So recently I learned that I didn't know as much about my father than I originally thought and that my bird loving runs deep in my genes! I have had many rescue birds and even some cockatiels/budgies when I was younger and my dad has always been the biggest advocate for my love of all things avian. I just thought he generally loved all animals though and not birds specifically. But recently since I got a new permanent bird in my home for the first time in years, my dad began to reminisce a lot about his parrot he had in his home country
I was really surprised because pets are actually pretty uncommon in my home country. Vet medicine is hardly a thing there and most people only keep dogs for guarding or cats for rat hunting. Sometimes birds just for singing, but usually small song birds.
Lately my dad told me he had a "parrot" when he used to live with his own parents. (We dont have names for specific breeds and info was not widely available back then) It was actually rehomed to my grandfather because he was a very kind person who took it in from a market because he felt bad for it. The bird was very tame, loved to talk, joined the family in meals, etc. It was supposedly fairly large for a standard bird to him (so bigger than a cockatiel) and green
My dad notes he was always impressed by the bird's intelligence. It knew their schedules, said phrases in very contextual ways. It greeted him when he came home, called to him from a balcony when it spotted him out on the street, and apparently was manipulative enough to ask for some foods! but suddenly one day someone opened the door and a dog got into the house, injuring the parrot pretty much fatally due to lack of vet care available. My dad said he was so angry at the dog that day and tried so hard to save the bird basically having to pry the dog away. it really made me tear up hearing that story.
Later I tried to find out what species it was. My first guess for big and green was a macaw, but he said smaller. He also mentioned it was smaller than my cockatoo and my next two guessses were an Amazon and an Ekkie. I apparently hit the mark with the Amazon guess!
It was really interesting hearing about this part of my dad's past and i am just struck by the odd coincidence that my family was one of the very very VERY few parrot owning families back in my home country at that time. My mother's side doesn't really like animals much and prefer cats/dogs if anything. Now I am wondering if my dad secretly or subconsciously steered me into being a parrot owner instead of some other animal! (My mother absolutely banned dogs and cats but let me have a choice of a smaller animal in my childhood)
I just wanted to share this story or record it somewhere be ause it just made a large impression on me that even in a different culture that is not quite so pet friendly due to economy and lack of information, such a strong bond could form between a human and a parrot. I really hope to adopt an amazon someday now when I get my career path more hammered out and my dad is a retiree with too much free time. Gotta keep some room in my flock for that now!
I was really surprised because pets are actually pretty uncommon in my home country. Vet medicine is hardly a thing there and most people only keep dogs for guarding or cats for rat hunting. Sometimes birds just for singing, but usually small song birds.
Lately my dad told me he had a "parrot" when he used to live with his own parents. (We dont have names for specific breeds and info was not widely available back then) It was actually rehomed to my grandfather because he was a very kind person who took it in from a market because he felt bad for it. The bird was very tame, loved to talk, joined the family in meals, etc. It was supposedly fairly large for a standard bird to him (so bigger than a cockatiel) and green
My dad notes he was always impressed by the bird's intelligence. It knew their schedules, said phrases in very contextual ways. It greeted him when he came home, called to him from a balcony when it spotted him out on the street, and apparently was manipulative enough to ask for some foods! but suddenly one day someone opened the door and a dog got into the house, injuring the parrot pretty much fatally due to lack of vet care available. My dad said he was so angry at the dog that day and tried so hard to save the bird basically having to pry the dog away. it really made me tear up hearing that story.
Later I tried to find out what species it was. My first guess for big and green was a macaw, but he said smaller. He also mentioned it was smaller than my cockatoo and my next two guessses were an Amazon and an Ekkie. I apparently hit the mark with the Amazon guess!
It was really interesting hearing about this part of my dad's past and i am just struck by the odd coincidence that my family was one of the very very VERY few parrot owning families back in my home country at that time. My mother's side doesn't really like animals much and prefer cats/dogs if anything. Now I am wondering if my dad secretly or subconsciously steered me into being a parrot owner instead of some other animal! (My mother absolutely banned dogs and cats but let me have a choice of a smaller animal in my childhood)
I just wanted to share this story or record it somewhere be ause it just made a large impression on me that even in a different culture that is not quite so pet friendly due to economy and lack of information, such a strong bond could form between a human and a parrot. I really hope to adopt an amazon someday now when I get my career path more hammered out and my dad is a retiree with too much free time. Gotta keep some room in my flock for that now!