Angel and Me
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Our first parakeet was a male named "Angel". My older daughter
Beth really wanted a bird, and so her
Mom took her shopping one evening in November, 1995 bringing Angel home in a little
cardboard container. His wings were clipped and so he couldn't fly at first, but that
definitely changed over the years, and eventually, he had run of the house, flying everywhere.
I loved watching him zoom out of the kitchen, bank sharply to the right and up! high
over the staircase to the second floor. Sometimes he'd be right back in the kitchen two
seconds later!
Angel had tons of personality: He'd sit on our heads or shoulders as we walked around, singing away. He mimicked various sounds, although he never learned any words.
Angel enjoyed all kinds of people food: Corn-on-the-cob and
Oreo cookies were particular favorites.
We lost Angel one terrible day in October, 1999, when he tried to fly into a room as the
door was closing, and it caught him on the neck. Angel was a wonderful pet and we miss him
very much.
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Benny and Noel
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Not long after we lost Angel, Benny and Noel joined our family. The first time
we let them out of their cage, they flew around my homeoffice out-of-control,
bumping into things and screeching loudly when they couldn't see one another.
As they got better at flying, they'd chase each other around at furocious
speeds.
Benny seemed the leader, exploring every thing, chewing on everything.
Benny was only with us for two short months: One morning I discovered her body
on the floor, tail feathers spread. I think she must have crashed into something
flying around during the night. Another sad day. From that point on, I've always
kept a light on all night long in hopes of preventing another tragedy.
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Noel and Zoose
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In the past years, Noel has become very friendly and tame. She comes to visit and
sits on my shoulder while I work on the computer, she explores my office, or sits on her perch and sings.
Her cage door is always open; she goes in for seeds and water but that's about it.
Most of the time she's out of the cage - she has a "tree" made of several dowels that
pass through a vertical post. Toys hang from this, as well as her swing perch.
She's a beautiful bird.
A few months after Benny died, we decided to get a companion for Noel, and Zoose came into our home.
Zoose has always been more cautious around people. He lets us get close to him, but he's not into perching on
our fingers. He'll land on a shoulder if Noel is already there, but that's about all the human contact
he wants.
Zoose and Noel are a great pair. They chase each other around, preen each other, sing to each other.
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Noel In Flight
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It is fascinating to watch the birds fly around. Vertical take-offs, up down and around the
furniture at full speed, and quick stops on any nearby perch or flat surface. Here's Noel just after taking off from my desk. Beautiful!
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Angel II
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During a trip to New Hampshire in 2003, poking around in a mall, we all wandered into a
pet store where the baby parakeets were all kept on a big table-top surrounded with clear plastic walls a foot or so high. All the birds' wings were clipped so they couldn't fly off, and they were quite used to being handled.
One in particular seemed attracted to my daughter Beth, so we decided to buy it. Beth named her "Angel II" in honor of our first parakeet.
Now, our first bird Angel came home with wings clipped, but as I said above, they "grew in" and he was amazing aviator. But something is wrong with "A-II"'s wings: whether the pet store damged her wings or
she has some birth defect we don't know, but she just can't fly and will fall to the floor in a sad, wild flutter
of useless wings. For a while it seemed a somewhat controlled descent, but now it's just a "plop" and we have to keep her in a open-top cage made from a plastic storage box
(except when she's brought out to play on the floor). But she seems content; Noel and Zoose often fly in and keep her company, eat with her, sing with her, preen her. But she must long to fly around and chase after them.
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Destroyer Parakeet in Action
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Noel loves to chew on stuff. In the early days, we didn't know what a problem
this would be. She chewed papers, books, some money, cardboard CD covers, and even a hole in the
soft particle board used to wall my attic office - I had to start buying plastic boxes to
hide things in to keep her from causing more damage. But I also try to keep her happy with a big open
container filled with the kinds of things she likes to chew, and for the most part we've reached a truce.
My wife likes to say, $15 worth of parakeet and $1500 worth of plastic!
Here she is perched on a wastebasket showing her technique
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Destroyer Parakeet Vertical Take-Off
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Noel likes to plop down into the wastebasket in her search for things to chew.
Here she exhibits a vertical take-off, straight up and out. I have to be careful
to keep the wastebaskets pretty empty; I fear she could get stuck under something.
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Destroyer Parakeet In Flight
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Up she goes.
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Beaks Locked
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Every now and then, Noel and Zoose have these spells of "beak-locking"; they grab on in a flash and tussle
back and forth with their beaks clamped together. They let go and then do it again, several times in
a row. Some kind of mating ritual?
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