How many of us have had an, "If I'd known then what I know now, I might have done _____ different" moment? I sure have!
This thread would be perfect reading for anyone who's considering getting a parrot, and wants to know what "real life" is like with one. Share your thoughts and stories here - and let it all hang out - the good, the bad and the ugly. If someone gets a bird after reading all of the stories we have to share, they should be doing it with their eyes open!
I'll start with some good.
I never knew I was a "bird person." My mother saw the movie, The Birds, by Alfred Hitchcock, when it was in the theater. It instilled a life-long fear of birds in her. As a result, my exposure to birds was very limited while I was growing up. My first "bird encounter" occurred when I was attacked by barn swallows that had been nesting in our car-port in Oklahoma. I was so young I don't remember it, but my mother tells the story well of the time she protected her girls from the huge flock of barn swallows with her husbands 16 ga. shotgun. If you knew my mother you'd know why that story is really funny. That was followed by the time we bird-sat a canary for a friend and my mother, in an attempt to get water out of the food dish, took the cage (with the bird in it) outside and turned it upside-down and shook it. *Sigh* The bird escaped. My mom had to go buy another yellow canary so my friend didn't cry when she got home. And finally, that was followed by years and years of Mockingbirds dive-bombing us every time we walked out our front door. That would last for about six to eight weeks every spring. Mockingbirds are very territorial when they're sitting on eggs and raising their young. You should know that: 1) Mockingbirds have very sharp beaks, 2) very large red and white umbrella's do not seem to provide much protection from the very sharp beaks, and 3) even the neighborhood cats were very scared of these birds and their beaks.
So when my daughter brought home a budgie one day, the first words out of my mouth were, "TWO DAYS, then it's GONE!" If I'd had any idea how prophetic my words would be, I'd have never spoken them. It didn't take me 12 hours to fall in love with that little bird. The next morning, I'd gone shopping to buy it a new (larger) cage and far more toys. She was beautiful. On the second morning we woke up to find her dead in the bottom of that new cage. I'd never fallen in love with anything (barring my children) so hard so fast, and her death left a hole in me I didn't know what to do with. That was the beginning of my life with birds.
Through a series of events, I now have two birds, Bucky and JJ. I love them with my whole heart. I had no idea birds had such amazingly wonderful personalities as well as the ability to form such strong connections with people. In reality they are my first birds, and everything I know, I've learned "on the job." Despite what I've heard, JJ at least is very forgiving of my mistakes. Bucky? Not so much. Maybe it's because I got JJ as a baby and I'm all she's ever really known. Bucky is a rehome, and though he was only about a year old, he had some experience with someone else and had formed a relationship with them before me.
Every day with them is an adventure:
The mess. OMG, the mess! The feathers, the poop, the food all over the place, the chewed wood, the chewed paper, the feathers, the poop,...
It's a good thing I'm not an OCD neat person or I'd go crazy!
Then there's the noise. I had no idea Bucky would be a noisy as he is... he quacks, be squawks, he bawks, he talks, he calls, he jabbers, and sometimes he growls and purrs. JJ? In the morning she calls me to get her out of bed. Oh, and she grinds her beak. That's about it for her! LOL
The food - I didn't know they needed more than bird seed. My birds eat better than I do, I cook more for them than I do for myself.
Did you know you can't pet birds? It's sexually stimulating to them. That takes some getting used to, but is really important to remember - and to teach your family.
And birds bite. And nip. And beak. You have to be able to tell the difference and not react to any of it lest you become a human squeaky toy.
The worms. I'll not even go there. You can thank me for it later.
The plucking.
The molting.
The flying or not flying...
Having a bird isn't like it is in the movie. They're messy, loud, hormonal pains in the butt much of the time. But I can say this... it's a good thing I didn't know then what I know now. Because if I had known, I might not have gotten my birds, and I can't imagine my life without them.
Subject: Life with a parrot: The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth 
Tue Aug 09, 2011 2:08 am
