Wed, 03 Aug 2005
So I was on my way to the studio on Saturday, hoping to catch up with the wood firing crew and get some of my pieces in the kiln, when I saw a grey bird in the bike lane. I realized pretty quickly that this was not a pigeon, but rather a cockatiel, and therefore not the type of bird you expect to see wandering around outside. I parked my bike and tried to approach him, but he flew onto a nearby branch that I couldn't quite reach. I stood on the sidewalk whistling at him for a while (and receiving a quite a few honks from passing cars) but he wasn't charmed by my repertoire of wolf whistles. And then he flew across the river.
I hopped back on my bike and went straight to the Steelyard where I got a bird feeder and towel -- I was hoping to lure him with food. I spent the next hour in the sketchy parking lot across the river using my sonar powers to locate the bird, with very little success. I finally spotted him again, but he didn't seem too interested in the seeds. I wasn't about to give up, though. There was a rumor floating around the Steelyard that someone was looking for this bird, and I thought at least if I went home I could check the lost and found postings and alert the owner. When I got home, I realized that I had a secret weapon: Olive (that would be my pet cockatiel). I took Olive out to the car and we drove back to the sketchy parking lot where I reenacted the boom box scene from Say Anything with a birdcage. Again, no luck -- Olive's super good at being loud early in the morning, but when I want him to sing he's Mr. Quiet. I went back to the side of the river where I first saw the bird and lo and behold, he was back on the sidewalk. I pulled up along side him and rolled down the window so Olive could say hi, which he did. The other bird said hi back. Then I took Olive out of the car (still in his cage) and put him on the sidewalk. Other bird (he needs a name, I guess) must have recognized the cage as someplace that might have food, and came over to check things out. While he was having a good time checking out Olive's millet, I grabbed the towel, threw it over him, and picked him up. If you have never tried to carry a bird before, I should mention that they're seriously squirmy. I got Olive back in the car, hopped in, rolled up the windows, and drove off thinking hmm, I have 2 birds in my car and a very nearly empty tank of gas. Not the best situation to be in. And I was still under the impression that there was someone looking for this bird that I could call.
Eventually I went back to the Steelyard to try and track down more information about this mystery owner. Everyone was a tad bit surprised to find out that I'd actually caught the guy. Luckily they have almost everything at the Steelyard, including an old birdcage that I could put other birdy in. Both Olive and other bird hung out at the Steelyard the rest of the day while I checked out the Woolly fair. Currently the 2 birds are back at my house, and while I've talked to about 6 people with missing cockatiels, none of them could claim this guy as theirs. Olive seems to be enjoying the company, at least. He's been showing off all night.
Anyone want a pet bird?
[/stories]
permanent link
writebacks
writebacks temporarily disabled due to comment spam ...