Snobbery towards prikichis, the lora's smaller cousin is nearly almost never heard from any of the Echo team. Truth be known many even said how delightful it is to find oneself in the Jong Bonaire classroom with nearly 100 rescued prikichis all screaming for dinner at the top of their screechy little voices. Some have marvelled at how with their little beaks they can deliver quite a nasty nip to a fumbling hand. Others have noted how quickly they can suddenly fly when it's time to clean they grubby little faces.
Now the little darlings are growing up, many are feeding for themselves and goodness, can they eat?! A group of piranhas can apparently strip a cow carcass in a matter of minutes. That is nothing compared to the rate at which a flock of prikichis consume food. It seems that no sooner have the dozen dinner plate sized bowls of seed, wild food and freshly chopped fruit been deposited is it time to scrub and refill them.
Given the joys of looking after what seems like 1,684,231 prikichis that need endless care and attention, it came as quite a shock to Echo team when we realised that not one had been given a name. As soon as this injustice came to our attention we dealt with it, although of course we don't normally dabble in these matters.
Sid is the smallest of all the loras and so it seems fitting that the smallest of prikichis should be named. The prikichi that is found on Bonaire cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Yes indeed, there is a prikichi on Curacao and another on Aruba but they too are unique to those islands. A Bonairean prikichi needed a Bonairean name and so the smallest of the rescue flock became known as Chi Chi.
Identifying the smallest of 100 small parrots is helped rather considerably by the fact that a pink mark can be found on this screechy little bird's head. This was put there to ensure she received sufficient food once she joined the other fledglings in the aviary. The pink mark, however is rather unnecessary given that Chi Chi is an adorably pathetic prikichi. A the first glimpse of a human Chi Chi puffs up her feathers to look desperate and makes whimpering noises in an attempt for attention and food.
Chi chi's baby display are however fraudulent and she has been seen not only feeding herself but also stealing the food of others. Parrot babies may seem cute Dear Reader but in reality they are devious little devils. For the Echo team the next few weeks will be a balancing act of feeding the chicks just enough that they are content to forage but not quite so much that they don't need to forage. Let it be said that weaning baby parrots is a tricky business.
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