All three little ones have left the nest!
Yesterday evening, I was complimenting Andre the Second on his excellent fathering skills, when suddenly one of the dark gray babies took his first short flight out of the nest and down to the cage floor! Nobody panicked; Deuce and I just waited while the little guy/gal got its bearings and starting hopping around. I called David in the room, and we watched together as it got braver, and started trying to hop up on the lowest perch.
There's a flat rock in the cage that Deuce (and all the previous adults) sits on once in awhile to sharpen his beak or reach into the grass garden (I'll explain later when it goes back in the cage). I moved that rock near the lowest perch to be used as a step stool, and it didn't take long for the little one to figure it out. In two minutes s/he was up on the low rung, and within twenty minutes s/he was spotted up on the top rung trying to preen just like daddy!
S/he still ran the whole "feed me" routine with the beak in the air, but Deuce has recently stopped eating much from the treat plate, so David guesses that he's weaning them off soft food. I still put in chopped up kale and chard (from the garden) and a couple chopped up grapes (from the fridge, haha) because Deuce needs that for himself. Later that evening the little one went to bed in the nest, and Deuce topped off the slumber party, not ready for an empty nest just yet.
Last night David greeted me after work (and my 70-minute commute) with more big news: he'd seen all three fledglings [young birds with developed flight feathers] sitting on the top perch with Deuce! I got to see it for myself this morning before work. I was so enthralled watching the avian show, that I completely forgot it was a mandatory hair washing day (I had a coconut oil treatment in, and it looked gross!), and had to stick my head in the utility sink, wash, rinse, towel, scrunch and run!
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