“Name The Baby Bird” was a contest held in the pet store where my daughter, Selena, worked. The bird in question was placed under our daughter's care and within a few short weeks had captured her heart.
“If you don't let me keep him, he'll be sold!” Selena told us repeatedly. The contest was now over and the bird had been named from the winning entry.
Selena explained that the bird had grown quite fond of her, tucking his little head up under her chin and cuddling her. “I've held him and fed him . . . and we just can't be separated now,” she reasoned. “We've formed a bond that shouldn't be broken.” And so it was that a darling African Grey parrot named Bailey entered our lives.
Bailey knew how to say hello; he'd picked this up from the customers and the other birds in the pet store. But, other than that, whistles and squeaks characterized his repertoire of sounds-that is, until Selena left to spend a long-weekend with a friend. I was sitting at the piano, with my back to Bailey, and had paused to turn a page of music. Suddenly, a voice asked, “Where's Selena?” I nearly fell off the piano bench! I thought I must have been mistaken but more surprises were in store.
Bailey made it apparent he preferred the females in his life. Overtures of friendship by my husband and son were greeted with obvious suspicion and fear. This
was nothing personal, though, as they were soon to learn. A teen-age boy was visiting and happened to get too close to Bailey's cage. Bailey told him, in no uncertain terms, to just “keep walking.”
And then came the day when Bailey met my sister, Dee. The “thunderbolt” I'd read about struck. Bailey fell head over heels for her. If Selena was “mommy” then Dee was clearly his “mate.” His adoring eyes never left her face as he gazed up at her with a love-struck expression. He reached over, grabbed one of her fingers, and then deposited a gift of regurgitated food on it. Soon, taking his cue from us, he was calling her by name. He would sing out, “Hi, Dee!” when she came through the door and “Bye-bye, Dee” as she prepared to leave.
Encouraged by Bailey's obvious attempts at communication, we talked to him constantly. He quickly learned to associate certain words with different activities and foods, but what amazed us was the cognition he showed when he asked questions or formed sentences that made sense.
For example, we wallpapered the front room. I brought Bailey out from his cage in the bedroom and placed him on his parrot stand. He looked around and then over in my direction, and asked, “Whaaat's that?”
Now, how, I wondered, do you explain to a bird . . . that you've just wallpapered your living room? I decided to simply tell him.
“That's wallpaper,” I answered.
Bailey cocked his head and seemed to think about it, then responded, “That's-a pretty!” He has never repeated this.
Another time, I was making a cup of tea. Bailey watched (from his cage) while I ran the water and set the kettle on top of the stove. When it began to whistle, Bailey asked, “Whaaat's that?”
I told him, “Cup of tea.”
He seemed to think about this, then asked, “Want-a drink-a water?”
I replied, “That's right, Bailey. Drink of water; cup of tea.”
Now, when the kettle boils, Bailey often says: “Want-a drink? Have-a-cup-a- teee!” He then makes loud slurping and gulping noises.
Our mornings are punctuated by a sweet voice calling, “Peek-a-boo, I see yooou! Want to come out? Want to come out?” Bailey keeps this up until he has our attention.
When evening falls and Bailey gets tired and wants to go to his cage for the night, he'll utter, in soft, drawling tones: “Sleeepy . . . buuurd. Want to go night-night. Yup, time to go bye-bye.”
Our sweet little baby bird has grown into a loving, communicative family member we could not live without. He brings sunshine to each day.
If someone had told us, a few years ago, we would share our lives with a bird we could converse with, we would have thought this improbable if not downright impossible.
But, of course, that was before a boisterous bird named Bailey came unexpectedly into our lives and just as unexpectedly stole our hearts!
