Tara's Story
How could I have neglected this little tale for so long? *I, too, have an AMAZON STORY!*
I guess maybe I had thought it didn't stand up to some of the epic Amazonia here, but, you know what? It does. The bird herself makes it worthy.
Let me set the stage. My then-husband and I were in New Mexico, both in college, circa 1990. I had had the Demon Rickeybird for 5-6 years. He had already subverted my every attempt at residential order or competent parrot ownership. Too, my marriage was on the rocks... BIG ONES... ICY!
I was in a parrot club... "The Las Cruces Parrot Club". Such clubs are/were common out West. Other members, a couple, had just had a baby, and their Double Yellow-Head(ed) Amazon (their companion for about eight years) had taken to attacking the infant. After a lot of trying and failing and crying, they decided to re-home the bird. Nobody else was stepping up. I was moved by the situation, and frankly, ready to toss a bold challenge into my marital arena. I agreed to take the parrot in.
The bird...
"Tara", named after the "GoneWithTheWind" plantation. Big, a little chubby, beautiful, proud, confident, friendly, sensual, passionate but respectful. Fell in love with my ungrateful husband, laid him an egg in his Lazyboy after just a couple of weeks. Languished, danced, displayed, and sang to him from her cage. She was everything fabulous and nothing of the negative/challenging. I marveled at her. Why she decided she had to eliminate that baby, well... I guess it was her one fault. But overall, just such a marvelous contrast to the horrific Rickeybird.
But the times were changing. I had to make a move (sans husband), and I knew I could not do it with both birds. ONE would be very difficult for many reasons. I knew that nobody in their right mind(s) would take the Rbird, much less put up with him long-term My friends, how I longed to keep the GOOD bird and revel happily forever after, claiming to have done a wonderful job raising a perfect parrot. I admit it: I thought long and hard, but in the end, the decision was clear.
Fotunately, Rita, also a club member, had been following Tara's tale. She agreed to adopt her. I am still in occasional touch with them. They're happy, healthy... together. Tara continues to be the amazing Amazon I knew... temperate, tame, tolerant...
So... I moved on with my demon, and she moved on with the single loveliest bird I have ever known. Never bit, rarey screamed. Sang, chatted. Hardly ever pooped except on her perch. Played gently with toys. Was tolerant of other birds/pets/humans. Absolutely... LOVELIEST... bird. Laid an egg or three a year for her new parront.
Here are two pictures of her from the Rickeybird Scrapbook, from the 1990s. In the top one, she was posing on a perch with the Rbird and a cockatiel friend. In the second, she is showing off by taking an impromptu bath in her water bowl. What a beauty. Inside and out.
How could I have neglected this little tale for so long? *I, too, have an AMAZON STORY!*
I guess maybe I had thought it didn't stand up to some of the epic Amazonia here, but, you know what? It does. The bird herself makes it worthy.
Let me set the stage. My then-husband and I were in New Mexico, both in college, circa 1990. I had had the Demon Rickeybird for 5-6 years. He had already subverted my every attempt at residential order or competent parrot ownership. Too, my marriage was on the rocks... BIG ONES... ICY!
I was in a parrot club... "The Las Cruces Parrot Club". Such clubs are/were common out West. Other members, a couple, had just had a baby, and their Double Yellow-Head(ed) Amazon (their companion for about eight years) had taken to attacking the infant. After a lot of trying and failing and crying, they decided to re-home the bird. Nobody else was stepping up. I was moved by the situation, and frankly, ready to toss a bold challenge into my marital arena. I agreed to take the parrot in.
The bird...
"Tara", named after the "GoneWithTheWind" plantation. Big, a little chubby, beautiful, proud, confident, friendly, sensual, passionate but respectful. Fell in love with my ungrateful husband, laid him an egg in his Lazyboy after just a couple of weeks. Languished, danced, displayed, and sang to him from her cage. She was everything fabulous and nothing of the negative/challenging. I marveled at her. Why she decided she had to eliminate that baby, well... I guess it was her one fault. But overall, just such a marvelous contrast to the horrific Rickeybird.
But the times were changing. I had to make a move (sans husband), and I knew I could not do it with both birds. ONE would be very difficult for many reasons. I knew that nobody in their right mind(s) would take the Rbird, much less put up with him long-term My friends, how I longed to keep the GOOD bird and revel happily forever after, claiming to have done a wonderful job raising a perfect parrot. I admit it: I thought long and hard, but in the end, the decision was clear.
Fotunately, Rita, also a club member, had been following Tara's tale. She agreed to adopt her. I am still in occasional touch with them. They're happy, healthy... together. Tara continues to be the amazing Amazon I knew... temperate, tame, tolerant...
So... I moved on with my demon, and she moved on with the single loveliest bird I have ever known. Never bit, rarey screamed. Sang, chatted. Hardly ever pooped except on her perch. Played gently with toys. Was tolerant of other birds/pets/humans. Absolutely... LOVELIEST... bird. Laid an egg or three a year for her new parront.
Here are two pictures of her from the Rickeybird Scrapbook, from the 1990s. In the top one, she was posing on a perch with the Rbird and a cockatiel friend. In the second, she is showing off by taking an impromptu bath in her water bowl. What a beauty. Inside and out.
