Since I spent the holidays with family (Mom, kiffa, Mr kiffa and the little beads) in Florida, my friend Peter and I decided to wait until after I returned to NJ to exchange Christmas gifts. I gave him a Home Depot gift card to buy mantoys for his eventual house. He gave me the bird. Specifically, a Red-crowned Kakariki or Parakeet (Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae). His name is Brat (he was already named) and he is 9 months old.
Please meet brachy’s Brat. He’s a little guy but he’s got BIG FEET. He talks. He tells me I’m bad. He smells great, like cedar and fruit. And he’s gentle, so far. I am a happy ornithologist.
Now, I’ve rehabbed a number of crows so I have some experience with a bird that likes to cache food, tear library books up, and hide sundry items (like your keys). But I’ve never owned a parrot. Want to tell me what I’m in for? And I’d love to see any pics of your pets (feathered, furred, scaled, or otherwise)!
Hi brachy! That sure appears to be an Aussie Parakeet. It looks like Brat has the same sort of plumage. The green feathers are shot through with threads of black that make them look like an Escher drawing or something.
You’re right, Primaflora, he’s a New Zealander. In fact, Peter gave me a couple of hints prior to Christmas, like “New Zealand”, and “blue-nosed.” I asked my officemate Ian (who is from New Zealand) what that might mean, but he didn’t have a clue. I can’t wait to show Ian. And thanks, I think he is a handsome little guy too.
Zenster, the Bratbird is asleep so I’ll look more closely at his feathers in the morning. I think I’ll teach him “Chili, please.” He’s into those (my little pepperpot).
What a sweetie! I love him. And Pete’s so sweet to give you the bird… I guess that’s some ornithologist joke?
We had an African Grey in the Central African Republic who would sound like me calling for the nanny, Mr Kiffa, the kids or the dog, mimic a honking car to signal the gardener to open the front or back gates, sound like the ref’s whistle during the soccer game next door which started numerous heated discussions about the ref’s calls… he irritated a whole lot of folks as well as “endeared” himself. He would greet folks walking by our house early in the morning by whistling the national anthem. He lived outside on the back porch overlooking the banana trees and the river, but he would waddle around the house just to whistle the national anthem if you were in the front of the house. He hated women when he arrived, but eventually he would let you scratch his head and shoulders. He tolerated the kids and would fly off to the papaya trees by the side wall if they became too irritating.
We tried to take him with us to Mali, but the civil servants were on strike so we weren’t able to get a vet to sign the proper papers when Mr Kiffa left a month early. The kids and I were evacuated when the military split apart and began to fight each other with our house smack down between the fighting factions. Luckily a friend traveled across town during a lull and rescued Billy Bird, the two dogs, the cat and her newborn kittens. I told the guards to kill and eat the chickens.
I’ll always miss that bird. Low maintenance because he ate lots of fruit right off the trees, easy to please with a stick of sugar cane. Lived outside so there was never a question of who was going to clean his cage. Hard to ignore when the neighbors or those soccer players complained about his noise.
So, Brachy, congratulations on Brat. He will most likely be different from Billy Bird, but I am sure that he will have his own wonderful personnae. I have a vision of you driving down the turnpike with Brat on your shoulder…
And other Brat stuff, I’m sure. Boy, it was a shame you had to leave the animals during your evacuation from CAR. (I’m just glad you and the kids got out of there safely.) That African Grey sounded like a hoot!
Now I guess I better find a vet. I have no idea what to look for.
Primaflora, Brat’s beak has a faint bluish cast to it.
but good luck, he is a handsome guy.