Saying Goodbye To Conner

Conner was a beautiful Nanday Conure that came to live with us a few months ago. He had all sorts of funny little quirks, like most of our birds, that made him extra special. He was in love with a Cockatiel that was half his size, but that didn’t matter to Conner. He had to see his friend every day, and would rush to the side of the cage that he shared with his friend. Conner and I had a special bond that developed over time. We started out with me just talking to him and in time he trusted me enough to allow me to touch him. He was never a shoulder bird though, but I knew that he knew I cared about him.

Today when I uncovered everyone, I immediately could tell there was something not right with Conner. He didn’t come up and talk like he always did, and didn’t even go to see his friend for his morning chatter. He was just trying to sleep, and that isn’t like any of our birds. I called my wife to come home so we could take him to the vet, and I took Conner out of his cage, something he never would allow if he were alright, and I carried him into the living room and stroked his feathers. He clung to me as best he could, and I could tell that this helped him a little. I prayed for him and continued to do all I could to show him how much he was loved.

At 5:45pm CST today, Conner passed away in my hands. He just raised his head and looked at me one last time as if to say goodbye, and then he died. I cried for a while, continuing to stroke his lifeless body. You always hope that it isn’t true and somehow they will spring back to life, or at least, I do. But it was not to be for Conner. I wrapped him in tissue, made a coffin from a box, and placed him inside after giving him one last kiss on the beak. I said goodbye and closed and sealed the lid. My wife got home a few minutes later and we buried him outside, in a place I can visit and remember him and the light he brought into our lives. We will miss Conner so very much, but he now flies with a massive flock of birds I have loved over the years, as well as a few other friends of mine, from dogs to a horse. I know they are all up there somewhere, waiting for me to join them all once again. Some people expect loved ones long passed to meet them when they die. I expect an ark, filled with all sorts of animals that have touched my life over the years.

For people who don’t know the joy of sharing your lives with a bird, there is no other experience that can compare to it. They give us so much love and ask for little in return. If you are blessed with one of these creatures, care for it the way you would want to be cared for in their position. Give them all you can, sacrifice for them, and your life will be blessed with love like no other. Elisha, my Umbrella Cockatoo, saw me caring for Conner, and then watched as I placed his body into the box. She knew I was upset, and instead of wanting to play or scream, which is her normal pattern, she simply stroked my face with her claw. This is her way of showing she cares and wants me to feel better. The sweetness of these birds knows no limits, and I am truly blessed to have the flock I now have. They give me so much, and I can’t imagine life without them here.

The Flock Is Growing

Our flock at home continues to grow day by day. A couple of months ago, I had my first successful pair of Budgies that I hand raised, after eight that died before their first week in life. It was so depressing to fight so hard to bring these beautiful, sweet creatures back to health, only to see one after another die due to weakness from lack of parental care when they hatched. But with a lot of prayer and hard work, the last two, Thumper, named because he could only eat a little bit of food from my thumbnail, and Modo, who was always hunched over, made it through the critical first week successfully. They are continuing to grow each day, and are now several months old and doing great. They have a place of honor on my desk, and seem to enjoy flicking water at me from time to time. They are a joy to be around, and I love spending time with them, as I do all our flock. But I can’t help seeing them as special, since they are literally an answer to my prayers.

We just finished hand raising four baby Cockatiels, and there are three more getting ready to take their place soon. I don;t know what we are going to do with all these Cockatiels, since we aren’t really good at selling them. I guess we need to advertise, but it is so hard to let them go. We now have around 35 Cockatiels in the house in total, 15 more than we had the last time I posted here. Some are rescues, but most are offspring of one breeding pair. We do need to scale the flock back a bit, so I guess these new babies will be finding a good, new home soon. We will see.

We have another Cockatiel pair currently sitting on eggs, but we aren’t sure they are viable or not. I am not sure this pair knows what they are doing quite yet, but we will see if anything hatches in the coming weeks. I would like to pair off some of our larger birds, but will have to wait on that until we move into a larger house. We hope to do that later this year.