A Sad Day.

Thirteen and a half years ago Chula, a blue and gold macaw, joined my family. She was a year-and-a-half old, feisty as can be and beautiful. My parents wanted something to occupy my time and my dad wanted an excuse to get a bird :) We set out looking for the perfect bird to join our family. The condition I had was that I had to keep my room clean for a week straight (hence the "my dad wanted an excuse," although it was rather difficult for me to keep my room clean.)

The first day we had her she bit my right upper arm and took a chunk of skin that was quite impressive- I still have the scar from it to this day. I told my dad I did not want her anymore and to take her back. I am glad that he convinced me to give her a little bit of time.

I think the only word she could say when we first bought her was "hello" in a generic intonation. The first word she learned at our house was "OUCH!" They learn words by hearing them over and over so that tells you how the first few weeks went.

She later learned to say hello when the phone would ring using a fake voice that we all use to answer the phone. She also said "goodbye" (when we put her away in her cage), "no," "let go" (although I have not heard that one for years now that I think about it). She would whisper "I love you," "How are you?", and she would often throw "Chulabird" onto the ends of these such as " How are you, Chulabird?" She still yells "Meagan!" even after I have been gone for all of these years. The one thing she would never say is "I'm smart." My dad tried for years and years to help her learn that. In the mornings when he would be down lifting weights (sometimes with her keeping him company on the bench press bar) he would repeat it over and over but she refused to catch on to that one.

Bath time for Chula consisted of a spray bottle, which she hated, and then being blow dried, which she loved.

One of the funniest things she did was to burp a very genuine sounding burp. She would jut out her beak and would burp. You can tell she lived in a house with a dad, three brothers and one sister who could burp just as well as any of them :) I think my mom was the only one who did not contribute to this particular habit.

When I still lived at home I would take her on walks to the park. She terrified dogs and cats. She went to church BBQs, would take rides with us in the car to the grocery store, and would hang out in the back yard for a little bit of sunshine. The wind always made her a little nervous. She loved human food. Bagels, bananas (and just about any fruit), ice cream...she was always willing to give our food a try and would make a cute little noise when she was eating on our shoulders in the kitchen. When I was still living at home and spending a lot of time with her she would eat from my mouth. She also loved when I would share my drinks with her.

When I left for college and returned the first couple of times, she copped a little bit of attitude with me showing me she was not happy . That eventually passed and we could pick up just fine when I would come back to visit. She hated Todd when she first met him and not until recent years has she been even remotely nice to him. They seemed to develop a mutual respect for each other. One of the deals when Todd asked to marry me was that he had to understand that I was a package deal with my blankie and Chula (once I had room to accommodate her) so he had no choice but to learn to love her since he was going to be stuck with her forever.

Last summer there was a bad accident and Chula was attacked by a raccoon or some sort of large cat. She came very close to dying. Thankfully my brother and sister-in-law were visiting and heard the attack so that she was able to receive immediate attention. Under her right wing (left from this view) you can see one of the wounds she received. It was a scary time not knowing if she was going to make it or not.

Another picture of some of the damage she received. She was finally out of life threatening danger but unfortunately she suffered some mental wounds. We think she suffered a case of post traumatic stress disorder from the accident.

It has lead to a life of plucking. She plucks whenever any of her new feathers come in and she does it to the point that she bleeds. It was making my dad sad to see her this way and although he still spent time with her, she was needing more attention than he had time to give . It was lonely for her after all of us moved out of the house. It broke my heart not to be able to have her come live with us but our house is too small at the moment, we live on the other side of the country and we will be moving around with the Air Force for a few years after Todd graduates.

My dad found a breeder that was recommended and today my parents took her to her new home. I guess she seemed happy to be around birds. Hopefully she will find friends and good company and will be successful at making cute little baby blue and golds. I am going to miss her. I never thought there would be a time where she wasn't around so this will take some getting used to. I hope that she will get better and will be happy in her new life.

I love you and will miss you, pretty girl.