#id:harka

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Blissfully unaware that a deadly predator is contemplating eating her for dinner

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Snugglebug Harka making sure I accomplish nothing while attempting to work from home.

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This week, after much deliberation, we went ahead and made the decision to move Kaisa inside. Kaisa is an older girl, has chronic liver issues and some arthritis, and has also understandably been pretty withdrawn since losing her mate, Ember, at the beginning of the year.

She has only been inside a couple of days, but has already solidly established herself as queen of the office birds. She won the coveted bedtime position of my desk by the window, and even anti-social Harka has been fascinated by her.

By moving her inside, I will be able to keep a closer eye on her as well as provide medication and PT, and I'm hoping that some more one on one time will help her feel better too 🤍

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Baby's first road trip 💕

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New contestant for the weirdest couple at the rescue just dropped. He really does have a thing for women 3x his size, but unfortunately for him she could not care less 💔

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Harka came to work and was a big hit lol

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Harka lives in a constant state of being unable to decide if he wants to bite us or preen us lol

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Weirdest best friends ever

Some background on these two because I love over-explaining myself on the internet:

I have had situations where people jump to conclusions based on single images of my birds and I would much rather set the record straight immediately:

You may have noticed that the pigeon in this pic, Harka, looks fucked. She is much better than she was, but had a very rough time as a baby, and recovery from developmental neglect is a long + rocky road. She will always be a house bird and is generally very frail, even at nearly eight months old. She is really afraid of other pigeons (and aggressive towards them as a result). Even my other dove Huron is a bit too pushy for her and she usually becomes uncomfortable with him.

Also important - there are no contagious issues of concern. Her feather quality and her size are due to inadequate nutrition while growing.

The dove in this pic, Daisy, lived with parrots for her entire life. Her deformed beak and missing toenails are the result of being housed with a quaker parrot, in a cage too small for a either species individually, with a single perch and food dish. She is on constant high alert, and is afraid of anyone that moves too quickly or comes at her too fast. Unfortunately, most of my birds are obnoxious little shits who aren't respectful of this anxiety which means they make a poor companion for her.

Generally speaking, I think pigeons and doves should really only be together with supervision, and some are not even cut out for that. A pigeon is much stronger and larger than a dove, I have seen situations where pigeons and doves paired up, and the dove was killed during a routine mate squabble. For the vast majority of birds, I do not consider it worth the risk!!!!!

But, these two are kind of the perfect companions. Harka is not afraid of Daisy because for once, someone is smaller than her, and doesn't want to hurt her! This is really her first ever friend! And Daisy enjoys her weird large friend that doesn't chase her or scream or bite her. I have frequently seen them preening one another, and they sleep cuddling most nights.

This friendship is something I monitor VERY closely because again - almost never worth the risk. These guys live in my office and I spend all day with them. Additionally, Daisy is flighted and Harka is not, so if Daisy wanted some space she could very easily get it. But I feel obligated to make this disclaimer because I really don't think most dove/pigeon pairs work and I consider this the exception, not the rule. And people love jumping to conclusions on the internet and I would never want that to lead to people trying this because they saw it online. Lol.