Who is/was your 'once in a lifetime' bird?

[𝕾𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖒𝖞𝕻𝖎𝖈𝖆]

For me, it's Cossie. She is so unique. She sings, hops, carries stuff in her beak, cuddles, gives kisses, and reminds me of a lovebird in terms of fluff. I've never heard of a budgie carrying anything in their beak before, and I know her hop is NOT something you see every day. That's why I call her a caique. She's just SUCH a gift, like all my other birds, but she's definitely once in a lifetime.

 

[BirdyBee]

Hmm... it kinds feels like having favourites to me... all my birds are once in a lifetime birds. None of my birds have extra special talents/abilities though.

 

[Rozalka]

Zenek - the only one who says anything and is tamed

 

[𝕾𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖒𝖞𝕻𝖎𝖈𝖆]

Hmm... it kinds feels like having favourites to me... all my birds are once in a lifetime birds. None of my birds have extra special talents/abilities though.

True. I mean a unique bird you deeply connect with. All my birds are once in a lifetime too

 

[BirdyBee]

True. I mean a unique bird you deeply connect with. All my birds are once in a lifetime too

I think Grumpy was that little guy.

 

[Vampiric_Conure]

I've had sooooo many Birds in my 23 years of bird slavery, lol! I've had several who stood out, though.

Buzzsaw was a pied budgie who i swore only had a thing for other female birds. She would posture and solicit 'favors' from every female cockatiel she met. SHe also lived up to her name. She chewed things up overnight! Even chewed up a corkboard off the wall! She lived until she was 8-9 years old, which for a budgie of pet store quality up here, is forever.

Mindwipe was 19 when she passed. SHe was Redshift's mate and was ornery as all hells. She was a love, though, and would solicit cuddles from me when she so demanded it. She produced many good chicks in her lifetime, until, at 10 yrs of age, she decided "Screw dis shnizzle' and refused to lay ever again.

August was my first Pionus. He was 13 when I adopted him, as a retired breeder. He unfortunately passed at 15 years old. He was sooo laid back and stoic. I called him my perch potato because he would literally sit in the same spot for hours if I let him. He wasn't hand tame, but he enjoyed my company. He's got me hooked on getting another pionus . He may have been hands off, but he enjoyed mumbling in pionus-ese when I walked by his cage.

Charlie is my current stand alone bird. He's 22 this year. He's an utter sweetheart and we have a real connection. I swear up and down he's the reincarnated version of my first Conure, Moonie (aka 'Moon base One.') who was also a peach front conure. I think they may have been siblings, as they both came from the same pet store at around the same time.

There are others, such as StrongArm and Alpha, but we'd be here all day, LOL!!

 

[Terry57]

My Heart Bird was Phoenix, my beloved Phoe Phoe, he was a Crimson-bellied Conure, and he was 6 months old when I got him. He was barbering some his feathers and plucking the others.

I watched as he plucked all his feathers out, and every one broke my heart. There was nothing to be done, my vet thought that he had something wrong, perhaps from bad handfeeding, that made his feathers come in at a weird angle. His tests were always great, so it was purely guesswork.

He ended up being plucked almost completely bald, and he looked so defenseless and small, and his little mechanical sounding "Hello" when I walked into the room just stole my heart.

We ended up taking in a GCC, Jax, because his owner couldn't care for him anymore.
His cage was next to Phoe's and they were out at the same time, but only when I was in the room because Phoe wouldn't be able to fly away from an attack. I needn't have worried, Phoe was the boss and Jax was scared of him, but he kept trying to make friends. They finally did make friends and it was so beautiful to see. Jax didn't care that Phoe was plucked, he cared that Phoe was his friend.

They spent the entire day together, going into Phoe's cage for their afternoon siesta, only sleeping separately because they liked that privacy, I guess.

Sadly, Phoe died way too young. I first had inadequate vet care because my vet was away. My vet then got back a week later and she couldn't believe how good Phoe looked after talking to the incompetent Dr.

She made us an appt. for the next week to check him again and gave us an antibiotic after looking at his blood work. She was certain he was going to be okay.
Two days after the vet visit, I found my baby on the floor of his cage.

Jax and I grieved together, and he still calls for him.

I am so sorry for writing a book here, I figured I'd write a paragraph but here we are..lol

 

[saxguy64]

I love Phoe's story. Rest assured, that little one stole many more hearts than just yours. Between him and my Patches, I developed such a soft spot for pluckers. It hurts me to see so many of them overlooked because their appearance is seen as less than perfect. They're so much more than just their feathers. ❤️❤️❤️

 

[Terry57]

I love Phoe's story. Rest assured, that little one stole many more hearts than just yours. Between him and my Patches, I developed such a soft spot for pluckers. It hurts me to see so many of them overlooked because their appearance is seen as less than perfect. They're so much more than just their feathers. ❤️❤️❤️

This is so true. There is truly something special about pluckers, and it makes me so happy to see more people here with them.

 

[Laurasea]

my Neptune he was stunningly intelligent, amazed me with in context conversation, he gave me

the name " Pretty Girl " . We loved each other in such a special way it felt like our souls were connected. I am not over the loss, my heart aches fir him everyday. I pray fir him every morning and every night. I will carry his loss always I simply can't get over it .

I was in contact with breeder and got to watch the chick's grow. She knew I wanted a boy so had all 3 boys waiting for me to pick from. I put my arm out to them and Neptune hoped right on my arm. I put him in the travel cage and we drove 3 hours home. He loved me instantly and never missed his hatch mates or acted like he had ever lived any place but with me. He never liked his sweet breeder ,( tolerated feedings , but made it clear that was it) and was my only one person bird. I kinda knew when I saw the videos of the babies that he was the one meant for me. But i wanted to meet them all. Because I spent so much time talking with the breeder she agreed to let me have first choice in person . I guess it was love at first sight for both of us.