Martin Tool Use

[Dan]

After YEARS of trying to get a photo of this, my partner finally managed! I am SO pleased lol.



I gave Martin some pasta to eat and instead of eating it, he broke off bits to make one end sharper and started using it for scritches!!!

[kassidyb]

Oh my gosh, he's such a clever fella! Cute picture too!

[~Lori~]

Awww, what a great photo. And quite impressive that Martin does this! Smart fid!

[Creaminomommy]

Well he's gotta get his head scritches somewhere! What a smart little guy

[Dan]

You would think he got enough of them from Rorie & I, haha.

[Dan]

Ohh Rorie managed even better photos today!! Showed them to me as a surprise, I did not see it happen. Coming soon!

[Dan]

Sharpening...

[kassidyb]

Oh my gosh! Awesome pics! I just love how clever he is.

[jakeandnikko]

Wow. What an intelligent little bird!

[notredamebird]

Wow, those really came out perfectly. I'm really glad that you now have photo evidence. Martin used to use discarded feathers to scratch himself all the time when he lived with us, but I never caught him doing it with a camera ready.

He's really good at using the feathers too -- lots of small, careful movements.

BTW - his cage looks really nice.

[Dan]

Thanks -- old habits die hard, years later and he still does it all the time! Still need to get a proper picture of his new cage (he has only had it a couple weeks) and put it up!

[Dan]

The pasta thing was cool too, because it was the first time I ever saw him do it with anything other than his own feathers.

[notredamebird]

The selection of pasta is pretty impressive! I don't recall him using anything other than his own feathers with us, but there weren't many objects pointy enough in the bird room.

In the Parrot Who Owns Me, Joanna Berger describes how her Amazon would go to a cup full of his old feathers and inspect several before picking the right one for the job!

[Dan]

Haha, nice! It was really cute with the pasta actually. He tried eating it but it was really hard for him...eventually he managed to break it and it ended up with a really sharp end, at which point he started working away at his head...

[budgiebudgie]

omg! loved theses photos of tool-using Martin!

[pixibubbles]

AWWW- what a little clever clogs!
i wanna see a video next

[Dan]

Took five years to get photos, don't expect any videos any time soon!

[Marrie]

What a smart little guy! My tiel just uses his claws.

[Dan]

Martin is much too fussy for such things

[Aprilrain]

Ha ha! Skeet does this all the time, he'll pluck out a feather and use it to give himself scritches. He LOVES doing it with my engagement ring. If it's turned the wrong way on my finger he'll work it around and then sit on my hand and go to town. :-) I haven't been able to get a photo of it either. Your photos are too cute.

[Dan]

Haha, the ring bit sounds great!

[Aprilrain]

Well, we've been having some issues with the ring thing because he'll want to mouth it and I'm scared he'll dent the soft gold. Then I remembered... my grandma gave me this really tall three-tiered (like a wedding cake) diamond and sapphire number. Grandma bought it at an auction where they were auctioning off stuff from a drug dealers house. I only wear it on special occassions as it's so tall. I got it out of the jewelry box last night and put it on. Skeet thought this was the best most awesome thing ever and spent about an hour just rubbing himself all over it. I think I saw pure love in his little eyes.

[Dan]

Hee hee again! He just took some pasta out of his food bowl and used it after thinking I wasn't giving him enough attention

[kurusui]

Ollies a snobby bird and refuses to do it himself, so just headbuts us until we do it for him. Lol

[elfhome]

Bella has been known to ask just about anything and anyone for scritches when she is desperate. Every new toy she bends her head down juuuuuuust in case it'll give her a head scratch.
LOL Such cute pictures. They are very smart, our parrots. Now if they could always use those brains for good and not mischief. >.<