Buddy the neglected/abused little parrot has a new name

Buddy is now Perry -- short for Peridot, because Perry is a little gem of a bird.

This morning Perry treated me to a rousing chorus of imitated aratinga conure and budgerigar (talk about contrasts :) For those not versed in the parrot world, the calls of the aratinga family are among the loudest of parrot calls. Perry can't manage the volume, but he got the notes perfectly. And the Budgerigar is the quiet common "parakeet". He got both the notes and volume correct on that one.) I don't know if he learned those calls in the bird concentration camp he was rescued from, or whether he once lived with other birds. Both seem plausible -- I've been wondering in fact if one of his past homes (and I'll bet he was passed around) was that of a bird "collector".

He is putting on weight and becoming more lively. I want to try to persuade him to stand on a small scale today, though I'm not sure that I will be successful. He's going to the vet tomorrow in any case, so we'll have a number on his weight then.

You can always shove him in a bag or a toilet paper roll to get a weight on him.

At least, that's how wild birds are weighed. :P

I love hearing about this little guy.

Do you have a camera around?

i am hard of hearing and it drove me nutes not being able to tell the difference between the phone and the bird.