My Little Senegal Parrot

My Little Senegal Parrot
I developed Fibromyalgia after a car accident in 2002. My life has changed drastically since then. I eventually had to leave my job in Nov. of 2003 due to my illness. In Sept. before I left, I was at work one day, struggling though, when one of my friends came and told me a bird had flown into the window. She came to me because she knew how much I loved animals. I went to the window on the second floor and as soon as I saw the bird I knew it wasn’t meant to be in the wild. It was the pretty green you see on a parakeet. I pecked on the glass with my fingernail and it acted like it was trying to come inside. I went downstairs, out the door and looked up two stories at it. It was on the ledge and I started talking to it. I said things like “Hey Birdie”, etc…and after I starting saying “Pretty Bird”, it seemed to respond to me. After a few attempts to fly down, it finally did and it landed on my head. I stood there and wondered, is this little thing going to peck my face off, or chow on my finger when I put my hand up. I stood for a few minutes and then figured I better try something or I would loose it. So I raised my finger up to it, and it climbed on, leaving my finger intact. I started walking to the door while talking softly to it. Once I got inside the receptionist asked, “How did you do that?” There were several people in the waiting room, and I think they were very shocked to see me walk in with a bird on my head. I asked one of the receptionist’s if she would mind if it sat on her shoulder while I went and bought a cage etc…She agreed. And when I got back with all the supplies, it was still just sitting there looking around. I put food and water in the cage and lined the bottom with some paper. I held up my finger and it gently stepped on. When I put it in the cage it went with no problems, and it went for the water right away. I had to get back to work as my lunch hour was up, so I left it there with the girls in the reception room. At the end of the day, they told me the poor little thing had slept most of the time. I went and pulled my car to the front of the building, and one of the girls helped me get everything into my car. The bird rode in the car well, and seemed to enjoy the ride.
Once I got it home and situated in my room, it stayed very quiet, and I tried to search for what kind of bird I had found. I thought it to be a Conure. I put an ad in the paper on Sunday, and watched the papers for a month. I tried not to get to attached to it, because if someone claimed it, it would hurt to let it go. After searching for a month I decided I would keep it. I wasn’t sure I had enough time for a bird, but I figured what I could give was better then being out there trying to survive in the wild.
At first I mostly talked to it, and made sure it was comfortable. It slowly started to make little noises here and there. It liked slow easy music, and eventually would carry on bird chatter conversations with me. I would repeat what it whistled or sang, and we would go on till it got tired. I spend a lot of time in bed from my illness and it is such a nice thing to have the little thing to talk to. It even started talking and saying words, but they were very hard to understand. I went ahead and subscribed to Bird Talk magazine and low and behold the very first issue I got had it’s picture in it, and that is when I found out I had a Senegal Parrot. From what I have researched I believe it to be a she. And she and I have become very good friends. She was named Widdle. I called her “widdle bird” all the time, so I just named her Widdle.
This little bird has so much personality it is just amazing. She can be a little tyrant, or the sweetest thing in the world. Respecting that it is by nature a wild bird, and that it is basically like a little toddler, has helped me adjust to her moods. She bends her head down for a scratch, and then bites my finger when I go to scratch her. Then she laughs loud and clear. That’s her way of telling me she wants to play, and play she does. She loves to try to catch your finger, and she likes to sit on my head and play with my hair, and if I have a hair clip in, it will end up as her toy. She loves certain toys and if you take them away, expect a bite. She spends her days in the living room in her day cage, with my Mom and her friend. I have had to move back home since I am unable to work now. My Mom and her friend get a kick out of her too, and she gets lots of treats and attention.
She laughs along with everyone, and when mealtime comes she better be included. On days when I have to stay in bed, she chats off and on all day with me. I have started to be able to understand some of her words and just recently I taught her to say Peek-a-boo. I was so happy when she said it. She also says, “Hey Baby, Can you hear me, Hey birdie, Pretty birdie”, and the rest I haven’t figured out yet. Her speech isn’t clear like some breeds of birds that are better at talking, but she gets an “A” for trying. I am working on Hello, as she rings the phone all the time. She will only talk in my room, and seems to be so shy about talking in front of other people. One day I got her to say Peek-a-boo in front of my family, but it was hardly audible.
I don’t clip her wings because I believe a bird should be able to fly for exercise. She gets to come out after dinner many days and fly and play. She does tend to bite everyone except me, as we have bonded so well. So when she comes out of her cage it is a ritual that the hats come out as well. She will fly to my Mom, or her friend’s hat, and sit on top on their head for awhile, but eventually she gets into mischief by trying to grab their glasses, or peck an eyebrow. My Mom is in a rocker and she seems to like to rock gently while sitting on her head. When she is in her day cage, she will be doing just fine till everyone leaves the room, then she gets very upset. She doesn’t like it when there is no one in the room. I always tell her I’ll be back when I leave a room, and she seems to understand that now. This I learned from Bird Talk Magazine tips, and it seems to help her as she has learned that I always come back.
She has developed a very good appetite. Her favorite are corn, Lima beans, and loves the pods in a long bean. Guess who gets to sit and pick them out for her. She also likes sesame bran chips, apples, grapes, cherries, papaya, and plums. On occasion she gets the soft bread inside a biscuit, and some crust from a pizza, and only once in awhile a little piece of piecrust. I am afraid it would be too much fat for her little body to eat more. She is so spoiled and gets all the good foods from the pet stores for birds.
She takes a bath from her water dish about once a week, and I take her out and use a washcloth to dry her off some. At first she disliked this, but now is getting used to it and knows it is coming. I keep a heating blanket over her cage and she stays toasty all the time. She’ll climb into the top where it is the warmest and sleep. She never pecks at the blanket or chews it. She can bite pretty hard if she doesn’t get her way, or is mad, but I am not afraid of her little beak and she knows it. Every night she gets special time alone with me before she goes into her night cage. She starts clucking and puffing her feathers, which also leads me to believe that she is a she. I used to have a white dove that did the same thing, and went through the egg laying and all. I used the fake eggs until she was finished her sitting. I had her for 8 years, and she was found in a parking lot and brought to me. When she was found she had been dyed bright yellow from her neck down, and I thought I had this very exotic bird. Slowly she became a young white dove, and was a very good pet. Very tame and loving. Except when I tried to get her a friend. She would have pecked it to death had I not separated them.
Widdle likes to do summer saws, play with her toys, and hang upside down. She likes to do the rock upside down in her cage before she goes to sleep too, and I have to rock with her or she won’t be happy. She also loves to lie in the crook of my arm and be scratched, but she feels very vulnerable here and only does it when no one is around and it is very calm and safe, usually in the evening in my room. She isn’t too crazy about being down low. Sometimes she will chew on my slippers while they are on my feet, but she is very wary and climbs back up after just a couple minutes. She loves soft materials, like fleece to chew on, and she has discovered the tissue roll. I hang one in her cage with a little tissue left on it and it is shredded in no time. It is one of the cheapest toys I have found. She also loves to ride in the car in the warm weather hanging upside down in her cage.
One thing about Widdle is she scares so easy, and starts trembling. Things that scare her are things you wouldn’t even dream of. She was terrified of a tissue, but now, it is one of her favorite toys, and I call it “Achoo”. She also scares of reflecting chrome of pots and pans, the vacuum, uncovered light bulbs/bright lights, loud noises, large objects, something different, and sometimes I never know what does it. It is amazing, she can be so brave and such a little beast, and then suddenly be terrified and trembling. I tuck her under my neck and hold her till she stops shaking, and when she settles down she climbs out onto my shoulder ready to face what is next.
Her personality couldn’t be more varied than any person I know. I feel very lucky to have found her and am glad she is safe and warm. I am not sure everyone would put up with her moods and her little beak, but I am glad I do.