What is your first Parrot memory.

[CDavis]

I remember being 6 or 7 years old and my mom had a cherry headed conure who had my grandpa cornered in the kitchen. My grandpa was a Vietnam vet and a police officer and looked like a massive scary guy and I had never ever seen him afraid of anything in my life but here he was trying to climb the kitchen counter to get away from a little territorial conure who was doing the conure head bob dance and running after him.
I also remember a little later in life trying to put the conure on my shoulder I must have been about 9 or 10 and he bit the hell out of my ear and I ran around the house with a conure stuck to my ear my mom heard he commotion and ran into the room and completely ignored me and checked her precious bird and then preceded to scream at me for not listening to her. 10 year old me thought I had the least Caring mom in the history of the world but now I completely understand.
What is Your first memory of having birds around you and are there any funny stories about when you first started handling parrots.

 

[fowlstack]

Well, my first encounter with a "parrot of sorts" was as a young child our town had a pet store. After walking in one day I spotted a cage that had a mynah bird inside with a sign that said "Say Hi to Mike, he can talk". Needless to say I then spent about 20 - 30 minutes (not sure I was just a kid) saying "Hi Mike" over and over and over... with no response from the bird. Finally giving up and feeling dejected I turned away, headed for the front door and Mike said, plain and clear for all to hear: "Birds can't talk". I was so excited, I ran back to his cage and continued to speak to him, again with no response. Turning to leave he made the same statement loud and clear.. "Birds can't talk." It was then that I learned an appreciation for their intelligence and have loved all avians ever since.

 

[Puck]

I was maybe eight or nine, maybe a little younger, and we got "Nipper" the budgie. You can probably guess the kind of personality he had considering his name, LOL. He was not Mr. Cuddles, but we were best buds who LOVED to mess with my mom! From then on it was all out bird love. My dad built an aviary at our house and we had probably ten budgies for the next decade. Horses and birds were my number one loves, followed closely by the dog I named Tramp because no one told me what the word meant and I really liked the movie Lady and the Tramp, LOL.

 

[GaleriaGila]

FUN THREAD! Good stories.


As for birds in general...
I grew up playing in the yard with my grandparents' Guinea and ornamental fowl. Nobody realized that would result in Histoplasmosis, but no worries: it's safely encapsulated in my lungs!
The first parrot...
Honestly, the first time I recall knowing or handling a parrot was when I went into a bird store in 1984 and the Rickeybird flapped and scrambled up into my arms.* I bought him that very day and the rest is sophistry... I mean history.

*Some of you have already heard that I tracked his breeder, who resembled me so very much that the baby Rbird thought his mom had come back!

 

[BirdSquawk]

I had to think for a while on this one...
I think I was in 5th grade, and my family went vacationing to California. On the boardwalk in San Diego, someone had either a conure or poicephalus and let me hold it.
Her name was Lola, I remember that much. That and how amazingly light she was.

 

[texsize]

First memory of a parrot is not a happy one though at the time I was to small to realize it. I was only 6 or 7 and a neighbor inherited a scarlet macaw.​

I can remember passing through there wash room (washer/dryer and water heater room) to go to there back yard. The poor thing was in a cage so small I would not keep an amazon in let alone a bird as big as a macaw.​

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If I had a could go back in time to change things in my past that is one of the first things I would try to fix.​

texsize​

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[Terry57]

I was 5 or 6, and it wasn't a parrot but a Mynah...our neighbours across the street had him, and his cage sat by their screen door and I was fascinated listening to him talk all day.

 

[CherylCali]

In about 1980 my uncle acquired an Amazon, I would guess DYH. I spent a lot of time there playing with cousins. He would let the Zon fly around the house, seemed in my child mind to really love her. One day while I was still a young child she didn't get to come out any more. I can recall asking why, but don't know the answer.

I'm sure the bird was wild caught. I have no idea, no contact with the uncle any more. She could still be alive. I knew nothing about parrots at all growing up. She had a small cage. Lived outside a lot. Only aye seeds. Only had a dowel perch. A tragically sad life that still pains my heart.

I can remember my astonishmemt of her flying in the house. Just awe to me.

CherylCali

 

[Rival_of_the_Rickeybird]

I have read your stories with an eye to understanding bird people better. As some of you may know, I am an interloper of sorts. I married INTO birds.

This thread is exactly what I need, to tell my story.

Some 20-plus years ago, I met a woman at a party thrown by mutual friends. She was very tall, my height, 5'10", seemingly fearless, confident, well-liked, just charming. I asked for her number, she gave it to me, I called her the next day and offered to cook her dinner at my place. I think I fell in love that night.

After a few dates at restaurants and movies, she invited me to her house. I met my first parrot.

She introduced me to this alien creature in a cage and explained a bit about their "relationship". A relationship with a bird, I wondered??? He screamed and yelled for my entire stay. I recall him snapping through the bars. Then we went out to eat. I recall being confounded. How does this composed, professional, charming lady live with THAT???

Time passed, I learned about the "relationship". I accepted it. I guess the bird gradually accepted me. It's an uneasy truce. I don't touch my own wife when he's out. He doesn't fly-attack me.

Oddly, he mimics me more than anybody else, including the Mrs. He yells Gail, Hello Gail, Hey Gail, and other stuff, YES I admit that my Texas accent gives it away. Maybe he wants to out-do his rival. I have no idea.

So here is my redeeming quality. I spent a lot of time just tolerating but moving now towards understanding.

Relationship with a bird. Yeah. I have one.

 

[CherylCali]

I have read your stories with an eye to understanding bird people better. As some of you may know, I am an interloper of sorts. I married INTO birds.

This thread is exactly what I need, to tell my story.

Some 20-plus years ago, I met a woman at a party thrown by mutual friends. She was very tall, my height, 5'10", seemingly fearless, confident, well-liked, just charming. I asked for her number, she gave it to me, I called her the next day and offered to cook her dinner at my place. I think I fell in love that night.

After a few dates at restaurants and movies, she invited me to her house. I met my first parrot.

She introduced me to this alien creature in a cage and explained a bit about their "relationship". A relationship with a bird, I wondered??? He screamed and yelled for my entire stay. I recall him snapping through the bars. Then we went out to eat. I recall being confounded. How does this composed, professional, charming lady live with THAT???

Time passed, I learned about the "relationship". I accepted it. I guess the bird gradually accepted me. It's an uneasy truce. I don't touch my own wife when he's out. He doesn't fly-attack me.

Oddly, he mimics me more than anybody else, including the Mrs. He yells Gail, Hello Gail, Hey Gail, and other stuff, YES I admit that my Texas accent gives it away. Maybe he wants to out-do his rival. I have no idea.

So here is my redeeming quality. I spent a lot of time just tolerating but moving now towards understanding.

Relationship with a bird. Yeah. I have one.

Have you ever seen the date with a woman who owns a parrot Saturday Night Live skit?

CherylCali

 

[Rival_of_the_Rickeybird]

I have not. But I'm off to YouTube.

 

[RavensGryf]

When I was a small child, my parents took me to the zoo. They had a zookeeper out with a couple large macaws, and was letting the public hold them. When he put one on my arm, all I could remember is how much it hurt. The weight of the bird with the claws digging hard into my arm. Remember, I was just a little kid, so it felt pretty bad. The adults standing around (including my parents and the zookeeper) had no idea what my problem was when I was whining.

Besides a cockatiel my dad briefly had, I think my next encounters with parrots were when I had friends and someone I dated when I was in my 20's, and I wasn't a bird person until several years later, so at the time I couldn't have cared less lol.

 

[Moose]

I've always been interested in proper care and research about animals. When I was young I visited with a friend of my father's during the summer and she had a room that I was not supposed to go in.

Room was full of macaws, in slender round cages. No toys, one dowel rod, and seed and dirty water in each cage. I began to gain an interest in all parrots, and starting reading about proper care of these beautiful creatures. I've never forgotten them. Now I make sure to do better for any parrot in my care.

 

[Terry57]

I have read your stories with an eye to understanding bird people better. As some of you may know, I am an interloper of sorts. I married INTO birds.

This thread is exactly what I need, to tell my story.

Some 20-plus years ago, I met a woman at a party thrown by mutual friends. She was very tall, my height, 5'10", seemingly fearless, confident, well-liked, just charming. I asked for her number, she gave it to me, I called her the next day and offered to cook her dinner at my place. I think I fell in love that night.

After a few dates at restaurants and movies, she invited me to her house. I met my first parrot.

She introduced me to this alien creature in a cage and explained a bit about their "relationship". A relationship with a bird, I wondered??? He screamed and yelled for my entire stay. I recall him snapping through the bars. Then we went out to eat. I recall being confounded. How does this composed, professional, charming lady live with THAT???

Time passed, I learned about the "relationship". I accepted it. I guess the bird gradually accepted me. It's an uneasy truce. I don't touch my own wife when he's out. He doesn't fly-attack me.

Oddly, he mimics me more than anybody else, including the Mrs. He yells Gail, Hello Gail, Hey Gail, and other stuff, YES I admit that my Texas accent gives it away. Maybe he wants to out-do his rival. I have no idea.

So here is my redeeming quality. I spent a lot of time just tolerating but moving now towards understanding.

Relationship with a bird. Yeah. I have one.

This post melted my heart

 

[BeatriceC]

The old Parrot Jungle in Coral Gables, FL was a favorite Sunday-After-Church outing when I was growing up. We must have gone hundreds of times.

Still, I was never much of a bird person until I met MrC. Actually, I was more like Mr. Rival, and didn't like them much at all. But Goofy was a great ambassador, and now I'm the crazy parrot lady.