Like many of the new arrivals to the Ministry for Agriculture holding aviary (LVV) Sally had been carrying a little extra weight. She hadn't really noticed it before because her weight gain had been slow and gradual. She had been taken from her family as a young chick and when she started to find it hard to climb on the wire of her cage she had told herself it was because she was growing up and that she had "big bones". But now she was meeting other parrots Sally noticed it wasn't just her bones.
Luckily for Sally the Bonairean guy parrots liked girls with "resources". Had she been able to fly Sally probably could have done a few non-stop trans-Atlantic migrations, so extensive were her "resources". Sally did have beautiful blue cheeks though and so altogether she was hit as soon as she arrived at LVV. Being the centre of attention and recipient of much flirting, Sally quickly changed from being shy and self-conscious to a confident and at times savvy, lady parrot.
Sally noticed that the birds that had been in her new home the longest had lost the worst of their love handles and could fly. Her newly arrived friends, like her didn't really fancy any of that though and were quite content to sit for most of the day. A wild parrot can sit for many hours too, but equally a wild parrot is capable of incredible activity and can fly tens of kilometres. The sad reality of Sally's slothful situation was that neither her excess weight nor her lack of enthusiasm for movement was her fault. Like so many parrots in captivity Sally was only given seeds to eat and she had had no way of exercising so she had grown accustomed to doing nothing.
Dear reader you are no doubt aware that captive parrots are prone to obesity and so this situation is a vicious cycle: "Oh I am so bored being here alone, I'm going to eat as that will make me feel better", "Oh I'm so full (and fat and heavy) I can't be bothered to do anything" and so on and so on. Unlike a clean burning balanced diet with fruits and greens the effect of Fat Sally's seed based diet on her health was equivalent a worn out engine that burn oil, it had poor performance. Sally's feathers were in terrible condition, her fat was so extensive that a lump waddled between her legs. Worst of all she was, at times, grumpy!
When she was unexpectedly moved from the holding aviary at LVV to the release aviary out in the wilderness of Bonaire, Fat Sally only complained about the rough ride in the car. Although by this point she had lost quite a bit of weight, she was not overcome with joy like the other parrots when surrounded by green trees and nature.
Fat Sally was not interested with flying or physical exertion per se and so she remained a peaceful keystone bringing calm to the young and often over excited group that found themselves in the release aviary. Around them were many birds whom they all knew. There was Monty there and he and the other birds, had already been released. Despite the prospect of freedom Fat Sally remained calm at all times and carried on with her day to day life because in truth she knew she could not fly from tree top to tree top like they did. Unlike the other parrots Fat Sally just accepted the wilderness surrounding them and the human that brought them food each day.
And so it was with some surprise when the afore mentioned human arrived one morning with the "Pillow case of doom". The other birds went completely radio rental (mental) on that morning and leapt from their perches with fear and anxiety. They flew from perch to perch and from end to end of the aviary. Having never experienced fear or for that matter having never been in a group of scared parrots, Fat Sally was quiet unsure as to what to do. The human chased the other birds but Sally seemed to escape unnoticed for some time. Then her luck was up and the human waved the dreaded "Pillow case of doom," in her general direction.
Fat Sally felt fear like she had never felt before. She didn't really know what was the appropriate response but then her instincts overcame her reason and she leapt from her perch in a bid to escape from the "Pillowcase of Doom". Never before had Fat Sally flown, and for good reason. In that moment, as brief as it was, Fat Sally was airborne! So brief was the moment and so vertical was the trajectory of Sally's plummeting orbit that it was almost missed. She hit the ground with a tremendous and sickening thud and in that moment the chaos within the aviary stopped and everyone, bird and human, looked at her. Inside Sally was embarrassed but being strong and courageous she didn't show it. She had made her maiden flight and it was something to build upon. Her poor feathers had barely held the air beneath them and her lack of muscle couldn't be any worse so "build upon" she would.
Others, of course doubted whether she would ever be able to be released. Bets were even placed against her. But although Sally was certainly in no shape right there and then she knew that with a little care and attention she would be able to make it, one day. She made a pact with herself to join Monty and the other free flying parrots.
And so Dear reader you will have to wait as patiently as a bored captive parrot to find out whether Fat Sally, bless her, does make it. In the mean time there will be other stories of parrot adventures to be found here on the WPT blog. If, however, you wish to have the very latest news of the parrot shenanigans please visit www.facebook.com/echobonaire.org
Parrot Bloggers
Search by:
