Our house is full of love and full of noise. When a bird laughs and it sounds like you, it will make you smile!
Lucy, a 2008 baby,female Eclectus, loves Albert better than anyone else, was the first to ride on his back and flaps the “fancy pants dance.” Her first word was: Albert. She plays dead by lying on her back in my palm and goes nose to nose with Albert, the Great Dane every chance she gets.
Nikki, a Blue and Gold Macaw is the eldest of the group and has been with our family since she was 5 years old in 1997. She places the marble into the cup, knows her colors, says hello, rings the bell and tries to sing along with me.
Keeli, 8 years old (2005 baby) and every bit a Schizophrenic Scarlet Macaw, is the show off. He rings the bell until the cows come home (no, I don’t have any cows), spreads his wings in a great display of color, is the most likely to actually talk when I want him to and hangs upside down doing the “bat bird” trick.
Max is a three pound Hyacinth Macaw. Hatched in 2008, he is my other gentle giant, allowing 50 plus children to touch him, one at a time. He will stand on a child’s arm, so small that his toes completely reach around the arm and I have to bolster the hand so they won’t drop him. He will not “grab” that tender arm and is aware that his feet can squeeze too hard on the smaller arms. He waits patiently for me to remove him. He knows “be easy” and takes his cue from me. When he begins to tire, he simply lays his head against my arm and hesitates to step up. He snuggles and talks many words for his age including; banana, hello, I wuv you, mama's home, ha ha ha, some things I have yet to figure out. He is learning to ride the remote control car.
OUR SUPPORTING CREW:
Albert is a Great Dane dog. A gentle giant, born, not hatched, in December 2009, there is nothing he enjoys more than shining at a production. Albert, the Great Dane allows the birds to ride upon a homemade saddle on his back. He heals and will carry them flapping through a crush of people. "Albert" was Lucy's (the female Eclectus) first word. They are often nose to beak while I drink my morning coffee on the lanai with Lucy on my knee and Albert lying next to the chair. Albert is always ready to don the saddle and stands so strong and important, ready to shine.
In this picture we have Shelly, the Black Capped Caique from the North side of the Amazon River.. Hatched in 2011, she is the favorite "birthday bird" and steps up many, many times in an hour performance. She is less intimating for smaller children and does the "grasshopper dance." She is the black headed bird on the right hand of this teacher. Ginger is on the left hand. She is a Cape Parrot from the Cape of South Africa and one of the best talkers ever, mostly in the morning. She was hatched in Florida in 2010. African parrots are not always the best pets, but the Cape Parrot might be the exception. They are highly endangered.
