Longtime local journalist Bill Radford and his wife, Margaret, live on 5 acres in the Falcon area with chickens, rabbits, dogs, cats, a flock of parakeets, goats and two horses. Contact Bill at billradford3@gmail.com.
Except when my rooster and the neighborís rooster get into a crow-off, the prairie is a pretty quiet place. At least my part of it is.Lately, though, that general quiet has been shattered at times by the ear-piercing screams of a parrot reverberating throughout the neighborhood.Those screams, I admit, are coming from our house; Kiwi, a nanday conure ó a mostly green parrot native to South America ó has returned to our household after an extended, three-year stay in Missouri. And he is making his return known.Margaret got Kiwi at a Colorado Springs pet store 20-plus years ago in what she acknowledges was an impulse purchase. So lesson No. 1: Donít get such a bird on impulse, or at least be aware that youíll have responsibility for that bird for a long time. Kiwi is probably nearing the end of his life span; some larger birds, though, can live for many more decades.Hereís what one website, the sprucepets.com, says of the nanday conure: It ìis not a quiet bird, but it is a popular pet. They are affectionate toward their owners and†talented talkers, capable of learning several words and short phrases. It’s a medium-sized parrot that is also very intelligent and thrives on being taught†fun tricks†that are sure to entertain.îWell, we havenít taught Kiwi fun tricks over the years. But he has been affectionate, particularly toward Margaret. And he is a bit of a talker. He can say his name, ìkiss,î ìdippy dippy doî and a very garbled version of ìhave a good day.î More impressive are his sound effects, which include the sound of water trickling and mimicking a human cough.His breakthrough in language skills came on a trip to Kansas City when both he and our kids were young. He had been making funny noises for days, like gravel rolling around in his mouth. And then on the trip, as we raced down 1-70 in our van, he finally exploded with ìKiwi!î And then, to his and our delight, kept repeating it, ìKiwi, Kiwi, Kiwi, Kiwi.îOne of his most charming traits comes out at night, in the dark, when he will say, ìKiwi,î but in a whisper.His least charming trait: that scream. Sometimes itís in response to a cat getting too close to his cage. Sometimes itís his way of demanding food or water. Much of the time, the reason is unknown ó but it could just be a sign of boredom.†ìIf birds are left alone too often or for too long, they can start to scream because they have nothing else to do, and because it usually gets a human in the room to pay attention to them,î according to petfinder.com.Which explains Kiwiís three-year visit to Missouri. As the kids got older, and as Margaret and I spent 40-plus hours away at work each week, Kiwi was more and more alone ó and bored. He wasnít getting the attention he needed ó and deserved.A solution came from ìCarol the bird sitter,î a woman in Calhan who had a whole flock of varying kinds of parrots and took care of Kiwi, too, when we were on vacation and couldnít take him. She had a friend in Missouri who also had and loved birds, and that friend was wanting to add a nanday conure to her avian group.A logical match, though not necessary an easy decision. Screaming or no screaming, Kiwi was still a valued member of our family. But it seemed the right thing to do, not just for our eardrums but more importantly for Kiwi. So during a visit to the Springs area, the woman took possession of Kiwi and took him to her home, a bird haven that he seemed to prosper in for those three years.But this summer came word that the woman was planning to move ó into an apartment. And while some of her birds were relatively quiet, Kiwi was not. And thus not a good fit for an apartment complex with neighbors just a wall away.So it was†time for Kiwi to come home, though there didnít seem to be any urgency: The woman originally wasnít looking to move for several months. But when those plans got moved up, Margaret sprang into action, phoning airlines to find one that A) would get her from Colorado Springs to Springfield, Missouri, and B) let her bring Kiwi on board.Delta was the winner. Margaret flew out on a Friday on a day beset by delays, with the journey stretching from early morning to night. I was worried the return trip would be the real nightmare; what would Margaret do if Kiwi started screaming in the TSA security line or on the plane? But Kiwi, with his own $100 ticket and riding in a newly purchased bird carrier, proved to be a dream passenger.So our little green son is back home.And still screaming at times, though heíll usually quiet down if we throw a cover over his cage. And he does have companionship of sorts when weíre gone: His cage is across from one holding our flock of parakeets. (We worry he would hurt them if they all shared a cage.)Overall, itís good to have him back; we hope he feels the same. He still rocks out to the tune of ìJingle Bell Rock,î his favorite song. He still welcomes his sip of orange juice in the morning and curling up on Margaretís shoulder if other animals arenít around to threaten him.And at night, with the lights off, with the parakeets silent and Margaret and me shuffling off to bed, weíll hear that whisper: ìKiwi.î
