Over the weekend, my sweetie and I took in a foster parrot by way of the good folks over at Mickaboo Companion Bird Rescue. If there’s any way to really disrupt your writing and work schedules, bringing a new bird home is the best way to do it.
Don’t worry, it’s all good. It’s just a big change.
My sweetie and I are experienced parrot owners, though the word “owner” needs to be said with a certain amount of giggling. The truth is that it is the parrots who own the people and not the other way around. They are, without a doubt, the messiest, most demanding, and smartest animals you can keep in your home. They are clever enough to verbalize their wants and are capable of the advanced reasoning needed to play tricks on the humans in the house.
My Cockatoo, for example, routinely lures me into getting close enough to her cage so that she can jump onto my shoulder. She’s especially talented at this when she knows I’m in a hurry and don’t have time to play.
At my house, usually it’s the parrots who run the show.
My Grey, Barnabas, gave a very interesting reaction when we came in the door with the newcomer, he leaned down to have a good look and said in the sweetest voice he could muster, “Hello.” My small Cockatoo, Static, was less impressed. She raised her crest and stared. The next morning she shrieked in alarm as she caught a glimpse of our newcomer’s cage in the guest room where he is quarantined for the next few weeks.
We don’t know for certain if our new friend Mao is a boy or a girl. African Greys aren’t sexually dimorphic (meaning there aren’t big visual differences between males and females) so the only way to know with certainty is by way of a DNA test. Sometimes you can tell from behavior, but we aren’t sure in this case. Mao’s previous owner thought he was male, but we are getting a distinctly female vibe. I guess our vet will let us know when it comes time.
For now, Mao is a foster bird. His previous family went through a lot of changes, and can no longer care for him. He’s settling in and we are trying to figure out his personality, likes and dislikes. He’s warming up to me a little already. This morning, he politely took a piece of egg from my hand.
If you are thinking about adopting a parrot and you live in California, stop by Mickaboo’s web site. If you aren’t in California, but are willing to travel to Colorado to pick up your new friend, talk to the folks at The Gabriel Foundation in Denver. U.K. peeps, check out Birdline, which operates in England, Scotland and Wales.
One thing I want to emphasize if you are considering a companion bird: do your research. It’s easy to took at these beautiful, feathered, and talkative creatures and want one. It’s a completely different thing to care for a parrot, so it’s important you know what you are getting into. Basically, you have to understand that adopting a bird is like adopting a five-year-old that will never grow up.
Oh, and don’t forget that five-year-old also has a can opener attached to his face, and won’t know the difference between your great-grandmother’s antique armoire and the wood chew toy you put in his cage.
Beware the power of the beak, for it is mighty.