 So
Ellen, the mom, did some research and found a new kind of bird they hoped would fill the
birdless gap in their lives. The bird was a Quaker parakeet, also known as a monk
parakeet. (The Quaker name comes from their habit, as babies of frantically bobbing their
heads, begging for food, as well as the gray bib on their chests reminiscent of Quaker
garb.) These birds are not Quakers, monks or parakeets, but they sure are fun. They have a
great big personality packed into a relatively small body for a parrot. They're impressive
talkers, long lived and, as parrots go, not horribly expensive. Ellen joined the Quaker
parakeet mailing list on the Internet and learned an enormous amount about the birds from
people who have become her friends. Originally from South America, the Quaker has made its
way to North America, both as a domestic pet and as a feral animal, one that has returned
to the wild.The Kruegers met Fonzie in mid June when he was just 4 weeks old. What a charmer, even if he was a little shy of real feathers. He and his sibling, believed to be a girl, were being hand fed by a woman in Hudson, MA who raises lots of different parrots. Once each week, Ellen, Lauren and Max would drive to Hudson to bond with Fonzie who grew pretty green feathers and learned to "step up" onto a hand in a very short time. |
