Who picked whom- the bird or you??

[MiniMama]

Just curious how people came about getting their feathered friends. Did you pick the bird, or did the bird pick you? Both of mine picked me. I went to a bird show and trolled around for a few hours, and watched to see which bird gave me the most enthusistic response. Love at first site, I guess

[Irish]

Bob picked me--after knowing me for a month or two. When he started regurgitating for me, and calling for me when I entered the store, that was all she wrote! _I_ thought I was getting an M2 lady.... :-).

I picked Arthur, as I fell in love with him when he was so young he was only half-feathered and on 2 or 3 handfeedings a day. Luckily, by the time he was weaned and came home, the feeling was mutual!

Petey picked me. I was the only non-staff person that he wouldn't bite :-).

I picked Eddie for me--but Eddie had other plans, and HE picked Z, so now he's Z's bird, and they're both very happy with the arrangement.

Gracie was chosen for me by a friend and rescuer. To this day, I'm still not sure who Gracie has chosen in this household. Maybe Z, maybe me. Just not sure. I love her to death, but we don't have the same trusting, playful and over-the-top loving relationship that I have with the rest of my birds, or that Eddie and Z have with each other. No one is sure when Gracie's next "facial attack" episode is going to happen, or who her chosen target will be. We're pretty happy with the arrangement most of the time, though, so all is well :-). She is playful, entertaining, beautiful and loved, despite her "issues".

[jimpierce7]

Zoey chased her brother off to get to me when I saw them together. Benji I picked out of the croud. Sophie.........looked at me from her cage, cocked her head one way, then the other, hopped on the side of the cage and gave me the "Here I am!!" look. No doubt who picked who. lol

[Miro The Macaw]

My first bird, Miro, also came from a bird show- a LARGE one. We handled a LOT of birds that day, and couldn't decide... SO many nice ones. I had done a lot of research prior to going to the show, and we THOUGHT that we were going to get a smaller bird, something more in the Pionus or senegal size. But, when we picked Miro up and he immediatly climbed under my chin to go to sleep, he was SOLD.

My Eclectus was a little different- She was rehomed to me. We were at a local flea market looking for a cage, and she was there. Sitting a bit out of the way, looking miserable. She wouldn't let ANYONE touch her without biting, according to the breeder that had her. He told me how she had bitten her last owner, he was scared of her, and she sat in a cage for almost a year with no interaction other than feeding and watering. I also suspected that whenever she was handled, it was roughly, because she really didn't trust people. But, she seemed to like me. She didn't bite me, and she even stepped up for me- something that she wasn't doing for ANYONE. So, She came home, too.

My LAST addition, Marlow the TAG, also picked us. I have been looking at Africans for a while, every time I went somewhere that had them I would go play with them to see if the 'one' was there. It never really was. This one was different somehow- jumped right out and wanted to be held and scratched. So, he came home, too :)

And that is the LAST one. I am not going to find any more- And no more are going to find me!

-Andrew

[Tiki]

Tiki, Koro and Manu were all "2nd hand birds". The people who had them didn't want them-crazy people!

Maui, Manea, Rangi, Shaka, Tattoo and Rima were born in my home, Tiki's babies with his now deceased wives.

Chaska chose me. She was one of 4 Quakers in the cage, she was the only one to kiss me through the bars. Love at first sight!

Tjinimin chose me, only problem is that his siblings also chose me. He was just a little bolder though! Got my attention!

I took Manikay because he was the oldest of the baby Princess Parrots and I wanted to be sure he would be on 2 feedings by the time I went back to work after Christmas last year. So I chose him.

I'm trying my best not to be chosen again-they are sooo hard to resist!

[kp_in_scott]

Ricky chose Angel
Ricky chose Gabriel
Ricky chose Phoebe
Ricky chose "D" (Can you see see a pattern here?)
Seymour chose me, I thought.
I chose Jesse
Kiwi chose Ricky (love at first sight!)
Lope chooses to be left alone! lol(for now anyway)

[felisdomesticus]

The rescue chose me to adopt the redhead. I met her and she immediately climbed up onto my shoulder and started preening my hair. She bit anyone who tried to get her off of me. So maybe she chose me a bit too.

[The Outlaw]

Rarely have I actually come home with the bird I thought I wanted because inevitably, a different one chose me.

Mai Tai, Ekkie, I found her in a pet store after falling head over heels in love with another sold ekkie in another store. Mai didn't love me at first, but I was so star struck that it didn't take long. I'd say on the third day, she was sweet and lovely.

Chi Chi: I was looking to purchase a U2 or my husband as an anniversary gift. The U2 made me ill (asthma) but upon leaving the bird room, a little hitchhiker jumped on my shoulder. I didn't have a clue what was on me, never even heard of mini macaws, but he turned out to be a Severe and came home with me that day. I didn't even need a carrier. He was "welded" on me and STILL would live on my shoulder if I'd let him. He's still a favorite.

The Fabulous Margarita: She was supposed to be a Senegal for my little granddaughter. Went to a small bird breeder who just didn't have a bird that struck my fancy and just as I was about to leave, she asked if I'd ever considered a BG macaw. Well, I really hadn't because I was afraid of really big birds, but her story was so sad I had to give her a second look. Due to family hardships, this young lady had been with this breeder for 6 months as a boarder. The family could no longer afford her and the boarding bill was getting very high. She was the most beautiful bird I'd ever seen. We drew up a contract and I took her home. Within and hour of being in my home in a big cage, I decided to go and take her out. She had not been friendly, rather frightened at the breeders, but when I asked her to step up, she did. No drama, a little bit of trepidation, but still she came. Within 20 minutes she was sleeping on her back in my lap. She remains my most beloved parrot to this day. Just an amazing creature.

Radar: I was looking for a grey and found one within an hour's drive. I thought it would be a Congo, I'd never met a TAG, but the lady that owned her had to sell her. She was very ill and couldn't care for her birds anymore. Radar wasn't allowing any of the other prospective new ownders handle her at all. Not knowing any better, I reached in and asked her to step up, never letting my eyes leave hers. She did. Radar has always been very sweet and affectionate to me. I still correspond with Ann, her former owner. This was a real love connection.

Tilde: My grandaughter was turning 5 and daily played with Margarita and Mai Tai. I felt she was ready for her own bird. I found Tilde, a quaker, at a birdstore I frequent. Tilde was the sweetest little thing until she turned 15 months. Then, she decided she didn't like kids and became my bird. Tilde is probably a male and is a real character. I cannot imagine a home without a quaker. They are ornery, headstrong, and the most amusing little things. Only I can handle Tilde without an argument. He's perfectly sweet with me.

Dreamer: This was gonna be my Hahns. I'd heard all of the wonderful stories about Hahns macaws and decided to get one. Turns out the one I had found in a petstore got sold out from under me. However, on the three occasions I had visited it trying to make up my mind, a young BG kept trying to get to me. He was a cutie, but I knew I had a female BG and didn't want to create breeding problems down the road. In any event, everytime I entered the store, he would climb around the cage trying to get to me. The store owner took me aside and asked what it would take for me to purchase him. I explained my concerns about my hen at home. She told me of Dreamie's difficult start and my heart just melted. He was the only birthday gift I've ever bought myself. And, he's the most interesting and intelligent bird here. Best birthday gift I ever got. I'm nuts about him.

Taco: this Yellow Nape Amazon had been in the same family for 20 years. It belonged to a relative of a girlfriend who sometimes lives here. She begged me to please take this bird. Her family no longer spent any kind of time with it, and it was getting nasty and cage bound. I had never considered a zon and was a bit frightened, but agreed to help rehome it. Taco was so pretty, in great shape but in a terrible cage with no toys. The girlfriend of the owner was afraid of the bird and she was the one who had to care for it.

As Fate would have it, I was the recipient of the famous Amazon crush. Taco fell head over heels in love with me at first sight. She is sweet as sugar and sings all the time. She is my most loyal bird and least likely to bite, ME. However, she does not share this with anyone else. Typical YNA.

Sailor aka Baby: I have a friend with too much money and not enough time who fell hard for the Fabulous Margarita. After offering to purchase her for the ridiculous price of $5,000, I told him I could find at least 4 BGs for that kind of money. Besides, I adore Margarita and I wouldn't sell her for $20,000. So, he gave me his credit card and told me to find him a bird,cage and all the accessories it would need. I knew where a sweet baby boy was that had just finished weaning and set off, card in hand, to get it for him. The plan was for me to keep him with me until the new cage came and he could be vet checked. In the meantime, I downloaded every bit of bird care information I could get and made him a handbook, cooked lots of stuff to freeze and handled the baby daily. He was such a dear little guy. I fell hard for him. I had never had a real baby bird before.

Turns out, a month later, my friend decided that he just couldn't handle a big bird and decided to give him to me, cage and all. I was flabbergasted. To this day, whenever I see Roy, he laughs and says it was always meant to be my bird. He's crazy enough to do something like that. Who knows?

Cleo: This little Congo grey actually came here as a boarder. Her dad was in the process of selling his townhouse and about to get married to a long time girlfriend. They were also getting their new house ready. The original plan was for me to have her for about a month. He loved her so much, but she had starting plucking and even started to mutilate her wings. Too many changes. She missed him so much. On the 10th day, she climbed down off of her cage and came looking for me. I heard her tap on my chair leg and picked her up. She was so needy and I just smooched all over her. I had been careful not to interact too much with her because I didn't want to make her owner uncomfortable. Now I'm glad I did. Three months later, he decided she was really better with me.

Cleo plucked for 28 days and then stopped. I'm delighted to say that today she is in beautiful feather and very happy. She fits in very nicely here at **********.

At this point, we were full at the inn. I love them all. However, Fate wasn't done quite yet. I got a call from a friend who lived 20 hours from me. She could no longer take care of her 1 year old BG. She was going through chemo and didn't expect to live. I knew my husband wouldn't like another bird coming, but how could I deny a dying friend. She just wanted her to be with me because she knew I took good care of my birds and was good with macaws. She and her husband traveled for 3 days to bring her to me. This is Mia, my last BG macaw. She is also the only bird here that plucks. She arrived in good feather, but for whatever reason, pulls all of her body feathers. I always feel like I let my friend down, but I'm just crazy about this bird. I continue trying to find the cause and cure.

This made 9 birds and 8 of them are big. That was enough. Or so I thought. There was one more bird destined to live out her life with me. I had boarded an older GW 2 years ago when Florida got hit hard with hurricanes. The owner of the bird had parents down there and was taking generators to Florida to help them out. He needed to board his bird with someone who could handle a big bird. Eenie was totally devoted to him. I was awestruck when she arrived and delighted to have her. Greenwings had always been my dream birds, but I had totally given up on ever having one. Turns out that a year later, he decided to rehome her due to his failing health. He asked me to take her and she came to live here on New Year's day of 2006. Dreams really do come true. She is my reward for a job well done. Or so I tell myself

That's how I became the parront to 10 birds. I have since rehomed my Ekkie, Mai Tai, with another member here. She kept attacking my Quaker and I felt I owned him some protection. She lives happily with a young family with two little girls. That's the perfect home for her.

[kathleen]

Pumpkin chose me. I decided on a quaker and when I went to the store, there were four babies. All of them jumped on me and then one by one, they jumped off. Pumpkin stayed on me and I knew he was for me. It's been a wonderful relationship ever since. We've been together for a year now.

[Lynjupiter]

We have added a quaker to the flock and this one chose us against our will.
I help with a rescue and we needed more room. So after a proper quarantine time I moved her into my house until she was adopted out. At my house she is a sweet kissy darling as soon as she was adopted out she would scream and bite to the point the people always brought her back. After I think the third adoption fell through and she was brought back AGAIN that we got the hint and kept her.
She wanted to stay with us and our flock. She got her wish.
Lynda