The human perch
"above" is my hubby Jerry. He is more commonly known, in these parts, as
"The Bird Man" or "Poppi." From left to right is Sydney a grey cockatiel,
Smoki an African Grey Timneh, Charlie an Amazon Red Lored and last but
not least Fluffy a Goffin Cockatoo. Missing (only because they were not
here yet) is Woody a Lutino cockatiel and JozeyJo a Blue and Gold macaw.
Jerry's great love for birds
goes back into his childhood. Among the array of dogs was a little parakeet
named "Tweet". When not riding on someone's shoulder she had a place at
the dinner table. She loved to dazzle you with her bag of tricks that she
had learned from Jerry's Dad. One of the tricks she knew well was drinking
coffee from a spoon on Dad's cup. Looking back on it (knowing what we know
now) the caffeine could explain the early death of Tweet.
Jerry's attention spread
to the raising and caring of pigeons. He loved taking care of his feathered
friends so its not surprising that as an adult his love has turned to the
exotic feathered friends.
This serious love affair
began in August of 1987. After returning from shopping we found our
beautiful parakeet "Rainbow" on the bottom of his cage.
We're not sure what happened
because she was only a couple of years old and showed no signs of illness.
At that time I was not a bird person, but I cried to think of this tiny
creature not being here. Just hearing her sing lifted your spirits.
It was the guy's project
to care for Rainbow. Every night, without fail, they removed her from her
cage, cleaned the cage, changed the food/water and of course played with
her. She was a beautiful bird with a beautiful voice. Jacob delighted in
my fear of her. When they cleaned the cage he always picked her up to chase
me around the kitchen a few times, before I finally retreated to the upstairs
for my own safety.
A trip to the Pet Store was
on the list for Saturday's day out. Jerry and Jacob drooled over several
birds in the store as I watched from afar. They kept motioning for me to
come see the birdies. I finally decided it was time to forget my fear and
approach them. After all, would they embarrass me in front of the sales
clerk??? nahhhhh .....I was at least safe until we arrived home.
Their choice was
the most expensive cockatiel in the store. She was the store mascot and
at eighteen months old they did not want to sell her. That explained the
higher price. They thought if someone was willing to pay the higher price
they wanted her enough to give her a good home. Her name was Sydney and
she was totally tame.
Being totally tame impressed
me. Her wings, her nails, and her beak were clipped and trimmed. Now, this
was beginning to sound like my kind of bird. Actually she was very sweet
and I couldn't wait to get her home.
We spent a fortune before
we left the store but the clerk assured us we would not regret our purchase.
Jerry and Jacob were both excited with our new member of the family. Our
loss of Rainbow will always be with us. Sydney wasn't a replacement for
our loss only an extension of our love.
Jerry has also rescued several
pigeons, robins and blackbirds that were either brought to us from neighbors
or Jacob found while riding his bike. We were lucky all survived and went
back to their own flock. George, one of the pigeons, still comes back to
visit after 5 years of being rescued. George even brings his gal pal on
occasions for a bite of birdie goodies. George was our guest for several
months before he could be turned out on his own again. During that time
he became extremely tame and attached to his new home.
