Today in the herbivore room...

Kealy (the lovebird) has been busy building "nests". The nests themselves aren't very tidy or stable. They (lovebirds) just shred things endlessly, leaving massive piles of these shredded strips of paper. I provide plenty of paper, and the lovebirds are happy to shred. This is done completely with the beak. They basically perforate the paper with their pointy little beak, leaving a thin strip that is usually 3-5 inches long. The labor and very precise width of the strips is quite impressive. They are also very fast--it looks like you're watching speeded up video when you see it, because you can't imagine it being possible to go so fast! Kealy's strips are not as perfect as Touky's (our previous lovebird) were. Touky's looked like they were done with a machine--all the exact same width and length. It was amazing! They transport the strips to their chosen spots by tucking the strips (usually around 20 at a time) into the feathers of their back/tail, and then fly or walk to their destination. They usually drop around 30% of their strips by the time they arrive at their destination.

Jolsie, our sweet old guinea pig, loves the rabbits (especially Fergus, foreground) and grooms them frequently. Fiona is relaxing in the background--probably waiting for Jolsie to visit her.