Bird Rescue, Bird Whisperer

On a sunny, lovely day in late April, Goober the Cockatiel was out on the front porch enjoying some fresh air.  He was loudly chirping out his cockatiel opinions to the world when someone with an unlovely voice began interjecting, “Graaaack!” I’m not the bird expert at this house, so I called my roomate Karen, Goober’s caretaker, out to hear the ruckus. This bird retort certainly did not sound like any of our local species. She said, “Sounds like a Lovebird.” Looking up into our tree out front, there was indeed a colorful, non-native intruder perched very close. I am not the bird whisperer, Karen is. I made myself scarce and let the professional take over.  Within 15 minutes, “Hobo”, who was a very hungry and thirsty young bird was sharing the cage with Goober, who was not impressed.

Over the past couple of months they have had to make many adjustments, taking turns picking on each other. Goober is a pretty mellow guy, but Hobo is aggressive and pushy–very “love birdy.”  It wasn’t long until they had to be placed in separate cages to preserve the peace and protect Goober from harm. Recently Karen began socializing Hobo. At first he had to be wrapped in a hotpad to protect him from harm and to keep him from biting with his impressive, sharp beak.  Hotpad wrapped around bird equals a “taco.”  So Hobo has evolved into Taco. He is a major character–kind of reminds me of Yosemite Sam sometimes. He no longer uses his harsh voice–I have never hear him make that sqawking noise again. He does do a lot of  calling and will probably be saying a few words soon.  He already sings a pretty good “Mexican Hat Dance.” Since he is so young, he still enjoys snuggling in a pocket. I had no idea birds like to do that, but Taco is an expert. He lies quietly in a pocket and has to be encouraged  to even peak out! Hilarious.