The Black Dog Flock

Maya winking (Maximillian Pionus)


Tiko and his shadow (Yellow-Shouldered Amazon)

Our two parrots, Maya and Tiko, are as much a part of the pack (or flock?) at the Black Dog Farm as the dogs. Well, almost. The dogs get special privileges such as sleeping in our room, watching tv or reading with us, and going for rides in the car, whereas the birds mostly stay in the bird room or the kitchen. But they still feel very much a part of life here.

In the morning when it gets light I uncover their cages with a cheery "Good Morning" with the hope that someday they'll say it back to me. They crawl all over their cages, anxious for their breakfast. Tiko is the better eater, loving a variety of foods, with his main staple a cooked bean mix I make a couple of times a week. He digs his head into his bowl and emerges with mush on his face which he then scrapes off on one of his perches.

Don't let anyone tell you keeping birds is a tidy business - they are messy! Now that we have them in their own room (what we call the dog room because it's where the dogs get their feet wiped in wet weather) it is much easier to contain the mess than when they used to live in the kitchen.

We are working with Tiko on learning to talk. So far he can say Step Up, Hi Paul, Hi Mom, What'cha doing, Kiss (with a kissing noise), Pretty Bird, and I'm Tiko, with varying degrees of clarity.

In the evening when we come home from work we all get together in the kitchen to discuss the day, listen to music, and make dinner. That's when Tiko really gets going, trying all the words he'd been practicing all day. Maya mostly watches, occasionally chiming in with her conversational sounding squeaks.