A PRETTY KRAFTY KLOSE KALL

I have been owned by my Sunny the cockatoo for almost 4 years and he's been taking me to meetings for about that long. We are quite a bonded pair, so losing him would be quite devastating. I have always heeded the ongoing advice of the club to keep his wings clipped. I've heard too many stories where people with unclipped birds think their bird loves them so much they'd never fly off, only to have a sad story to tell.

Birds don't fly away from you. They just fly to have fun, or because something scares them. Animals act on instinct and impulse. The more they fly, the more they get confused and that's how they get lost. I almost had a close call this year that I want to share, to try to illustrate how important it is to keep your birds clipped.

Beginning in the late spring this year, I began letting his wings grow for the annual LIPS Parrot show. The first year he was entered, he won Best Hookbill in Novice Division. The second year, he didn't do as well because of a bad wing clipping job. The judge told me I should grow his wings and try Advanced next year. I was afraid to take him outside all summer, but as he demonstrated fear of letting go of my hand and his clumsiness and lack of strength and skill, I assumed he was just a big chicken and wasn't interested in going anywhere. As my false sense of confidence grew, and as we never think bad things will ever happen to us, I continued to take him outside to hang out on his perch and enjoy the sunshine.

One day, he was feeling so good with the sun on his back, the birds in the trees, the blue sky above, and all the neat trees all around, he decided to do what a bird instinctively does on sudden impulse spread his wings and go for a flight. Off he went, just like a bird (as I was shocked into realizing that's what he was),with all the skill and agility of an expert. I know it wasn't his intention to leave me he was just being a bird. I stood in shock as I watched my baby fly up and away from me forever. One minute he's with me and the next minute he's gone. It happens that fast. I panicked, not knowing how far he flew or which tree in the neighbor's yard he went to. I called and called, gasping for my breath, when all of a sudden I heard, "HELLO!" There he was, about 25 or 30 feet up on a branch having a good old time chewing on bark and picking off leaves, completely ignoring his frantic microscopic mommy down below.

My boyfriend, Steve, got his ladder, but it was too short. I was ready to call the fire department or Steve Panzenhagen. Fortunately, his neighbor had a fireman's double decker ladder. For a second I was afraid Sunny was going to get spooked by the ladder and take off again, and I'd lose him for sure. He'd get hit by a car, or spend days and nights feeling scared, lonely, hungry, thirsty, cold until he died, was hit by a car, killed or maimed by an animal, or found and maybe abused. I'd never know and he'd never understand what happened to him. I'd be haunted by his unknown fate forever. Up the 28 foot ladder I went, thinking nothing of any fear of falling and breaking all my bones, barefoot and carrying a roll. I continued to crawl out on the limb until my boyfriend was afraid it would break. Sunny ignored me, still. I remembered I saw Sunny's VFF (Very Favorite Food) in the refrigerator left over from last night's BBQ. Kraft American Cheese! Steve ran in and got the cheese and threw it up to me, as I continued to talk to Sunny. Sunny was very calm, enjoying the tree and his mommy up in it with him. As soon as he saw that cheese, down he scrambled. He stepped up onto my hand and took this huge wad in his mouth. He couldn't eat it, because I squeezed his feet so hard for fear of losing him. He bit me and drew blood (never letting go of the cheese, mind you), but with my adrenaline going, I didn't feel a thing.

Steve climbed up and took Sunny from me, with his housekeeper holding the ladder for him. I climbed down and rushed Sunny in the house and back into his cage, still with that big wad of cheese in his mouth. I think he got sick of so much cheese, because he threw a third out of his cage. He was grounded for the rest of the day. Fun time was over. So he got a taste of being a free bird. I vowed that after the show, he'll be clipped and never shown again. The rest of the day I was drained and spacey from the close call.

P.S. At the LIPS show, he gave me my reward for scaring me to death. He won BEST IN SHOW! The judge wanted me to keep him flighted two more weeks, so I could enter him in the Kaytee Great American Bird show in New Hampshire. I did, and he won first for the Cockatoo section, and third for the South Pacific parrots sub-division. The weather is cold now, so I won't even entertain taking him outside. That's his last show forever.He's a clipped pet bird from now on.

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