Defining Moments

[Ray P]

I started to put this in the amazon room, but I think it might be better in this room.

This is about Cricket and me, but any person who has rehomed any species of parrots or any other species of birds will understand what I am trying to say.

When you rehome a parrot the future is uncertin as to how things will turn out, but when things turn out good there is always those defining moments when you know every thing is going to or has changed.and your life will be differant because of it.

This is story time for all of us with rehomes when in that one moment life changed.

Cricket and I have had two defining moments in our life.

First I had a fear of amazons and when asked to take her well I did not want a parrot that I could not bond with, We are not going into a long story because this is about a defining moment.

I had worked with Cricket for about two weeks give or take a day or two and things were going very well and we seamed to be bonding, but I had not held her yet because I still had a fear of her because of her past.

One day as I walked away from her cage she flue after me, but because of her weight at the time she went to the floor. She had not flown in years.

I had to get her back to her cage. Well I bent over to pick her up and I prepaired my self for the bite of my life and said step up, and she did and she did not try to bite so I said step again and she did to my other hand. That day I lost my fear of my amazon

The next defining moment was the best of them all.

We would play this game I called footsie. I would move my finger back and forth in front of her and she would grab it with her foot and than hold her head down by my finger for a head rub

One day when playing footsie she grabed my finger with her foot but she did not put her head down she just looked at me and kept on looking at me with a look that brought tears to my eyes. It was that moment that I new we had something special and she still gives me that look from time to time to remind me of what we have

I hope you will share your defining moments with your rescue / rehome that ment something special to you and your parrot.

Edited January 16, 2012 by Ray P

[DawL]

I think a major (recent) defining moment for me would have to be the other day when Barnaby stepped up onto my arm from the top of his cage. I know that his cage is his safe place to be, and to know that he is willing to come from his safe area, and spend time with me was a major breakthrough, and I couldn't be more happy about it. He looked me right in my eyes when he put a foot on my arm, and then the other. I know the look you are talking about Ray. I swear it is like they look right into your soul.

 

Another moment I can think of is with the Tiels I have had for a long while now. It has taken a very long time to earn their trust (they were abused). Out of the blue one day, they let me get them out of their cage, and scratch their heads for about 30 minutes. I think I could have went on like that all night, but it was time for me to go to bed. I would scratch, but every now and again, they would turn around and "attack" my hand. It didn't hurt at all, but it was just their way to remind me that they were "watching me". Now they will only allow me to feed them, and we are slowly continuing down our road of success. This was a huge deal for me. They are both 15 years old, and all of us that have rescued, or taken in a bird as a rehome know that older birds can take a very LONG time to build a relationship, IF we ever do.

[Talon]

I am so enjoying reading your defining moment stories. They bring so much love to my heart. Not only for your birds, but for you, their parronts for being so patient and loving.

[ZivaDiva]

What a great idea!

 

2 of my cockatiels were given to me by a former co-worker who would buy animals, keep them less than year and then give them away. She had never handled them and they were frightened. I kept their cage in my bedroom by the window so they could look out. They would often sit on top of their cage and look out and sometimes they'd fly off onto the floor. Sometimes, they'd step up and sometimes they wouldn't. They also often bit me. I let them be how they wanted to be as they are happy together and I didn't feel the need to tame them.

 

I'd had a spinal tap and that resulted in a major leak of fluid from the needle site. I had the worst headache ever from the lack of fluid in my skull. My brain wasn't surrounded by fluid but instead was touching my skull. (I finally had a blood patch done and was back to normal quickly but it's the most painful thing I've ever experienced) Anyway, I was in bed and sobbing uncontrollably. The cockatiels (Stan and Bea) were on top of their cage. I remember hearing them fly off their cage but was so busy sobbing that I wasn't concerned about where they were. Then I felt something. They had flown onto the bed, walked up onto my pillow and were touching my tears with their beaks. I don't know how to explain it but they would touch the tear and then push it down my face until it basically disappeared and then get another one and do the same thing. They were so gentle and sweet. I thought it was the sweetest thing but was also trying to not roll over on them and hurt them as I was writhing in pain. I couldn't sit up to put them back so I let them stay with me. They brushed away my tears and sat next to my head and kept me company. I was waiting for my mom to come get me to take me to the hospital and when she arrived, we had to get them back in their cage. I explained what they had been doing and she looked at me like I was crazy. It was difficult for her to believe that the attack 'tiels would do such a thing but they had.

[Ray P]

I love tiels and have had them for 40 years and I know what they are capable of. Love the story and thanks for sharing

[DawL]

I loved that story. That is love right there!

[judygram]

That story just shows how emphatic our birds can be, so intuned to our emotions, thanks for sharing it with us.

I have a tiel that just dropped in one day, I never would have chose one to share my house with but since this one was outside and surely would have ended up as hawk dinner I took it in and gave it a home after exhausting all hope of finding it's owner. It didn't like me at first and wanted nothing to do with my hands but I fed her and got her a bigger cage and she has come around to being a wonderful companion. She will seek me out to be near me or on me and lets me handle her giving her scratches, she has become a great bird to have around and very quiet, you hardly know she is around and never bites.

[katana600]

Ziva Diva, I have been there with a ruptured spinal membrane after a "three level discogram", your little angels were seeing you through. For my defining moment, it was after we traveled this summer and Gilbert had taken a little backward slide and was totally standoffish. He jumped off his cage which was the only time he would allow me near him. Instead of helping him back to his cage, I put him on his favorite fleece on the back of the sofa. We were home alone and it was late at night. I just sat down and ignored him and he came closer and closer until suddenly I felt him at the side of my head and neck. He sat a while and I just held my breath wondering what he might do next when he nudged the side of my cheek and said "hey" ever so softly. When I turned toward him he bowed his head for his first real scratch session. Since then, he has been much more open and trusting and I have been much more hand's on with him. Reading your accounts and remembering that touching moment made me a little teary. It is so hard for him to sit close or to tolerate touch for more than a brief moment, but he really wants to get closer. I see more willingness for interaction every day. Neither of us is in a hurry, but the day I see him flap and play and get out of his shell will be a wonderous joy for both of us.