Lest you think the sparrows and the Finsters are the only ones thinking about building nests, let me catch you up with what Peanut has been doing lately. He's still flying around a lot, and being pretty feisty. And he regurgitates for me periodically. But recently, he seems to be exhibiting actual nest-making behavior.

First, he hopped down to the floor of his cage — which he does once in awhile — discovered the back corner, and quickly chewed a bunch of spit balls out of the poop paper. He was squeaking and chortling the whole time. Although this photo cuts off the top of his head, it's the best of the bunch. You can click here for a big version.

A few days ago, Bruce hid some sunflower seeds in Bob, the ficus tree, to try to get Peanut to spend time in it. Bob was an early present for Peanut, but he's never really liked the tree. Who ever heard of a bird that doesn't like a tree, right? But sunflower seeds can convince Peanut to like almost anything, and they were doing a pretty good job of making Bob look mighty attractive, when Peanut discovered the mirror. He started the trip into Bob on the back of the couch, and from there flew to the top of the nearby lampshade (I've mentioned the flying, right?). From there, he flew to the old radio/cassette player (it still works), and then it was just a hop to the casino coin tub (don't laugh, I once won $150 in dimes) where he could sidle around to be right in front of the mirror. Where, after a few minutes of consideration, he decided he loved himself. Looooooove. Well, who wouldn't? You can click here for a big version. So far, the very handsome bird in the mirror has been more attractive than any seeds that might be hidden in Bob.

Then today, Peanut discovered the dish drainer. First, let me point out that a plastic-coated dish drainer would make a fine play gym for a small bird, particularly if you can get a drain board that's bigger than the dish rack. It would be very easy to clean, you could attach extra perches and things, and you can move it around anywhere. But I'm pretty sure Peanut was thinking about more than playing when he discovered the silverware holder. I think he was checking it out as a possible nesting site. See him defending his territory? It's a little too deep for him, but it's very interesting. Big version here.