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Letting Go

© Mary Wilson

I made a hard decision the other day; I decided to sell my Quaker, Sally. I did what a lot of bird owners did, bought a bird on impulse for all the wrong reasons. Looking back at it, I shake my head, thinking that I should know better, that I should treat my feathered children better than that. Lucky for Sally, she received good care prior to her leaving, and I made sure she went to a good home. A lot of birds don't even get that.

I bought Sally in August 1999. I'd recently made the decision to get a divorce, and I knew from my time dragging him to bird shows that he hated Quakers. So, when a little green baby bundle of feathers looked cute, I took the plunge. The move wasn't hampered by the fact that my soon-to-be boyfriend loved her. It seemed like a match made in heaven.

Everyone who has ever had a Quaker knows that they are clownish, acrobatic, cute birds with one drawback. Quakers are vocal. Not the sometimes vocal that my pionus' can be, usually at sunrise, sunset, and when I first get home from work, but all the time vocal.

I cared for her, I nurtured her through puberty, and made the decision that Sally just wasn't the right bird for me. I like my pionus boys who are cute, quiet, and adore me. An opinionated Quaker who wanted to be the boss all the time didn't quite work.

I know there's a lot I probably could have done, and that I wasn't the best Quaker mother in the world. However, getting the e-mail from her buyer that she was lovingly letting her scratch her pin feathers (something she'd never let me do) and had fit right in did make some of the pain go away.

Birds aren't for everyone, just as all species of birds aren't for all bird people. My cockatiels, my finches, and my pionus' live in the lap of luxury.

If we are to be responsible bird owners, we have to know when it's time to let go. That, my friends, will be the subject of next week's article.

The copyright of the article Letting Go in Small Hookbills is owned by Veronica Armstrong. Permission to republish Letting Go in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.