We got Murdock in May of 2004.  He was 5 at the time, having been let go by his previous owners in the US.  He was born in the US by a breeder down there.   At first he was a bit bitey, but has since settled down.  

Rarely is he in a cage, only if no one is home.  He seems to understand this and has no problems going into a ferret cage we got for him, but definitely happy to get out when we get home.

Murdock cannot fly, his left wing is somehow damaged and cannot extend all the way.  When he jumps down or falls, it's not a good experience as he is often beak first.

FOOD:  He is quite fussy in what he eats, but generally he will eat anything we have for our own meals.  Banana or muffin in the morning, sometimes peanut buttered toast.  Lunch may be a bit of cheese (mozzarella only) or bread, or some of his constant supply of unshelled peanuts.  Dinner may be broccoli, corn, spaghetti (only if it has some sauce on it), potato, and even occasional meat.  Seems fond of the fat on bacon, but that is rare we give that.  Their natural diet does include insect grubs also high in fat.  For treats he likes tinned fruit and Zesty Tortias.  These he will dunk in his water dish, wait a few secs, turn over, wait more, then eat it.

BEHAVIOUR:  A real clown at times.  He exhibits some real interesting behaviours.  Who he likes is very selective.  Hates most females, especially my youngest daughter.  Most men he is very fond of, to the point of being a pest to one person not leaving him alone.  Dances when happy to see someone, kicking up one foot like a chorus girl.   Sometimes he does a head flipping dance back and forth, but stops when he see you see him doing it.  There is the hop and jump dance, where he struts on the floor, does a hop, opens his wings a bit, crest up.  Then does it again.  He will also do a hand fetish dance.  Standing on your hand, with your fingers open, he dances on your hand, running he beak across your arm around your fingers.  Then holding a finger in his beak, dances with his legs, then on to a different finger.  

Murdock is definitely not a morning person.  After breakfast he often will spend the rest of the day dozing off.  His most active time is in the evening.  Generally he is very good to go to bed.  Rarely do we hear him squawk once his room light is out and then only for a few minutes will he squawk, but then he stops.  Waking up around 8am when the conures start their squawking.  Loves to display to himself in front of a mirror.  

I have a Jeep TJ and have taken the back seat out, put in a wire mesh behind the front seats and put in a perch.  I try to take him out when we do, even if for only shopping for food.  He seems to like going in the car a lot as he dances when you place him on the car perch.   Once a week we try to take him to the PetSmart near us.  They like to see him there, and we think it's good for him to see other birds.

SOUNDS: When hungry, or sees his favourite food come out of the shopping bags, he makes a "Ah Ha" sound.  If left alone in a room too long, he will start "Hello", then "HELLO", then "HELLOOOO!!!"  He does say his name, and has added some words in front of that.  One night he said 'good night Murdock" as I was putting him to bed.  When the phone rings he says "Hello", and it can be any phone with different ring tones.  When you are on the phone, he says "OK"   He talks the most when we are out walking the dogs or going in the car.  The neighbors certainly know when we have him out!  He will says words such as "pretty boooyyy", many things we can't figure out, and then there is his high pitched shrieking.  Now that is loud!  Better he does that outside, however he has done it inside.  Generally he is very quiet, don't even know he is in the house sometimes.  Occasionally, people turn off the kitchen light forgetting he is on his perch, you certainly know about it from him though!  

HABITAT:  We have a house with a fair yard.  Murdock is allowed to be free, but supervised, not left alone wandering around. (we also have 4 dogs)  He has a perch system hung from the kitchen ceiling which is where he spends most of the day.  In the bird room, he has a chair he sits on when I'm on the computer.  Content playing with logos or preening himself.  At night he sleeps in the conure tree (they go in their cage box).  Outside, in the warmer weather, he spends his day either in the front crabapple trees, or the back porch tree I have for him.  The front trees are funny because he will squawk at people as they pass by, of course they have no idea what it is!  He gets a shower or bath 2-3 days a week, getting dried with either a blow dryer or standing in front of a small heater.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS:  At night we take him to our bedroom to watch TV before we pack it in.  He's allowed to wonder around the bed, usually our big dog will be on the bed too.  One night he wanted to get to the other side of the bed, but the dog was in the way, so he stepped on the dog's back to get over.  Of course the dog lifted his head and Murdock jumped off, turned to the dog, opened his wings a bit and gave a laughing sound!  Another time, he got into a laughing match with my daughter's boyfriend while on his arm.  The two of them were laughing together, feeding off each other.

Enough stories, pictures!