It brings me joy to find the right gift for the special people in my life. Anything I come by, though, is no match for the happiness they bring me every day. There is one special someone in my life whose use of the things I’ve chosen on their behalf makes my heart expand and almost pop unlike any other and that’s Piper.
When we adopted him six years ago from a rescue, we rushed the day before we brought him home to outfit his new “room” with toys he would like. We consulted the rescue’s owner about his preferences and asked for pictures of his current setup so we could purchase similar items for play to help make his transition easier. Birds need to keep busy with a variety of options and it’s my job as a parromt to provide the most interesting and often noisiest choices for just that. A bored bird can
become depressed and pluck his own feathers so playtime is not all fun and games, it’s a critical part of a healthy bird’s life.
It has been trial and error and even now, knowing what Piper likes and doesn’t, introducing new toys can go either way. It’s important to offer something familiar enough he will take to it but different enough that it’s something he’ll be curious about. Piper is fearful of things when they first appear, which still is a surprise to me considering how feisty he is. And so it is a non-exaggeration when I say it’s a thrill when he investigates the latest addition and approves.
The wooden “C” he is sitting on in these photos is bendable and this was the first iteration I tried. When I discovered him sitting on it within minutes of its installation I felt the Piper Effect, moments when I love him so much,it takes my breath away.
The gift that keeps on giving: the 90-gram Orange-fronted conure named Piper.
