DUDLEY AND FRIENDS

By Kristine E. Cohen
About 3 years ago I went to the Olive Garden in Middletown, New York for dinner with a few relatives and my children to eat dinner. They told me it would be about an hour wait. I then decided to go to Petco and look around. I asked the store clerk if they have any handleable birds so I could show my children. I personally didn't know anything about birds. He told me he had a Sun Conure who was extremely friendly. The bird was playing in my hair, my children's hair and was giving us kisses on our face. We couldn't believe that a bird could be so lovable and playful.

The next day I called Matthew B. Frumess to give me some advice on birds. He told me I should start slow and get a Quaker from Agway Pet in Liberty. I went the next day and bought one. I hand fed this cute little bundle of joy and instantly fell in love. My heart was stricken with bird fever. I went to the Catskill Bird Club for the first time with my Quaker, Chi-Chi and asked everyone I could about every kind of bird imaginable that could fit into my busy lifestyle. I decided I wanted a bigger bird.

I went back to Petco to look around. My husband loves to whistle so he was whistling like a telephone and a bird started to mimic his whistle instantly. My husband was amazed and wanted to know which bird could do this! The salesgirl showed my husband an African Grey. What a Bird! My husband loved this bird. I on the other hand thought he was quite ugly compared to all the beautiful birds you can buy.

To make a long story short, we found a breeder from the Catskill  Bird Club who breeds a variety of birds along with African Greys. He happened to have three of them. I thought they looked like little dinosaurs but cute in their own sort of way. I picked one out against my better judgment and after a couple of weeks going back and forth to the breeder's home to hand feed him and have him get used to me, I took him home in a fish tank I bought from Agway with paper towels. I thought to myself, I hope this bird gets better looking. My husband took an instant liking to this bird and we called him Dudley (since he looked like a dinosaur). Within a year he started talking up a storm. To this day, he doesn't shut up. I now think he is the cutest bird in the world. His personality is the best and he gets along with everyone that comes to my house. He doesn't bite anyone. He mimics our dog, squeaky doors, the smoke alarm when the battery gets low, the phone, etc. He calls my dog, my husband and my son. He pretends to talk on the phone by saying, Hello, Okay, Goodbye! No one believes that a bird can talk this well when they are over my house.

I feed him a variety of foods. For example, spaghetti, corn, sweet potatoes, (any kind of potato is his favorite), and meat. He pretty much eats all the leftovers from our table. (I think my dog gets jealous, since she can't have any.) The only time this bird got nippy with my husband is when we purchased a German Shepherd dog. The bird screams Tasha every morning! I think birds get extremely jealous when some of your attention goes to something else. After 6 months, the bird is much better with my husband.

I have since acquired 2 Cockatiels, 1 Senegal, 1 Parakeet, and 1 Bunny. I also have 4 cats and 2 fish tanks .1 Regular and 1 Salt Water

I won the parakeet at the Catskill  Bird Show. Everyone said he was the sweetest bird they ever saw. Until! I put a mirror in his cage. I think he thinks the mirror is his companion and doesn't want anything to do with anything or anyone else. I have since taken it out and go to him everyday. He looks at me like he is amazed that I try this hard. I honestly think he will get better with time. My children and I will keep working with him and I will let you know if he gets better

I can honestly tell you I have a lot of cleaning to do, but I love these guys just like they were my children and they depend on me just as much.

Thanks for reading my story.



PS. FOOD FOR THOUGHT

My African Grey was an extremely bad feather picker. I stopped clipping his wings. His feathers healed up and I truly believe that clipping their wings annoy them. He only had feathers on his head. Now he is extremely beautiful again after months and months of his feathers growing back. He never has picked another feather. The only downfall is that you cannot let him outside at any time on your shoulder due to flying away. I don't believe a hand-raised bird deserves the fate of flying away into the wild blue yonder. This is my opinion, but if your bird has the same problem, try it. You might be amazed!