A loving companion

[PanZon]

I know people say dogs and cats are in tune to the people they share their life with. They comfort you when you are down and get excited when you are.

Today proved to me that our feathered friends are every bit as empathetic.

I got horrible news on the phone today, my uncle and a childhood friend, both passed away within 3 hours of each other.

I was visibly shaken when i got off the phone, and walking by my zon on the play stand, she started saying "I love youuuuuu" "I loooooooove you". She said it in so many voices and with different emphasis in each repeat. She kept saying till i went close enough for her to hop on my shirt. She climbed up to my shoulder, and sat there, preening me and cleaning my ear and hair. She tried to feed me. She seemed to be doing everything she could to try and make sure I was ok.

I love this bird.

Rayna

 

[SilverSage]

I am so sorry for your losses You are right, animals know these things and dogs and cats are not the only ones! I am so glad you have your parrot with you during this time. I find that when there are no words that can fix my problems, sometimes friends who don't try to use words give the best comfort.

 

[Birdman666]

Awhile back, I had a very, very bad day. I came home exhausted and upset, and nearly in tears. And when I got home I was so spent that I just plopped down on the couch and stared off into space...

When I didn't pick up one of the birds, as I usually do. My CAG came waddling over to me and lifted a foot to be picked up. He sat there on my fingers, and did that CAG head turn thing, the one they do when they are studying something... He gave me a kiss, and then waddled off back to his cage.

I watched him as he dug through his food bowl, and he pulled out a large cashew. (These are one of his favorite treats!) Then he climbed down and waddled back over to me with the nut in his beak, and lifted his foot again to sit with me. (I thought he just wanted a snack.) Naturally, I obliged.

What happened next was just astounding. He set the cashew down in the palm of my hand and told me, "It's okay. You're a good boy!" Then he gave me another kiss, and waddled back to the big playstand...

And this wasn't the first time he had done something like that... nor was he the first bird that had done something like that with me.

Birds are the most empathic of all of them! So much of their communication takes place with non-verbal cues, looks and body language and such, that they simply KNOW... just by looking at us. Things we don't pick up on, even about ourselves, they do...

It is absolutely true! I know it for a fact...

 

[Kiwibird]

I'm so sorry for your losses At least you had your feathered companion to comfort you.

Parrots are incredibly perceptive of our emotions. When I was very young I had some chronic health issues. Lucy the DYH never let anyone touch her (including me) and is a pretty hands-off bird in general. However, when I would be at my absolute worst, she would fly into my room, land on the bed, waddle up and sit on my chest while she permitted me to pet and cuddle on her. She never allowed that kind of thing when I wasn't feeling awful, but when she saw a chance to cheer me up, she was right there.

 

[henpecked]

I find my hen amazon does many of the same things the others have described. it's amazing how "intune" they are to their favorite person. BTW Panamas are the #1 companion parrot in my judgement. Would like to hear more about yours.

 

[PanZon]

Rayna is 11 1/2 now. I dont know if she if full Panama, I dont care, it doesnt change how I would treat her.

She was 10 when i found her. She was being offered on craigslist by the man who purchased her at 6 months old and had her her whole life. He said he was retiring and didnt have time for her anymore. He said that she was 100% cage bound, that she hadnt left her cage at all in 5 or 6 months. When I went to pick her up in her large cage I had tip it over and put it in my van with her still in it. He also informed she hates women, all women. Strikes at his wife, and all they have done in the last 5 or 6 months was feed and water her.

The first thing I did was change her diet. It took what seemed like forever before she would even touch fresh food. I put her cage in the room I was most in and left the door open all the time. I started spritz bathing her with liquid vitamin in the water so it would be on her feathers and she would get some from drips and preening.

It seems like the day she stepped out of her cage and climbed on top was the day she broke out of her shackles. She was flapping and talking and whistling, and she would wearily sneak over to me and slowly grab her treat from my hand then run away on the cage to eat it. She talks with her mouth full. She squeals with excitement when its a nut in shell.

It took almost a full year of this before she starting letting me touch her. In the last 6 months she has come leaps and bounds. My wife says she has to share me with another woman. Rayna will say "step up" while not stepping up at all, then 3 seconds later say "good girl". She walks to the edge of her cage and wolf whistles, thats the sign she wants to give me a kiss. She isnt a real 'pet me' bird, she doesnt like scritches as much as she likes me stroking her head and helping with her pin feathers. I have found that if i cut off her escape route with 1 hand she will step up on the other without any issue.

She has never bit me. She will gnaw and preen and beak play but she has never once bit me. She does still hate women. She has drawn blood on my wife. But that even seems to be getting better. My wife can now change her food and water and Rayna will growl at her but not run to strike.

Her silly time is hanging upside down and rapidly move her head in a figure 8 pattern while singing "shake it like a polaroid picture" or "wiggle wiggle wiggle".

She spends time outside a lot, and loves her showers. Her flight feathers arent in the best shape. I made a post about it on here. I think it might be she doesnt preen them. She doesnt pluck but they look ragged. I dont think she ever learned to fly.

After last night I will never doubt that she is happy here, and I am lucky enough to have her call me her own.