That Bird Guy

We have a really wonderful library, which offers many awesome programs for kids of all ages.  We recently attended their "That Bird Guy" evening show.  The minute we walked in the door, my children were suddenly decorated from head to torso with exotic birds. 

 Each bird had a unique story.  Once everyone was present and seated the bird guy told us about each individual bird.  There were birds from all over the world in his care, from the Congo to the Amazon rainforest.  The white cockatoo, was extremely intelligent.  She could say "hello," answer yes/no questions, and play basketball.  She had been purchased in a pet store, but the person who owned her did not realize Cockatoo's produce "cockatoo dust" which can be very bad for human lungs without the proper ventilation system and care, and ended up having to give her up.   She was also sixty years old! Whoah!

 Louie, the parrot, had another sad tale.  He was a rescue bird from a pet store whose owner shut the pet store down and left all the animals inside.  After a while, people started hearing lots of strange noises coming from inside and sent animal control to investigate.  That is how Louie came to be a part of the "bird guy's" show.  Louie played a marvelous game of ring toss!

 The bird guy told us all about "bird language" and how different species of birds have a different type of song, or language.  One of his most heartwarming tales was about one of the smaller parakeets from the congo, who had been enclosed with bigger birds and had the majority of his beak ripped off.  He would certainly have died without his beak since he couldn't eat, so the bird guy bottle fed him every day.  But one day, he found the injured parakeet with a bird from the amazon, who was feeding him.  They had become friends even though they were from different parts of the world and had different songs.

 One of the most entertaining stories we heard was about Robins.  The male builds the female a nest, and if she doesn't like that nest, she tears it apart and smashes it on the ground, and the male has to build her another one.  The kids howled with laughter at this story.

Thank you library! What an enjoyable, informative event!