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Joey - 3rd Place
Congratulations to Celina Gatley and her bird Joey.
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This is the story of Joey, a (Canadian) Pied Peachface Lovebird
The Beginning: How Joey Came to Be a Member of Our Family
In April, Joey was an eight-year-old lovebird desperately seeking a loving home. Joey’s first owner had been forced to give him up and several foster homes had failed to work out for him. He was very lonely in his latest home because the other lovebirds were shunning his advances at friendship.
Meanwhile, our home was much saddened by the loss of our beloved lovebird Bert. Our other lovebird, Ernie, was extremely depressed and we were very worried about him. After consulting with our Avian Veterinarian about the situation, she remembered Joey, and arranged for us to meet him the next day. When we first saw him, he seemed very shy with his feathers drawn in nervously around his face and little clipped wings drawn in at his sides. When we tried to get him to “step up”, he would nimbly climb down the backside of his cage. What struck us more than anything, however, was how much he looked like our Ernie. (See last picture: Joey is on the Left, Ernie the right). Within minutes, we knew we needed to bring this bright little bird home with us and make a place for him within our family.
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The Middle: Getting to Know Joe
At first Joey seemed smaller than Ernie, and more timid (at least around us humans). But from the first day, Joey was determined to win Ernie’s friendship.
Joey was very patient with our sad little Ernie, preening him for many days before the favor was returned. In time the birds were sharing the same cage and we began to notice that Joey seemed to be growing! His clipped wing feathers were beginning to fall out, and his ability to fly was steadily improving. As he relaxed into our home, his head rounded out and his body began to take on gigantic puffball proportions rivaling Ernie’s. From the beginning we could tell that Joey is a very cautious and intelligent bird. Before he endeavors to do anything Joey likes to “test the waters”. For example, when he “steps up”, he always puts up his right foot first, tests for sturdiness, and then only follows with the left if he is satisfied his footing is secure. Likewise, he will spend a long time studying “the lay of the land” before he makes his approach. We hope this cautious demeanor will rub off on Ernie, who often jumps into the middle of things (like soup) very impulsively. Joey’s confidence has grown with his wing feathers and his ability to fly. (Please see attached picture of Joey in flight). We have discovered that within our “cautious Joe” there lies an extremely curious Explorer. Over the months, Joey has slowly charted out the whole house – climbing bookshelves, discovering crannies and peeking into cupboards whenever possible. Just today, he sat on my shoulder as I loaded the fresh groceries into the refrigerator, so he could investigate the hidden treasures lying within.
My husband and I have learned to be careful, because one never knows were we will find him. Head poking out of a basket high up in the bedroom closet or standing five inches tall on the floor trying to get into an abandoned shopping bag – from curtains to wind chimes and handcrafted lanterns, Joey goes everywhere!
Joey’s explorations seemed to be fueled by an inner Engineering spirit. Joey loves to interact with objects and figure them out. He rings bells, snaps bottle cap lids, and rolls miniature skateboards. When I filled a plastic Easter egg with rice, Joey was mesmerized by the rattling sound it made when he shook it with his foot. The object that interests Joey the most, however, is our camera. Whenever I bring it out to take a picture, if Joey sees it, he will stop whatever adorable action he is up to and immediately come and land on the camera, which is how I managed to get a picture of him flying towards me. The extreme closeup of Joey is the result of his trying to chew the camera lens. Joey has become my constant companion when I am crafting because he is so interested in all the cutting, punching, gluing, and painting. Once, he landed in some green paint (non-toxic of course) and made little footprints all over the couch! He also likes to sit on pens, pencils, and paintbrushes while I use them. Not surprisingly, Joey’s inner Engineering spirit inspires him to chew. My many broken hairties, crumbled pencil erasers, tattered shower curtain, and shredded papers can attest to his vandalism! I am forced to protect my favorite books with towels, plastic bags and aluminum foil.
Joey’s even chewed up the soft rubber coating on the wheel of my computer mouse. Today my husband had to drape a blanket over some wicker baskets to protect them from the destructive forces of our little Hooligan’s beak. We have made sure to keep only non-poisonous plants in the house because when the fancy strikes, our little “Vegetation Vulture” can make quick work of them (goodbye lucky bamboo, goodbye cornplant). Joey even nips peppermint! The funniest thing about Joey, however, is that Joey thinks he is a Duck! For starters – he quacks, especially when he is disgruntled, and he has taught Ernie to do the same. Every day we hear these terse “Waanhk” noises coming from the birds. More importantly, Joey loves water. He is ready for a bath at any opportunity. I have turned a large (yet shallow) serving dish into a lovebird-sized swimming pool for his bathing delight (See attached photo montage). When we turn on a faucet, Joey will often come flying in, ready to get his daily dose of splashes. The other day we discovered our love-duckie making contortionist moves in order to dip his tail and splash his head in his rather small water dish.
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The End: As it should be: With a Whole Lot of “Love”
In eight short months we have all come to love little “Joe Joe Bananas” very much, and we consider him to be an important member of our family.
He is a very big blessing in a pint-sized package. Since it is time to tuck my two little shoulder snugglers into bed, I will close by encouraging others to adopt older lovebirds (as well as younger ones) and make them a part of their families too.
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