia pot.

Now what I see going on is...um, she's the alpha in your twosome, LMAO! She's got you wrapped around her little finger even though...she is the one wrapped around your finger.
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Mrs. D. I am SO glad Tippy is better. What a frightening experience for you and her.
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OH YEAH! My unwed wren homes???? Well, one is being inhabited now by someone not a wren.
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I'm not sure what it is but it's pretty (I'm not a bird study person but love them). It has very striking black with grey? and white?. Black cap chickadee? I have no clue, but she is in one of the homes with babies.
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I hadn't realized that underneath their soft, fluffy exterior that birds actually have a built in conveyor belt! It's true! You put fresh food in the front end, and the processed food pops out the back end!!!

I also hadn't realized how quickly time goes by when you're on the computer. Seems like the kitchen timer keeps beeping "feeding time" every couple of minutes, instead of 12 or so.

Maxie has fresh nest lining. Her conveyor belt kept soiling the old one, Lol! Her new one is made of dryer lint topped with a spent dryer sheet in a Cool Whip container.

Time's up! There's the buzzer! Lunch time!
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I am sooo glad I followed Doody's link here, Your lil Maxie is just gorgeous!!!
I have really enjoyed ready this whole thread
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I wonder though, if she is getting so close to you, will you be able to release her? Or do you plan on keeping her? Thanks for sharing Twink!!!
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I would not use a spent dryer sheet for Maxie...there are still
chemicals in it. They might burn her feet!

I used plain old toilet paper. I stacked several squares and removed the top one when soiled. The next one under would be ready and that worked pretty well. Paper towels would be okay, too. But not newspaper...the inks have arsenic and solvents in them, which are not good for birds.

Nikky, Maxie is outside in her petunia pot right now. She can leave anytime she wants to. I don't think she can fly just yet, though.

I read somewhere that I'm actually breaking the law by keeping her here. We are not supposed to keep wild animals! But, shhhhh! If I get thrown into jail, who will feed her?
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