Home > News & Events > MAARSianChronicles > Issue 14: February 2006 > Happy Landings: Tiki Takes His Time to Trust

Happy Landings

Tiki Takes His Time to Trust

as told to Eileen McCarthy by Rick R.

I received an e-mail from a MAARS Placement Counselor saying that several African Greys were coming into MAARS and that it might be a good idea to get a friend for Joe, the Congo African Grey whom I adopted from MAARS last year. That set my thought process going.

I have a full-time job, and I started to think that a new flock member might be a good thing for Joe and his potential companion. When I went down to visit Tiki, I didn't exactly think, "This is the bird for us" — at least not at first. He sat on my arm and shoulder but didn't want to be touched. I knew from reading his history that he came from a loving home but didn't care for men, and that it might take a little time before he would accept us.

When Tiki first arrived home, he would nip me on the arm when I'd take him out of his cage, and he'd do the same when I put him back. But in a few weeks he got used to me and is now affectionate and a real chatterbox! Tiki and Joe go back and forth with bird calls, talking, and sound effects — it sounds like a TV morning show around here! They have become good buddies and both of them have benefited from the relationship.

I love them both and am glad that MAARS is here to find good homes for flock members who didn't ask to be captured or bred in captivity, and who were displaced from their homes due to circumstances beyond their control or because their caregivers did not realize just how much time, patience, attention, and stimulation parrots need.

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