No sooner had the last parrot news been sent to the press then it was out of date, old news and incomplete. Inconceivably yet another broken bird has joined the Echo flock. So rather than get back to news of Sid's development or Marvin's mischief we must share Nigel's tale.
It was sunny early morning on the island on Bonaire. Parrots flew from one degraded area of their habitat to another. Some even ventured into urban areas to find delicious fruits to fill their bellies with.
Nigel was one of these parrots and he was flying with Maggie a wonderful parrot whom he adored. Nigel was just an average parrot, a little bit grumpy at times but really just normal. There was nothing that made him stand out from other birds in the flock. By contrast Maggie was intelligent and at times rambunctious.
Nigel often wished he had something special about him so he could seduce this lovely girl parrot. He wished he had Spanish flair or that he knew more about being a real man parrot so he could win her over. He was flying along thinking exactly this and then suddenly but slowly he woke up in pain, dazed and confused. His left wing hung limply and he was on the ground. He had no idea what had happened. It was very odd and he tried to make sense of it. The last thing he could remember was flying with Maggie. "Oh no, where's Maggie" he thought. The girl he adored was nowhere. Had he flown into a telegraph wire? Had he hit the side of a house? He just didn't know.
The rest of the day passed in a blur. He was collected by one of the Echo team and taken to Parrot HQ. Nigel was a wild parrot so he didn't exactly see it this way but he was very lucky to meet Jon the charming vet, from Spain. It was early on a Saturday morning so Jon felt great empathy for Nigel because he too was in pain, dazed and confused.
Nigel's grumpiness came out in full flair as he was being carefully checked over, and even more so after he received painkillers. Nonetheless Nigel was given first class treatment. His health was generally good but there was a risk of deterioration so his poo was collected. Later it was checked studiously under the microscope generously made available at CIEE. It was determined that Nigel had too many yeast and so that too was treated. Of course the parrot team did not know Nigel's name was, uhm, Nigel and so as result of his cantankerous nature he was given the best of the many bad names that were suggested and called Thatcher.
An X-ray was made and it was confirmed that Thatcher's (That's Nigel in case you are skim reading) humerous was broken. This of course is not very funny. The humerous (in the upper arm) of a human is a relatively long bone. Birds, however, fly and so their humerous has to be short and strong to handle the immense forces required to move their wings. If a man was to have the same relative amount of muscle that a bird has for flight, his pec's (or breast muscle) would protrude a meter out in front of him. Just to be clear Dear Reader, a male human was used in the above example not because they are the only sex that can be muscley. Goodness no, we don't see it that way but it has occasionally been brought to our attention that female humans have mammary glands which are the very essence of being a mammal and therefore not a bird and so a female human seemed a little less suitable for this example.
Anyway Dear Reader let's refocus and consider another of the other incredible adaptations birds evolved in order to fly. Possibly most obvious of these is the keel on a bird's breastbone. This can be seen after the consumption of any (preferably free-ranging, grown on organic land, able to lead a happy life) chicken. The keel simply provides a location for the many breast muscle fibres to attach themselves. Carnivores such as lions have a similar keel, the sagittal crest, on the top of their head to attach their powerful jaw closing muscles.
Days passed and Thatcher found himself immensely frustrated. He was stuck in a cage, his life and any possibly of seducing Maggie were over. Jon was equally frustrated because if there had been the right veterinary equipment on the island he could have operated on Thatcher and given him a much greater chance of being able to fly again. Jon of course had been similarly frustrated with Bruce's situation. There undoubtedly would be other broken birds arriving and naturally there would be many other uses for the finely tuned and very accurate gas machine needed to anesthetise parrots. And so Dear Reader we will have to think of a way to make this possible for it is a shame and a frustration that the parrots of Bonaire should get anything other than the very best in terms of care and attention.
Please take a look and find out more about the various wild, rescued and broken birds the Echo team are caring for on our regularly updated facebook page www.facebook.com/echobonaire.org
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