For the birds

As I was resting on the sofa in the family room this afternoon, I heard a crunching noise and realized that both of our birds were eating, even though they are in separate cages. I don't know whether it was because it was time for them to eat or whether they liked to eat together. We have two birds: Wally, a cockatiel, and Paco, a golden-collared mini macaw.

We got Wally for Chelsea and originally thought the bird was a boy (thus the name). We realized that it was a girl when one day I looked in her cage and saw an egg on the floor. I was amazed because I thought that you had to have a male and female for this to happen, which obviously was not the case. Eventually the poor bird had 12 eggs, which she attempted to sit on and cover with the wings. We felt sorry for her since the eggs would never turn into baby cockatiels and started sneaking them out of her cage. Wally quit laying eggs, but she still is very affectionate and watches me carefully, climbing up her cage when I come near. I open up the top and stick my hand in and she nuzzles up against it, closes her eyes and gives me little bird kisses.



Paco, the mini macaw, has been with us about seven years. He has a beautiful green coat and a blue undercoat and he can say a couple of dozen words pretty clearly. However, he only talks when Chelsea is around, then he lets loose with a string of words: hello, goodbye, peekaboo, woo, etc. He will even put his head into his food bowl and talk sometimes, making a weird echoing noise. Paco is very smart, but also cantankerous. When we first got him he seemed friendly, but now if I get near his cage, he comes toward me with an open beak like he is going to bite me. Usually when Ron gets him out, he flies over to the dining room table and then runs around it on the floor followed by Ron until he is caught. He will ride docilely on Ron's shoulder, but he doesn't look like he enjoys it.