Sunrise Avian Nursery ~ Bird Stories

Send me your favorite bird stories and I will be glad to post them here.
You can add a picture too if you'd like.

Not a Bird Story, But an Important One

Keith and I decided to stop by Whataburger on our way home from the Tea Party rally yesterday, and I am so very grateful we did.

We got our Whatachicken and just as we began to eat, this young man, seeing Keith with his Retired Air Force cap on, came up and said, "I would like to thank you for your service." Keith said, "Oh" as he laid his sandwich down and wiped his hands before reaching for his hand shake. With his shoulders back (I swear I believe he would have snapped to attention if he had been standing) he extended his hand and said, "My honor sir." Those nine words meant the world to him and why wouldn't they to a dedicated service person who, that when returning from the Viet Nam war had been greeted at the San Francisco air port with spit and shouts of baby killer!

I know it means the world to anyone that has served or is serving now to be recognized with those nine little words. So when you see someone in uniform, whether it is current dress or a veteran cap, go up to them and say, "I would like to thank you for your service." And shake their hand.

I Still Believe in Miracles

On June 28th back in 2003 my world fell apart when the love of my life, took flight into the wild blue yonder.

Plato was only a two year old Blue Fronted Amazon parrot. His personality brims over being full of himself, hilariously funny and with a heart too big to fit in his small body. Brilliant with a huge vocabulary, it was he, who flew down and landed upon my chest earlier that year, when I was so sick with pneumonia and asked me quite seriously “are you alright?” And it is he who sings “God is good” to the top of his lungs, in the shower with me, does the “high 4” (parrots only have 4 toes) and exercises as he says “stretch and bend.” He’s my green feathered buddy alright. Now he was gone.

Let me back up just a little bit and tell you how this happened. Plato had his wings clipped and I used to put him on my finger and we’d walk in the yard together. I’d point to all the different colored flowers and say “flower” and he’d say questioningly “flower?” We’d look at the butterflies together and watch the hummingbirds humming around. He was so young; everything was so new and beautiful to him. Then not too long after a trip to the vet and having his wings clipped, the vet told me he wouldn’t be able to fly, but glide to the floor.

I soon discovered that he could still fly and fly he did throughout the whole house landing on my shoulder wherever I would go. After I got him home and we were walking in the yard. I always had one of my fingers encased firmly over two of his toes, just in case he would get excited and fall.

That day, he bit my finger for only a reason that a parrot knows and letting pressure up from his toes, I yelled out a big “ouch.” With that response, he took flight and landed upside down in a gangly tree around the other side of the house. I opened the house door and quickly told my husband that Plato had gotten away and raced around the other side to get him.

I just wasn’t quick enough. He was pitifully hanging there on a gangly branch; upside down looking at me, almost waiting for me to rescue him, but I couldn’t go fast enough to get the ladder and climb up to where he was.

Then, in one quick swoop he flew high up into one of our pine trees. My heart sank. I started to try to woo him with his favorite foods and talk to him as softly as I could. It was all in vain. He had this new found freedom that he didn’t know what to do with it.

I knew one of the most important things to do when your bird gets away is to keep your eyes on him so you will know where he is. Makes sense, right? This doesn’t always work when they take to the sky though.

In the beginning, he stayed close to the woods that are near our home. He lived in tree tops and I would be able to talk to him everyday. Then, one day I climbed a 25ft ladder while he looked puzzled at me and enjoying his noon day shower from the torrent of rain high perching in that Magnolia tree.

With soaked clothes I managed to climb to the top of the ladder, and found I only had about a yard to go, but fear and age just would not allow me to let go and climb up upon the tree branches. Perhaps if I were about 30 years younger I told myself, I would then, spring right up there!

This was a serious thing for me. My bird was flying fearfully. He had this inbred instinct knowing he was a prey bird, so he never stayed long in any place.

I roamed the neighborhood calling for him and talking to people I’d never met before. Next, I put flyers all over our neighborhood, on trees, on fences and on poles. There was even a spot on the local radio asking people to be on the look out for a Blue Fronted Amazon.

Most importantly, I cried out to God with my wounded heart asking Him to please bring Plato back to us. I was greatly concerned about the eagles, hawks, owls and man. I say man, because I know there are those who would keep such a bird for themselves or cash him in.

Then, the rumors started, that he’d been captured. Then, another one about how a little boy found a dead parrot in the woods. Visions of what could have happened brought horrid imaginations to my crying and praying sleepless nights.

When he was living in the woods, I was able to go down and call for him and he’d answer if he were around. He wanted to fly to me as I asked him to “flutter to Mommy” and he’d take off like 60 and then circled high above me saying “hold on!” He didn’t know how to swoop down so low. In the house, he had the ceiling as his boundaries. Now he was flying with the big boys and the sky was his limit.

Then, early in the morning on July 2nd I walked outside my home and called for Plato and he answered me. I was thrilled to think he had gotten enough nerve to leave the security of the glade and nestle across the street from our house.

He’s getting hungry I thought to myself. I had his cage outside so when he was around he could see the food and water. I called for him and he flew over our home landing somewhere in the top of the trees about two streets away. That was the last I saw him or heard him until…

A gentleman vacationing here in Florida had seen one of my flyers called, and said my bird was in a Palm tree in his front yard. If I had my pajamas on I wouldn’t have risked the time to change my clothes. I could hardly contain my excitement, and threw his night cage filled with fresh water and his favorite seeds into my small car.

When I arrived, I didn’t see him at first. Then, my heart lifted as I saw his head bobbing. He wasn’t doing too well. People began coming out from their homes, as a crowd gathered. I found myself, once again climbing a ladder and rested his cage upon a SUV that was parked next to the Palm tree and called for him. At first his head kept nodding. Then, something clicked inside of him. He eyed his cage, the water and oh the glory of those seeds! And, flew to his cage, and went inside and had a feast. I closed the door and cried. Everyone applauded!

Plato was gone for 11 days. In those 11 days I met my whole neighborhood and shook hands with many people who really cared. God not only heard my heart wrenching prayers, but others who cared enough to pray for him. During those 11 days my hope was watered by those people who cared enough to give me encouraging words. Many kept declaring that Plato would be back. They kept saying that, “they just believed that I would have that bird back.”

God answers prayers, but He doesn’t want you to give up! Keep that hope alive inside of you and surround yourself with people who care and believe your answer is “on the way.”

God cares about us. He cares about our hearts and knows exactly what we are to learn when we go through a trial. I believe our trials come to transform us to the nature of His son. Plato was rescued only one day before hurricane Dennis hit our area. I want to shout to the world; “is there anything to big for God?”

The Parrot Flower

This is a flower from Thailand.
It is also a protected species and is not allowed to be exported.

Which One

As I sat having breakfast with my four Greys I am thinking

which one will I try to sell first?

You see I bought these four baby Congo African Greys to finish hand feeding and sell for a small profit. I didn't know I was going to fall madly in love with these wonderful little guys.

Hercules's fate was determined first. No one cuddles like Hercules or whispers in my ear as he sits on my shoulder, "I love you Mom" then gives me a little kiss on the side of my face.
Hercules stays!! Happy Hearts Clip Art

Muffin? I don't think so. Anyone who is a NASCAR racing fan knows that I couldn't sell Muffin. You see it is Muffin that learned to say, "Number Eight! Boogidy, Boogidy, Boogidy, Lets go Racing. Fate determined.
Muffin stays.

Brandy? I don't think so. Who could sell a coffee buddy? Even if their buddy's idea of coffee is a nice head scratch. I do get paid for those cups of coffee. A great big kiss. Fate determined.
Brandy stays.

Willie? Yes, it will be Willie. He is the one who would miss me the least. A laid back, comfortable with life little bird. Yes, Willy will make someone a really nice little pet bird. I will put an ad in the paper today......... Just as I was getting up to go I felt this little foot on my arm. I looked down and it was Willie. He climbed up onto my chest, tucked his little head under my chin as though to give me a hug. You guessed it. Fate determined.
Willie stays.

I couldn't sell four of the five best friends in my life. The first one being my husband, Keith. The one who said, "Honey if you don't want to sell them, don't."
Fate determined.
Keith stays.

Yours,
Ann

Story submitted by EMT Mom

My male and female mated and kicked the babies out, my daughter is a Paramedic and stepped in. We are raising the 4 babies and they are now a month old. Feathers are coming in and growing by leaps and bounds. Just wanted to share a pic!
--
EMS...Our day begins when yours is about to end!

How the African Grey Got Their Red Tail

Once there was a forest of many colors. The trees were green. They were gold and orange. They were yellow and red in their season. In the fawning time the trees bloomed. They were hung with ropes of flowers! They were green altars garlanded with color! The smell of the flowers was a prayer to heaven.

The flowers were many colors, too. They were white and apricot. They were pink and plum. They were blue and yellow and purple and bronze. The flowers were courted by bees. They came in colors, too. They were yellow and black; fuzzy and brown.

Spiders sat in the flowers and waited for the bees. They were even more colorful than the flowers! Some spiders had eight bright green eyes each! Some had blue eyes. They wore fine suits of many colors and striped stockings on their eight legs.

Butterflies came to drink from the flowers with their long tongues. Yellow butterflies drank from blue morning glories. Blue butterflies drank from red hibiscus. Giant green moths flew about in crowds, gathering for a dance. All the butterflies carried the rainbow with them all through the forest.
After the bees had visited the flowers the trees made fruit. Clusters and clusters of fruits hung on the trees. Purple it hung, and red. Yellow and orange. And palest green blushed with pink. Soon the forest smelled of too-ripe fruit. Then the flies came. Flies flew from tree to tree carrying blue and green with them.

Over the forest the sky stretched. It was a blue cloth with a yellow circle. At night it was an azure box full of diamonds! But the most colorful thing in the forest was its birds. Bright among the branches they sang. Living dots of color they climbed. Shimmering pallets of nature they flew among the shadows. The birds had all the colors of the trees. They had all the colors of the flowers, too. They had all the colors of the bees, the butterflies, and the spiders. And God was very pleased with His creation when He watched His birds twirling below. God loved His living top spinning in the forest He had made.

But a Little Gray Parrot lived in the forest. She alone had no color. Even the gray doves had bright red feet! But the Little Gray Parrot had gray feet. Her beak was gray, and her wings were gray. All her feathers were gray, too.

One day the Little Gray Parrot looked out of her gray eyes at all the colors spread in the forest below. She looked up at the blue sky, pale and dark. And she thought, "I am the only one in the whole forest that has no color. God is pleased by the prayers of the fruiting trees. He is pleased by the beautiful butterflies and bees. How can I ever give Him anything if I have no color?"

The Little Gray Parrot thought about it all day. She dreamed about it all night. She was still thinking about it the next morning when the Jungle Bird woke her up."The Jungle Bird is very beautiful," said the Little Gray Parrot. "He wears a green shawl over his red velvet vest. He wears gold buttons and sharp orange lace-up boots. I will go to him and ask him to give me some of his color." And the Little Gray Parrot got her little red wagon. "I will put all the colors he gives me in my wagon and bring them home," she said. "Then I will be so beautiful heaven will notice me!"

So the Little Gray Parrot started walking toward the sound of the Jungle Bird who was still singing to the sun. She pulled her little red wagon behind her through the forest.

Soon she came to a tree stump. The Jungle Bird was standing on the stump calling to his brother in the sky. He stamped his orange feet on his stage and rose up very tall. He called so loud his shiny red wattles shook. He opened his yellow eyes very wide, and crowed. Wrapped in his cloak of black, purple, green and gold he sang, "I! Me, me, me, I! I! Me, me, me, I!"

When the Jungle Bird stopped singing the Little Gray Parrot said, "Jungle Bird, you sing a very beautiful song. You have the color of the sky in your tail. The soles of your feet shine like the sun. Your red head glistens with the warm color. Your throat is wrapped in green. I am a very plain parrot. Please give me some of your colors so I can be beautiful, too."

But the Jungle Bird only rose up on his long orange toes. He opened his yellow beak tipped with black. And he sang, "I! Me, me, me, I! I! Me, me, me, I!"

The Little Gray Parrot stamped her small gray foot. But the Jungle Bird continued to sing his song to the sun. Finally, the Jungle Bird shook his head to rearrange his wattles and jumped down from his perch. The Little Gray Parrot fluffed her gray feathers. She said, "Jungle Bird. You sing a very conceited song."

The Jungle Bird preened a blue feather in his tail. Then he preened a green one. Then a bronze. Finally he answered the Little Gray Parrot. "Do you think so?" was all he said."Yes," said the Little Gray Parrot. "For you are singing about yourself."

The Jungle Bird walked to the Little Gray Parrot. He circled her and looked at her empty wagon. He pecked on the wagon. It rang like a cymbal. He stood very tall and near to the Little Gray Parrot, and she began to regret her words.

But the Jungle Bird was a king in his realm, and he simply said, "Little Gray Parrot, my song is about me. I wake the sun up every morning so it will shine on men. I sing about my place on the earth. I remind man of his place, too. We are all so high. If man knew his own worth, the forest would be full of my song every morning! Every throat would cry out, singing my song."

The Little Gray Parrot looked at the Jungle Bird. She knew what he said was true. The Little Gray Parrot bowed her head and said, "Jungle Bird, everyone says how beautiful you are. And it is true. Your brilliant tail sweeps the ground mixing the rainbow with dust. But, your true beauty is in reminding man that he is not dust. You rise while it is yet dark to do this service. Please forgive me."

The Jungle Bird clucked slightly in his throat and said, "I have promised my hens some grubs today, so I must go." And he left. Mother's green arms embraced him, and he was gone. The Little Parrot said, "I came to beg some beautiful colors from the Jungle Bird to take home. But his true beauty is in his service. I will put that in my wagon instead." And she did, and pulled the little red wagon behind her down the path.

The Little Gray Parrot made quite a sound pulling her red wagon through the dry leaves! From high up in the trees the Scarlet Parrot looked down to see what all the noise was about. "Hello!" he called. Then he mimicked the wagon wheels. And he made the sound of the crunching leaves. He was so clever the Little Gray Parrot stopped on the path. She listened carefully for her echo. But she heard nothing. As soon as she started to pull her red wagon again, she heard the Scarlet Parrot mocking her high up in the trees.

"Scarlet Parrot! I was looking for you," said the Little Gray Parrot. "You are very beautiful. Your color is of fire, red and gold, yellow and brightness! Your eyes are ringed in silver, and your wings are cobalt arrows! Please, may I have some of your colors? Then I will be beautiful, too."

But the Scarlet Parrot simply mimicked the monkey jabbering in the tree. He babbled like the brook, and roared like a chainsaw! He sang like all the birds, at once! He barked like a dog and growled like a tiger!

The Little Gray Parrot stamped her small gray foot. "You are very rude," she said. "Why do you make such a fuss, and repeat everything you hear? What good is that?"

But the Scarlet Parrot laughed like a girl child. He cried like a piglet. Finally he said, "I record everything in the forest. Man must work hard all day and night. He does not have time to listen to the birds singing. He does not have time to remember what dangers lie here. I record all these things for the time man will ask me for them. When he is sad, I will sing like the nightingale-even at noon! When he is careless, I will speak in the tiger's tongue to make him wary."

The Little Gray Parrot hung her head. She felt ashamed for her words, and said, "You are right, Scarlet Parrot. You are the most beautiful of all parrots. But your true beauty is in being a storehouse of knowledge. I came to ask you for some of your colors, but I will put your wisdom in my red wagon instead." And the Little Gray Parrot did, and walked on through the forest.

Of a sudden the Little Gray Parrot heard a bird talking like a clock. "Cuckoo!" he said. "Cuckoo! Cuckoo! Cuckoo!" The Little Gray Parrot stopped to listen. She stood beneath the green umbrella of a palm. She turned her gray eyes to the blue sky. She searched among and between the green leaves and their gray/black shadows. Finally the Little Gray Parrot found a bright black and white bird shining in the shadows. The Little Gray Parrot sat on the edge of her red wagon and admired him for a full minute. Then she raised her wing politely.

"Cuckoo Bird," she said, "Why are you so happy today, filling the trees with noon and dinner songs?" The Cuckoo Bird closed his beak and hopped to a branch an inch from the Little Gray Parrot's gray beak, and said, "I am very happy. I have five new babies, all fat and healthy, and I am going on a vacation tomorrow."

The Little Gray Parrot looked into the eye of the father Cuckoo Bird. He did not look tired. He looked well rested and full of life, so the Little Gray Parrot said, "Your babies must be very good indeed! You have slept well lately, and your breast feathers are sleek and smooth. You would hardly know you have five babies to take care of. You must be very proud!"

The father Cuckoo Bird replied, "Oh, I am very proud! They are all so beautiful, and so big each one fills a whole nest!" The Little Gray Parrot was astounded. "Every baby has his own nest?" she asked. She remembered when she was small she had warm brothers and sisters around her like a blanket. "How wonderful," said the Little Gray Parrot. "Can I see your babies?"

The Cuckoo Bird puffed up with pride, "Oh surely," he said, "Here is one above us in this tree. And the others are scattered like leaves throughout the forest."

The Little Gray Parrot looked high up in the tree. In a crooked crotch she saw a neat, small nest nestled against the black bark. A big chick spilled over the edges of the nest. His mouth gaped open, red and yellow like a flower. He demanded food loudly, and soon a small Yellow Wren flew to him and stuffed his beak with worms and bugs. The Little Gray Parrot could hardly believe her eyes, for this was the very Yellow Wren she was looking for to ask for her color!

The Yellow Wren flew away but soon came back. Again the Yellow Wren stuffed the young cuckoo with food. The Yellow Wren did this several times and the Little Gray Parrot watched in amazement. Finally the Little Gray Parrot said, "Cuckoo Bird, why does someone else feed your baby? Why don't you feed him?"

"What a stupid question!" said the Cuckoo Bird. "I'm going on vacation tomorrow!" And he flew away.

The Little Gray Parrot was amazed! When the Yellow Wren came back the Little Gray Parrot called out to her, "Yellow Wren! Yellow Wren! May I ask you a question?"

The Yellow Wren first fed the young cuckoo, then flew down and sat on a springy shrub close to the Little Gray Parrot. "You must be quick," she said. "As you see, I have a baby to feed and cannot talk long."

"I see you are feeding the Cuckoo Bird's baby," said the Little Gray Parrot. "I came all this way through the forest to ask you for some of your beautiful yellow color, but now you are tired. Your feathers don't shine like they used to. You used to be a spot of sun on a leaf, but now you are dull and used. Why do you spend all your energy feeding the Cuckoo Bird's baby until you are no longer beautiful? Don't you think that is a stupid thing to do?"

The Yellow Wren looked long at the Little Gray Parrot. The Little Gray Parrot began to regret her words. Then the Yellow Wren lit on the ground beside the Little Gray Parrot. She smiled at the Little Gray Parrot an old, earth-worn smile and said, "Little Gray Parrot. What is in my nest is mine. When a baby cries for food I cannot be deaf. It is life calling to me. If I do not answer I have taken the bony hand of death into my own. We walk through the forest and only dry, spent leaves are in our path. I will not befriend him. Any life that comes to me I will preserve. I am often second in my own life. But in this, first in the earth. Do you understand?"

The Little Gray Parrot hung her head, and then looked at the Yellow Wren from her bright gray eye. "I do understand," she whispered, "I think you must be the smartest bird in all the forest! You give life, and that is the greatest thing on all the earth! You are a Mother, and love with a mother's heart. This is your true beauty, more radiant than yellow feathers. Your heart is yellow and warm as the sun. I will put this in my red wagon instead of a yellow feather." And she did.

The young cuckoo began calling again for the Yellow Wren, and she kissed the Little Gray Parrot on the tip of her gray beak and flew away. The Little Gray Parrot watched her fly to her baby and again pulled her red wagon through the forest.

"I only have one more bird to find," said the Little Gray Parrot. "But he is the most beautiful of all!" And the Little Gray Parrot went into the deepest shade of the forest, for that is where the Peacock lived.

The Little Gray Parrot pulled her red wagon through the quiet darkness. She tugged and tugged it over tangles of roots and fallen branches. Soon the Little Gray Parrot was tired and stopped to rest. She sat on a fallen log and admired the green museum walls around her. Her gray eyes fell on Monet and Manet, and Van Gogh hiding in a corner painting daisies.

Of a sudden the Little Gray Parrot heard a loud voice booming through the trees. "Ku-wow! Ku-wow! Ku-wow!" it said. It sang like Big Ben, it rang like Liberty!

The Little Gray Parrot was very pleased. This was the voice of the Peacock, and she followed his song along a crooked path until she found him sitting in a flowering tree. How beautiful the Peacock was! His neck was like the sky, and it shimmered like water! On his head he wore a crown that bobbed around on long stalks growing from his brow. And his tail was made of thousands of green, blue and golden eyes, each looking in a different part of the forest. And when the Peacock danced his tail rustled like a bride's dress, and all her ladies' together! Surely the Peacock could spare a feather for the Little Gray Parrot to make God happy.

Soon the Peacock jumped down from his perch. He gathered the ball-gown of his tail around himself, and began to tap his yellow feet lightly. Dust rose around his yellow ankles, and dry leaves too. In figure eights the Peacock danced, life on the parched earth. Green like Mother he was, and Blue like Father too, mixing the two worlds.

The Little Gray Parrot watched the Peacock for a while feeling something akin to envy. Then she said, "Peacock! How beautiful you dance!" The Peacock stopped his stamping on the ground and looked at the Little Gray Parrot. "Thank you," he said, and resumed his dancing. Dust sprang up from the ground and mingled gold and green, and the Peacock danced and danced.

The Little Gray Parrot was bewildered. "Peacock," she said, "I do not understand. People say you dance a beautiful dance when you are thankful for the rain."

The Peacock bobbed his head beneath his crown. "Yes," he said, "I am thankful for the rain." The Peacock circled the Little Gray Parrot. He dropped one gold wingtip into the dust and drummed hollowly. "I am thankful for the rain," he sang as he danced. "Thank you God for the rain," he sang.

The Little Gray Parrot coughed and brushed the dust from her feathers. The Peacock's dance was very dusty indeed! The Little Gray Parrot watched the Peacock dance. Finally she could not contain herself. She stamped her small gray foot and said, "Peacock! How can you be thankful for the rain? It has not rained for several weeks, and people say we are in a drought!" The Little Gray Parrot thought the Peacock was certainly silly!

The Peacock stopped dancing. He cocked his head to one side. Then he cocked his head to the other. Finally he said, "I am thankful for the rain even when it does not come. Should I only pray when I get my way?" he asked.
The Little Gray Parrot looked at the Peacock. He was very beautiful with his backdrop of tail. He was beauty standing on two long, long legs. Finally the Little Gray Parrot sighed and said, "You are right, Peacock. We should be grateful whatever the weather. I came to ask for one of your beautiful feathers for you are rightly called the most beautiful bird in the forest. But your gratitude is more beautiful still. I will put that in my red wagon instead." And she did.

The Peacock nodded to the Little Gray Parrot. His blue crown bobbed on the stalks on his head, and he began to dance again. The Little Gray Parrot turned her red wagon around and said, "Thank you, Peacock. I must go now for it will soon be dark and it is a long walk home."

The Little Gray Parrot could hear the Peacock singing as she pulled her red wagon through the forest. The wishing star was already in the sky when she got home, and she was very tired as she put her red wagon away.

"I don't have any more color now than I had this morning," she said. "My wagon is empty except for the ideas I put there. I will never be able to please God as much as the colorful birds do." She was very tired as she climbed into her bed high up in the tree. It was not long before she fell sound asleep as Mother drew her cobalt and white bed curtains around her.

But God was still awake. He had watched the Little Gray Parrot pulling her red wagon all day. He watched her as she talked to the Jungle Bird and the Scarlet Parrot. He watched her as she talked to the Yellow Wren and the Peacock. And God was very pleased with the Little Gray Parrot for trying to please Him, and he looked down on her gray head sleeping on her gray bed and said, "My Little Gray Parrot. You went to ask the other birds to give you things to make you worthy of Me. But you could see what was truly beautiful in my creation. You gathered the most pleasing things into your wagon, although it appears to be empty. For this reason I will have you pull your red wagon behind you for the rest of time. In this way everyone on earth will know how you have pleased Me."

But the Little Gray Parrot simply slept, dreaming of the creation of stars. She woke again the next day to the voice of the Jungle Bird calling his brother into the sky. The Little Gray Parrot was still tired from the long walk of the day before. She was still disappointed she had no gifts for God. But she was a good little parrot, and got up to groom herself as she had been taught. Like the other parrots the Little Gray Parrot wore a little comb inside her beak to comb her feathers, and she began to preen and stretch her wings. How long and sleek her flight feathers were! How soft the storm-cloud gray feathers on her belly! After the Little Gray Parrot combed the feathers on her legs; she turned her head around to comb her back.

But what a surprise! The Little Gray Parrot could hardly believe her gray eyes! For, much to her amazement, her tail had turned bright, bright red! She stared and stared at her new shining tail. But it did not change at all; it stayed bright red! It was redder than the Scarlet Parrot! It was red just like her wagon!

All that day the Little Gray Parrot looked at her tail. When she walked through the forest she looked back to make sure it had not changed back to gray. And that night she tucked her beak under her wing looking back at her tail. All night she opened her eyes to look at her tail. But even the darkness did not change it back to gray. Even in the night the Little Gray Parrot's tail was red. How happy the Little Gray Parrot was now! She had the most beautiful red tail in all the forest! And to this day her tail is bright, bright red. And to this day it follows her everywhere she walks, swaying back and forth behind her just like a red wagon.

Indiana Jones

Oh, I have to tell you how happy Indiana Jones is. She was going to stay with me forever, you know that, but she never liked me despite me loving on her, playing with her, talking to her, etc. every day just like every other one of my babies. She HATED me, and challenged me or flew away from me constantly. I brought a girlfriend home with me one day, whose mother used to have a ringneck and she wanted to see my 3 and my other babies too. I want you to know this bird attached itself to her like VELCRO and did not behave at ALL like with me. She was in LOVE with Marie. I made Marie come over a few more times to see if it was fluke behavior, and Indy just gravitated towards her like I have never seen -- she CHOSE Marie, Ann. It was the most amazing thing.

She is at Marie's house and is the happiest she's ever been. She talks, coos, kisses Marie (versus flying away or biting me). Marie got the whole package, because she isn't a highly paid person -- I gave her a nice cage, different sized perches, the toys, bowls, custom food, EVERYTHING. She took her toy shopping before Easter. She was telling me the other day I need to come see what Indiana has done to her bedroom -- she has a ladder to the dresser and a ladder from there up to a shelf she likes to walk around on. She threw all of Marie's stuff out of the cubby holes on the dresser and gets up in the cubbies and plays -- it's ALL HER SPACE NOW when Marie is home. Marie can't go anywhere in that house without the bird yelling if she's not hanging on her shirt. She is a completely different animal. I worked so hard with her, and she never liked me. I think it's because she's so strong-willed and hated it that I was alpha bird. Marie is a cream puff but for some reason that works with Indiana -- she behaves for her and doesn't bite or anything, and she's a cross between CUJO the attack dog and an expensive alarm system when someone comes in mom's room. Unbelievable.

Marie just brought her to me the other day for me to trim her, since she's not comfortable doing it yet. I did her wings and the very tips of her toenails. When mama came back from work in the afternoon to get her, she lit up like a Christmas tree, which is what should happen. She started talking and burbling and all of that, and she was thrilled to see Marie. I'd have kept her forever, despite the fact that the 2 boys were terrified of her (LOL) and she terrorized all of us on a regular basis. However, she made a choice and it wasn't me. It's just so amazing to me how intelligent and sensitive animals really are, and most people never realize it. She's SO HAPPY, Ann.

Janet Miller
Ft. Walton Beach, Florida

Lost Parrot Returns Home

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After I read this story, I taught both of my Greys, Brandy and Higgins, to say: "332 Parkway Place, please take me home". I keep trying to get the others to say it too and am having a little luck . The other day I heard Duke say, "332". ;o)

Ann

New Jersey Cops Kick in Door to Find
Bird Squawking for Help

Click below to read the story at foxnews.com, then your browser's back arrow to return to this website.

Sunrise Avian Nursery
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Lost Parrot Returns Home

New Jersey Cops Kick in Door to Find
Bird Squawking for Help

Sunrise Avian Nursery "a place of new beginnings"

Not a Bird Story, But an Important One

I Still Believe in Miracles

The Parrot Flower

Which One

Story submitted by EMT Mom

How the African Grey Got Their Red Tail

Indiana Jones

Lost Parrot Returns Home

New Jersey Cops Kick in Door to Find Bird Squawking for Help

Sunrise Avian Nursery
"a place of new beginnings"

New Jersey Cops Kick in Door to Find
Bird Squawking for Help