Our parrot, R2D2, was with a little green friend, Jade, when she came to live with us about 8 years ago. Eventually, Jade died of parrot flu, leaving poor R2D2 alone. Parrots are incredibly social animals, but she has managed as well as she can with our company … and sings to the little parrot owned by the family on the other side of the fence.
At this time of the year, the baby parrots have been born in the jungle to mom parrots who have made their nests in old coconut palms. The big winds come with the first humongous rains, and when the palm trees are blown down, the baby birds are left on the ground with no home and no mother. When the local people go out to work their land, they always check any downed palms they come across, and save the baby birds. Most of the local people have one or more parrots in their household that they have found this way, and they sell or barter them when need dictates. That was how R2D2 came to us … and now “Baby Bird” (as we have been calling her until her name comes to us), who was offered to me by a neighbour for only Q100 (they can be 5 to 10 times as much in the marketplace).
The two parrots have been getting along great together. Notice the spot on Baby Bird’s chest … that is the last place that the feathers come in on a parrot and shows how young she is.
R2D2 is not to be ignored with this newcomer in her neighbourhood, and has decided that she, also, needs to be fed the masa/peanut butter mix that we feed Baby Bird. She doesn’t really prefer it, but if Baby Bird gets hand fed, then she wants to be hand fed as well!!
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