Sparky the Master Builder

Sparky the Quaker parrot who lives in Portland (OR) works on his stick project, building himself a huge nest in our dining room bookshelves. He started building about five years ago and we supply the 3/16-inch dowels and clothes pins. He gets a helping human hand at times, but he built the massive structure all by himself. (Bird chirping in the background is a guest cockatiel.).

• Category

  Pets & Animals

[Joo823]

Incredible! How much of his day is consumed by nest weaving?

[sparkyvonvogelsang]

It's non-stop. From time to time we offer him various natural and artificial materials, but he only likes 3/16 inch dowels, with clothespins on them.

[animalover94]

WOW! Thats amazing! Do males or females build the nests?

[sparkyvonvogelsang]

Both males and females work on the nests, although, er, um, males are better at it (with a data size of 1 and 1, anyway).

[Chrissy Knight]

aw all that work and he cant attract a female...lol poor feller

[pokinsmot]

sheesh! he did that all himself?! smart lil guy... id be worried about a collapse...

[CTCstreetwear]

thats insane i have a quaker parrot, if i get him same sort of material do you think he will give that a go?? how did he start doing it??

[LeoAsc]

Thank you for this comment. Parrot overpopulation is a huge problem. I bred three pairs of Amazons for several years and finally stopped giving them nest boxes when it became obvious that there were far more parrots available than there were good homes (I would never sell a baby to a pet shop). When I explained to people what a parrot required for health and happiness, many people backed out. Also a good point about diet, a seed (or pellet) only diet is horrible for their health.

[Julie Brunk]

I believe Bobby has OCD lol. He is such a cutie. At least he doesn't get bored. Thanks for sharing. I share my life with a WF-Amazon, an Congo African Grey & a Goffin's Cockatoo.

[TerranWalker]

My quaker Bobby tries to build nests with paper. I think he still needs practice, I should show him the video.

[James Greenamyer]

I laughed to see him so busy, and then gasped in amazement at the SIZE of his structure! Awesome bird!!

[aeriadne]

Adopt, please! There are likely hundreds of thousands - maybe millions - of unwanted parrots in need of homes. And if price is a concern for you, please don't get a parrot. Though there are clever ways around it, like making your own parrot toys instead of buying them from stores, vet trips can still be costly. Parrots also need more than the cheap bags of seeds you see at pet stores (which if used as a their sole diet is quite bad for them), and fresh fruits and vegetables cost money.

[Tirsky000]

I think he needs a girlfriend!! Imagine all that work and no reward ;p :(

[pixidust06]

Oh my gosh! I have never seen anything like that!! absolutely amazing how it kept his(?) interest all these years!!

[Agnieszka Pomykala]

WOW this is cool!!!!

[Dragotheone]

Oh my God, it's huge O.o Amazing parrot!