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We went today to get boss-----he is doing well, and he seemed not bothered at all by the car ride. He has already eaten and drank some water from the bowl and is now taking a nap. Him and woody have already exchanged some yelling between them.
The lady with this rescue had posted and said that boss is a pied, well the picture looked like lutino----- I am thinking that boss is indeed a lutino and not a pied. He even has a little bald spot on the back of his head that lutinos have. Thing is that his eyes are not reddish in any way, they look like the same brown eyes that woody has. Someone had said that he would have red eyes if he was lutino. I even looked at his eyes closely while right in the sun and they are brown.
Boss also has a nice little blood spot where she told me had flown into the wall or something and hit the top of his beak. It's very tiny and looks like it's ok and all healed, but it kinda looks like a small scab. I saw boss fly at her house and he does fly really fast into things, flew right into the window while we were there! He only flies when you try to get him onto a hand----otherwise he is fine. It's weird, he seems so tame, yet will fly from hands and is way more freaked out by hands then woody is. Woody will sit on your hand or finger easily now and gets on most times, but not every time and will NOT fly from you when trying to get him on your hand, yet boss seems much tamer than woody overall when it comes to other things. Boss's wings are clipped, but aparently they have grown out a bit and need it again! he just seems to fly into walls, windows, whatever, full force, he doesn't even slow down! at least woody has always known enough to slow down before he ever hit the wall!
I feel bad for boss right now because he is away from his familiar surroundings and all his birdie friends he had there-----he probably misses them she had a really nice set up there for her birds, and they were allowed to roam around freely every day outside of the cage.
I hope he warms up to us soon and that we can get him over this fear of hands!
Kim

Kim,

I'm so glad you finally got Boss. He is a scared little birdy right now, and you and I know you are such a good birdie momma, he will warm up to you and Woody very quickly. If he has a bald spot, chances are very high he is a lutino, or has a strong lutino line in him. The lack of red eyes is kind of odd, but I'm not a geneticist by any means, and others are more informed than I. Please post some pics of Boss soon .. we all want to meet your newest child

He's either a clear pied with lutino genes, or he's a lutino that may be hard to view the red eyes (as is in some birds).... Good to hear he's home! Now for some pics!

Well I do know that boss's mom is a normal grey----don't know anything about the dad though. I will post some pics soon, but right now I don't want to bother him with cameras and flashes----plus I want to get some new rechargable batteries for my camera. The ones I have are getting old and not holding a charge for very long anymore. In a week or so I will post some pics. In the mean time I am keeping him and woody apart for a while to make sure boss is totally healthy first. He sure looks healthy and acts it and has beautiful feathers---all in perfect shape like woody's used to be before this molt! How long should I keep them apart? They are in the same room, but it's quite a huge room and on separate ends of it, and I make sure to wash my hands after handling boss or feeding him. I haven't taken him out yet, thinking I will let boss come out on his own when he is ready, since that is what he did at the rescue. so far so good, I got the birdy greeting from boss with the wings up! and he has chirped some and yelled a little when I leave the room.

That's great ()()()hugs to Boss and heres some for Woody to so he doesn't feel left out()()() glad to hear all is well can't wait to see the pics!!

So happy to hear Boss is in his new home!! quarantine should be between 30-45 days. He needs some time to get use to you and his new home... It will happen in time. Let him alone in his cage for a couple days to get use to things, and then try starting to work with him. Try bribing him onto your hand with millet mmmmmm

Kim,
Congrats on the new birdie and kudos on your big heart to take on such a challenge as a rescue bird. You did such a good job with Woody, I know you'll do well with Boss. I'll be excited to hear about the progress you make with him as time goes on.

I am glad Boss is home. Yeah, he sounds like a lutino. My normal greys had two lutino babies so having grey parents doesn't matter.
boss will need some time to get used to his surroundings and all the new sights, sounds & smells.he will warm up once he is used to the routines.
I hope the weather held out for you out west. At the seacoast we got rain but my pals in Maine got bonked with 10 inches of snow.
Congratulations on your new buddie!

Sorry to say but there is very little point of quarantine if these two birds share a room.... as quarantine is suppose to be done in a SEPARATE room, with hopefully separate air space too... otherwise, once they've shared the same airspace, and if one of them has some sort of illness that travels via air, you've ruined the entire point of quarantine... and thus if one bird really is sick, you wont be able to know if your other one gets sick or not unless either you get tests done or he starts showing signs of being sick...

I'm not making a jab at you... because most people can't really effectively quarantine a bird because they don't have the space, money, or otherwise to do so efficiently... and most do try to the best of their abilities. I'll be honest and say that I'm one of those people who can't quarantine because I don't have the space to do so... but I just wanted to point out, that you can't really say you are quarantining a bird when it shares the same space as a previously owned, confirmed healthy, bird.

And actually thinking about it, if Boss's mom is a normal, then Boss must be a female if indeed Boss is a lutino. If Boss is a pied, then Boss could be a male... or to say, lutino is a sex linked gene. Males can be split for lutino or be visuals, and will pass on their lutino gene (visually) to females. Females can only be visuals, they cannot be split for lutino... thus you cannot get a lutino from a hen unless both she AND her mate have the lutino genes.

wow you got me worried now that boss could be female. I could not notice the red in his eyes, but when I take his pic, his eyes always look red in the pics-----will post some soon. Boss has the little bald spot that lutinos have-----could he still be pied with a bald spot? I think he's lutino. Maybe I should ask this woman more about his background if she knows anything. She told me boss is a pied and I am thinking she was wrong. She told me he was a male, I sure hope she wasn't wrong about that one. Boss was kind of noisy the first day here, but has been quiet since, and it was obvious right away that he isn't as vocal as woody is. Woody will sing and make all kinds of different sounds, whistles and chirps-----I was thinking maybe boss is quiet because he is in a new place----took woody some time, a few days to get used to it here. Right now it's looking like boss is lutino, and the fact that he is quiet is starting to make me wonder.
As far as the quarantine goes, I am not too worried about that because boss looks very healthy----he grinds his beak and is very active, and sure is a strong flyer----he seems alot stronger than woody, bigger and really strong wings, he must have flew quite a bit while there. Ok, well thanks for the info----gotta find out if my boss is a male now

So happy to hear of the new addition!!!! How exciting! Casper sends hugs to both Boss and Woody!!!!

I really didn't think you'd need to worry much since Boss DOES seem healthy! Yes it is possible for Boss to be a pied with a bald patch... which means that he'd have lutino genes. Even some normals or other mutations could carry that bald patch if they carry the lutino genes (not saying they ARE lutinos or split for lutino... but rather they attained the bald patch from the parent that carried the lutino gene and bald patch).

You could try taking some of Boss's flight feathers or tail feathers and holding them up against a bright light... If Boss is a lutino female then you should be able to see spots and stripes within the feathers... If Boss is a pied or male lutino these should be clear... I don't really know how accurate this is however, so you might want to consider asking for more information and possibly doing a DNA sexing.

I read that a lutino will have bright yellow spots under the wing and light yellow barring if it is a female-----boss has none of these---I looked very closey and under his wings is a very pale color and no barring. I know the barring is supposed to be very light so hard to see, so I will keep on inspecting, but so far so good, no signs of it.
Yes, boss seems like a very healthy birdie---he's so much bigger and stronger than woody---he must have flown quite a bit where he was because he definitely has those wing muscles, and the extra weight! He is a good size, but then he's gonna look that way to me after seeing woody every day! He's a really good bird, but he tends to fly into walls and is a very swift flyer even with wings clipped!