After having such a wonderful experience adopting Garth, our first Congo African Grey, from the Refuge, we decided it was time to look at getting a second bird. Once again, we set out to get a different breed-not a Grey, for variety – this time I wanted an Amazon or a mini-Macaw. None of those adoptable birds seemed to be a match for us and we just about gave up for a while- until we met Chuck. Chuck was friendly and instantly bonded with me and seemed to like my husband. My husband who had grown very fond of Garth really wanted Chuck – but I was resisting…looking for a bird that had more spunk. After we saw Chuck a second time and heard his story…he was given up by a family who lost their home and left him with a vet to find him a home…I wanted to take him.
Chuck surprised me with his spunk and personality. He is a fun bird who dances often, talks a lot and likes to take his showers. He is really well behaved, has no fear of our big dogs and enjoys going on walks in the “pac-a-bird” with everyone. While he and Garth don’t exactly hang out together in close proximity, I know that they appreciate having each other there in the same room for company. They have learned words and sounds from each other, Chuck getting the bigger vocabulary. Recently both birds have begun to whistle the “Close Encounters” theme song in unison-it amazes people! We recently got a new puppy and Chuck must think it’s a cat, because its smaller-he says “meow” to it.
He is truly a wonderful bird and we are so happy to have him and Garth. The thing that really proves this is that my husband, who once thought birds were creepy, recently said he couldn’t imagine NOT having birds in our life.