Feathered Friends

Although I love animals and have always enjoyed the birds in my garden, I never had birds as pets, so when I (and my three cats) married Des (and his son, dog and budgie and lovebird), I didn’t really know what to do with the birds (besides feeding them). I tried to hold Cheeks once or twice, but was scared that it would bite me.

Then Des bought me a little baby ringneck, whose feathers were still only promises hidden in quills. I named it Pretty, because it was so ugly. This helpless little thing awaked all my mothering instincts from the first moment. I fed it, cuddled it and carried it around wrapped in a small towel. Soon it became quite natural for me to pick Cheeks up as well.

A couple of months later a baby Sun Conure was added to the roost. Des called it Strawberry, for its quilled red head looked like one.

Very soon after that Des’ son brought an African Grey, Koos, that had flown into their garden a year earlier and so it happened that now we had five birds.

Each one has its own personality: Little Snowy is an introverted Phlegmatic who prefers to stay in its cage and has only recently started interacting with me in little ways.

Cheeks is a happy little chappie who loves attention and is aptly called a lovebird.

Strawbs is a full blown sanguine, a demonstrative cuddler, who complains VERY loudly when not given attention and has consequently become the brat, whose noisy squeals gets it attention.

Pretty is definitely Choleric. It (proven to be a "he" after its second molting) has the neatest feathers, learns its words very quickly and has definite relational boundaries.

Koos - a deep melancholic. You never know with which foot he steps off the sleeping perch in the morning and have to watch your moves with him if it was the wrong one.

With a beak like his, he clears a whole couch for himself very easily. I’m the only one who takes him on my finger and scratches his head. Des and Travis have great respect for the finger cruncher attached to the front of his head.

The parrots certainly keep us entertained. Pretty talks the hind leg off a donkey and recently acquired the habit of interjecting "Jaaaaa!" (South-African "yes") in exactly the right places of our conversations with each other. The latest addition to its repertoire is,"You must be nice to me!"
Apart from his whistles and calls, Koos has learnt to wave and say "bye-bye" and gives me a good night-kiss every night. When left too long in the morning, he starts calling, "Come!... Come!"

They all take turns sitting on my shoulder or on the perch next to my computer while I work or paint during the day. Night time they all get covered up and Strawbs has a special hanging blanket in her cage which she likes to cuddle underneath.

Every now and again Des threatens to buy a Macaw, Cockatoo or some other parrot, under strong objections from my side. But who knows - the bird family may still grow!