Tiki, a blue-fronted Amazon parrot, has been a member of our family since about 1990. She started out as our son Brad’s bird, when he was attending UC Irvine. But when Tiki ate the draperies in Brad’s rental apartment, she moved back home and became, mostly, Barbara’s bird. Birds have the reputation for being pretty much one-person animals, and Tiki was not an exception. She was 100% Barbara’s bird and maybe 40% mine. She wasn’t aggressive toward me, but she wouldn’t let me stroke her beak or feathers like Barbara could.
This photo of Tiki is from “My Doggie Says: Messages from Jamie.” It shows the fun, symbiotic relationship that Tiki and Jamie had. Every morning, Tiki would sit on her cage, eating a piece of toast. Jamie, knowing that Tiki would eventually drop the last little piece, sat, patiently, until she got her bite.
Tiki is a bit of a mystery bird. We’re not sure about her age or her sex.
At first, Tiki was a “he.” But, after about 10 years, a bird expert announced, “Tiki is a she.” So Tiki, the “he,” became Tiki, the “she.” And now we’re confused again, because Dr. Rosskopf, Tiki’s vet, still calls her “he.”
We’re also not sure how old Tiki was when she left us. For all the time we owned her, we assumed that Brad obtained her as a baby, which would have made her about 19 years old. But last Tuesday, when Dr. Rosskopf showed us Tiki’s tumor, he said, “This is making me think Tiki is much older than we thought. This is typical of a 40-50 year old bird, not a 19 year old.”
So we called Brad to double check Tiki’s age, and, it turns out, he wasn’t sure how old she was when he first got her.
So, Tiki, the mystery bird, started out as a 19 year old “he,” and ended life on Tuesday as a 50-something “she.”
Another of the mysteries of Tiki’s life involved an animal psychic who came to our house to “talk” with our three dogs, a cat, and Tiki. I was being a little skeptical, and it seemed like most of the conversations were sort of predictable interactions with a dog or a cat. But when the animal psychic got around to Tiki, she said, “Tiki told me that she rode down the hallway on Jamie’s back one time.” Well, that was absolutely true. One time, we balanced Tiki on Jamie Golden Retriever’s back and they walked the length of the hallway. I’m sure there was no way for the animal psychic to know that, other than being told by Tiki.
Tiki and Callie did not have the same kind of relationship as Tiki and Jamie. Maybe because in the last year, or so, Tiki has had a difficult time perching on the outside of “her” cage. But yesterday, Callie clearly sensed that something was missing in our lives. She was obviously morose. Maybe she just picked up on my mood, but I think dogs are pretty smart about these things. Anyway, Callie and I had a long talk about it and we both wished Tiki a happy journey.
Goodbye, Tiki. You were a great bird!
