For The Birds

Last week, Holly was surfing some internet classifieds and came across a listing for a free parakeet with two cages. She immedately asked if we could get it, making sure to let me know how much Emma would like to have a bird. Me, being the nice guy that I am, told her to go ahead and call to see if the bird was still available. She told me that she would and I didn’t give it much more thought.

Later that night, Holly had a study group for school so she was gone for the evening. When she came home, I was in the front yard with the kids. As Holly pulled up into the driveway, I noticed a bird cage on the passenger seat in the van. Sure enough, Holly had gone and picked up the bird. I could tell that she was excited since there was huge grin on her face as she opened the car door.

We took the bird inside and got it all situated. Holly informed the family that the bird’s name was Chica and that we could change it if we wanted. Emma decided because it’s a female bird that the name worked so no changes were made.

Today was really the first chance that we’ve had to play with our new pet. Chica is very wary of people and won’t perch on our hands. Yet. She’s also a biter. We’re going to have to spend a lot of time developing trust with her but she seems to be very smart so I’m hoping that she catches on quickly.

Holly is completely enamored with the new bird. She has been trying to establish a relationship with Chica all day long. Holly even went so far as to take out the mirrors from the cage so that Chica will bond with her instead of with what appears to be another bird.

I really hope that Chica figures out that we have no intentions of eating her and starts to feel comfortable around everyone. From what I’ve read, it seems like she was never really properly trained. She’s two years old so hopefully it’s not too hard to teach an old bird new tricks.