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Editor Laura Doering with her nanday conure, Ollie.
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I’ve met my share of awesome birds during my tenure here at BIRD TALK. — hyacinth macaws, palm cockatoos, rare lories, even those prehistoric looking turacos and crazy hornbills. There’s one bird, however, that makes me feel like I’m meeting a celebrity whenever I have the good fortune of coming across one — a quaker parrot!
You see, we Californians can’t share our homes with quaker parrots because we are one of the outlaw states. (Check out the article “The Persecuted Parrot.") So here I am, year after year, selecting cute quaker parrot photos and hearing quaker parrot owners talk about how smart, funny and talkative their birds are — basically feeling like I know quakers but never getting to see one. That’s why I was so excited a couple years ago at the National Cage Bird Show when it was in Michigan. I met a wonderful lady who had a young quaker parrot cradled in her hands. I swear it was like one of those movie star-encounter moments; when you happen upon a celebrity in public (not too unusual when you’re in Los Angeles), and you have that bewildered thought, “How do I know that person? ... Oh yeah, they’re from that movie.”
“Hmmm, how do I know that bird? ...” It took a second for recognition to set in, “oh yeah, a quaker parrot!” This youngster was only 6 weeks old and, according to his person, had already started saying, “Hello.” I was smitten, but it was bittersweet, because I realized that I would have to wait until another trip out of my state before I could cozy up to a quaker parrot. If you’re one of the lucky ones, please give yours a head scratch for me!
**For the full issue, pick up the November 2010 issue of BIRD TALK at your local retailer or by purchasing a PDF download here.**
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