Playtime

So, we've established that Punchy is quite the extraordinary bird. Strong in the face of adversity and all that. What we didn't know when we first got him, was much about the general nature of Lorikeets.

It didn't take us long to figure out that Lories are really fun loving birds. They absolutely love to play, so the more toys you provided them the better. Anything wooden that they can chew on, play with or something they can unravel (like a piece of knotted rope). They love bells, hanging toys or anything they can push around or makes a noise.

So over the years Punchy's toy collection has grown and with it my love of making or finding new toys for him.

Wooden Swing

 Believe it or not this is the simplest but probably the most played with toy. Punchy lies for hours on his back playing with this. It provides him and us with so much entertainment.

Hanging Toy

This is one of my homemade hanging toys. I make them quite simply out of native seeds and bits of wood that I collect from the beach and around my home.

Other assorted toys

I change Punchy's toys all the time so that he doesn't get bored. These are selection of things he loves to play with. The blue and green one with the bell is a particular favourite, it was sold as a cat toy but hey...he doesn't hold that against it.

Punchy

Punchy was the first ever bird in our family. Both myself and my husband Paulie are huge animal lovers (apart from cats for both of us and maybe horses in my case) but we had never entertained the idea of purchasing a bird.

But, life  always throws up a few surprises and through a series of events mostly out of our control, we ended up with this little Lorikeet in our lives.

Now Punchy is no ordinary Lori, oh no. Punchy is almost completely blind.

Punchy

You would think that this would make him unsure of himself, slightly edgy, maybe shy, certainly gentle. Well you would be completely wrong on just about all accounts!
Punchy has adapted to being blind so incredibly well, that sometimes we have to remind ourselves that he is. Occasionally he reminds US, when he runs off the end of a table, or misses his perch when he jumps...but seriously, that doesn't happen very often at all.

He uses his beak to guide himself around his environment, just like a blind person would use their cane. And he's smart. He learns his environment quickly, which enables him to move around so nimbly it's staggering. Just don't move anything in his cage! I made that mistake early on and he jumped for a perch that wasn't there...needless to say I felt terrible!

Very deserving of his name...

But Punchy has an incredible knack of landing on his beak and just brushing himself off and charging off again. Nothing stops him. He is feisty, bolshy, smart, has attitude and really is an amazing little bird.