My whole life I had a fear of birds.   A couple I rode motorcycles with had parrots and thus began my life with parrots.  Sunny was my first bird, she is a sun conure and truly my gentlest bird.  Sun conures can be very loud and she's no exception but overall is very well behaved.  Her colors are gorgeous.

As you'll soon learn going to the parrot store soon became a problem.  They put parrots out on display between the cash register and the parrot supplies.  Looking for another sun conure I happened upon my next arrival, Za Zu a brown headed parrot.  He is very plain in color but has the sweetest sounds and imitates telephones, microwaves, timers.  He and Sunny are best friends.

The same day I purchased ZaZu I purchased an african grey, Tigger.  She was still in the "nursery" at the time .  It was several months before I could bring her home and I visited her frequently.  However, I got a surprise, I thought the bird was a male, and Tigger was a female.  She's getting to be a great talker, she says “Peekaboo”, “I Love You”, “We’re going to Utah….Bye Bye Hurricanes”, “Wooahhhh Earthquake”, “I Feel the Earth Move”.

Ariel a caique was a pre-40th birthday present.  He reminded me of a mermaid because of his tail, thus his name (from the little mermaid).  He's a clown.  He's very acrobatic and has passed some of his tricks on to Tigger.  He copies words that Tigger knows but his voice is very cartoon-like so he is harder to understand.

Pooh Bear - Was my second gift bird for my 40th birthday.  He's a blue front amazon that I named Pooh Bear.  He was the last of the babies that hadn't sold and was heading off to auction.  I quickly found he was a biter so I began to work with him to build mutual trust.  He is a big guy with a strong beak.   I was very pleased that in no time at all, Pooh Bear and Tigger formed a very strong bond.

Tiki – a red lored amazon came home with me on Saturday, April 15, 2006.   I found him on line through a local web site.  His owner was relocating and would be taking a new job that wouldn’t allow him enough time for him.  I drove down to Salt Lake City to meet him.  His name when he’d adopted him was Tiki.  He’d changed it to Stevie because he dances like Stevie Wonder.  I liked Tiki better and gave him back his original name.  He’s approximately 10 years old and absolutely fascinated with all the toys and all the new bird friends that surround him now.

I purchased Winston – a 15 year old Congo African Grey on June 15, 2006.  I found Winston through the same web site I found Tiki through.  The owners of Winston had started traveling and Winston was having a hard time adjusting to their schedule.  They'd had Winston for 14 years.  He is the kindest parrot I've ever found.  He instantly allowed me to scratch his head and give him kisses.  He is gentle to any human who wants to hold him.  He has been amazingly courageous around all the new toys and gyms and loves hanging out with all the animals.

I adopted Alfie a red factor Congo African Grey from the Wasatch Avian Education Society August 19, 2006.  Alfie’s owner was 75 years old when he purchased Alfie.  His owner passed away at the age of 92 in an assisted living facility.  Alfie is now 17 years old and I am his second owner.  She does better with men but I’m gaining ground daily.  She’s very quiet and just makes small noises and whistles.  I'm very excited to have been chosen to adopt Alfie.  She is my third African grey.

My 2nd Duke picked me, parrots often choose you.  I was visiting Tropical Encounters on October 6, 2006 and walked right by him he said step up.  I’ve never had a parrot that I didn’t know say that to me.  Duke is a 1-1/2 year old mitred conure crossed with a cherry head conure.  His previous owner had muscular dystrophy and had to go into a nursing home.  Within a week of  adopting Duke his previous owner passed away.  At the funeral they spoke about Duke and the fact he'd found a loving new home.  He speaks in a very cartoon voice and learns very quickly.  He is the type of conure that is in one of my favorite movies “The Parrots of Telegraph Hill”.

Fireball, Tinkerbell, Hope & Meeko (the 2nd) are my newest parrot additions.  Love birds are now the smallest bird in the house.  Though small, they are very much a parrot in personality.  Hope and Meeko the 2nd share a cage.  Fireball and Tinkerbell share a cage.  They are an awesome parrot to start out with they’re entertaining, loving and very easy to clean up after.  Thanks to Carlene at Tropical Encounters for raising such awesome sweet birds.  I'm now lucky enough to own four of her hand raised birds.  Duke, my mitred conure, and three of the four love birds.