Next
to the mother's nest, a good breeder is the birdie's best friend.
They deserve a tremendous respect for the time, love and nurturing they
give their babies.
Smoki was nine
months old when I ran across the breeder's card in my handbag. Charlie
was in need of perches. Smoki I'm sure would love some more
new toys and Sydney loved the treats. So why not plan a Saturday
to make the drive to the breeders.
I called for
directions and store hours. The breeder was happy to hear our birdies
were doing so well. We made plans to drive to Nashville the following
Saturday.
The trip would
take most of the day, it was a 3 hour drive. We prepared the birdies
lunches, put them in their cages, turned on the stereo, then told them
Lori (our daughter) would be in later to remove their fruit and veggie
dishes. I also told them we would be back before bedtime.
I don't know if they totally understood, but it did seem to help their
peace of mind.
The breeder's
business was just north of Nashville. When we arrived we were
unable to locate her shop. We finally stopped at a phone booth (after
my persistence *grin*) to call for directions. She told me
it was feeding time which explained all the noise in the background as
she proceeded to tell me the exact location..
When we finally
reached the shop we were surprised to see all the toys she had to offer.
But we were even more surprised to see all the babies she was raising.
When she was at the bird show she only brought four African Greys.
When we looked
in the window we saw a small room with baby Blue and Gold Macaws resting
in large boxes. On the other side of the room was Military Macaws.
They were all so cute and yes so loud.
Jerry carefully
opened the door as a large bell, over the door, announced our arrival.
The far wall was covered with toys, perches, bells and everything you could
think of for a bird. Then out of nowhere something flew to
Jerry's shoulder. I never saw one in real life only pictures,
but it was the prettiest little thing. I will never forget those
big eyes surrounded by all those pure white feathers.
Honestly, we
were not planning to purchase another baby that day at the shop.
Jerry reached up to retrieve the beautiful bird from his shoulders, but
instead of climbing onto his hand, she put her head down to be petted.
This should have been our clue to grab all that belonged to us and flee
immediately. The last place "bird people" need to be is in a breeders
shop...no matter how many toys they sell.
This beautiful
little creature was a Goffin Cockatoo. She was pure white with small
patches of peach in her facial area and pale yellow on the underside of
her tail feathers. When Jerry was finally able to untangle the baby's
flexible limp body from the back of his shirt he put her on a perch in
the toy area.
There was another
Goffin Cockatoo perched high on a tree branch not far from where
we stood. The breeder told us it was the brother of the one Jerry
was holding. She said she couldn't be sure but from experience she
thought that one to be a male Goffin.
I tried not to
act interested. I was attempting to think of the toys for Smoki and
Charlie. She asked if we would like to take a peek at her breeders!
"Get your belongings and flee!" the little voice inside my head told
me.
The breeders
were not only beautiful but extremely sweet. We explained that we
were not in the market to add any new family members, only toys.
She said she totally understood our situation as she lead us to the macaw
room.
They were all
very sweet but just a little loud, to say the least. You could not
help but love them. They reminded me of a large dog in the bird world.
I love large dogs and so I guess if I had the money and the area a beautiful
Blue and Gold Macaw would be my choice.
When we returned
back to the toy room, Jerry had a visitor fly directly to his shoulder
once again. He stood there with this huge grin across his face as
he asked "Can I take her home"? I reminded him of why we came to
the breeder. I suggested he not get on the ego wagon,
the Goffin no doubt flew to all new visitors. The breeder was quick
to say she didn't, but I figured that was the sales pitch coming.
That was until
I saw other people arrive without this beautiful bird giving them any notice
at all. About this time Jacob was getting hungry. It was lunchtime.
I thought we could all use a break to think about our decision before jumping
into something we might regret later.
After a quick
lunch and no real decisions being made we returned to the shop. We
decided to let fate guide us. The bell rang announcing our return
and once again a visitor to Jerry's shoulder. The decision
was made for us. We were in a bird owners daze, searching out all
the tools that our new baby would require. A new cage, toys, perches...and
more toys. Three hours later, with empty checkbook in hand, and our
precious little baby in its cage, we left for our journey home.
Home?? Had that
thought crossed our minds in the midst of lusting? Where would our
newest go? What room was left for quarantine? All the important questions
went out the window when we spotted the fluffy bundle of white feathers.
By the way, after being on the road for almost 2 hours we decided on a
perfect name, one we used the entire trip to describe her....Fluffy.
This is how we
came to adding Fluffy our Goffin Cockatoo to our feathered family.
