for those of you who have just adopted your fid (feathered kid) or who have miraculously yet to encounter this - here are pictures of the Infamous Pionus Strut, also known as Puffer Pi Mode.

there are various theories for why a pionus does The Strut, and they include:

• mating behavior - "look at me!" it says, "look how impressive a mate i am!" this also includes general raging hormones in the spring. (see photos below, of ernie).
• declaration of space - "my cage! mine mine mine me me me!" as he Struts around the entire perimeter of the top of his cage.
• not getting what he wants - some times if i don't give him a nut when he wants it, or give him attention when he wants it, cricket or ernie will throw all his toys off his cage top and then Puff to make it clear to me that he's Grumpy.
• something he doesn't like - cricket or ernie will also Puff if someone he doesn't like hangs around near his cage too long, or i bring something into the room that he finds annoying. for example, cricket hates wrapping paper; it's guaranteed to set him off every time. and for ernie, it's rustling trash bags (a slightly different sound, apparently). they both do it when i change their cage papers, below them, too.

the truth is, no one really knows. not yet anyhow. i find that cricket and ernie seem to do The Strut for all of the above reasons, and some times it seems they do it just because they is in a particularly sparky/energetic mood. ;] usually what cricket does is he attaches himself to the cage top, somewhere, and does some Wing Drumming first - he flaps and flaps his wings as if he is trying to take off, but he is clearly and intentionally holding on tight to the cage. when he's done Drumming, he will Puff and stalk about slowly, tail flared, eyes dilated, grumbling to himself.

some times just laughing at him will get him to stop; some times if i come over and say hi he will be glad to see me - his feathers go down and he stops hunching over; other times he just has some bee up his butt and i know to Stay Clear or he will bite me. it's like he's possessed. fortunately, as you can see, the signs are pretty clear to understand.

(that's a wee downy feather stuck to cricket's tail feathers.. maybe that was his reason for Puffing this particular time.)

as you can see from these photos, ernie was all puffed up simply because he was thrilled to have this toy. this little gift costs $2.50 at the pet store and takes him about five minutes total for him to destroy. so i don't buy him them very often. he was so thrilled when i pulled the toy out of the bag, that he puffed up and flared his tail, and wolf whistled and kept flaring his tail at me the whole time he was destroying it. it was so funny, to me, so long as i stayed out of reach

2/7/02 - more photos! cricket was in a real snit last night. who am i kidding, he has been in a real snit since last april. people say it's hormones, but it's been almost a year now. this sort of puberty is not common in pionus. lucky me - i win!

this is a good clear photo. click on it for a larger version. see how every feather stands up and his eyes are unfocused? he's in perfect form. the american judge gives it a 10!

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puffers / last update: 2/7/02 all text and images copyright by DogBrain Enterprises and may not be used without express written permission.