Next comes my little brown headed parrot, Piper....only 95 grams, she is a
petite cousin to Jardy the Jardine's.....much the same spring green
colors....but with flashes of yellow epaulets appearing magically on her
shoulders occasionally to hint at the beautiful yellow underneath her
wings. She was truly an impulse buy, a whirlwind courtship that lasted
only an hour til she joined me for our trip home from a Missouri bird show.
She's three years old as of July of 1999, and up to 102 grams. She is a definite tie to my
internet access....brought to our hotel room by her breeder, a friend from
one of my bird lists.
Piper is a great eater. Loves all manner of soft foods including sprouts, beans, etc.
California strawberries appeared in the grocery stores again recently, so one day she dragged her piece up
to the windowsill & decorated the area with pink spots. I noticed sometime afterward that her foot was still red on the
bottom from gripping her berry.
A mid-1999 Piper story:
She was sitting on the windowsill on her little cement perch & my husband got up from the table
for a moment. When he got back, she was "still" on the perch, but now had a bit of stolen
plunder from his dinner plate to munch on. Jim only
went to the sink for a second & was right back at the table which is in a straight line only
feet away & it looked like she hadn't moved but there she was with a stolen saltine cracker.
Quick as well as smart! ;)
Piper the quiet BHP provided entertainment this evening (May 27th, 1999). It was all on account of her Choo
choo train...
It really is hers. It started out to be a little baby toy that I bought for a friend's baby.
Has four big wheels with beads in it that rattle when turned & best of all when you press down
on the smokestack, we get genuine choo choo sounds while a little red light flashes.
The other birds weren't interested when I showed it off to them, but Piper had an immediate
reaction. I don't know if she loves it or hates it or something
in between, but she had to have it.
It sits on the dining room windowsill....Piper's newspaper covered daily playground is the
dining room table right next to the window. She has 2 cement perches that sit on the
windowsill & she loves to sit there & look out the window at the activity at the bird feeder.
Every once in awhile, she goes after the train. She pushes it off of the windowsill & then
shoves it across the table so that it slams to the floor.
Today she shoved it all across the table & off it went only to be wedged between chair &
table....not enuf space for it to fall thru. She pushed & pulled & stood on top & grumbled at
it & managed to move it back & forth a bit, but it just wouldn't fall down.
I finally pulled it back to the middle of the table & she nudged it across again & this time to
a non chair area & down it went to the floor with a satisfying crash.
A little neck stretched way out & she looked down at it with prolonged satisfaction.
She went back & sat quietly on her windowsill perch.
Piper with wet matted together feathers is always an awwwwwww.... heart
melter for me. She doesn't just bathe, she performs....a dash to the bowl,
hop in & splash, hop out of the bowl & run flapping into a corner & then
back to the bowl. Over and over again. She even does encores.
She likes a bathing bowl & is unenthusiastic about being spritzed, but that back stays dry so I always do a little "touch-up" after she's done bathing. If she's not
in the mood to jump in, which happens, I'll just give her a little light overall spritz and
leave the bowl out in case she changes her mind.
A new page of Piper pictures and stories!
On to the next birdy page! 
Web Page Design �1997 by:
