Meet
Clan MacBirdy
Clan MacBirdy is what I started calling my
flock after I saw a great movie titled "Rob Roy" and it also honors my Scottish heritage.
There are currently seven avian members in
our flock.
Look here for some photos
until I get some new ones loaded.
Iris the blue female parakeet. She
was the first bird John and I got while together.
Iris was purchased in 1991 in Vienna, Virginia. (NOTE: Iris passed away in 1999)
Spunky the lutino male cockatiel and his
significant other, Betty, the female grey. They were purchased in
Sterling, Virginia in January 1995. We had planned on buying just
one bird that day, but they were both so darn cute that we coudn't choose
between them. We are very glad that both birds are part of our flock-family.
Darwina the green female parakeet. We originally thought
Darwina was a boy. We had bought her as a companion for Iris to ease
the loss of her boyfriend Jaune, the sweet yellow male parakeet.
Jaune died in on November 19, 1995, from a tumor near his kidney.
He used to love it when I sang him good-night songs. We bought Darwina
a few days later in Sterling.
Guy La Fleur (or Guy Le Bird) the yellow male parakeet. Guy
came to us in August 1996 with his friend Feller. Their owner had
been refered to me by the Loudoun County Animal Shelter. He didn't
realize birds could be quite so noisy, and he wanted to find a better home
for them. Unfortunately, poor little Feller only lived for less than
a year. He had always been very timid and on the bottom of the pecking
order. One day I found him on the bottom of the cage. Feller
died in the car on the way to the vet.
Phinne the grey female cockatiel. I was in the Leesburg post
office in February 1997, when I saw an ad for a cockatiel with cage on
their bulletin board. Phinne belonged to a teenage boy and his parents
who could no longer give her the love and attention that she needed.
They had been told Phinne was a male and had named her Phinnaeus.
Poor Phinne was greasy and smelled funny. I took her home that same
day. She seems to be happy now. She wants to have babies, but
she doesn't seem to know she's a bird. Silly girl. She's my
little computing pal. (NOTE 2000: After being converted to a 100% pelleted diet, Phinne is looking her absolute best. Her feathers have taken on a healthy silvery-gray, and she hasn't laid a single egg in months.)
Tiny Elvis the peachface lovebird. In August 1997, soon after
we moved to Blacksburg, our neighbor decided to take a traveling job and
could no longer keep his lovebird. Knowing that we are bird nuts,
he asked us to give Tiny a home. Tiny is a very intelligent and inquisitive
bird. He is one of the only birds I know that actually holds a grudge
if you hurt his feelings. It turned out that Tiny is actually the
brother of my friend's (Erin & Eric) female lovebird, Lytha.
One can definitely see the family resemblance. (NOTE: I've never had to give away a bird before. I don't like the idea, as I feel responsibility for a pet is "for life". The problem is that Tiny never adjusted to the change from being a single bird to being just one of the flock. He was so unhappy no matter how much attention we gave him that we finally gave him to friends, Anna and Bill, in 1999 so that Tiny could be "only-bird" once again. Tiny's name is now "Chico" and the report is that he is much happier and that Bill is spoiling him rotten.)
Louie the cockatiel grandbird. In November 1997, Spunky and
Betty decided that they wanted to start a family. Thinking that they
would actually do all the work, I bought them a nest box. They did
great with the eggs, but terrible with the chicks. Louie was the
only surviving chick from a clutch of four. He hatched on December
16th. We had to hand feed him night and day (around work and school)
for several weeks. When he was a few weeks old, his hock tendon slipped
out of joint, and the vet and I could never get it placed correctly again.
Even with his gimpy foot, Louie is incredibly active. We let him
fly to compensate for his walking difficulty. He is a very skilled
flyer. He is also the sweetest little bird anyone could ask for.
John and Louie have become inseparable buddies. I often find them
in bed reading or on the couch watching TV.
Dory the European starling. Dory (Dorito) came to us in 1998.
She was from a clutch of four baby starlings that had been displaced by
someone re-roofing their house. Erin fed them until they were on
pelleted food, then she had to find homes for them. Two people took
one each right away. Erin kept one she named Frito (a.k.a Freeko),
but she had to find a home for the other one she had named Dorito.
Being a soft-hearted sucker, I took her in. At first, I wasn't sure
it had been a good idea. Young starlings poop big, wet sluggy feces.
Luckily, Dory soon outgrew that. (Now she just poops small sluggish feces--hah!) She is now a prized member of Clan
MacBirdy. Dory talks up a storm and is learning new words and sounds
daily. She has also decided that John is her best friend. (NOTE 2000: Dory's vocabulary now consists of "Water, Hello Dory, Hi Sweetie, Meep--Meep, Watch doin' Dory, and I love you.)
This page was last updated on 07 Oct 2000.
Lisa
B. Wilkins
Back to my home
page.