Parrot Summer

Don’t you just love parrot summer? You know, when you get a few days in the middle of the chilly autumn season that are warm enough for a parrot to go outside. We’ve been having a few days of parrot summer this week and I’ve been enjoying outside walks in my carrier. It is kind of a strange time to be outside. There’s hardly any green anymore. It’s all orange and yellow and brown, which would be quite scary for a green parrot like me if I didn’t have the protection of my carrier. I haven’t seen any predators during my walks this week, but if they were around, they didn’t see me either! My carrier keeps me well hidden.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I’ve got plenty to keep me busy these days. As you can see in the photo, my person has given me quite a stack of books to work on. It’ll a take me a little while to get to the bottom of that one. A parrot’s work is never done!

Parrot Poetry Returns

Ode to the Furnace
by Shadow

The furnace keeps me nice and warm
In chilly autumn weather,
And though it isn’t quite as soft,
It’s warm as any feather.

The furnace lives beneath the house,
Where it rumbles, shakes, and blows
To keep me toasty as can be
From my beak down to my toes

Though autumn days are warmed by sun,
They’re chilly by afternoon’s end,
And that is why I’m very glad
That the furnace is my friend!

Under the Weather

No one likes being sick. However, we parrots know better than to let anyone know when we aren’t feeling well. I mean, just think what would happen if I were hanging out in the jungle acting all sick, and a predator saw me. It would know I was weak and unable to defend myself. So when we parrots feel sick, we always hide it. People, on the other hand, are a completely different story. My person, for example, has not been feeling well today and believe me, I know it. She spent the whole afternoon lounging on the sofa. The worst part of it was, she left me in my cage in the other room. I had to squawk quite a few times to remind her that I was all alone. Finally, she got up and paid some attention to me. Sheesh! Feeling a little sick is one thing, but it’s no reason to neglect your pet parrot.

A Parrot's Work

Some people think the life of a pet parrot is all about lounging around the cage and eating seed treats. Not true. I have a lot of responsibilities as a pet parrot, and my daily tasks are constantly changing. For example, recently my person has been giving me popsicle sticks—lots of them. My job is to chew them all up into splinters. Everyday she gives me more, and I spend a good part of each day chewing them up. The photo shows my current work in progress. As you can see, I’ve got plenty to keep me busy. It may be the life of Riley for Riley, but the life of a pet parrot is something completely different.

Finches

My person and I were watching some goldfinches this morning. They’re very interesting little birds. They were perched all over the stalks of evening primrose plants feasting on the seeds. I can understand why they like to eat that kind of seed. The evening primrose plants are mostly dry and brown by now, with just a few little yellow blooms left on their very tips, and the brown and yellow finches blended right in with them, so they weren’t that easy to see. So I know they felt very safe from predators while they were eating their breakfast. It’s just like when I'm outside, I only like to be where everything is green like my feathers, or else inside my carrier, so predators can’t find me. So I totally understand why those finches chose to eat their breakfast where they did. I’m not sure about those evening primrose seeds though. I wonder how they taste. I bet they’re not anywhere near as delicious as sunflower seeds are.

Huh?

I got an e-mail the other day about my recent post on cereal, in which the writer mentioned that his favorite cereal is Grape Nuts. Grape Nuts is a kind of cereal? What? I know what grapes are and I know what nuts are. They are two very delicious kinds of food, but they are certainly nothing at all like cereal. Hmmm. Since I like grapes and nuts so much, maybe I would like Grape Nuts, too. I’ll have to ask my person to buy me some. As soon as I find out what Grape Nuts are really like, I’ll be sure to let you know.