The mynah birds were at it again. One minute they’re fighting each other and the next they’re ganging up on other birds. This time it was parrot. Not one of the many Rainbow Lorikeets or Eastern Rosellas, this was a bright green parrot. We have a pair of King Parrots visit occasionally. This guy was a little smaller, all green and all alone.
Charlotte and I were near the front door racking up mulch the chooks had spread across the lawn. We stopped to watch the parrot and told the mynah birds to leave him alone. At the sound of our voices the parrot flew straight to us. If I hadn’t ducked at the last second I’m sure he would have landed on my shoulder. Instead, he landed on the banksia outside our bedroom window. We were standing less than a metre away from a bright green parrot.
We started saying things like, “It’s Ok” and “You alright Buddy?” He came down closer to us. We broke off a branch from a bush the lorikeets and budgies love but he wasn’t interested. While Charlotte kept him company I went and got some seeds from the chook house.
Carefully, Charlotte offered a handful of seeds and the parrot started eating from her hand. By this stage our hushed reverence had gone and we were chatting away in loud excited voices. This was clearly not a wild bird being harassed by mynah birds. Someone’s pet had blown away in the recent storm and was very hungry. When I asked Charlotte what we should call him she watched his orange beak sifting through and crunching on the seeds. “Mango.”
Soon Mango had left the tree and was perched on Charlotte’s arm as he ate. Mango was a big parrot! He stepped across from arm to arm without any fuss at all. Bella and Patricia joined us and the four of us stood around watching him eat from our own hands for an hour. In that time we learned that he didn’t appreciate pats but that he could eat a lot.
Eventually he must have been full. He left the seeds and tried to climb up Bella’s arm to her shoulder. A bird that size is very intimidating when you’re eyeballing him so we took him around the back of the house. At this stage I thought he might get his strength back and try and fly home. Instead, he went sleep!
We face-timed a few people while Mango slept and gave him water when he woke up. This was another half-hour exercise after which he needed another sleep! Now that he was rested, fed and watered he became quite chatty. It was all bird noises at first. Bella had got used to him being up on her shoulder and was talking to him when he responded with a clear, “Hello. I love you.” We officially had a new favourite pet. As much as the goats and horses could show affection, and the guinea pigs and chickens could tolerate affection; now we had a pet that says, “I love you!” Plans immediately were made to convert Smokey’s Nursery to a Parrot House once her chicks were old enough. In the mean time Mango would sleep in the garage.
The sun was beginning to set as we set up a picnic on the lawn and Mango stayed with whoever was willing to have him. Eventually it was clear that he needed to go to bed. Charlotte’s hair blew across his face. At first he just flicked his head but now he bit her nose in frustration.
With Mango asleep on a perch in the garage some investigating proved him to be an Eclectus Parrot. Mango had flashes of red under his wings and blue in his tail, otherwise he was all green so definitely a male. Our research also showed that they were popular pets and worth anywhere from $1500 to $15,000.
This last bit of information led us to some further research into lost parrots in the area. It only took Patricia about 15min to find a very upset Eclectus Parrot owner with a description of Mango right down to a small tuft of feathers missing above his right eye. A few messages later it was agreed she could pick him up in the morning.
When the girls saw how Mango was with his owner and her with him, it made returning Mango easier to deal with. We accepted a reward and plans to save for a pet parrot were under way as Mango expressed his love for everyone.
