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I_drake
Just hatched
Joined: 06 Sep 2005
Posts: 39
Location: Ontario, Canada |
| Parrots....why? |
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I thought it might be interesting to find out when we had our very first contact with parrots were and why we chose them for companions.
I was very terrified of any kind of bird ever since I went to a girlfriend's house about 18 or so years ago. She and her boyfriend had two birds. I didn't even know they had them at the time. (not sure of the species - tiels maybe) Anyway, I was going over for the night and as soon as I walked through her door I had two birds flying straight at me. It terrifed me and of course the two of them thought it was so funny. I couldn't get my heart to stop pounding. Well these two birds drove me nuts. One insisted on falling asleep in my shirt pocket (he liked blonds so they told me) while the other one kept trying to bite me because he was jealous of the attention his pal was giving me. They followed my everywhere that night. I had to run into my bedroom fast and close the door so they would leave me alone. When I had a shower the next day I had the two of them sitting on the shower rod watching me.  They were very pretty but that was as far as it went for me. As a result of that night I was now petrified of birds...
Many years later, my ex and I were in our usual pet store buying supplies and he had taken a liking to a Quaker they had there. I was very hesitant about getting a bird but I could see he really wanted him. (I found out later that this wasn't his first visit to see the bird ) So I said okay to purchasing him on the basis that I didn't have to handle him, clean up etc... So.... I remember the store manager went to put him in a boxed carrying case and all I heard was "Ouch" from inside the box. I never laughed so hard in my life.. It all started from that moment on for me..... 
Hopefully some of you will share your first experiences with us all. |
Tuesday September 13, 2005 6:00 pm |
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Tai
Fledgeling
Joined: 14 Jul 2005
Posts: 222
Location: Australia ~ NSW |
hehehe, nice remenices Ivy. My first fascination with birds wasn't with a parrot as such. We lived in York (UK) and I had found a blackbird dead sadly in the garden ....I think I already had a fascination with birds but could never get close before they flew away. This one didn't! Aged 5 I wrapped it in a shawl & took it on a day trip to Scarborough, cuddling it all the way .... till my sister told tales on me 
On from there if any chicks fell out of nests I was there ... I adore them all ♥ |
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Wednesday September 14, 2005 12:54 pm |
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I_drake
Just hatched
Joined: 06 Sep 2005
Posts: 39
Location: Ontario, Canada |
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Well... dead or not, the intentions were there right?  And at five years old too!
You know now that you mentioned it, although I was nervous of birds back then, I always managed to help an injured one. (I would drag whoever I could over with me to rescue it ) Of course now I have my neighbours knocking on the door everytime they find a baby bird or whatever in need of help. Now the difference is I deal with it myself
The one thing I find discouraging is that there doesn't seem to be alot of organizations here that will actually help heal an injured bird. The last time I called our wild life organization, after many angry phone calls by me, they finally told me that they would come and get the bird and then when they got to my place they told me that the bird would be put down. I was so crushed! I was told they were non profit blah, blah and unless a vet would treat the bird for free it would be put down.  It was awful.
I would have tried to save the baby bird myself, but I knew I did not have the know how to do it. I tried to do that once before up at our family cottage. My ex found a baby bird that I guess had fallen out of a tree and I tried to save it. We made it a nest, put a small heater in the room to keep him warm and I even crushed up worms , which I absolutely hate, and tried feeding him with a syringe. Suprisingly he did eat when I fed him! He lived three days and I was thinking about bringing him home with me, but on the fourth day he died. I don't think I have ever cried so much. I kept thinking it was my fault. Maybe I fed him too much etc...
Anyway, I guess I'm rambling here.... |
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Wednesday September 14, 2005 2:59 pm |
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shells picasso
Flier
Joined: 29 May 2005
Posts: 900
Location: Sydney |
My grandmother had chickens when I was a kid, I used to play with them, I'd tip them on their back and pat their keel bone till they fell asleep (it hypnotises them) must have looked odd me cradling a bird on its back with its eyes closed blissfully, once I snuck one of them home and put it under my bed, my sister heard clucking and looked under the bed "mum, Shells got a chook under her bed" mum hit the roof, my sister still tells the story. |
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Wednesday September 14, 2005 9:38 pm |
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Tai
Fledgeling
Joined: 14 Jul 2005
Posts: 222
Location: Australia ~ NSW |
Your not rambling Ivy, I love hearing about people & their birds, you've created a good thread
Shell you made me larf cuddling & hypnotising chooks ♥ |
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Wednesday September 14, 2005 9:56 pm |
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Cathy
Kamikaze pilot
Joined: 02 Apr 2005
Posts: 6673
Location: Omaha, NE USA |
Awwww, that's too bad about the baby bird Ivy  But at least you tried.
Shell, I hope the baby chick under the bed made it out safely!
I'm like Tai, I like hearing stories too
I really always been fascinated with birds & how neat they when soaring effortlessly in the sky. So I guess it started with a fascination of flying. Having always been a swimmer, I would always imagine I was flying under the water 
Course now that I live with 2 beautiful birds, I don't get to see them fly like that, but they're still amazing anyway! |
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Wednesday September 14, 2005 10:27 pm |
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I_drake
Just hatched
Joined: 06 Sep 2005
Posts: 39
Location: Ontario, Canada |
| Chicken under the bed? |
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That's a good one I gotta tell the girls at work that one.
I'm glad some people are telling their stories. I find these things interesting and as we've seen already quite funny at times.
Thanks for the laughs and the info...I didn't even know that a chicken could be hypnotized.... |
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Thursday September 15, 2005 1:31 am |
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shells picasso
Flier
Joined: 29 May 2005
Posts: 900
Location: Sydney |
quote:
Originally posted by Cathy
Shell, I hope the baby chick under the bed made it out safely!
It was full grown and quite sedate through the whole thing, I'm not sure if it was the hypnotising or the snails, chooks love grubs, mum took it straight back to grans, it was a female so she had a long life, I nagged mum to let us have a chook pen but she kept saying no so I snuck one back then realised there was nowhere to put her, so I hid her under the bed till I could think of something, except I got caught  |
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Thursday September 15, 2005 8:13 am |
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Chaquita's Mom
Experienced flier
Joined: 29 Jun 2005
Posts: 1028
Location: Pennsylvania, USA |
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My first experience with a bird was when I was about 6 or 7. A baby bird fell out of the tree. It had some feathers, but very few. You could still see it's ugly transparent skin and chubby butt Anyway, I had this cage and kept it in it. I could see through it's skin, in the neck area. it must have had some sort of pouch in it's neck or something because I could see wild berries in it's neck  So, sure enough, I went to pick some wild berries and he ate them willingly. I would play with him in the back yard and one day his mommy flew in and fed him!!! She came daily with food for him and I kept him in his cage at night in the house. Now normaly mothers would reject a bird if it was in contact with a human right? I even tought him how to fly by tossing him gently into the air and catching him to strengthen his wings. Then, one day, sadly, but proudly, he flew onto a branch He grew up. I still to this day don't know what kind of bird he was. His mama was very beautiful. She had quaker colors, but was not a quaker.
I've always had a nack with sick or injured animals even when I was young. I saved a pair of baby dwarf hampsters who's mama was eating her babies These babies were only days old and no bigger than the size of the top of your pinky finger. They both lived I had a parakeet that my mom's cat hooked it with it's claw while it was in flight and put a Q-tip size hold in his chest under his wing. I saved him too. I also had a goldfish that swallowed a stone and got it lodged in his throat, saved.
I really don't know what interrested me in parrots. Their beauty, talents, their freedom and wild untamed spirit. I like exotic animals, not too exotic like lions and tigers and stuff like that. Taking an animal like that out of it's natural environment is not only dangerous but cruel. |
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Thursday September 15, 2005 2:34 pm |
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Cathy
Kamikaze pilot
Joined: 02 Apr 2005
Posts: 6673
Location: Omaha, NE USA |
Oh, what a great & amazing story about the baby bird Chaquitas Mom! I loved it
I too have always had a fascination with exotic animals, even the big ones! It's just so neat to watch them in all their beauty! |
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Thursday September 15, 2005 2:52 pm |
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Cheeta
Moderator
Joined: 06 Apr 2005
Posts: 7956
Location: Australia |
cool stories!!! I love reading them...
I'm not sure, more so can't remember pin point why I decided on birds.. I love birds, have always had fascination for birds, and don't know what it is that just attracts me to them... but mind you, I love all the other furry kinda animals as well!!! even the slimey ones.. hehe
Shell your story about the chooks are all too familiar with me!!! hehe, I used to walk around our yard cradling this little bantam rooster that we had and he would just fall asleep in my arm.. and man the head and neck kinda just go so limp!! It's like a dead chook I'm cradling!! It's too funny!! I still do it actually now with the hens I have when I feel like playing with them!! hehehe. they are so cool!!! |
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Thursday September 15, 2005 4:09 pm |
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I_drake
Just hatched
Joined: 06 Sep 2005
Posts: 39
Location: Ontario, Canada |
Chaquitas's mom... That is truly an amazing story about the baby bird and it is very unusual for the mother to accept this arrangement. You obviously have a way with birds, animals etc... I wish my little bird had lived, although I'm not sure what I would have done with him..... |
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Thursday September 15, 2005 4:51 pm |
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Fluffy Sue
Joined: 13 Jan 2005
Posts: 10063
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Hmmm, this is a nice thread!
I don't know when my fascination began.. Probably it has been there always. My parents had a budgie when I was very young..
But then I became allergic to all kinds of animals, grass, plants etc.. So our budgie had to move to my grandma.
Later, at the age of 16 my sister got a budgie (I walked in the pet store for a long time to find out if I was still allergic) named Dumpy. Dumpy was sooo cute and she woke my 'slumbering' passion for birdies he he he! |
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Friday September 16, 2005 11:04 am |
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koukouvagia
Fledgeling
Joined: 18 May 2005
Posts: 300
Location: Melbourne |
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My interest in parrots started fairly recently actually.. Around this time last year my little brother decided that he really really wanted a pet, and that he wanted a pet bird specifically. So my parents got him a cockatiel, except they bought it from a really bad place, so unfortunately it wasn't hand-raised and wouldn't allow any handling. It was still fun having it around and he really grew up on us. We really hated that he would never come out of his cage so we got his wings clipped and took him for a stroll in the backyard, and very soon found that cockatiels can still fly great with their wings clipped . We searched all neighbouring houses for him but was nowhere to be seen. We were really sad that we lost our friend, it was very soon after my father's death and the bird was the only pleasant thing in my life at that moment. I ended up going to a pet store with my brothers a few hours later that same day and buying my rainbow lorikeet Pepe. Up until then I'd never even realized that parrots could be so tame and friendly and unbearably cute. Pepe just amazed me and I completely fell in love with parrots from that day! Having an adorable bird to care for also helped enourmously with dealing with the horrible state of my life at the time. Now I can't imagine not having a parrot in my life, and I don't think it'll ever happen from now on . So there, that's my story . |
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Friday September 16, 2005 4:03 pm |
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Cathy
Kamikaze pilot
Joined: 02 Apr 2005
Posts: 6673
Location: Omaha, NE USA |
Awwww, that's too bad about the 'tiel But I'm so glad that things have worked out with you & Pepe, he certainly is a beauty & seems like such a little character!
They really do seem to brighten things up during "troubling" times, don't they? They say that watching fish will calm people, or help during times of depression, but I think birds help immensely! They always seem to make you smile |
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Friday September 16, 2005 6:07 pm |
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