Birds

I'm the proud parent of three birds. The oldest is Pokey, a Grey Cockatiel that was born around 1991. I bought his parents, Momma and Pappa, in 1990. They were a breeding pair that were nearing the end of their breeding years and were sold to me as part of a nasty divorce where the wife retained custody of the birds to the annoyance of her ex-husband. I gave them a breeding box and fed them well. The first clutch had four eggs and three of the four hatched, but one of the infants died. The remaining two were named Pokey and Wang. Wang lived about ten years and Pokey is still hanging in there for now. Cockatiels normally live 12-14 years so I expect to deal with his death in the immediate future. The second clutch a year later included four eggs but all of them cracked before birth, probably because of a calcium deficiency based on Mama's age. Mamma died about 1995 and Pappa followed her in 1996. Pokey is the only remaining child from the pair.

I got Alex, a Blue & Gold Macaw, in 1996. He was a 6 month old adolescent when I stumbled across him at Hauser's House of Birds in College Park. Maureen of Hauser's saw me watching him and opened his cage and let me hold him. When he laid his head across my chest and nuzzled up to me I knew that he was mine. I brought him home the same day with an "acceptable" cage for a macaw. I have since bought him a cage that is larger than my couch. Not that he spends all his time in the cage. If I'm home, he's free to roam. I was born in1956 with a life expectancy of about 80 years. Alex was born in 1996 with a life expectancy of 80-100 years.

Bob (Timneh African Grey) became mine in 2001. I've frequently adopted unwanted/lost birds and had placed a wayward parakeet found in the neighborhood named Luke Skysquawker. His adopted parent let me know that a friend in the Federal Aviation Administration bred African Greys and had a new brood. I went to her house and picked a baby that only needed hand-feeding twice a day (5 a.m. and 5 p.m.).

As I left her house with the baby in an aquarium, her son Austin (about 9) asked me what I planned to name the bird. I explained that naming a bird was a complicated process that involved watching their personality, looking at the physical characteristics, and finding an appropriate name for their attributes. He looked at me and said: "You know, Bob's a good name for a bird." A few weeks later I realized that Bob was indeed a good name for a bird. Hence, I have an African Grey called Bob.

Bob should live well into 2060/2070 and Alex will live until about 2090/2100. What parent has to deal with the fact their child will out-live them by decades? Recent news reports show that Winston Churchill's parrot is still alive and still says very explicit things about Hitler that he learned from Winston. I'm very careful about what I say around the birds because they pick up words/phrases very quickly.

Alex Close Up 2.jpg	Alex Close Up.jpg	Alex loves showers.JPG
Alex On Bench.jpg	Alex On Porch 2.jpg	Alex On Porch 4.jpg
Alex playing.JPG	Alex waves.JPG	Bob in sink.jpg
Bob Sink Shower.jpg	Bob with toys.JPG	Carpet and birds dont mix.JPG
John and Alex.jpg	Me and Alex.jpg

TOP