A few years ago I watched David Attenborough’s ‘Life of Birds’. I instantly fell deeply in love with birds, even the simple little things that birds do; silly things like wiping their beak on perches I find absolutely adorable. I soon bought 2 little female canries, Itsy and Bitsy. I let them fly around the room but I never hand trained them. A year later I felt they were getting bored so I bought them a friend, Tango. He was a gorgeus orange canary and them became instant best friends. I watched them all day flying and tweeting, and I loved hearing Tango sing. Whatever I was doing I would put down immediately to hear his song that echoed through the house. I built them an aviary in my bedroom so that they culd have plenty of wing space, but the aviary seemed too empty so I got 2 zebra finches: Atta and Flick (like from ‘a bug’s life’). It was supposed to be a pair, but the store owner miossold them to my mum and I and we ended up with two males, so ‘Atta’ became ‘Atticus’ from To Kill a Mockingbird’s ‘Atticus Finch’ (get it?). Still, they are the best of mates and do everything together: eating together, preening eachother, sleeping in the same nest together at night. These little creatures bring me such joy, noisy as they are in the morning :) I desperately want some sort of parrot but as I am only 14 and a large parrot is a lifelong commitment I’m going to wait a few years. I would love to have a companion who is never angry at you, listens to you and loves you if you love them.

I have always loved birds my whole life. My first bird was a Budgie I had bought at K-Mart when I was 16ish; my first job. Of corse I applied for the pet dept. She was beautiful, yellow and green. But I can never have one of any pet; I always think they need a buddy. So soon after training her to step up and become trusting of me ,I decided to get her a friend. His name was..Buddy.. I had the both of them for many years, untill Sunny passed one day, that broke my heart ; and I believe his too. He became verry quiet and depresed. I tried to give him alot of attention, toys,& etc’s, hoping to take his mind off of it. But within a week or so he passed too..I believe it was of a broken heart. To this day I still think of them. That was 30 yrs. ago. Since then I’ve had dogs, cats, turtles (thanks to my son) in the tub! squirrels(long story), husband, kids and 4 grand kids; but never another bird. Untill we went to Todd Marcus; an exotic bird store to get my dad a love bird for some company. While their we saw Dexter (my grandson named her) A Ciaque. What a character she turned out to be. She’s part human! Goes on her back when we play, she knows it’s comming and throws herself down and over when I put my hand up a certian way, says her name..best she can..whistles, growles at people she dosent like. Anyway, so we had to go thru Knee replacement surgery for my husband. Dexter was left alone alot…So along came Jack. A buddy for Dex, she was becoming depressed being alone so long. They had their ups and downs, but art the best of buds noe. We also have a Sun Conure that was given to us by friends that had no time for him; with kids and all. Now we have 3 birds…and of corse “Sunny” needed a friend…he was like a 3rd wheele….Along came “Squeekrs”..I adopted her…and also found out why she got her name too!!! They all get along great, They learn from each other, tricks, good & bad habits, trusts that they did not have before. BUT I HAVE A BIG QUESTION TO ANYONE OUT THEIR. DEXTER HAD 3 EGGS! Her 1st was Memorial day, 2nd egg 3 days later and 3rd was 3 days following. I looked up, read, askedcalled people; but have yet to get answers on raising the babys once borne. I’ve been told to take them away from her 3 to4 weeks after thet hatch (she is going to hear them..thats not good !!) or they will become mean. Why cant I just leave them in their and let Dexter out and feed, play, hold, them? We have a huge avery out back (5′×10′..very large and they love to go out their) By the end of this month 6/11 they will be hatched. I did the candle thing and they are alive……..WHAT DO I DO FROM THEIR? please e-mail me with any advice @ maurecrock@msn.com

Although I had a little budgie, named Buddy, when I was a teenager, he was so shy that I just thought that’s the way pet birds were. I have always been a Cat Person from my youngest memory and was that way until 2 years ago. THEN IT HAPPENED! I was asked to adopt a yourng Senegal, called, Pina, by a friend. I had come to know Pina through visits with my friend so felt honoured when I was asked to take her on. WELL!!! I Fell Head Over Heels in Love with this small, green & yellow, screaming, bossy tyrant. I didn’t think it was possible to love a bird sooo much! Pina was about 6 months old when she came to live with me and is now just about 3 years old. Since then life has been a barrel of fun. She is a constant source of amazement, and laughter. Suffice to say she is Queen of the household and all other subjects ( read 3 cats, 1 dog) respect her mightily! In fact I now have two more parrots……Sweetpea, a little green Pacific Parottlet and Peaches, a falmingo coloured Bourkes parakeet with the biggest soft Cocker Spaniel eyes. Pina adopted these birds as her little sisters and in the morning I MUST open her cage before I attend to the other birds. Pina then supervises the uncovering of the other two cages very closely and the replenishing of fresh water. At night the routine is the reverse; Pina must supervise the putting to bed of the little ones and then will settle in her own cage happily. This is a serious job, you know! LOL I have had so much fun since Pina came into my life that I often marvel that there are people out there in the worldl who have no idea what a parrot or any bird can bring to their life. Yes, she has her crabby days, but they are few and far between since Peaches and Sweetpea arrived. Peaches has picked up on Pina’s speech pattern and has it down pat. I often have to actually look at the birds to figure out who is talking. And now I find Peaches sitting at the end of her cage next to Sweetpea’s teaching her to talk. At first I was a bit overwhelmed at the time committment I have made in my life in terms of 25 to 50 years, but if I have to live to 110 then so be it. I know they will be years full of fun and laughter with little Miss Pina. I will happily do whatever it takes to keep Pina, Peaches and Pip (aka Sweetpea) healthy and happy. Along with my cats they bring JOY to my life.

About 2 years ago, my dad’s friend gave me his pet cockatiel to take care of over vacation. She was very friendly and loved to be petted. When he came back from his trip, he saw that the bird was i good hands, so he gave her to us. We named her Penny and she’s still a great part of my life. :)

In the month of October 2002, a friend of mine asked me to go to an aviary with her to see a baby Greenwing Macaw. I looked at her and asked what an aviary was. And what was a Greenwing? She laughingly replied in a way she knew I could understand: Horse-Barn, Dog-Kennel, Bird-Aviary. (That was to become the first of many lessons about the bird world.) And as for the next question, a Greenwing Macaw is one of the largest of the Macaw species, which when fully feathered it is almost all red, with (you guessed it) “green wings”. She explained that she had been trying to find a bird for her adult daughter that had just lost her bird of 20 some years to a very sudden death and needed to fill that hole in her heart. I, being a dog and horse person, could not really figure out what the big deal was. I was in for the surprise of my life. Well my husband, Ralph, (who by the way is an over the road truck driver and just happed to be home at the time), my friend and I went to the location with the birds and when she showed me her little darling, I had to say to myself “She has got to be kidding!” This bird was so newly hatched that it did not have feathers yet, but it did have what looked like colored toothpicks sticking out all over its body. I was later to learn that this is normal, that the feathers were growing in through shafts which later would be preened off and beautiful feathers would emerge. As my friend sat and held her new baby “Maxine,” I looked around at the other birds, toys and all the things I would soon discover to be of importance in the proper care and needs of a bird. The owner of the aviary came up and asked if I had ever held an exotic bird before. I replied that I had not, then found a beautiful baby Harlequin Macaw in my arms. Having no knowledge of these wonderful creatures, I asked what I was supposed to do with it. They very patiently explained that the birds like to have their heads stroked, the feathers gently ruffled and in general just be loved. I thought “okay” and proceeded to carry her around for the next 2 1/2 hours. When they came to take her back, I had placed her on my right arm and as they approached, she screamed, lunged and acted as if she were frightened beyond belief. Without a blink of an eye, I put my left arm around her as any mother would. Without even knowing it, I whispered to her, “It’s alright Grace”. Everyone in the place just stopped and looked over at us. The owners then asked, “Why did you call her Grace?” I looked up and without hesitation replied, "Because she is Amazing!” I am sure can see where this is going, but ah, there is more to tell. My dear friend and my husband decided to put a sales contract on “Grace” for me by putting her on my friend’s credit card! Nice thought, but you see, things were so tough for us financially at that time that I was staying with my friend as we were renting out our house, just to make the payments on our mortgage. I just could not believe what they had just done! I was none too happy with either of them and as much as I yearned to call Grace mine, I knew it just could not happen at this time in our lives. When confronted with my mixed emotions, both of them understood, but asked me to not make a total decision until Monday. If I still felt the same, the contract could then be voided out under the “Buyers Remorse” clause. Since it was just about closing time and it was Saturday evening, that gave me all day Sunday to pray and cry about what to do. With a heavy heart I told them that as much as their gesture meant to me, it did not make sense to add to our financial difficulty. On Monday after work, all three of us headed into the shop where “Grace” was. We told them what we felt our decision must be and they kindly understood. I asked if I could hold Grace and try to explain why as much as I would have liked to be her “Mommy”, I just couldn’t. I found such tears in my eyes and my heart hurt so bad, that when the room suddenly started to spin around me, I guess I just though it was from that. I called my husband over to me and told him to take Grace and I ran out of the building. When I got outside, the sidewalk suddenly looked as if it were rolling up and down like the waves of the ocean. Ralph took Grace back inside and called my friend, who happened to be a registered nurse, to come quickly. I vaguely remember trying to talk to her, but knew I wasn’t making sense as I fell into a place that mattered not. It turned out that I was having a gall bladder attack and had been having them for several years, but just didn’t know it by the symptoms. After three surgeries and 5 days, I woke up and saw my poor husband sitting in a chair in the room and I asked him, “What day is it?” Surprised, Ralph replied that is was Friday. With my usual, “Get to the Point Attitude,” I said, very clearly, “Well , I guess we have a new baby in the family now.” Totally confused and not knowing what I meant, Ralph replied to me that he did not understand. I told him that our three days “Buyer Remorse” clause was definitely past it’s time, so it looked like we were the proud new parents of “Amazing Grace.” I realized then and there that I when I prayed to my Heavenly Father, sometimes the answer might come in the most unexpected way. I did laughingly ask Him that the next time I asked him a question, could He possibly just make it a more simple YES or NO? Grace came home to us not long after that. The first night home with our new baby girl, holding her in my arms, I started to shake and cry. When Ralph asked me what was wrong, I told him that I did not think anything was wrong, but that I just knew looking down at our baby girl, that our lives were taking a totally new road and that we had better get ready. Little did either of us know just how prophetic that statement was. In falling deeper in love with our little Grace, we began to understand just how special these wonderful creatures of our Heavenly Father’s were. They not only love unconditionally, but are like having a child that will need nurturing and guidance for all it’s life. By studying and through research we became more aware of the world of the flighted ones and we began to see that not all people who had chosen to take in one of these awesome birds saw or cared as they should. Within a short time, the first of many birds to come arrived at our home needing understanding, love, care and a safe haven. Thus the beginning of the “Amazing Grace Bird Rescue”! Thank you for reading our story and if you would like to know more about these wonderful creatures and how you may help, please check our other links and meet more of us, some feathered and some not.

I have honestly never been a huge fan of captive birds, except for the more exotic beauties, because of the noise they make. I loved watching them in the wild though. But one day in a pet store I saw a green cheek conure, and watched it as it climbed all over the cage, upside down and all around, looking at me all the while as though he was entertaining me on purpose. (I called him monkey-bird) I adored him, and asked how much he cost. Eeeek! Out went my dream of owning a green cheek conure. Well, years later in the pet store I frequented, I would stop over at the bird display and watch as Rascal, another green cheek, climbed all over his cage. Then one day there was a 75% off sale on the birds. I calculated it, and thought, I could do that. But I didn’t want to pick him up right away. I don’t take pet ownership lightly – animals become part of my family. So I went home and researched how to care for the bird, and thought long and hard about the commitment. A week or so later, I went back to the store, and was nearly in tears when I saw the signs were down, and the old price was back. I kicked myself for not coming right back and taking advantage of it. I had come to really adore Rascal. A couple more weeks went by, and I returned. The birds were still there, and I decided to go ahead and ask somebody why they were no longer on sale. The cashier found the caretaker, who told me that they were going to try and move the birds to another store instead. But after I told her my story, she said that if I promised to take good care of him, she would sell him to me at the reduced price. I took home my pretty bird and all his stuff that day, and I was ever so grateful that my dream of owning him came true. Yes, sometimes the noise he makes is shrill and annoying, but most the time he makes soft noises and loves it when I mimick him. He also loves to be scratched all around his neck, to chew on my hair, and climb on top of my shoulder and head. :-) And no, he doesn’t poo or pee on me, because I read a trick to prevent that.

I just love this story about Willy the owl. Who is the little boy in the story? Is that you Chet? I will write my story soon, when I have more time.

I have a beautiful cockateil named Binky. Binky came to our family when I was looking for a larger bird than the two budgies that I had given to my granddaughter who was living with me at the time. i was in the pet store one day and a lady at the pet store knew that i was lookig for a cockiteil and she told me a bout a lady who was in the pet store at that time and was looking for someone to take one of her cockateils off of her hands. Well, I went to her house and saw binky for the first time. He was so cute and I decided that I would take Binky home. Now he is my bird he squaks if I don’t get him out of the cage whenever he wants out.. He is a delightful bird, although, he does bite me when I don’t rub his head. I wouldn’t take all of the money in the world for Binky. He has stolen our hearts and especially mine.

I love animals, all animals. Huts for Mutts Dog Rescue is located on my property (we currently house in large lots on 7 acres) close to 50 dogs. One summer a few years ago I was driving through town and saw a yellow cockatiel on the ground of a bank parking lot. I swung in, sure the bird would fly away. He (which later turned to be a she) allowed me to easily pick him up and put him in a (large) biscuit box I had in the car (emptied first). That “free” bird immediately cost me over $100. as I bought a cockatiel cage, food, treats and toys. Never happy with the size of the cockatiel cage I soon bought a huge cage (another few hundred dollars) and soon took in 3 rescue cockatiels kept in too small a cage. I love them all though only Micky my yellow cockatiel will hop on my finger and be sweet. The other three were never really socialized, but they are happy and so are “we.”

I have had birds in my life since birth as Mom loved them too. My first of my very own was at 17 and was an Englush Budgie named Otis who talked a blue streak. I have had other parrots over the last 30 yrs and now have a B&G, CAG, BF Zon and SI Eckie all of whom make lif delightful and spicy every day

I have had birds in my life since birth as Mom loved them too. My first of my very own was at 17 and was an Englush Budgie named Otis who talked a blue streak. I have had other parrots over the last 30 yrs and now have a B&G, CAG, BF Zon and SI Eckie all of whom make lif delightful and spicy every day

I used to own a very beautiful African gray. He’s name is Niko, I had him for more than 3 years until Christmas Eve when someone decided to take it from my garage. I am devistated until now especially when I see a African gray, I missed my Niko so much. Niko wasn’t always in the garage, he used to be inside the house and every afternoon he talks and make sounds that he hear around him. A month after my son AJ was born my wife wanted Niko to stay at the grarage since our apartment is very small. Everyday I spend 2-3 hours with Niko at the garage, talking and teaching him new tricks. I love Niko very much until someone take him away from me, I looked around animal refugee to see if I can adopt an African gray but no luck. Niko was one of the best thing ever happen to me.

First of all, I really enjoyed reading all the stories about the birds! There must be a book here! I have always loved birds. I give my parents credit for this, as we always had bird feeders around the house and bird identification books to look up new birds to see what they were. We kept records each season as to what birds were visiting us. We had a feeder at our kitchen sink window, and learned to recognize certain birds because of their behaviors or particular markings/color patterns. The bird that stands out in my memory is Henry, a purple finch. He had one leg, which had a band on it. We gradually were able to read the numbers and called to find out his history, and were able to provide new information on him. He came to us for several years, and would announce his arrival, or his desire for more seeds, by sitting on the outside thermometer and tapping on the window. It usually happened early morning, before we were awake. (I credit him with teaching me the pleasure of getting up early and watching the earth wake up!) We would tap back to him and he would act all excited, going to the feeder and waiting patiently till we put more seed in it. Friends would laugh at us about our bird fever, but they too enjoyed Henry! We periodically rescued birds that we found injured or sick, and had some success in recuperating them, or turning them over to the local Audabond group. In my adulthood I carried on the tradition set by my parents and taught my daughter about birds, and all wildlife. Her friends also thought we were slightly nuts! One day while a friend was visiting my daughter came running to me yelling in excitement..“Mum! I think there is a Cerrulean Warbler in the lilac tree!” She read the bird books too, as indeed there was one, which was unusual in our DownEast location, I tried to rescue an injured seagull one day, taking him to the U. Of Me. at Machias ornithologist, who was also a wild animal rehaber. I felt sad that the bird did’nt survive (I was told they do not do well in captivity), but appreciated the experience of wrapping him up in my jacket to stabilize his wing, and driving with him down the road, having people do double takes as they saw this seagull looking out the window at him! I was amazed at how absolutely beautiful he was up close! Other encounters were more successful – a nest full of chimney swifts that fell into my husbands office were taken to a bird sanctuary and later released. My father, who had no patience with children, had incredible patience with wildlife, established relationships with several birds at our camp in the woods. Chickadees would come to him and search his shirt pockets or take sunflower seeds held between his teeth. He built a porch onto our camp, but during the construction he stopped building one spring because a cardinal had built a nest in the corner of the rafters, and he didn’t want to disturb her and her eggs! I have raised chickens for about 30 years and they never cease to excite me! I still feed the birds and enjoy watching their antics. I had a crow couple build a nest in a pine tree in back of my garage, I found that from the upstairs window I could look down into the nest. Several years this same couple would raise one or two babies. One year Jr. didn’t want to leave the nest regardless of how much the parents tried to coax him out. They flew off to seek food- he stayed in the nest and cried all day long till they returned. One day they had had enough – I saw one parent fly up, with feet forward, literally boot Jr. out of the nest! He tumbled/flapped to the ground, making the worst noises! He then fluttered around a bit, tried out his wings and flew about five feet up into a small apple tree, where he remained for about a week. He cawed the most pitiful sounds, his parents still left and searched for food, returning to feed their child who was almost as big as he was! I mowed all around the tree, talking to him and he never flew away. Again I watched one day as a parent reared up and knocked him off his branch. This time they kept after him until he flew after them! I was glad to see him go…the neighborhood was quiet again! I have two cockatiels now, adopted from the Westbrook Animal Refuge League. They are much loved, and even my husband who reluctantly agreed to them, appreciates them. They sit on his chest, near his beard and go to sleep. I can’t imagine life with out them (or my two rescued Border Collies, Max and Jessie, or our rescued cat, Annie.) Murray, our male cockatiel is right now sitting on top of the bathroom vanity, whilstling his version of an Eros Ramazotti song playing on Pandora! Norah Jones excites him, too! My favorite experience with a wild bird happend several years ago. My husband was driving our 4 wheeler up and down our long driveway hauling gravel to fill in ruts left from spring mud. He came inside and said a ruffed grouse has been flying with him! I said “sure”, he challenged me to come outside, and sure enough, as soon as he started the 4 wheeler up, the bird came out of the woods and flew beside him. Then as my husband was repairing something underneath our camper trailer, the bird joined him, hopping on tools, talking to him. Later as he mowed the lawn, the bird either flew around or hopped along the ground, once even hopping onto the lawn mower going for a ride! Gradually Byrrd, as I named him would share fruit with me, he would sit on the back of our garden bench, chat with me, even sit on my lap when invited. When he was done with visiting his topnot would stand up straight, he would peck at my ears or head, and then fly away. Each time we would come home, about halfway down the drive, he would fly beside the car, wait for us to get out, and visit with us. He waited on our deck, sometimes eating the bird seed in the feeder. He grew very comfortable visiting even with our dogs…they knew they didn’t eat our friends! He loved to groom us, inspect our clothing, and chatter with us. When doing chores, he was a frequent companion. If I didn’t see him, I’d call, and hear him flutter/fly through the trees and bushes till he arrived, all out of breath, but acting so happy to see us! Gradually all our friends and family, and other visitors had Byrrd stories to tell. My son in law plowed our drive one winter when my husband couldn’t, using a commercial plow that had both a plow and drag, front and back. Rick reported looking in the rear view mirror and doing a double take as Byrrd, perched on the back drag, holding on for life, dodging snow as he rode along! An UPS delivery driver arrived at my house, called me to tell me he didn’t dare get out of the truck as there was some crazy bird that had followed him down the driveway, and was walking/flying aroung his truck.! I reassured him it was just Byrrd, and he wanted just to visit. I demonstrated what I meant, and gave the driver some blueberries to feed Byrrd! I think the driver had some explaining to do why this particular stop took him so long! My brother was the last to meet Byrrd…his comment as he fed strawberries to him was “Pinch me, just pinch me! this is the most awesome experience!” I have great photos of Bryyd, and miss his presence. I can still see him, after visiting with us, heading back to his home, looking back over his shoulder to us, talking to us the whole time. We had to encourage him to go home sometimes as it was past his bedtime, and safety time as the night birds would be coming out soon. He always seemed relucntant to say goodbye. He flew beside us, or hitched a ride on the cargo rack! He would fly away as soon as we reached the main road. Unfortunately, a hawk attacked him as he sat in a nearby tree. We were all very sad to lose him. Our neighbors also missed him as he had graced their home as well, but were sort of afraid of him. (?) I researched this bird/human relationship and found that there are numerous stories of people having friendships with Ruffed gouse…seems that they are attracted initially to the rythmic sounds that our machines make, maybe similar to the drumming sound they make with their wings during mating. I tried to be respectful of his boundaries, and careful to let him set the limits. I was curious to find where he called home, and figured out that he had a place under a tall spruce that had a thicket of bramblebushes underneath. Lots of winterberry bushes, Partridge berry vines, Alder bushes grew wild nearby. We decided he needed the berries from the several high bush blueberry bushes we had planted more than we did! Over the last few years we have seen other grouse, and wondered if they were his offspring. We have not had the same experience with them as we did Byrrd, but feel blessed just to have them around. We have mixed feelings about the hawks that have moved in to our neighborhood as it puts all birds at risk. While I understand about the cycle of life, I still feel protective of the smaller birds…and our poultry. We lost several guineas, our deer tic clean-up crew, to hawks. I have decided not to let my birds free range because of the hawks, even though I’ve been told just to shoot the hawks. Can’t do it…they are just doing what hawks do… Thanks for the opportunity to share my bird stories!

I have always loved birds, always the 1st to volunteer to have the school budgies in the holidays, didn’t really think about getting one of my own until last year when a friend was selling one due to ill health, an African Grey… as soon as I met her I knew I had to have her…. She wasn’t handled very well, they only ever got her out of her cage on a stick, but within days of her coming to me she was happily sitting on my shoulder, and stepping up on to my hand, (I put this down to the fact that I was confident around, and with her, unlike her previous owners,) she is so loving, I can cradle her in my arms like a baby, rub her neck and she will fall asleep, she also is very vocal, will tell my children its time to get in the bath, or that its bedtime, she will even tell them off for fighting!! she tells me she loves me, and says goodbye when I leave the house, she is such a joy to have, really couldn’t be without her!!

Just over 2 years ago in October a red eye pigeon was kicked out of the nest where I used to work. One of the assistants put him back in the nest but later in the morning our bookkeeper came running inside saying “its dying and I can’t bear to touch it”. After running outside I saw this poor little thing lying on its back with just one wing fluttering slightly. How long it had been lying on the hot black slasto was anyone’s guess but it looked close to death. I rushed it inside and put it under the cold tap to get its temperature down and then put it in an envelope box to recover – hoping that I wouldn’t find a dead bird later on. He seemed to recover and I then took him home where I force fed him for the first 3 days. After that when he just saw my hands his beak opened. When my mom tried to feed him he picked her that her hands were blue. About a year later as I was transferring him from the outside cage for the night, Tui took fright for something that had falled and flew onto an overhead pole in my neighbour’s garden. Usually when I spoke to him he would coo at me and then fly and sit on my head – however just as he was about to fly back to me a wild pigeon flew past and he flew off. I was terribly concerned as he had no fear of my dog or my cats. Three days later I arrived home from work to find him sitting on the front lawn next to my old cat. As soon as I opened the house he came inside, went straight to him cage and started to eat. Since then Tui obviously decided that it was better to have meals laid on rather than trying to find your own. A few months later he again went outside but sat on the wall for the day watching me as I was gardening. Another pigeon joined him and he later flew onto my balcony and tried a few times to get the pigeon to follow him inside – however the other pigeon was obviously wild and not trusting any of this. Tui has become a beautiful boy who flies to greet me when I get home from work. He loves fighting with my hands or flicking me and if I don’t take notice of him he flies up behind me and hangs on to my hair. If he is sitting in a room where I don’t want him to be I just point and say fly – and he does. At night time I take out a fishing net and he straight away flies and gets into his cage. He has become the most incredible little character and my life is all the richer for owning him.

Oh, I couldn’t have been more than 9 years old at the time. We were living in an apartment complex with a park with a playground across the street. It was late spring or early summer and I was playing alone on the playground. A teenager and her little sister showed up and the teenager had two cockatiels wearing harnesses and leashes on her shoulder. She let me play with them and hold them and then she left with her little sister. It must have left a mark on me that I never noticed. Fast forward some seven years later. I was 15, due to turn 16. A small, family-owned exotic pet store called Tropical Encounters. There were tropical fish, snakes, turtles, parrots, arachnids, frogs, a huge leopard tortoise named Cruiser that roamed free and liked to eat Froot Loops from my hand and stepped on my foot once, leaving a nice dark bruise. I made friends with all the birds there. A lesser sulphur-crested cockatoo named Chewy. A military macaw named Norman who honestly hated my guts but loved me when I fed him apples. Whenever he saw me, his cheeks would turn red and he would posture if I got too close, but he would always say, “Apple? Apple?” He wanted nothing to do with me unless I had an apple. There was an umbrella cockatoo hen that would put her beak on my nose and open her wings so I could rub her sides, but for the life of me I can’t remember her name. It might have been Lilac. There was a scarlet macaw named Ruby who hated everybody but the shop owner, Carline. Ruby let me hold her once, though. But only once. There was a Moluccan cockatoo named Charlie that someone had purchased and was waiting until she paid off his bill before bringing him home. She let me hold Charlie one day while she peeled some oranges for him to eat. I wandered around until she called me and she was amazed to find me rubbing his beak. She said, “He never lets anyone but me do that! You must have really good energy.” and I said, “Well, I’m not afraid of getting bitten.” I wish I could have taken Charlie home with me. I had a connection with him. But he already had a mom and MY mom wouldn’t let me have a big bird like a cockatoo. Maybe four or five months before my 16th birthday, I was at Tropical Encounters socializing with the birds. There were some big display cases/play pens with broods of baby cockatiels and baby lovebirds near the front of the store. I would squat in front of the baby cockatiels and giggle when they would bob their heads and cry for food because it was cute. One baby cockatiel caught my attention. Its feathers on its left side were all messed up and I asked why. Carline’s husband said that it had taken a little flight and landed in a glue trap. I put my hand up to pat the glass with my fingers and it came waddling over, all curious. I asked to hold him and they let me get him out. It was love at first sight, and when my parents came to drag me from the store, I begged them for this little cockatiel. I had been talking non-stop about getting a bird for along time before then, and it didn’t take much I-promise-to promises before they agreed. Mom and Dad paid the deposit and I had to wait until he was weaned before I could bring him home. My birthday is in August, and that following September, a week or two after I’d undergone surgery to remove impacted wisdom teeth, I was allowed to bring my little cockatiel home. I had everything set up for him; a spacious cage with lots of toys and perches and fresh seed and water. I earned his trust by having him eat his seed out of my hand every day, and pretty soon he was perching on my hands and letting me pet him and preen him. Two years later, I met my first Pionus at Tropical Encounters. I fell in love with her and talked to my parents about getting another bird. Couple months later, we were talking to a small-time bird, horse and dog breeder. She bred African parrots and Maximillian and blue-headed Pionus. We put down a deposit for a blue-head. When the clutch hatched and the brood was moved to the handfeeder, I was there almost every day so I could help with the babies. Then I was allowed to pick a baby. So I sat down at the handfeeder’s kitchen table with the three broodlings in a wide dish. Two of them scrabbled out and wandered around the table. One scrabbled out and over to me. I chose him because he chose me, just like my cockatiel chose me. When he was weaned, I brought him home. Just barely a year later, he got outside and I never saw him again. Some two weeks later, I was contacted by a woman with a conure. I had had my heart set on not getting another bird after losing my Pionus, but I went to meet this conure anyway. He came to me immediately and I was in love. The following weekend, he came home with me and we’ve been together ever since. Without my birds to live for, I would have committed suicide a long time ago. I was in a bad place in my life and they helped me crawl out of the dark hole it had become. I live for birds, ALL birds, in more ways than one. Birds have given meaning to my life and I hardly remember what it was like without them.

I used to love feeding the white fantail pigeons at the zoo, this started my love for birds. Over the years I have mainly had cockatiels which are awesome and have their own little personalities. At the moment we have 2x cockatiels, 1x green cheeked conure, 1x amazon conure a ring neck and our big child FABIO a solomon eclectus. We don’t have children so he is our little child, he does so much with us and is really a part of our family. All our birds have different unique personalities and we love them so much!

One of my co- workers was transfered and had ask if I wanted her two cockatails.at that time i did not know what kind of birds they where. Well i took them the minute i saw them i fell in love with them. Now they have the run of the house, I would not know what i do if they where not around. My lucy and ricky bring my husband and i alot of entertainment. when we are out in the yard, they want to be out too. the best part about them is that when we talk to them they will answer back. they beahve like two kids,and they sure trained us good. We alwys had dogs so birds was something different,now i would not trade them. My family thinks we spoiled them.

When my partner became disabled and could no longer work she had to spend long hours alone which was difficult and depressing for her. She had owned a cockatiel at one time and often remarked how she missed having a bird. I decided to buy her a parrot for companionship since my job required long hours and I could not keep her company. I did a lot of research on different parrots and decided on an Afican Grey. One of my customers was a breeder and I purchased a chick fom him. Having never owned a bird I had no real idea what to expect. We visited our bird several times at the breeders and at the age of three monts brought him home. I was so totally blown away by the intelligence and sheer presence of our baby. Being a Grey he was all attitude and totally full of himself with only that attitude that an African Grey can exhibit. Within 3 days he had figured out how to escape from his cage and it was all uphill from there. I am so totally blown away buy the intelligence of these amazing creatures. We now share our lives with a citron crested cockatoo which we rescued from an abusive home, a blue fronted amazon and an African Grey who needed a new home and are about to take in another Grey who needs a new home. Sadly our “Smarty” passed away last year from a liver tumor, however I cherish every day of the 6 years that he shared our lives.

My mother bought me a parakeet at age 7. Since then I have always had birds, parakeets, cockatiels, and sun conures. I have helped raised many baby parakeets by making a mixure of cornmeal, ground up ritz crackers, and bird vitamins. lol lol lol . I find that birds have different personalities, but they all learn to trust you and love you unconditionally. They can be very affectionate, and is always ready to play with you. It’s a beautiful sound to hear parakeets churp in the morning. My sun conure (Pookie) wakes up as soon as he hear me walking about; he call me “mommy” until I take the cover off of his cage. He doesn’t say anything when he hear my husband walking about. He ‘tells’ me when he want to go to bed by squaking very loudly until I put him to bed. I ask him do he love me; he bobs his head up and down. He loves to nessle under my tee-shirts on the lift side of my upper arm almost under my neck. My first sun conure became sick and I took him to the hospital. The doctor gave him a shot in his thigh and the bird flinched and closed his eyes like we as humans. I was surprised to see the birds reaction to the shot. Immediately the bird flew to me and down my shirt he went. Birds depend on us just like children depend on parents. They are just like children. We protect them and will not allow anyone to hurt them. I love birds and many other animals. I believe all animals should be protected from those that want to mistreat or hurt them. My favorite just happen to be birds. Conures are so loving!

My Boyfriend bought me a sun conure for my birthday one year. I named him Pepe. He had a big personality. Ate breakfast with me every morning and loved to be out of his cage. I would take him on roadtrips with me almost every other weekend with my 2 dogs. He was loud to get what he wanted and he did. He knew when I was mad at him and would fluff up and open and close his beak like he was saying he was sorry. I couldnt get mad at Pepe. He would get so happy every time he saw me. My boyfriend ended up moving in with me. He had an adopted Jenday conure and I ended up buying another sun conure for the Jenday since I loved Pepe so much. Well one night I was eating dinner and Tiki, the Jenday started throwing up, I rushed him to the emergency room where he died. I got home that night upset and realized Pepe was sick also. I took him out and layed him on a towel and stayed with him where he later died. The vet did autopsy’s and said they were healthy but doesnt know what killed them. I still had my other sun conure that I named Nina but I missed Pepe, that was my baby. I still miss him. I ended up adopting another Red Head Conure. Nina has a strong personality. Both of my birds have big personalities. Thats why I cant get enough of them. I will always love birds.

I was in school and like all the girls,and being a male i would always chat them up, my friends would say “Those BIRDS will never fancy you!…”, and they were right!. so i got a cockatoo and she loves me to bits…. every mornig i get up she saids “HELLOoooo” in stead of saying “oow i must of been drunk last night!…” and running out the door.

I am a Brit, born and raised, and so, I am an animal lover, period. But, when I was young, bird watchers were considered a strange breed, and I kept my distance from such groups. In my mature years, here in Canada, I was startled to find that I was totally committed to the preservation of wild birds, which included noting their habits and presence in our area….I had become one of THEM! You ask why I love birds….the first thing that comes to mind is their intelligence. I have befriended many wild ones for many reasons, and their obvious smart decisions belie the oft used phrase “bird brain”. I’ve since been gifted a parrot who, apart from being beautiful, is distinguished by his amazing ability to reason. He even seems to understand our jokes, and “laughs” before we do! This dear little companion is a delight to us, and he seems to have adjusted to our every daily routine, whether it involves him, or not. His amazing perception extended lately to a sad event in our home, where we had to euthanize our 20 year old cat. Our sweet little bird actually said “bye” as our beloved cat left this world. Now, that’s not just a bird, that’s a friend! Deana

9 yrs. ago my husband passed away. Each morning, upon rising, my African Grey Congo, ‘Simon,’ would imitate my husband’s ‘smoker’s cough’ and a phrase he said often, ‘Whatever you want, Karla, whatever you want.’ Losing a husband was difficult enough but then to hear Simon imitate his voice and his exact coughing sounds over and over were especially painful. I’d read in ‘Bird Talk’ magazine that a woman had to put her dog down but her parrot continued to call ‘Rover’s name.’ She told the parrot, ‘Rover won’t be coming home anymore so you need to stop calling his name.’ The parrot immediately stopped calling for ‘Rover.’ So, I thought, I’ll try that approach. I went over to his cage, told him that Darryl wouldn’t be home anymore and that it really upset me to hear him imitate him. Tearfully, I asked him to stop the phrases and coughing sounds. That’s all it took! Within 3 days he stopped!! I haven’t heard a ‘smoker’s cough’ or my husband’s phrases since!!! You can verify my story in the ‘Cleveland Plain Dealer,’ Nov. 23, 2002; front page “The Aftermath of Suicide.”

well as long as i can remember ,ive always love birds especially colorful ones,i was born in the caribbean island of haiti and the town i lived had really prety birds.i would watch them build nest and have chicks.i came to the usa at 6 years old but i never forgot the prety birds ive seen there.i hated when my grandma would kill the chikens for food.as a teen i worked in petland discount store,just because i wanted to be around birds.i think i just love birds.my first pet bird was a quaker,then i bought 2 cockatiels and they had a baby,then was my sun conure apollo then my jenday conure luna,oh and romeo and juliet my 2 parakeets.ive always wanted a african grey but they are so expensive.anyways thats my story,as long as i can remeber i always loved looking at them and seeing how to behave towards one another and towards humans.they are so smart and if raised as chicks will have a bond with you for ever.