Eclectus Parrot – A Day In The Life of an Active Bird
Written by the unfeathered one, Tena Stetler as told by Taco the Eclectus Parrot!
Hi all and welcome to my world! I’m Taco Belle, an Eclectus Parrot. It’s Saturday morning and my unfeathered ones have yet to get up and uncover my cage. So a little incentive may be necessary at this point. I rush over to my V-Tech phone and push all the buttons as quickly as my little beak can go. I grab the cage bars with both feet slide down the side to the bottom of my cage, roll the V-tech Baby Ball all over the bottom of the cage, pushing each button on the way across the cage. Then wait, huh, still no one coming down the stairs. Okay. Time to pounce with both feet on my playschool radio, pushing all the buttons simultaneously, morning music, what wonderful sounds. (Works every time) I tilt my head and listen.
Sure enough, here come the footsteps pounding downstairs. My cage cover is lifted. Hi guys, I say in a cheerful voice, better than screaming, since I get in big trouble for doing that.
Yep, I’m hungry! Cage door is opened, I step up on unfeathered one’s hand to be transported to my kitchen perch to supervise my breakfast being made. Hey, I need more raspberries. I can see what’s going into those bowls. I want my fair share too, after all I am still a growing Eclectus Parrot. Well – maybe more like a grown Eclectus, but I need my strength. Oh, boy, warm gooey soft food mix with fresh raspberries, a few pine nuts and milk thistle seeds. Yummy! Oh, in my haste to get fed, I forgot to introduce myself. Taco is the name, I am a Solomon Island/Red Sided Eclectus Parrot. I hope you will forgive my manners.
Looking into the kitchen, I see my unfeathered ones are still sitting at the table eating. Hey guys, it’s time for my bath. I’m all done with my breakfast and have patiently waited, like a very good bird. It’s been nearly an hour. Come on, get a wiggle on. Oh good here they come. Bath shenanigans are a foot. You see, I play this game while being bathed with takes place over the kitchen sink. It’s to see just how far and how wet I can get the unfeathered ones and the floor. So far, I have soaked both unfeathered ones and covered the whole kitchen floor with water. Flapping wings under the sprayer is great. You gotta pay attention to exactly how and where the water is hitting your wings to get maximum distance.
Now it’s off to the sunroom, to bask in the warm rays as my shiny feathers dry off. There are so many plants and so little time, leave me unattended for a moment. I could glide off my perch to the floor, run amuck and munch on a couple of ferns – here — a Christmas Cactus there and all the green leaf goodies available. But noooo… I wouldn’t do that, would I?? Okay — got me — I would, but I’ll never get the chance, the unfeathered ones are always watchful.
One thing I don’t understand, from the sunroom, I peekaboo, holler hello, even ask the birds outside, if it’s good (while they are eating of course). Then tell them when it’s all gone, yet they never return a greeting or even a kind whistle my way. What stuck up feathered creatures. I guess the outside birds don’t learn any manners, or at least they don’t use them. That’s gratitude for you. I let them have the parrot food that I don’t finish every week and don’t even get a thank you. Hurmph.
Oh great, the unfeathered ones have my flightsuit. Oh boy, oh boy we are going somewhere. I want to wear 
the blue tie dyed one, that’s it, step in with one foot, then the other, one wing and the other, seal the Velcro strip and I’m ready. Come on, come on, come on, let’s go. We are burning daylight. Grab my carrier, in case I get hungry. Off to the local drive in we go, a slush and frozen mocha for my unfeathered ones and a straw wrapped in white paper for me. Everyone at the drive in knows me and has all my stuff ready when we arrive. I’m also known at the local building supply centers, where I can Peekaboo at the top of my lungs and it echoes back to me, that place is wonderful. Crafts stores are great too, they have wooden sticks and ice cream spoons, when strung together with leather strips make great chew toys.
Back at home, my unfeathered one has work in the office, something about the latest book deadline. My legos and other toys are scattered in a corner of the room. Hey, stop that, I don’t care if you are building something, I want to tear it apart. Now, not later.
It’s getting dark outside and I’m hungry. I look around from my perch in the office. Where’s dinner? I just 
love the home-made rice, grain, sweet potato, and veggie mix the unfeathered ones fix. Hmmmm… What’s that I smell, dinner must be almost ready. Guess I’ll fly into the kitchen and see what’s up.
Landing gracefully on my kitchen perch, I see someone walking toward my cage. Hey, wait a minute, that’s my bowl, where are you going with it. Hey wait for me. I’m starving. So what if I have snack and water bowls on perches all over the house. There’s not any warm – yummy – food mix in any of them. I suspect that is exactly what is in my bowl right now. Oh, finally made it to my cage and to my bowl… hummmm (beak buried in bowl, happily munching).
Dinner is done, time to climb onto my play stand, check my hide-a-treat toy for raw almonds and relax. Maybe watch TV or get the unfeathered ones to play games for a while. I love attack the rattle game or put the ball in the basket. Afterwards it’s time to settle down on either unfeathered one, for a cuddle session before bed.
This is usually how my weekends go, occasionally we have company over at which time I attempt to be the center of attention. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but I never give up quietly! Sometimes I have friends from out of state come visit. That’s always fun.
Well that’s a peek into the day in a life of an Eclectus Parrot…me! I hope you enjoyed it or at least were entertained. Next, my unfeathered one will be back to discuss more informative Eclectus Parrot topics. ‘Til then, remember, I can talk, can you fly?
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by Tena Stetler
