Please send me your "Parrot Tale!"
Tell me how your life got started with parrots,
and I'll post it here for the world to see!

If you want to submit a photo, please attach it to your Parrots Tale!
EMAIL TO:
goldie_web@yahoo.com

My Parrot's Tale Yes that's me, Rosita, with my very 1st parrot!     It's my parakeet, Cookie! I was almost 6 years old and it was the christmas season. Just another ordinary day at home just before bedtime. My parents were fussing over taking a picture of our pretty parakeet on my finger. Our beautiful parakeet was completely white and her name was cookie. I really didn't know what the fuss was about. I was already in my pajamas when they insisted I take a picture with cookie. They decided I should sit on the couch and they would put cookie on my finger. I liked the idea until cookie got on my finger.....and ouch did those little claws hurt. The picture was taken. It's an old black and white photo, and I simply love it. Cookie was much more adorable than I was. And that's how my love for parakeets began. It was completely my parents fault, and I am so grateful. As I grew older all parakeet responsibilities were mine. My siblings weren't as happy to see them as I was when we got home from school. It was my duty to call them "silly babies" whenever they made the food tray fall to the floor. Yeah, I cleaned their cages, and let them fly around my room while I did my homework. Only problem was getting them back in the cage when it was time for me to have dinner. I wouldn't leave them alone knowing all to well that they would seek out all the things I did not let them gnaw on the minute I walked out. Gosh, it was hard getting them back in the cage. Eventually, they'd fly back home. As a teenager, I was able to buy the parakeets on my own and sneak them into the apartment we lived in New York . Of course, my mom always knew what was in that little box in my jacket. It was ANOTHER PARAKEET and to her it meant "more mess"! I usually kept 4 keets at a time. When I moved into my own place, I was FREE...and my flock grew to about 25 parakeets. I now had a home to myself, and was able to live my dream and breed my parakeets, without having to hear my mother's disapproval. She simply didn't understand that one or two parakeets were just not enough! Yet, I wasn't very lucky with parakeets breeding until my brother brought parakeets for his children. They began to breed and I was so jealous. So he promised he'd give me two parakeets that would definitely breed for me. I was thrilled the day I got home from work to find my two new keets. I named them Pilot and Copilot. They were the beginning of my new journey breeding keets. There was a slight problem though. You see, as baby keets I didn't know what gender they were. It turned out my brother had given me two female keets. What now? Luckily, two of my other keets were male, and they took one look at those lovely green keets and fell instantly in love. So up the breeding boxes went, and to my amazement, they each chose a separate breeding box at opposite ends of their very large cage. Both pairs of parakeets started breeding at the same time. I knew my brother wouldn't let me down. Pilot and Copilot were both green. One male keet was green and yellow, and the other male keet was blue and white. When I saw the first egg in the box I was so thrilled to know a baby was growing! Seventeen days later, in the early morning hour, I heard a tiny little chirping noise and I knew the baby was ready to come out of the egg. Since they were in the breeding box, I couldn't see anything going on inside, but the noises allowed me to follow the process of the egg breaking and baby appearing! I'M A MOMMY!! I showed all my family members the babies, and of course, they thought they were "sort of...ugly"….big head, little body, and no feathers. But what do they know? Once their feathers came in they were in love with them! Who on earth could resist such adorable parakeets? So that was the beginning of my life as the "bird lady" in the neighborhood. I sold the keets to a local Pet Shop. It made me feel good to know other people could enjoy these little feathered beauties. Pilot just wouldn't stop breeding! She had clutches of 5 or 6 eggs one after the other. I loved each time a bird was born. It was my private moment of "the miracle of life" each time a keet was born. Pilot was an excellent mother. Never leaving her clutch, keeping them warm and nourished. She loved breeding. Copilot had one clutch of 4 keets....and one only! She was a good mommy, but I had to clean up the babies twice a day because that box was a mess. Then she just stopped breeding on her own. That was fine with me because Pilot just kept on going. Eventually, I took the box away, and with much dislike, she stopped breeding. My Pilot died a year or two later, and to my surprise, I still have Copilot. She's such a good keet. She's now 15 years old, and the best gift my brother ever gave me. He told me with so much confidence that they will breed....and breed they did! Although I have other birds, Parakeets have always been my favorite! They're small, colorful, playful, and filled with so much energy! People say I'm obsessed with birds and they're right! I don't know if this makes any sense, but I must've been a bird in a previous life…that's my only explanation for my enormous love of birds! Rosita Mercado

My Parrot's Tale: By Karen Hahn I got my start 3 years ago. started when I went to my friends candle lite party. and the end of the party her daughter, had two pet's she was giving away. so I told her I will take the lovebird. it was strange because, just not less that a year ago. my husband had bought me Two birdcages. and I had no birds. they were used, but! we bought them for a great price. one was for a larger size parrot. the other was a flight cage. so I had brought him home with me. at the time her name was Archie. she was told she was a he. then about 20 days later, I went and bought me another lovebird. "female". and they got along great! then there was a little to much eggs for one bird. well that prompted me to buy two more lovebirds "males" and now I have and Aviary of lovebirds... one Cherry headed conure, budgies, red rumped parrots, and cockatiels! I have always been exposed to birds. my husband used to raise roller pigeons. and my daughter always had cockatiels, and budgies... Birds are very addictive!! I think I need to quit collecting though. because even though, the majority of birds, are outside. there are still the ones inside. and they can be loud at times. but at least they do sleep through the night! and that is my story... Live ~ Love ~ Laugh Karen

My Parrot's Tale: By Kelly, from Connecticut Here is how my life got started with parrots: My husband and I have always been animal lovers. We have 1 dog. It was my husband's birthday and we were spending the day together. We were to be married in the near future, and I had 1 errand to do at the shoe store. I didn't want him to see my wedding shoes, so he went into the pet store next-door in the plaza. There was a parakeet in a cage with a sign that read "7 year old male. Friendly. $30 including cage." The parakeet jumped right up onto his finger. So, especially with it being his birthday and all, I bought it for him. It was a very cool little bird. My husband's mother never let him have pets growing up, and I already had my dog (now our dog) when I met him, so this was officially "his" first pet. He named the parakeet "Tiki." I had a coworker who loved birds, and had 12 of her own. She would tell me funny stories about them. I found it very cute and fascinating, and that is probably what sparked my interest in birds other than parakeets. Five months after getting Tiki, a Sun Conure at the pet store caught my eye. He was clinging to the front of the cage staring at me. It was weird that he seemed to connect with me, and that I was drawn to him with all of the other birds in the store... he was kind of set back and not in a central location. The sign on his cage reflected that he hatched the day after our wedding. I thought about this bird for a week after seeing him. Fully understanding the commitment you take on when you adopt or purchase a bird, we researched Sun Conures for over a week. While they are certainly not the right choice for everybody due to their extremely loud, high pitched screams, etc., my husband and I decided that it was right for us. We both are extremely patient and love all animals. The clown-like personality of the Sun Conure won us over. We adopted him and named him "Rico." He was 3.5 months old at the time. Tiki and Rico quickly became friends. Unfortunately, 5 months later, Tiki died. He had a tumor. We only had Tiki for 10 months, but we were devastated. My husband lost his first pet. Rico was now 8.5 months old. Not even a full week after Tiki died, my cousin found a parakeet in a busy hospital parking lot. It needed a home. It seemed like fate and we definitely wanted to keep him. I brought him straight to the vet just in case he was sick or contagious; I didn't want Rico to catch anything from him. While I was at the vet with this new parakeet, I saw a flyer for 2 birds who needed a home. A Sun Conure and a Hahn's Macaw. It said they shared a cage, were the best of friends, had good personalities, but due to a new baby they were no longer getting the attention that they deserved. They were 5 years old. I thought it was crazy to even consider it, but I brought the flyer home and talked about it with my husband. Again, it is not the right choice for everyone, and I urge everybody to please make sure you understand the commitment when you take home a bird, but for us, it was the right decision and we decided to adopt them. Their names are Maestro & Hahnsie. So we then had 4 birds (all within 1 year): A parakeet, 2 Sun Conures, and a Hahn's Macaw. Because the 3 bigger birds hang out on our shoulders, etc., the parakeet would get lonely when we'd all leave the room. So we got him a parakeet friend. They are now best friends. Their names are Louis & Pinot. We now have 5 birds... and that is our story! It definitely took time (and patience!) to get a routine going. A routine is very important for them and for you. It's been 3 years now and we absolutely love them. It is A LOT of work, but we find it rewarding and we enjoy it. They are good boys (most of the time!)    ;o) "You get out of it what you put into it." ~Kelly from CT~ P.S. You can find pictures of all five of our babies in Bird Bytes Photo Gallery 5

My Parrot's Tale: By Marcia Stewart I've always been enthralled with birds. My mother always had a canary. When I married, my mother in law had a parrot of some type. She didn't know what kind it was but looking back I think it may have been a conure and she had canaries as well. I started with Budgies, just one at a time. My then husband was not into having birds around. Years later I got my first cockatiels then some budgies and decided to try my hand at breeding them. My goodness, they were all prolific breeders. I now have an aviary with cockatiels and a cage with only two Budgies. I got some Zebra finches and I guess we all know they are practically like rabbits. I soon had to separate the males from the females. I also have a Green Singing finch that is 14 yrs. old. I got him and a hen all those long years ago. Unfortunately the hen flew out of the cage and crashed into a window and broke her neck. Sad day for me and Freddie, her mate. I was not able to locate another one so he has his own place now next to my canary (separate cages). They are now trying to out sing one another! Very cheerful. I also have MaiTai, my Goffin's cockatoo, who is the most amusing bird. I got him from my daughter who was breeding a lot of parrots at the time and I finished hand feeding him. He is also 14 yrs. old. I got him and the Green singers at the same time. He still calls for our Cocker Spaniel, Cody, who passed away several years ago. We have three other dogs and he calls them all Cody!! He talks a lot and knows what he's talking about. When I'm covering my birds at night, he says to me, Give my kissa. He always adds an A to the end of kiss. Or he says I want my kissa, in a very demanding tone of voice. When I give him his bath he say, Yeah, baba. Meaning baby. He sounds Italian. Too funny. Anyway I'm a senior in my 70's now and keep saying, No more birds. But I have my eye on a lovely yellow canary with black circles around his eyes, who I would name Bandit, of course. He may be my Christmas present to myself. Lol! All in all I have 11 cockatiels, 1 Goffins, 2 Budgies, 3 Zebra finches, 2 Society finches, 1 Green Singing finch and my canary, Buttercup. They are a lot of work but I love them to pieces. Marcia Stewart

My Parrot's Tale: By Cathy Tatum I was raised with animals. I had a pet goose when I was a child that would lay in my lap until he grew up. I never really thought about having a bird at anytime during my adult life. My son was 11 when I got remarried after 16 years of my first marriage. I could not have anymore children. My new husband is a saint. I wanted a baby so badly. We were on a 3 day weekend trip to Branson MO. with my son on Labor day. A pet store there had 3 parrots that were on a tree stand that caught my eye. I had never even held a bird but always thought they were fascinating from a distance. There was a nanday, sun conure and a quaker. After visiting the store oh a dozen or more times playing with the birds we had to leave. On our way home I told my husband I want that bird. We immediately called the store and they had already sold the sun conure. I had them hold the quaker till we could get back which was about 3 weeks. During those 3 weeks I read and studied anything and everything I could regarding quaker parrots. I was so excited when we picked him up. Of course he was scared but was still sweet. He didn't want anything to do with me at first but I was a little skiddish myself kind of like once you have a baby then what?? On the way home I named him Ruffles because he ruffles his feather all the time. This little green bird very quickly became my Baby that I couldn't have. He is so smart within 2 or 3 weeks he was talking and he was only 6 months old. He now has a vocabulary of about 60 or so words and phrases. He even uses the right words at the right times. I have had him for 2 years now and when I am home he is either on my shoulder or on his cage in the same room that I am. If I go out of the room he squawks. He eats with me. He showers with me. When the weather permits he goes places with me. He even goes on vacations with us. One year later I was in Petco and a little Green Cheek Conure caught my eye. She would roll over and let you pet her belly. I took her home and gave her to my husband. He had become a little jealous cause Ruffles is very protective of Momma. Her name is Jade. She loves my husband most days but is very unpredictable and some days she only wants me. She rides around in my husbands shirt with her little head sticking out and hanging on with her feet. About a year after that we adopted a Indian Ringneck named Melon. He was 4 months old and had been tortured by a little girl. He is still afraid of hands and probably always will be but he will step up and loves to take a shower and give kisses and talks up a storm. After, having these 3 birds I decided that I wanted to raise birds. I choose Quakers because their personalities are the greatest in my opinion. I now have 6 breeder Quakers that live with us in a spare bedroom. They are all sweet. So therefore, my wanting a baby turned into 9 babies total (parrots that is) 3 pets and 6 breeders!! They are my children and without them I would go nuts. When I am away from home I can't wait to get back to see my Ruffles! He is the sweetest creature that I think God put on this earth! This is my story! By Cathy Tatum

MY PARROT'S TALE:   By Pat Leveling As long as I can remember I have loved birds. I got my first budgie at age 9, and have had at least one birds with me ever since. We have had lots of budgies (all of them talked!) two cockatiels (one lived with us for 22 years!) and we now have a Pacific parrotlet. He's a talker too and a little clown. I am 60 years young and can't really imagine life at our house without" birdie noises". I belong to 2 bird forums and visit them each day. By Pat Leveling

Tell me how your life with parrots got started, and I'll post it here for the world to see!

If you want to submit a photo, please attach it to your Parrots Tale! EMAIL TO:
goldie_web@yahoo.com

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