Why do I identify with parrots? I suppose it's because they're brainy in a world in which brains do not seem to carry the day. As any pet shop owner knows, when a customer with only a casual interest in parrots strolls by a cage, the first thing asked is, "Does it talk?" "Yes, ma'am, it talks." Well I say, "So friggin' what?" Anyone can talk. I myself can talk. I can also list all of Woodrow Wilson's "Fourteen Points," but I know that doing so is meaningless other than as a testament to a mind distracted. A parrot's charm lies in its inquisitiveness, its curiosity, its resourcefulness and yes, even in its brattiness. A parrot is a perfect, well, parrot. One cannot judge a parrot by its ability to make a "nice pet" any more than one can judge a Matisse by its ability to match the naugahyde sofa. One must shift to the perspective of the species. We are as strange to it as it is to us. The parrot too wonders: Why are humans so inept at the simple act of standing (on a tree limb)? Why are they so lame at controlling their own teeth (in opening sunflower seeds)? Why are they unable to master even the rudiments of locomotion (through the air)? The parrot is smarter than the dog but less deferential to humans -- is it at all clear that we encage it, or does the parrot manipulate us into creating and then bestowing upon it a toy-filled, wrought iron refuge? The parrot is more curious than the cat but less cuddly -- understandable when, in the wild, being held is brief prelude to being eaten alive. To my avian friend I say: Let pet store shoppers stroll by on their way to the dark-eyed Akita puppies! Let them wallow in their inability to discern knowing parrot from insipid pigeon! Let them lack of all appreciation -- for it is you who are martyr, you who are hero, you who are sage! Dear parrot, may the millet hang plentifully around you....

Parrot Jungle
(Florida, 1988)

The Poetry of 'Keets
(L. Ron & Klaus, 1986)

Featured link:

Parrot Chronicles

Come fly with me....

The Aviary
Grey Place
Birds n Ways
Bird-Diaper.com
Alex Foundation
Parrot Web Ring
World Parrot Trust
Bird Talk magazine
Planned Parrothood
Bird Cage Page (w/parrot audio)
"Dead Parrot" Script (Monty Python)
Wings Around the World Web Ring

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Dispatch a carrier pigeon