Our birds are a Hahn’s Macaw (green) named Percy and a Crimson Lory (red) named Rosy. Percy is 9 years old and Rosy is 4.

They've been together since Rosy was hatched but it was only about 6 months ago that Rosy started getting on Percy's perch at dinner time. Since then they have been spending more and more time together.

We caught this moment recently when they were on Rosy's play cage at dinner. We looked up and found them preening each other. It's a Christmas moment!!

We thought it was something to share.

Thanks,
Jan and Larry Hitchens

Hi we are Jackie(JJ) and Pearl. The only reason I am called Jackie is because the vet said I was a girl. She was very wrong. Pearl is my mate. We have been together a short time and can’t be apart. I am very protective of her and tend to attack anyone touching her. It is sad but true. There are several birds here with me such as another male Cockatiel in the cage next to me, And a pair of Parakeets.

I was bought at a pet store, and my mate from a breeder. We are very lucky to have very caring and Loving owners.

I am off to bite a couple of people and get into an argument with my mate.

Jackie

Heather M.
St. Louis, Mo

Hello my name is Edward.  I am 12 years old. I have 2 small parakeets,the blue one is named Petie and the yellow one is named Skippy. When my parents bought me my birds I was very excited and I named them, and then I started playing with them. At first they were scared to sit on me but after about two weeks they got used to me and then they started liking me, and I began to trust them and I let them fly around the house because they want some freedom to. I really like my birds.

Edward

This is my Sunny. He is so enjoyable and so fun to watch and play with. He loves to give kisses and he talks as well.

I first met Sunny at a ladies home where I bought my African Gray. He was just a baby and she laid him in my hand and it was love at first sight.  I brought him home that day. Since then, it is a bond between bird and woman.

I am constantly giving him new wooden toys to play with. He likes tocut them off at the top and then lay on the floor of his cage on his back and lift them up and down like he is weight lifting.  He doesn't seem like a bird he seems like a little person with feathers who has his own little personality.

Diane H
Pa.

This is Bert. He is a very shy bird but he LOVES women!! And Doesn’t care much for guys! He always flies to my mom's customers and "talks" to them. He also imitates your laugh and talks to you in his own way! That’s my BERT!!

George S.

I lost the love of my life on one horrible day. I was beside myself when my special green wing passed away. I didn’t know what to do with myself filled with sadness. I did a search and found a pet store that actually had a 5-week-old baby blue and gold Macaw for sale. Not having a clue what I was getting myself into I went there and bought her. The bad thing was, I didn't realize all the work and methods of hand feeding. Luckily she had her down feathers so I didn’t have to use a heating pad.

This little creature was amazing, she kept me very busy with her feedings, I know I needed to let her sleep, but I just couldn’t stop watching her. I was just in awe. I know I was an over protective mom, worrying about every little thing. Thank goodness for the a few of the message boards and a couple of new friends who have helped me through thick and thin. I was not taught the correct way of hand feeding, And thank God I did research.

My baby, from what I heard was a little under-developed. So of course I started to worry though her weight was fine. Then I noticed alittle weight loss and some coughing, one night I heard the rattling in her chest. I didn’t sleep one wink all night. I got her in immediately to the vet, this poor sweetheart at 8 weeks old had pneumonia (pseudomonas) and enterobactera infections The vet said it was nothing that I did, that more than likely it came from the pet store. I don’t know, but the antibiotics worked. I didn’t let this sweety out of my site. Skye has been a heart-filler and has helped with the pain of my loss. Now she is 21 weeks old, still a little thin, still hand feeding, But she is alive and well and her personality steals my heart. I can't leave the room without her following me. She loves me so much, and the way her eyes look at me, brings tears to my eyes. She is now talking, and beginning to nibble on her own food. And down to one hand feeding a day. She is slowly weaning.

She loves to hug me and lay on my chest cuddled up with me. It breaks my heart to think that the pet store was so willing to sell a young baby to someone who really wasn’t sure what she was doing. Thank God I got her, had the money to treat her, and learn the proper way, I shudder to think what would have happened if someone else bought her. I love little Skye with all of my heart. We saved each other’s life in the end.

Nikki

Beau was a gift to me from my husband Mel. He hatched on December 19, 2002 and came to live with us on March 28, 2003. Because photography is my hobby I immediately started taking photographs of Beau, who seemed to enjoy the attention and appeared to pose as soon as he saw the camera. When Beau was about six months old I received notice of a parrot photo contest and my husband immediately encouraged me to submit one of my photos. Since by this time I had almost one hundred photos and only one could be submitted, I asked my husband to help me pick one out. Together, we selected one and I submitted it to the contest.

A few days later my husband developed an unexplained high fever. The next week was spent trying to have the reason for the fever diagnosed, it was a roller coaster ride, and being told it was caused by one thing after another. Finally, he was put in the hospital, over night, for testing. Early the next morning, I received a call from the hospital informing me that my husband of forty-years had arrested and was dead.

By this time, I had completely forgotten about my entry in the photo contest. So, it was a grand surprise when I notified that Beau was one of twelve parrots selected for the calendar. When my preview calendar arrived, I opened it with much anticipation. There for the month of January was the photo of an African Grey and then I flipped to February and there was our Beau! Seeing him, made me tear up, for you see, the coincidence was just too much. February was my husband’s birth month!

During those early days of mourning, Beau seemed to sense my sorrow and seemed to go out of his way to show off his acrobatic skills and to call out loudly to me “Mama, Mama”! When I would answer by saying “I hear you, Beau”. He would add, “Love you, Mama”. He would make me smile and eventually even laugh, this precious little parrot kept me sane, he made noise in our quiet house, he gave me someone to talk to, he made me laugh and he told me he loved me!

Beau is developing into a very good talker. When he wants a bath, he will say “Want to take a bath”, when he’s ready to go to bed, he will look over at me and say “It’s time to go nite, nite” and if he wants a treat, he was clearly and loudly say “Want a nutri-berrie”? Most mornings, I sit by his cage as I drink my morning coffee and I tape him talking. He loves to share my wheat toast and will remind me by saying “want a bite”. Since he’s most vocal in the mornings, already, I am accumulating hours of tape of him talking. While he calls me Mama or Babe, he calls himself BoBo. He is very smart and calls our dog by her name, Ginger, and my daughter’s dog by her name Sammi. In fact, he’s in love with Sammi and will often tell her “Sammie, gimme a kiss”. He also looks after Ginger. Each morning he will ask, “Where’s Ginger”? And when he sees her will ask “Ginger, you want to go outside”? It is not surprising that often I find myself in conversation with Beau.

When I count my blessings, I am grateful for the gifts from my husband, the years I shared with him, our daughter, Lisa and our son, Clark, and for a very special Red Bellied parrot named Beau.

Gloria P.

Samantha S.

I have a little lovebird "Mango" she's crazy and is always getting into things when I'm not looking! Well, she's gotten into our printer when we're not there and chews on the wires! She's ruined three already!

She also has a "blanket" that she loves to carry around and won't go anywhere with out it. Whenever you say the word "blanket", she comes flying to you and gives you kisses so she can have her blanket.

Katrina :)

Robert O.

She's certainly a little devil that tries to get away with a lot and definitely knows that it's wrong. As soon as I get up and say "no, no" she'll turn and run back to her cage or perch.

She's also associated shoes with leaving so whenever someone in the house puts their sneakers on she'll say "buh bye" and when it's time to go to bed she'll say "nite, nite", whether it's letting you know she's ready to go to bed or just to wish you goodnight.

She is certainly the biggest bundle of joy in my life!

Description of photo attached:
Cleopatra hanging and playing with one of her favorite toys.... a shoe string!

Valerie D.

I rotate his toys often to keep him from becoming bored with them. He will often choose to spend hours at a time in a cardboard box chewing and playing in it as if it was his special fort. I try to keep one on top of his cage on his playtop. He picks his favorite toy which again, was not designed for birds. It is empty water bottle.

I constantly purchase new hanging and foot toys that he adores. however, he would rather make his own choices and play with his boxes and bottles which he considers his companion friend.

He will hold a bottle in his claw for the longest time then raise his foot and admire it, then continue to hold it. He often goes to sleep at night holding it close by as if it were his dear friend.

Jean A.

My story is not cute but a story of love and devotion.

I have a Nanday Conure named Zorro. He has been with me six years now. I knew from the minute I picked him up as a baby that he was mine, heart and soul. In February of 2003 tragedy struck. Zorro jumped at our umbrella cockatoo Tyler. She grabbed him by the head and fractured his skull in two places. When I picked him up him from the floor he went into seizures and I did not have much hope for his survival. I called my vet and he rushed to meet us. I thought he would just end my Zorro's suffering, but surprisingly he wanted to give this little bird a chance.

Zorro was in intensive care four days. He was being tube fed and medicated but not really responding to anything. On the fifth day the vet asked me to meet him at the clinic to talk about Zorro. He said he thought Zorro was almost blind and still not really responsive. When he opened up the carrier with Zorro in it, I knelt down and called his name. Zorro slowly started moving his head and wobbled up onto one leg. the vet smiled in surprise and said I think this bird needs to go home. Zorro stayed two more days with the vet while I learned how to tube feed and give injections.

When I first took Zorro home I was scared I might not be doing the right thing. The vet could not even guess how much Zorro would recover. But after one day I could see that Zorro was as determined to recover As I was to see him recover, He knew exactly who I was and wanted to be held by me constantly. When I put him down he would cry like a baby bird. Yet he quickly started down his road to recovery. With in a few weeks he was drinking and eating on his own.

Our biggest problem was a mound of bone beside Zorro's eye. The vet had to do plastic surgery to cover the bone using a fish net technique on Zorro’s scalp. At this point Zorro is blind in one eye and has a leg that is slightly weaker. He is a quiet nanday now and very rarely screams. Mentally he is sharp and he is physically active. He is a normal happy Nanday who has a good quality to his life. I thank God for his recovery, but I also know a lot of it had to do with the special love Zorro and I have for each other
and Zorro’s strong determination to stay on earth with me.

Attached are pictures of Zorro just before, just after and months after his plastic surgery.

Lynda L.