The first few days...

I have never met a bird more loving and sweet than this one. I don't say that lightly. I have gone to many bird stores, met countless birds, and I hand selected a very sweet little Quaker Parrot, Winston, who now lives with my family in Michigan. But Rudy is different. Maybe it's because I have been coming into the store for months, and he has gotten to know me. Whatever the case, Rudy's favorite position when traveling about the apartment is cupped up against my chest, as in this picture. He makes cooing sounds, and sometimes he looks up and gives me kisses. At night, after 9 pm or so, he gets especially loving, and likes to fall asleep pressed up against me, my hand covering his head and blocking the light.

One of the best bonuses is that, during his time being raised and handled at PetCo, he learned that people do not like being pooped on. Thus, unlike most other birds, he doesn't use my shirt as a toilet. He will wait until I bring him back to his cage, until I put him on his perch. He goes, I lavish praise, and take him back with me. I can have him with me for 45 minutes or even an hour, and he won't have an accident. It's amazing.

Right now he's sleeping in his cage, which is covered by a blanket. I'll uncover him tomorrow morning around 10, and we will spend the day together again. It is so wonderful having a little ball of feathers so enthusiastically showering me with love throughout the day. In many ways, it's almost miraculous that a bird can be so tender with a human being. It's something that non-bird people simply can't understand.