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Nikki Moustaki's Dog Blog: Entry #6: Should I Keep the Parrot?

First, a big announcement! Look at my new baby Lemur!

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Just kidding. There's a guy who walks around with this Lemur on South Beach, where I had dinner last night. I know that us animal people don't really like it when people walk around with these kinds of exotic animals, but this guy seems to LOVE his Lemur. It's wearing tiny diapers. Anyway, terrible photo of me, good one of the Lemur. Personally, I would never keep this type of animal, or anything like it, as cute as it is. I'll stick with the dogs and birds.

This morning, while walking the dog. I found a baby Quaker Parakeet in the bushes. His parents were trying to get him back into the nest, but the poor little guy is just a few days too young to fly. He was trying, but kept ending up on the ground, clearly exhausted. I think he got knocked out of his nest in today's thunderstorm. I brought him home and handfed him with baby bird formula and let him have a nap. Then I spent 2 hours trying to get his parents to encourage him to fly back to the nest, but he's not that good of a flyer. His parents definitely want him back -- they flew to him and talked to him, but nothing worked. We have tons of feral cats here in Miami Beach, so I know he'd be an easy snack if he stayed on the ground. 

Photo 130

So, I have the baby parrot now and I'm handfeeding him until he's stronger, and I'll try every day to get him back to his parents. Eventually he'll be strong enough and old enough to fly. He's so docile and sweet and I'm getting attached to him already! These birds are not native to South Florida and they're not protected, so I could keep him, but I think that since he was born in the "wild" land of Miami Beach, he should probably go back. I'm going to try not to handle him a lot so that he doesn't get used to humans. 

My beloved Meyer's Parrot, Jesse, died at 21 years of age just a few months ago. He was the same exact size as this bird. I can't help but to think that this bird is somehow a "gift," not to replace Jesse (because no bird could), but to fill the void he left. Am I reading too much into this? Probably. Still, I have never just found a parrot in the bushes before! A rabbit, yes. Parrot, no. Your thoughts? 

Hugs and Woofs! 

Nikki Moustaki

Posted on Aug 27, 2009 at 03:04 AM in Nikki Moustaki's Dog Blog |

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Susan

Just wondering, did you keep the baby bird? 15 years ago, we found a cockatiel on the side of a highway here in TX when it was 110 degrees outside. He was panting and exhausted. No band on his leg. We took him home and he was young and seemed to be tame, but we were unable to locate his owners. We kept him and named him Lucky. He's just a darling little thing and we love him very much.
Susan

Posted by: Susan | Nov 02, 2009 at 04:00 PM

brooke

I honestly believe that sometimes pets we have lost to the Bridge send others to help fill that void in our hearts a little.

Posted by: brooke | Aug 30, 2009 at 11:50 PM

Eleni

This is one lucky & beautiful bird! You must do what you feel is right, and it sounds like you are doing just that!

Posted by: Eleni | Aug 27, 2009 at 05:11 PM

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  • Nikki Moustaki, MA, MFA, is a nationally known dog trainer, TV and radio personality, and animal expert who splits her time between New York City and Miami Beach. She is the author of 9 books on dogs and 25 books on birds and has been featured on national television and radio shows including CNN, NBC, ABC, BBC, and Howard Stern. More . . .

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