My Cockatiels

Charlie Parker reigned in John Day and Baker City.

I never had a pet until in 2003, when someone from Central Oregon asked me if I wanted a cockatiel. This woman lived in Seneca, 20 miles away and she told me that she had two of them and were always fighting, and wanted to separate them. So I ended up in my parish in John Day with Charlie Parker, who was quite talkative, and even knew his name and would say repeatedly ‘Charlie Parker, Charlie Parker’ and then blow a barrage of kisses. Charlie Parker was a famous jazz saxophonist. These birds love company and since I would be away on my mission trips most of the day on Sunday and other meetings during the week, he would let me have it when I arrive back, and would be very angry, even trying to bite on a few occasions. When I am around him, he would be very entertaining, blowing kisses all the time in the form of ‘ts ts ts ts ts ts.’ I took him with me to the Cathedral in Baker City where he entertained bishops who were visiting, and other priests. But when I had to be with my mother towards the end of her life in March and April 2010, apparently he missed me so much that he died of a broken heart. The parish secretary was actually bird-sitting him, and she was just as devastated. 

Lewis and Clark sharing a millet, in a cooperative mood.

However, a local veterinarian heard of my loss and told me he had two more to give away, and lo and behold, I ended up with Lewis and Clark, named for the two navigators and explorers who discovered Oregon and the west side of the USA beyond the Missouri River. Clark was dominant and treated Lewis very badly, not even letting him eat sometimes, and sure enough within 2 years, Lewis died, leaving Clark by himself, who learned some great melodies when my music was going on, which was all the time. In particular, he learned the Colonel Bogey March, which he kept practicing all the time, besides the kisses, which seems to be a popular technique among cockatiels.  Then when I was packing to leave to my next parish in 2013, he got weaker and weaker and died the day I was leaving, probably disappointed that I was disappearing, although I was planning to take him with me. Again, death by a broken heart. I guess you can now call me a heart-breaker! All three of them are buried in front of the Rectory in Baker City, next to my favorite plants, the Bleeding Heart and Cleome.