Tales from the Birdman

[Alwese]

With the weather returning to nice, I have been out and about with my macaws in public again. Clifford my Scarlet would bite everybody, but Kayko my Blue and Gold wouldn't think of biting anybody. My fun thing is to allow people, especially children, to go one on one with him and let them take cell pictures.
This week I had two very memorable encounters amongst the many hundred that tried. At our very large old Memorial Park on the river, an old man with a long white cane was sitting on a bench as I passed by. Clifford laughed and the man called out with eager interest "What made that laughing noise? He was totally blind, but highly perceptive of his surroundings. I explained that I was carrying two macaw parrots and described them to him. He grinned as he felt the experience of having a big bird on his arm.
Yesterday afternoon at The Landing, an entertainment hotspot on the river, I walked in with Clifford and Kayko. There was a large number of people with children there as they were having a dog show. I had to be extra careful there to keep the dogs away from my birds. A young girl I guess at about age 4 was there with a stuffed animal parrot from the Disney movie "Rio" she had rigged with coathanger to allow it to stay on her shoulder. Her mother explained that she made the hanger apparatus herself as she really wanted a bird on her shoulder and they were thinking of buying her a parakeet. It gives me great joy to fulfill a child's dream like that, as she now has a picture of a big blue bird abiet a Blue and Gold, not a Hyacinth, on her shoulder. Her mom said she would be talking about this for weeks. Click on Thumbnail to enlarge.

 

[Allee]

Thanks for sharing the photo and those wonderful experiences with your amazing birds. That little girl will be a bird lover for life.

 

[Birdbrain91]

That's a great story. She will remember that for the rest of her life. I bet a bird lover was born that day.

I remember how excited my twin girls were when they saw their first B&G macaw. They still have the picture sitting in their room right next to a photo of our B&G.

 

[drlisaort]

Wow, awesome stories! You told your stories so beautifully that I could visualize the experiences both of the elderly blind man and the young girl. Thank you!

 

[MonicaMc]

Rio is a Spix, not a Hyacinth!


I'm sure you made that little girls day, as well as the guy at the park! Always great to hear Clifford and Kayko stories!

 

[Alwese]

Rio is a Spix, not a Hyacinth!


I'm sure you made that little girls day, as well as the guy at the park! Always great to hear Clifford and Kayko stories!

Now I really did not know what Disney was trying to depict with "Rio" I must admit I really do want to watch that movie sometime as I have only seen little bits of it while passing through Sam's Club. I figured he had just taken a little 'poetic license' to edit out the yellow face skin patches; maybe to lessen the pressure from animal groups that have criticzed past movies. When the movie 101 Dalmations came out, everybody had to have a Dalmation and humane societies everywhere were overloaded with them. When 'Finding Nemo' came out prices skyrocketed in aquarium stores for clownfish.

 

[Terry57]

Wow, what amazing stories It is so amazing how through our feathered friends, lives can be touched and changed.
I am sure now that a budgie is in that little girl's future, I bet that your birds are all she talked about
Thank you for sharing!

 

[MonicaMc]

I would recommend watching the movie then, because Rio 2 comes out this month! Well, this Friday to be exact!


Here's a neat article about animating Rio.
Interview With ?Rio? Animation Supervisor Galen Chu


And Presley, the last spix macaw discovered living in captivity in the USA. Unfortunately, Presley was unable to lend his genes to the breeding program.
World Parrot Trust - Press Kit



I did hear that Paulie resulted in more blue crowned conures being purchased and Harry Potter resulted in more people attaining owls (in the UK), but I don't know if Rio resulted in the higher purchases of blue parrots or not. I mean, no one can go out and buy a spix! They can a hyacinth, but that's a lot of money to drop for an animal you know nothing about!


Hopefully though, Rio did raise awareness for spix macaws. I recall many other people who thought Rio looked like a funny hyacinth macaw, only to find out he's supposed to be a spix. Heck, a lot of people still don't know about spix macaws! But now, I wonder if they'll ever do an animated kakapo movie!

 

[MarciaLove]

oh great stories! And yea Rio is awesome lol I found out about spix macaws that way. I knew he couldnt be a hyacinth he looked off so I googled it and found out about them!

 

[Alwese]

For those of you watching and not knowing what a Spix macaw actually looks like, here is a couple of pictures. The last picture is a Hyacinth for comparison. Click on the pictures to make them larger. Thanks for the links everyone! It makes me wonder Monica if cloning could be an option, being the advancements today. I even heard they are trying in Japan to resurrect a wooly mammoth taken from the Arctic by cloning it.

 

[Kiwibird]

I think thats lovely that you take your birds out and give non-bird people the opportunity to interact with them without all the responsibility that comes with owning them. I bet you and Kayko really made that little girls day I also bet being out and about really made your birds day too!

 

[Kiwibird]

Now I really did not know what Disney was trying to depict with "Rio" I must admit I really do want to watch that movie sometime as I have only seen little bits of it while passing through Sam's Club. I figured he had just taken a little 'poetic license' to edit out the yellow face skin patches; maybe to lessen the pressure from animal groups that have criticzed past movies. When the movie 101 Dalmations came out, everybody had to have a Dalmation and humane societies everywhere were overloaded with them. When 'Finding Nemo' came out prices skyrocketed in aquarium stores for clownfish.

I was too young to remember a bunch of people buying dalmations when the movie came out, but I do remember when finding Nemo came out, all of a sudden at every petstore there were all these hugely expensive saltwater "kits" and saltwater fish overloading the fish section. I knew a couple people who got into all these setups that were above and beyond their experience level and promptly killed all their fish or sold the setup off a few years later because the novelty wore off and it was too much maintenance I hate how these movies come out with these cute, animated pets that talk and think, then a million idiots run out and buy a real one with 0 consideration that a LIVE animal is NOTHING like the cartoon version. Thankfully with this Rio movie, spix macaws aren't even available for sale, and the next closest look to the animated bird is a hy, which are like $20,000, so there won't be that kind of mad rush to buy a "Rio".

 

[Birdman666]

I was too young to remember a bunch of people buying dalmations when the movie came out, but I do remember when finding Nemo came out, all of a sudden at every petstore there were all these hugely expensive saltwater "kits" and saltwater fish overloading the fish section. I knew a couple people who got into all these setups that were above and beyond their experience level and promptly killed all their fish or sold the setup off a few years later because the novelty wore off and it was too much maintenance I hate how these movies come out with these cute, animated pets that talk and think, then a million idiots run out and buy a real one with 0 consideration that a LIVE animal is NOTHING like the cartoon version. Thankfully with this Rio movie, spix macaws aren't even available for sale, and the next closest look to the animated bird is a hy, which are like $20,000, so there won't be that kind of mad rush to buy a "Rio".

No, but they might rush out and buy a B&G... and quickly discover that, even though they may behave like that if you work with them, they don't come like that.

Does that mean more folks offering me free macaws at Starbucks a year or two from now?!

 

[MonicaMc]

Actually, hyacinths are usually $8,000-$15,000 in price. Even a second hand hyacinth can easily go for $5,000-$8,000.

And I hear they can easily cost $300 a month in nuts, so that's easily $3k or more a year.... not counting cage, toys, perches, other food, dishes, new cage, etc! (hyacinths are powerful enough to break the welds of a cage!)

 

[Kiwibird]

Even so, how many people can afford a $8000 animal+cage+specialized diet+toys+accessories on a whim? A whole heck of a lot less than those who could afford a $800-$1000 saltwater tank or a dog (actually, I know some of those purebred dogs can be a lot, so I can't comment on that).

That said, there are some budgies I see when I go to the petshop that are blue with a little yellow, so I hope they aren't unfortunate victims of some movie 'craze' because even though they aren't the same, they are the closest "affordable" look. Then again, many people can and do take great care of budgies and have the animal it's entire life compared to those capable and willing to take good care of a large macaw for it's entire life....

 

[Birdman666]

wow, what amazing stories it is so amazing how through our feathered friends, lives can be touched and changed.
I am sure now that a budgie is in that little girl's future, i bet that your birds are all she talked about
thank you for sharing!

yep. Quite a few people have pictures of themselves with maggie on their cell phones. I do the same thing...

 

[Alwese]

For the past two days and continuing on for three more days, our city is having this massive program called One Spark. Downtown many streets are blocked off and 600 white tents are setup in the streets as people taunt new ideas for money making ventures, band groups etc. I marched down there with Clifford and Kayko, giving at least 500 people the opportunity to hold a macaw and take pictures. This scene is a real happening and the people, the birds and I have all had a great time. Maybe tonight I will take my camera and get someone to take several pictures. Little kids saying things like "I've never seen a REAL parrot before; only in books" and "His feet look like a dinosaur" and "I feel like a pirate" are my reward of a lifetime of memories.

 

[Birdman666]

For the past two days and continuing on for three more days, our city is having this massive program called One Spark. Downtown many streets are blocked off and 600 white tents are setup in the streets as people taunt new ideas for money making ventures, band groups etc. I marched down there with Clifford and Kayko, giving at least 500 people the opportunity to hold a macaw and take pictures. This scene is a real happening and the people, the birds and I have all had a great time. Maybe tonight I will take my camera and get someone to take several pictures. Little kids saying things like "I've never seen a REAL parrot before; only in books" and "His feet look like a dinosaur" and "I feel like a pirate" are my reward of a lifetime of memories.

And the birds get to be the center of attention, and get loved on by everyone, which in turn, makes them even more interactive... It's a win all the way around, for everyone involved.

 

[TessieB]

Looks like everbody is happy in the photo!

 

[Lynn57]

Sounds like a awesome day! Wish it would warm up here so I could get the birds out!