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Feeling like a mother bird

© Mary Wilson

I'm watching baby parrotlets play in their cages. Pepper, the male, is in the same cage as LittleHawk, and the two boys are getting along famously. His sisters are in a cage beside them, and I'm watching them play with the side of a paper cup, upon which I've put some soft food. The twin emotions of sorrow and joy fill me, for while I am proud of my first handfed babies, I know that the girls will need to find a new home of their own.

Having no human children of my own, I can guess that this is what a human mother feels as her child goes off to college in some far away town. Only with the humans, the child will return, or at least call collect. Avian mothers go through this year after year, sometimes even sevearl times within the same year. The flock structure of the bird world makes it easier, I'm sure, for the bird never goes away forever.

I've often wondered if Murphee and Mira, my parrotlet pair, ever think of the babies I've pulled to handfeed. They're on a rest right now, and watching them, I'm reminded of an empty nest couple who are rediscovering the joy of romance in their lives. They play and preen, happy I'm sure to have the duties of parenthood behind them.

LittleHawk acts like an older brother, snuggling close to Pepper and catching a watchful eye over his antics. Pepper, for the most part, acts like a pure baby, and I'm reminded of LittleHawk, back when he was young.

The cycle of parenthood and rest is one that is not unfamiliar to our avian friends, nor to human parents. Sometimes, you can ship the kids off to a babysitter to have a close evening, while other times it's a rush to care for both children and adults. Like humans, our birds do their best.

So, I sit here, waxing nostalgic over my first handfed clutch of babies, and think of all the other children, our avian friends send into the wide world. I smile, for I know that my children are going to good homes, and there are places and people whose lives are dedicated to the joy of our tiny friends.

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