My friend Christina Giordano dabbles in producing videos. When I say “dabble,” I throw that word around lightly. Christina will spend upwards of 100 hours working on producing videos consisting of photos and video footage of her friends and their birds. She sets these images to music, renders the video and “Poof!” On they go to “Daily Motion” or “You Tube.” Christina is an extraordinary talent. Although she is an amateur, she has a gift of timing, editing and selection. She is REALLY good. This is an amazing video and if you have birds you will probably cry. Even if you don’t have birds but have a love of nature, animals and the wild, you will love this video. This is truly a beautiful work of art. And if you see a familiar face or two…Don’t be surprised. My birds are in it as well as 54 other families of birds and their human companions. Enjoy it; it’s fabulous!
I just got a new gig, and I’m not minding it at all. It is, after all, writing in some form, and I learn all sorts of new things.
Bird Talk has a website called “Bird Channel.”It’s a big site with a lot to offer and a ton of information. One of the features under a top tab on the home page is labeled, “Fun and Games.” That is where my little corner which contains the Quizzes is located. I’m now writing them and one of the things I try to do is make them fun and interesting.
I’m unsure who wrote the quizzes before, but they did a great job and I learned some new things about birds by taking them. But as things move on in the publishing industry, the staff out at Bow Tie Inc. probably got snowed under with work and gave them to me to write. I couldn’t be happier.
At first, I was a little concerned because I have to write one quiz a week. Bird Channel changes them out that often, or at least they plan to. I loathe deadlines and have always tried to get my stuff in earlier than required. My columns for “Memo to Parker and Pepper” has been filed until the end of the year, and I have enough columns banked to get me through November of 2011. (I hate sweating it out and the only pressure I like to work under is the pressure I create for myself.)
So naturally, when I took this responsibility on, I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to scrape up enough ideas and information to actually get the job done every week.
“Well, that sounds easy!” (Okay, which one of you said that?)
Oh sure! It sounds easy enough. Just find some basic facts; some scientific or interesting aspect of Aviculture and create a quiz around that information. Try it and you’ll see that it’s not as easy as it looks.
Well, once you get past diet, the different species quizzes, trivia quizzes and the obvious stuff, you’re not left with much. This, my Gentle Readers, is where the creativity comes in.
So when I took a look at what was already written, I used a fresh approach. (Read: smarty-pants approach…) I chose to take a concept or idea which is the base of the quiz and I didn’t make it entirely about birds. For instance, I wrote a quiz titled “Wish Bones.” Only two of the questions are actually about the “wish bone” in a bird. The rest are just fun, but they apply to the words “wish bone.”
Some of the wrong answers in my quizzes are more fun than the right ones and while I want people to learn from them, I also want them to have fun and occasionally get a laugh while taking them. For instance, one of the quiz questions asks about what a bird’s diet needs more of in a particular situation. One of the wrong answers for this as-of-yet unpublished quiz question is: “More Cowbell.” Here’s why:
I’m a big believer in entertaining while you are teaching something or attempting to get a point across. If it’s fun and interesting, you don’t realize you’re learning. I’ve always appreciated that whenever I was trying to learn something, so why should the quizzes I create be any different? I just don’t think learning has to be painful or a chore.
So if you get a chance, stop in to “The Bird Channel” and take a quiz. My first quiz is titled, “Vitamins For Your Bird and You.” Then let me know what you think. If anyone has any great ideas for subject matter on a quiz, I’d love to hear what you come up with. It can be any old thing or any new thing, just as long as it’s not something that’s already been done. The more creative, the better.
I was going over some of my files and realized I never posted my video of Cookie the Little Penguin in the break room at the Cincinnati Zoo. I put it up at YouTube, but never posted it here. So wIthout further ado, here’s Cookie. Trust me, you will smile!
The Houston Parrot Festival: What an amazing Festival! A great speaker line up, combined with an incredible array of products from some cutting edge vendors offering the best products made this year’s festival a joy. And it was terrific, once I got there. And I’ll be posting about the Festival and giving you a review of sorts in pieces because there’s a lot to tell you about.
For me, getting there proved to be a real pain in the keester. I had booked a flight that left Miami at 3:30 p.m. I had some things to take care of at the Flight Office at the airport so I got to MIA at about 12:30; plenty of time to get my parking pass updated, update some stuff, check my luggage and straighten out some other stuff. Turns out it was more than ample time because my flight was cancelled and I was rolled over to the next one departing at 10:10 p.m. So I hung around and waited. And waited. And as you know, this waiting jazz in an airport really blows.
But time did pass, I made my flight and arrived in one piece in Houston at about 1:30 in the morning. I called my hotel and there seemed to be a problem: “No room at the Inn.” The Hilton went ahead, picked me and and put me up at a Hotel across the street. When I finally got to my first hotel room it was 2:30 in the morning. I mean, good God…
No worries however, because I was right across the street. I called the hotel after tidying up and repacking and they came to get me. But I still had to wait because the people who had decided not to check out and bounced me out of my room the night before still hadn’t checked out. So I stowed my stuff and went to check in at the Festival desk. Little problem: they lost my registration. I was now up to a fight cancellation, an eight hour delay, two hotel rooms, and no ID for the festival. Great.
Deane Cheney finally dug up my registration and gave me my ID. Little problem: no lanyard to hang it around my neck. So we got that straightened out and I finally managed to get started with the running around and seeing everything. As I walked down the hall and was rounding the corner, I bumped into Dr. Irene Pepperberg coming out of the can.
Now, I realize most of the “PN” readers are “Parrot People” and are familiar with Irene Pepperberg and her shattering work with Alex. If you aren’t, I suggest you purchase this: Alex and Me.
And while you’re at it, you might as well watch this:
I’ve been flying for almost twenty-three years, so not a whole lot fazes me. I’ve done my time in first class and have served my share of celebrities: Shirley Temple, Alan Alda, Meryl Streep, Beverly Sills, Sade, Bill Murray, Rod Stewart, Jane Curtain, Ronald Reagan Jr., Andre the Giant, the President and First Lady of Bolivia and so on. And I once saw Stevie Wonder at LaGuardia Airport. (I don’t think he noticed me.) I never turned a hair and you kind of get used to it.
But here was Irene Pepperberg walking out of the Ladies Room and I had that “Oh my God” moment. I mean it. Really. This was my complete “Rock Star Moment Meltdown.”
Now the weird part of this is that I had met her before, but it had been about five years and not that she would remember me anyway.
So I did what I usually do; I just smiled and said “Hi Irene!” and she walked up to me and hugged me.
Well, once I managed to get my jaw off the floor, we started talking. And we sort of didn’t stop for three days. And we never really talked about her research or birds or training or anything like that. I mean it sounds kind of freakish, but those subjects just never came up because we were too busy yakking about airlines, travel, writing, our mothers, hotels, the Women’s Rights Movement and clothes. We also did a little bit of scheming and plotting for future joint projects which are already in the works…
I know what you’re thinking: Here was my chance to listen to a best-selling author and get some inside scoop on her work with Alex and we were comparing notes on how to get junk done when you’re living out of a suitcase. You know, really juicy stuff like, “Okay, so how do you wash a blouse in a hotel sink? Do you use the shampoo or the soap…” Or we were dissecting the best way to cope with certain issues that seem to crop up at shin-digs like the Parrot Festival.
I guess it was kind of an introduction to the beginning of a camaraderie that really has nothing to do with birds. But you never know, it might just involve a few birds in the future.
I just got an Email from Jason Crean, who I met at the Rocky Mountain Society of Aviculture in Denver… in November. (I love the sound of that…)
Jason has this really great product he loves: it’s tea for your bird. (More on that in another post!) Anyway, he has this very neat website: http://www.beaksbirdhouse.com/index2.html
Jason wanted me to let you all know about this event. It’s the Midwest Bird Expo! And all of the information is right here:
Apparently there’s going to be some very interesting people there. Mark Bittner who wrote the best-seller The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill will be speaking. (I haven’t heard him speak, but I can’t wait!)
And one of my favorite people will be there! Yup! Dr. Irene Pepperberg will be on hand to keep everyone updated on her latest progress with her African Grey research. Here is Irene wearing one of my scarves at a Phoenix Landing Event:
I know you’ve seen her and her sidekick; but this is terrific! Snowball the dancing Cockatoo and Irena Schulz will be in attendance. Snowball is, of course the world famous dancing cockatoo who took the world by storm on “Youtube” a couple of years ago when he danced to “The Backstreet Boys.” Here is that video:
And many, many, more will be there: Sy Montgomery, George and Bernadette Richter from SOAR, and Mick McAuliffe from Australia. This is going to be one kick-butt event. This is where it’s going to be. (I find this interesting because it’s only a few miles from where I grew up. I know exactly where this is!):
Kane County Exhibition Hall
525 South Randall Road
St. Charles, IL 60174-1533
Any Questions? Contact them here: TASCChicago@aol.com
I am many things, but “Parrot Expert” I’m not. I’m a Flight Attendant, a Writer, a human companion to two parrots and foster family to another. I write, I fly, I clean up parrot crap and rake up toy pieces left in the wake of my African Grey, Parker. If Parker was a human being, he would most likely belong to a motorcycle gang, or at the very least be hanging around street corners and stealing hub caps. Parker isn’t shy, delicate or quiet. He is one of the most confident parrots I’ve ever seen. He also has a tendency to make me nuts.
Be that as it may, and being a writer, I have a tendency to alleviate this frustration by writing about it. This is the “fun” in my dysfunction, so to speak.
Having parrots in my life has not led me to consider group therapy, (yet) nor has it sent me into the comforting arms of antidepressants (yet). Rather than consider these two options, I have decided that for me, writing about my frustration and keeping up a blog is the healthier option.
This is what led me to launching a new area of my writing career. I’d written extensively about Flight Attendants including a One-Act Play, titled “Loves People-Loves to Travel” and I’d written for my esteemed employer: the major airline I fly for.
Now that you all know what my other career is, and if we ever get a chance to meet, allow me to straighten something out for the record right here: I have absolutely no idea what they did with your luggage.
Yes, people do ask me questions like this at bird functions. This is where my eyes glaze over like frosted doughnuts. I get what my friend Shari refers to as “the look.” She’s referring to the vacant expression and slight smile I get when people begin a sentence with, “I was on a flight once and…”
On the other end, I have seen this look on the Professionals in Aviculture where talking about anything but birds is high entertainment, at least for a little while. For instance, I went to dinner with two Avian Vets at the Houston Parrot Festival and the subject of birds never came up. They seemed almost relieved. Of course the Airline Business did come up of course, but at that point I was a little fatigued from talking about birds as well, having done so for three days straight. So, it was a nice break for all of us. I can’t imagine talking about birds and nothing but birds all the time, every day like they must have to. I mean, I love birds, but I like to mix it up a little…
The Houston Parrot Festival is like the Parrot World on steroids. Yakking about your birds on Facebook or on a chat group online is one thing; but the Festival? The Festival is like tuning in to a fictitious “ Bird Channel,” turning it up to full-blast and watching it non-stop for three days.
It’s parrot toys, parrot stuff, parrot health, parrots diets, parrot rescues, parrot training, cages, bells, balls, and swings. It’s as if you’ve turned a corner in the Twilight Zone and found yourself in this big parrot-themed carnival. Baby, it’s parrots everywhere you look!
But the information you get and the people you meet is unreal. Never heard Dr. Irene Pepperbergspeak? Well, save your car fare because if you go this year, because she’ll be on hand to give a presentation. and so will Robin Shewokis, Jean Pattison, Chris Biro, and Barbara Heidenreich, among others.
And then there are the regular people like me. I really like running into my friends at the Festival and it’s so fun to see people year after year. There are also the vendors that I see that I enjoy talking to about their products, many of whom I’ve forgotten their names, and some I do remember. Bonnie Jay and Ronny will be there with their array of toys and gear from Star Bird Toys, (Ummm…I can highly recommend one of their toys…)
Laney Rickman and her Organization, “The Bird Endowment” is usually there with her classy shirts, blouses and donated artwork that support her incredible Blue Throat Macaw conservation project. If you haven’t met Laney, you must. Laney is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met and has this simply wonderful non-profit conservation project.
Laney introduced me to Steve Malowski from the Cincinnati Zoo who got me approved for my writing, photo and video project on the Cincinnati Zoo for “Parrot Nation.” He is also responsible for making sure my Boney butt was up and out of bed at five in the morning every day during my vacation, which I did happily of course. It’s one thing to get up at that hour, which normally blows, but it’s quite another to do it knowing you’re going to feed penguins, dodge bat guano, and get VERY close to a pair of Andean Condors that day. Steve is responsible for a massive amount of my “Avian Education.” And if it wasn’t for Laney, I never would have gotten that opportunity.
Laney also introduced me to Donald Brightsmith of the Tambopata Macaw Project who, I found out later is an amazing dancer. Yes, I actually danced with “The Donald!”
I met Robin Shewokis at the festival. Robin’s company, “The Leather Elves,” has some downright incredible toys for birds as well as other creatures. She is also one hell of a speaker and released a wonderful video about Enrichment. That’s how I got to know Barbara Heidenreich who will be speaking again this year and has her phenomenal magazine, “Good Bird.” Barbara speaks all over the world and has a more vicious travel schedule than I do.
I was sitting in the ballroom listening to a speaker and a gentleman was sitting at the same table and we started chatting. We introduced ourselves and it was Dr. Lorenzo Crosta,an Avian Vet who, at one time worked at Loro Parque. He in turn, introduced me to Dr. Brian Speer. That evening after I won a “Major Award” for “Best Chicken Dance,” Dr. Patricia McWhirter asked me if I’d do the chicken dance for her presentation the next day. I accepted happily knowing I’d look like an ass, but what the hell. And it was Lorenzo and Pat who I went to dinner with and ended up talking about airline travel, accents and it was hilarious sitting at a restaurant with an Australian and a couple of Italians sucking down oysters and getting away from birds for a while.
Chris Biro,who teaches free-flight training to people, was having a little trouble during the “Men’s Hula Dance” fundraiser, so I grabbed his hand and steered him around to people who were madly waving money. Chris is a little shy, so I just jumped in to help him. Chris did okay, and I’m sure he’s been practicing for this year!
I don’t remember who introduced me to Sid Price, another free-flight trainer, but he was there as well. He has a wonderful blog and works with “Avian Ambassadors.”
I got to know Melanie Allen of the Hagen Pet Food Company. I have never laughed so hard as I once did with Melanie. I had just begun writing the “Memos” and didn’t know if they would be of interest to anyone. Melanie took the time to read them and steered me in the right direction. Melanie was my first “reader” so to speak.
These are just a few of the people I met at the Festival. I could go on and on but it’s better if you go yourself and just see what it is that I’m talking about. If you see me there, please stop to talk and I’ll introduce you around to a few people I’ve met…
(The Houston Parrot Festival begins on Friday, January 22nd. Please see the link “Houston Parrot Festival” in the post for more information and a registration form. See you there!)
Having a parrot in your life is a puzzling existence. I suppose you could agree with the idea that they provide companionship just as a dog or a cat does, but why in God’s name a parrot? Where did we ever get the idea that having a parrot would be a life enriching experience?
They’re loud, messy, demanding, pushy, selfish, self-absorbed, and whiney. Amazing isn’t it? We could have opted for the alpha-male position by having a dog. But Noooo! That would be too easy. We could have not bothered with any of it and found a cat in good need of a hearth and home. You know, A little fuzzy guy that wouldn’t be too much trouble and really didn’t care if we lived or died as long as the food train rolled around twice a day.
Oh no. We’re not having any of that. We had to go out and pay a big load of bucks for creatures that want our love, our undying attention, our free time, our not-so-free time, and our retirement fund just to keep them in toys, food, entertainment and a decent cage.
If they get upset, they scream, bite, or throw a hissy fit. They can develop behavior problems at the drop of hat, a towel, or anything else. They’re touchy, moody, needy, and sensitive.
They will play you like a violin, and strum on your heartstrings just to get that extra 10 minutes with you after you declared it was time for bed. They will sulk, talk under their breath, and work you to death to get what they want. They want something wonderful and they want it now!
On the surface, having a parrot as a companion sounds so neat. It’s exotic and different, but it doesn’t quite put you in the same exotic ballpark as the people who would like to introduce you to their Tarantula. That would be just a bit much for even your most seasoned average pet owner. Owning a bird, especially a big bird, is socially acceptable, and has become more prevalent. However, it’s still downright unconventional…it sets the person apart from the norm, but it’s not too eccentric. It tends to define who the perspective owner perceives himself to be.
So many misunderstandings and so many misconceptions about the practice of companion bird care are still rampant among the general public and it’s starting to make me wonder when we’ll all get it right. It wouldn’t bother me so much if parrot keeping weren’t on such an upswing in popularity. I’m not saying that having a parrot should be some exclusive little club where only those deemed “deserving” should be allowed to have birds. What I’m trying to express here is that sometimes the challenge of these creatures is too much for too many people.
I don’t believe the general public understands what is involved in having a companion bird. All parrot companions get the same statements and comments from people as to why they would love to have a parrot. Usually they want one just like mine, and I tell them that Parker is the result of thousands of hours of research, training and attention. Parker really isn’t an accident, and a lot of how he behaves, which is what makes him so endearing to people, is a result of all of this work. I have to explain to them that parrots don’t just show up on your doorstep and behave the way he does.
Parker isn’t particularly special or even that talented. He’s your run-of-the-mill African Grey. He looks like every other African Grey. He’s a parrot. He’s pretty good at it, this “being a parrot” business, but that’s what he’s made to be and to do. I don’t believe he thinks he’s a human. He’s really an enjoyable little guy, and quite fun to have around. He’s quite social, and doesn’t do anything terribly obnoxious. So far he doesn’t have any problems. It’s still early but I’m hoping it will all turn out well.
But many people simply state the following, and this is usually what I’m thinking:
“I’m different, I don’t follow the norm.”
(I don’t either, but I didn’t drag a parrot into the equation until I knew I could handle it.)
“I know I can handle the responsibility.”
(Oh, really? I’d like to introduce a few birds to you. Say hi to Chopper, Chainsaw, and Drill Bit!)
“They’re so cute!”
(You betcha! Say hi to Chopper’s beak.)
“They not big animals and they don’t take much time to maintain.”
(This is a lovely poop machine especially designed to redesign your beautiful Berber carpet with an exotic Dalmatian pattern. Keep them clean, train them, teach them, and feed them well or you will most likely end up living in a constant mess and with a sick or psychotic parrot.)
“You can leave them alone in their cage for a few days can’t you?”
(Sure! Just pop your kids in there with him. You were going to leave them too, weren’t you? )
“What do they eat?”
(Did you ask this question when you decided to have children? If you’re asking, you haven’t done your homework.)
I end up spending more time talking people out of getting a parrot rather than the opposite. And the people who I think would make wonderful parrot companions are quite hesitant because they’re the ones who know what a vast undertaking it is and they doubt their own ability to take on such a big responsibility. These are the people that are thinking long and hard about the task. It’s the confident ones I worry about. These are the people that will obtain a parrot and think that all they have to do is feed it and clean it and it will sit there and learn all on its own.
I had a talk with a gentleman acquaintance that had a 9-month-old baby girl, and he stated that he wanted to get a parrot for his daughter. I asked him why. His response was chilling. He said, “I can afford it. And I want it for my daughter. You know, a nice “toy” for her to play with.”
I kept my cool, and asked him if he thought his daughter was a lot of work. He agreed that she was a load of work, and that it was more than a full time job. I then asked him if he was planning on having any more in the near future. He told me no, he and his girlfriend weren’t going to have any more kids because they hadn’t exactly planned their daughter, and they just couldn’t handle any more.
I then politely proceeded to explain the work involved in raising a baby parrot: The time, the training, the diet requirements, the attention and the fully involved commitment. He was obviously stunned, and backed down from the thought. He got a little upset when I asked if he kept his daughter around because she was a nice “toy” for him and his girlfriend. But he got the point that I wasn’t too thrilled with his “toy” comment and we left it at that.
I have a theory. Unlike human beings, I don’t believe that anything a parrot does is entirely unreasonable because I don’t think a parrot can be deliberately deceptive with one exception: they will hide illness. I believe any unreasonable behavior is a direct result of a situation they cannot cope with. This response stems from a combination of their environment, and DNA. Their responses to stress are about as varied and different as how people respond to stress. I think they will respond to the same stressful situations just as people do. Not everyone will respond to the same situation in the same way. Millions of people fly on airplanes every day. Some people won’t even go near an airport. It all depends on how you’re wired, what your conditioning has been, and what your level of comfort or stress is.
It’s the same way with parrots. I think that when a well-looked after parrot displays a negative behavior it is most likely a result of something that has changed, something that he doesn’t understand or fears, or it stems from a physical condition, such as sexual maturity, illness or pain. They want what they want, and like children, they don’t understand why they can’t always have their way. To paraphrase psychiatrist, R.D. Laing: “Madness is a sane response to an insane situation.” Everything about this “living with people” lifestyle goes against their nature. It’s not a bad life for most parrots and they usually adjust to it so beautifully. But every once in a while, instinct raises its head and we have to somehow work out a solution that is workable for both parties.
Push them too far and they’ll push back and bite you. Push them further still and they will pluck, scream or self-mutilate. They will push back so far and so hard that they sometimes end up getting pushed out of a lot of homes.
But when it works, it is beautiful. God, they love you. Not only do they love you, they can actually tell you that they love you. This is where the beauty, the balance and the gripping artistry take hold of our hearts.
There is absolutely nothing like having a parrot sitting in your lap: this wild animal who accepts you as a flock member, and a friend. It is a cross-species relationship that transcends the natural order of things. I think the fascination comes with the closeness of the relationship despite what nature normally dictates. It bucks what is considered “natural”. There is indeed a poetry and symmetry to this unnatural state, almost as if there were perfect balance required to maintain the relationship on a very long teeter-totter. But the balance has to be maintained or someone hits the dirt. A respect on both sides must be instituted or someone ends up crossing that line of balance, and it is a very thin line. You must give parrots credit. We never bother to learn their language. We force them to learn ours in order to communicate, and they are sometimes not considered to be cooperative or intelligent unless they learn our ways of communication. At best, we can follow some very rudimentary physical cues. Tail wagging; eye-pinning, preening, foot stomping and beak banging are about all we can follow. My, this is incredibly intuitive of us!
In the meantime, they are calling us by our names, asking for dinner, singing like Streisand, telling the dog to be quiet and attempting to answer the phone.
I love having a companion parrot. I love who Parker is and I have changed profoundly for the better as a result of our relationship. He didn’t have to change a thing other than learn a few simple rules about manners. He just goes on being a parrot and I am lucky enough to have earned his trust. My relationship with Parker has not only changed the way I look at the world, but how I feel about it. This still wild little creature has the ability to teach me so much just by waking up in the morning.
Unlike dogs and cats, birds have not yet domesticated themselves. They still have no need to and we certainly haven’t spent enough time in a companion environment to change their wiring. We chose to take on this relationship because we need them, not the other way around and I think we need to live up to it. By failing them, we fail ourselves. And that would leave us with having to admit that we were not worthy of the relationship in the first place.
One day as I idly sat and watched Parker industriously chewing on the shoelace aglet of my sneaker, I thought, “You know, somebody ought to make a toy with a pant load of shoelaces on it!” And as I thought about it, I wondered if it was possible to get somebody to put aglets all the way up the lace so Parker could chew the snot out of them and lay off my sneakers. I thought, “You know, I could make this toy!” And so I went about contacting shoelace manufacturers to make the lace the way I envisioned it.
I bombed. I couldn’t even get them to return my phone calls, let alone my emails. I shelved the idea for a while but I was convinced that this was a toy birds needed to have. It just made too much sense.
Move forward to last year’s Houston Parrot Festival. I snagged Bonny Jay of Star Bird Toyssomewhere between the ballroom and the women’s bathroom and I told her we needed to have a little talk.
Bonnie Jay of Star Bird Toys
On a bar napkin, I sketched out my idea for my shoelace toy. She had me go and explain to Ronny at the Star Bird Sales Booth. Ronny runs the nuts and bolts of Star Bird and does most of the shows and expos. I told Ronny what I had in mind. And they both got it immediately once I pointed out that Ronny didn’t seem to have any aglets left on his boot laces and gee, I wonder why… They both got the picture and set about trying to do the same damn thing I did: contacting shoe lace manufacturers. The difference was, they actually found somebody who was willing to make these short little laces with the aglets running up the entire length of the lace. With a few hitches and problems here and there, the toy was born:
Chloe, Christina's 'Too with her "Ring"
Then we had to test it. Ronny sent me a box with six of the toys in it. I tentatively presented one to Parker, the “King of Sneaker Lace Destruction” and after about 40 seconds, (Yes, I timed him.) he began gnawing on the thing like it was a chicken leg. Here’s the video of that test:
Here it is, lounging like an Octopus Rock Star!
And he kept playing with it for about two hours. It was then that I knew we had a winner. Ronny and Bonny tested toys as well on their end of the country on every size bird from a Cockatiel to a Hyacinth Macaw. Same results there: “Jumbo Shrimp at the Free Buffet.” They loved it, especially the Greys they tested it on. Bonny actually named it, and that was fine with me because my mind came up with all of these strange names that we couldn’t imagine putting on a toy, but that’s another story. Well, not quite a year goes by and I was invited to speak at the Rocky Mountain Avicultural Society in Denver and I run into Allen Brelig who has a bird-related Distribution company. I had met him before but it was his booth that got my attention. There sat my toy! And it was for sale and everything! Now you can buy them in lots of bird stores but at the time, this was very novel and it was the first time I actually saw it for sale.
After this, people began sending me photos of their birds with the toy. Here again one of Christina Giordano’s birds with the “Ring”:
Wings flared; Zazu is excited!
It’s one thing to see it sitting up on a website somewhere, but it is clearly another to see it physically sitting at somebody’s booth. This was something I really loved about the trip. It made me very happy to see the results of my twisted imagination come to a physical state and actually watch it sell and have birds really like it. I was thrilled. And in celebration of this toy that birds not only wanted, but deserved, I give you a little music to accompany your parrots jamming on their “Ring”:
“Jamming!”
And as for Parker? Well, he gets all of the “Ring-Around-The-Rainbow” Toys he can rip apart. Gee, I wonder what I’ll think of next…
Here Parker, finish this up and I'll get you another!
Ten years ago, when the Millennium rolled around, I didn’t have birds. My life was entirely different really. I was still on my first of the four total vacuum cleaners I’ve had since then, I had clean carpeting as opposed to the slate tile I have now and it wasn’t cluttered up with crud. I used to happily do three-day trips for work, ramming around the world like it was my back yard. I could take off to see my friend Lynn in Port St. Lucie. I used to go out at night and when I cleaned, it usually stayed clean for a while.
But life goes on with or without your realizing that changes are bound to happen. And God knows they do. My decision to bring Parker into my life was one of those changes that at the time I didn’t think would be that completely earth-shaking. I mean really, how tough could this be? I was trained to evacuate a 757 in 90 seconds flat, and feed 251 people in high heels, a skirt and some guy trying to take whiz in a ginger ale can in my galley! Man, was I ever wrong! Getting Parker was the toughest thing I ever took on. But I took it very seriously. The guy whizzing in the ginger ale can? All I said was, “Hey! Put that thing AWAY!”
Parker at the controls of a 757
The birds are just one more thing to do, (Well, actually it’s a BUNCH of other things to do.) but it’s a fun thing. Cleaning cages isn’t too bad for me because I put newspaper on the top of the bottom grates as a substrate. This keeps their “rooms” much cleaner. It’s easier to just roll up the newspaper, throw it out and replace it than to have to take out the grate and wash it. The cage lasts longer. I’ve had Parker in the same “room” since he was very young, almost seven years now and his room still looks almost brand new. Parker and Pepper don’t eat in their cages, they eat on their Wayne’s bottle brush play gyms.
So my life has changed “slightly”; rather it was changed by bring Parker home one fine April Fool’s Day. It changed again when I trained at Natural Encounters, again when I met Dr. Susan Friedman and completed her course: LLP,(Living and Learning With Parrots) and yet again when I began writing about my birds and about Aviculture.
And the hits just keep on coming! My weeks at the Cincinnati Zoo courtesy of Steve Malowski of the Zoo Bird House, and “Major Dude,” Dave Oehler completely rocked my whole comprehension of birds and bird care because my experience now includes looking after some pretty interesting species like penguins, Condors, Sea Eagles, Keas, Hornbills and Flamingos.
This Kea Just had a bath. But I was wet as well from the cleaning her enclosure.
So as you can imagine, it’s been an amazing ride so far. The people I’ve met and the things I’ve had the privilege of doing, (and planning to do!) keep me happy about my decision to turn my tidy life upside-down by bringing Parker home followed by Pepper a few years later. I do so love them and moreover, I have really enjoyed meeting people I’ve met who feel the same way.
I’ve had the opportunity to share what I’ve learned by speaking at bird clubs and schools, and I’ve been a little shocked at the growing interest in my posts here at “PN.”
Usually when I take something on, I have a tendency to “do it up brown,” and I guess this “bird thing” was one of them. It led me and my writing skills to “BIRD TALK” magazine and the column, “Memo to Parker & Pepper.” The “Memos” are a trifle, a fun thing in the magazine. I suppose it’s a little like getting the dessert after a good meal. Although from what many readers report, they prefer desert first, which makes me very happy!
I’m thrilled about the growing interest in my “Chop” feeding concept. You can read a popular post about it here: “The Chop Blog.” It got people so interested, I was flabbergasted to find THIS on Amazon. Suffice it to say 2009 was a pretty good year for me.
So as I enter the new decade with my birds in tow, I’m probably not going to try and change things too much with a bunch of resolutions and promises to myself. I like my life too much as it is. But I still intend to pursue my adventures in order to complete my manuscript which includes a trip to “Best Friends Animal Sanctuary.” I’ll get on those flights even if it’s something I hate to do on my time off. And as for Parker and Pepper? Well, let’s just say I’m going to try and give them a little more training time, more outings and a little more time to bask in the sun. After all, they deserve it! Here’s to 2010!
You might understand I have a lot going on. I fly about 25 hours of overtime a month. Obviously, I have parrots, (Which feels like another full time job. And if you’re doing it right, it is.) and my dog Mattie which is the least of my problems. I write for BIRD TALK Magazine, I write other stuff and I maintain this blog. With my flying, I get up at five a.m. day after day.I do the majority of my own housekeeping, and with birds, you know how that is. And I seem to have endless errands to run: Credit Union, Home Depot, grocery store, Doggy Store, Dollar Store etc. Or I’m making a video, or I’m taking photos, or downloading photos; or I’m writing, thinking about writing or getting ready to write.
Flying to a foreign country day-after-day has an odd effect: For one thing you’re tired as hell. And once you get home, you want to stay home. I mean cripes, I’ve already been to Haiti and back by two p.m. So my idea of a good time is not running around for life’s necessities after work.
I consider myself lucky if my disposer, my dishwasher, my ice maker and both toilets are in working order all in the same day. I just recently had a faucet spring a leak, one of my cable boxes doesn’t work and one under-the-kitchen-cabinet light strip was out which explains the Home Depot run today.
I also have to get my Greys to the Vet, return the cable box for a replacement, get my clothes in line for the Houston Parrot Festival, including getting my gear ready for their fun “Party in Parrot-dise.”
I need a new power cable for my printer, as it only works if I run the cord under the printer to hold it “just so.” I’m out of aspirin, I need to grow sprouts for my birds and I’m due to run another load of laundry. In a week or two, I’ll have to buckle down and iron twenty or so uniform shirts. I need to shoot a video of cage set-ups for African Greys.
I’m due to return two bird toy prototypes I designed to the “Golden Cockatoo, and I have to finish some feather scarves for the Houston Parrot Festival. My car needs a bath, a good raking out and I’m due for hair cut as I’m beginning to look like Kate Gosselin with red hair…Not a good look for me:I need to wash my duvet which I hate doing because my duvet cover is such a pain in the keester to get back on the quilt. As soon as the cabinet dries out from the faucet leak in my bathroom which is now fixed, I need to clean it and put everything back. I owe somebody out there in “Cyberland” an essay, but I can’t remember who in God’s name it is and one of the Gate Agents at Fort Lauderdale wants my recipe for short ribs and I keep forgetting to get it to her. Which leads to my point; and I do have one: I need to rethink my way of doing things. On the other hand, I have a vacation coming up. Maybe I’ll just save all of my errands for when I have the time.
