365 days of Emmy

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One year ago today we brought home this adorable budgie. nb2We found her on Craigslist. She was a bundle of energy. Lots of climbing of the cage walls, rolling around on the bottom of the cage, twisting and turning upside down – a little acrobat. Unfortunately, she was also terrified of us and would flip out whenever we got near her. It took months to get her used to my hand being in the cage. And even longer to get her to step up. Today she will step up, but will hop off if we move our hands. We’ve only managed to get her out of the cage on our fingers on a few occasions. She’s still a work in progress…e1Emmy is our biggest budgie (I think she has some English budgie in her). She’s so soft and fluffy. I love her whipped cream tummy and the fact that she has one white cheek. She’s also a funny little nut. Except at bedtime, when she chases the other budgies. We’re not sure if she’s afraid of the dark, or just wants to be rightnext to the other budgies. e2Here she is with her boyfriend Ozzie (Emmers and Ozzers) – who puts up with her shenanigans.

Happy Anniversary Emmy – we love you!

Cooper’s Cuties

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Meet Puck!

Puck lives in Indiana with Jan.

Puck standing proudly in the pet grass, being worshiped by some besotted human.grassOn Feb 20th, 2013 an individual then known as QA2 suddenly noticed he was stuck inside an eggshell that was getting tighter by the minute; with the determination that was to characterize his future personality, he heaved back and smashed that shell to smithereens. Two months later he came to live in Muncie, IN, was rechristened PUCK, and proceeded to rule.

Budgie pride. Like every modern budgie, he has computer skills.computerPuck has his own account at Amazon, where he orders his favorite millet sprays and stone ground oats from the human part of the store.twoHe is madly in love with a certain plastic penguin-on-wheels named Rosina, and takes care to bap her on the head first thing every morning. After a month here, he said his first words, “My name is Puck.” Apparently, he had been paying close attention. His repertoire is extensive now, half what his human has taught him, half what he decided to imitate on his own. Imagine her surprise when he said, “Are you serious?” for the first time! The sound he imitates best is the rattle of a loose glass flower on his personal venetian mirror.

Puck doing what budgies do, at his play station. Note venetian mirror. 
upside

Puck has done much to forward the well-being of budgies everywhere; since he has come to live here, he has met dozens of people who never had seen a bird living indoors as a pet, and in all modesty, he would have to admit he has made some conquests and conversions. His human ruefully notes guests, best friends even, often rush to greet Puck before they take off their hats and greet her! It’s that unbeatable combo of looks, charm, ace flying skills and sparkling conversation. He has also inspired considerable art* and poetry; his human speaks to him in nonsense rhymes, such as: You are a yankee doodle and chicken noodle. May the earth open and swallow her if he didn’t come out with “I am a Yankee Doodle” on the 4th of July this year!
Puck sitting on his Auntie Cathie’s nose. I love his composure.
nose

In addition to being a genius and budgie ambassador to the world, Puck is extremely helpful around the house; his favorite sound is the roar of the vacuum cleaner, so he voluntarily assists with that chore several times a day, since millet shows up all too well on a burgundy carpet. He loves running water and attends his human at dishwashing and shower time. Loves to help cleaning the kitchen floor because not only can he play with his human’s toes, he gets to eat the millet she pops out from between the tiles- if he’s fast enough. For some reason he doesn’t understand, she doesn’t approve of that practice.
The day Puck discovered he was a Hoosier.
corn* Portrait of Puck painted by painted by Anyes Kadowaki Busby.
paintinhPuck’s days are busy, attending to his chores and duties, but in the evening he likes to cuddle up on his human’s chest, right over her heart. He thinks he’s a tough guy, but she thinks he is her darling budgie, her sweet Puck, and the light of her days!

 

Gordie

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hgord

I was going to write more about Gordie’s life, but Michelle did such a good job, I’d just be repeating her. Instead I’ll share some thoughts from the last week.

Now that Gordie is gone, it is really tough to look at the flock without thinking about him. Even the flock has been behaving differently without him. He didn’t have the loudest or craziest personality and was likely one of the calmest birds. Maybe that was because he was a mature bird.

It is difficult to explain how sad losing Gordie has made me feel. I try to tell myself that Gordie lived a better life than he ever did before meeting us. He was with a flock, he had a mate, he took baths, grew out his flight feathers and flew around, probably for the first time ever. He enjoyed eating millet and fresh fruits and vegetables on a regular basis and even looked healthier than when he first entered our home. He met Cooper.

I hope we made him happy and I wish we had found him sooner. As sad as it is to lose Gordie, I feel more inspired to find another budgie that needs a good home. Good bye Little Man, thank you for making our lives better, you will be missed.

Goodbye Gordie

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perchOn Monday, October 27th we lost our little Gordie. That morning I was cleaning the cage when I heard a loud squawking. I turned around and saw Gordie on the bottom of the cage upside down and fluttering his wings. I picked him up and he died immediately in my hands. We think it was a seizure or heart attack.

Gordie was an older budgie. We never really knew how old he was. We were his third (possibly fourth) home. His last owner estimated him at five, but he could have been (and we suspect he was) much older.

When we first brought Gordie home, he just sat on his perch looking at himself in his mirror. He didn’t play with his toys, move around much or call out to the other budgies. He wasn’t finger tame (but would sit on our shoulders). His previous owner told us that the family who gave her Gordie thought he was “boring”.

Gordie became a different bird once his quarantine was up and he moved in with the flock. He bonded quickly with his lookalike Ozzie. We think Ozzie was “the bird in the mirror” finally coming out to play. With patience, Gordie started stepping up. He expressed interest in what the other budgies were doing, playing with toys and nibbling on veggies and millet. Gordie became interested in us as well. If we stood by the cage, he would make his way right up to the bars to see us. He was the only budgie who did this. I think he liked kissy noises and being told what a good budgie he was. And he was a such a good little budgie.

When Gordie’s flight feathers started coming in he began to make the voyage from the cage to the little play gym on top of the bookcase. He really enjoyed being up high and would happily sit on his “gym” chirping to himself or the other birds. It took a lot of effort for Gordie to fly about. It could have been his age or perhaps he never had the chance to fly before. One of his wings was a little crooked – maybe that made it more difficult to fly. In any case, sometimes I would give him a little ride on his play gym back to the cage. Gordie also “hobbled” when he walked up and down on the perches. He was a little slower than the other budgies, but did his best to keep up with his friends.

We were thrilled when Gordie bonded with Lera. They were an adorable pair, constantly grooming each other. When Lera was ill, Gordie was so sweet and attentive, feeding her and cuddling with her on the bottom of the cage. I think he was key factor in her amazing recovery.

Gordie loved to take baths. When he was finished he liked to sit on the rim of the bird bath and gaze out the window. One day he even plopped himself into my water glass. He had great fun climbing out and dunking back in. Gordie also liked his green perch (above). If he wasn’t by Lera’s side, that was his spot.

I think because Gordie was an older budgie, he had a special place in our hearts. We wanted so much to give him happiness in his golden years. He was a sweet little fellow and we were lucky to have been able to share the short amount of time with him that we did. Seeing him playing, flying and interacting with the other budgies brought us so much joy. I just wish we had been able to have more time with him.

We love you Gordie and miss you more than words can say.