Chipper and His Favorite Objet d'Art

On my living room wall is this framed display box, containing all kinds of natural treasures: flicker and raven feathers, Chipper's baby feathers, Pippin's eggs, seashells, eucalyptus pods, cacti spines, fossilized seashells found 2500 feet on top of a desert mountain, pretty moss, etc, etc.

For some reason, Chipper just loves hanging out on top of it and around it.

He will spend minutes at a time on my hand, looking at the contents of each square, sometimes commenting, licking the glass with his funny round tongue.

Chipper is on the frame here, to the right, and Charlie - never to be apart from Chipper for long - has joined him on his left.

After spending quality time with the frame, both boys decided to visit with Pippin while she was working on her sleep nest (inside a boutique sized tissue box). It's quite cozy in there with shredded seagrass fibers, and shredded paper. She quite an industrious little girl.


And so, another birdie weekend afternoon passes: mellow, hanging-out time had by all.

Chip and Pip

One more story about Pippin: Awhile ago, my roommate, to whom Pippin then belonged, was planning to return to her native UK. The only other bird member of the clan was Chipper to whom Pippin was extremely devoted. The feeling was mutual. I was wary of Pippin then because she was easily excitable and often bit me. For such a small bird, you'd think their bites would not be consequential, but 1. a lovebird's beak is large in proportion to its small body, and 2. lovebirds are intense creatures and bite before thinking.

For some odd reason - no doubt connected to an obscure emotional issue that is thankfully no longer present! - I'd burst into tears whenever she bit me, and lost my confidence in handling Pippin. I tearfully told my roommate I was afraid of Pippin (!) and didn't think I could care for her needs on my own.

Agonizing as it was, my roommate found a girl working at the local pet shop who had a flock of lovebirds at home that she loved, and the girl already knew Pippin and highly admired him (her). So Pippin was handed over to her with many tears and regrets. The girl thought Pip was a male and intended to breed her best female to Pip.

Within a couple of days, Chipper stopped eating through grief at losing his friend, and my roommate's plans changed after about a week. She was able to remain in the US after all. She tentatively asked the girl to whom Pip was given if she could retrieve Pip. The girl graciously obliged and added that Pippin never talked while she was with her, and that Pip hated the female and didn't get along at all! (Yeah, figures! She was a girl, after all...)

We drove up to the girl's house with Chipper in the back seat. As we brought Pippin to the car in her cage and opened the back door, Pippin saw Chipper and yelled: "CHIPPER!" And Chipper responded with extreme excitement and equal volume: "PIPPIN!" It was like watching one of those tear-jerker movies when the lovers reunite against impossible odds. Well, we were touched and did cry...

It was a happy ending: Chipper began eating again in earnest, and Pippin settled down happily with her favorite cockatiel next to her.

Pippin Lays an Egg...

I mentioned previously that Pippin, my lovebird, came into my home over 6 years ago. Originally, Pippin was my roommate's charge (my roommate moved to France and now has Jazzy - see Dweezeljazz). At the time, we both thought Pippin was a boy, through and through. After all, Pip even learned to talk a little, learning words from Chipper. This is rare for a female lovebird.

The notion of her male gender was dashed to smithereens when, 5 years ago on an early spring morning, I lifted the covers off her cage and found Pippin -- and an EGG!!! And she continued to lay them once a day for weeks. (I saved a few, blowing out the infertile yolks, and placed them in a tiny basket.)


I can't tell you how shocked I was. And it took me weeks to change my stubborn brain cells that kept telling me "It can't be!" But, really, if I had only looked a bit deeper and gotten past my preconceived ideas, I would have seen very plainly that Pippin was every bit a she.

Unfortunately, once a hen lovebird starts to nest, it is very hard to wean them off the fulltime brooding track. It's not the best for hens to continuously lay eggs, as it takes a real toll on their bodily resources, and they can become fatally eggbound. Pippin laid these eggs for a couple of years each spring. But success!! No credit on my account, though. She just simply stopped a couple of years ago,though she remained "nesty" and territorial for quite awhile.

I finally hit upon the idea that we play "chase" with wadded up pieces of paper. I throw them, and she chases them madly with her signature lovebird "chuckle." I also have a straw ball with a bell inside that makes fun noises when she rolls it. Now, whenever I pass by, I play chase with Pippin and it keeps her mind going in new directions. And it keeps her quite fit and engaged.

It's great to see Pippin leaving her "raising baby" phase and having so much fun. OK, Pippin, play ball!

Running on Chipper-Time

Chipper, being the oldest member of his now-extended flock, has always been very clear about one thing: He’s in charge and he sets the day’s avian agenda.

He’s trained me very well. Since he can’t say everything in English, he uses the phrases he likes in order to tell me what he wants with varying intensity, emphasis, and volume. And he’s trained every other parrot in the house, except for Sam, to speak the same phrases in English. (Funny enough, he has refused to learn the word “NO.”)

Pippin the peach-faced lovebird fell under his spell soon after she came to live with me. She was hardly weaned and such a tiny being. At the time, we thought Pippin was a male (more later about the shocking discovery to the contrary). Most lovebirds don’t speak, and certainly females rarely speak. But not Pippin! Chipper had her saying the most important words of life: “Chipper!” and “Whatcha doin’ Chipper?” and “You be!” (shorthand for “You be good!”) For Pippin, Chipper could DO NO WRONG. (She has since come to see that Chipper in fact does have some shortcomings.)

Charlie No-Toe, under Chipper’s tutelage, speaks “Chipperese.” And sings, sings, sings. Rarely does Charlie imitate me anymore. No, if Chipper doesn’t say it, it isn’t worth repeating. Chipper doesn’t let on that he likes Charlie and has never called him by his name, but he’d be very sad indeed without Charlie’s company.

And so, I have three birds telling me at different times to “be good,” “see you later,” and they often ask me “whatcha doin’?” When I’m home, Chipper is always up for games and play, and will ask me “Do you wanna go?” – meaning, do you want to go chase me with my book? Or, if he feels especially daring, he may ask me, “Do you wanna go for a ride?” – meaning, do you want to let me sit on my book while you whisk me through the room?” And if Pippin is distressed about something, he will ask inquiringly, “What, Pippin?”

Bedtime is also another opportunity to be reminded that Chipper is in charge: he knows when he wants to go to bed and everyone feathered goes to bed at that time. He gets the nightly head-rub and then it’s: “Time to go to bed…Good night, little roo.” And so the day ends.

Pippin the Lovebird Creates Art

This little parrot is a peach-faced lovebird named Pippin. She is over 6 years old and became my second parrot buddy after Chipper came to my home.

Though she is tiny, she packs a lot inside her small body. Really, I think she's more intelligent than any of the other "Gang of Four" parrots I have!

She is by far the most artistic.

Pippin, like all birds, needs to have a job, to be busy. Boredom and lack of stimulation is the worst thing for birds - and for humans, for that matter.

One day after work, I came home to greet her and found her staring up at me with great pleasure at what she'd created.

This is a piece of coyote bush wood which has lots of holes. Pippin had proceeded to very precisely stick pieces of straw, bits of shredded paper, and fabric into the holes. See how carefully she did this work?

I am still amazed by what she created!