Armed with a cardboard box, a towel and no real idea of what we would do with a sick parrot, we set off towards the bird. It was a young un, still light in the beak and appeared unable to fly, happy to just wander around on the ground. I approached it slowly and it ran to the side of the road and into the lawn of the nearest house. It quite clearly wasn't keen on flying.
In the gum trees nearby, a few other cockies squawked away as they do.
I explained to my daughter it was probably best to let nature take its course. We headed back home, leaving the bird to continue strolling around.
The next morning as I was leaving for work I found the cockatoo in our front yard, wandering around the garden.
"Well I'm glad to see you made it through the night. Just don't go into the back yard coz our dog will think you are lunch", I said to the bird, hoping no-one was watching or listening.
In the tree above sat two older cockies. Hopefully, I thought, they would know about our dog and make a bit of noise, warning the younger bird if it headed that way.
As I was heading home after work I wondered if the bird would still be there. To my surprise it was sitting in a tree in the front yard, a bit lower than cockatoos usually roost, but off the ground. I figured the poor thing must be able to fly a little. I quickly grabbed my camera thinking this could be a good photo opportunity and took a few shots. The photos weren't bad, but if I could get closer ... The ladder.
I retrieved the ladder from the shed and set up, not too close, and took some more pics. The bird didn't seem bothered by my presence, or maybe was just unable to escape. I moved the ladder a bit closer.
Something fell on my head. A flower from the tree. Then another. And another. I looked up and two cockatoos sat in the branches above me, biting off flowers and dropping them on me.
"Sorry", I said, "I just wanted a picture" and backed away.
From a short distance I sat and watched the three birds for a while. Cockatoos mate for life, which, for a cockatoo, is about the same as for us. I figured the two in the tree were the parents of the young one. There were certainly older (they had darker beaks) and seemed to be looking after their child.
Later the young bird flew to a nearby tree over the driveway and set up for the night, still lower than cockatoos like to roost. In a taller nearby tree, the other two birds also set up for the night. The young bird was still there in the morning and didn't move until my wife backed out the driveway. Flushed out by the car, it took flight and flew about thirty metres to another tree, unable to gain much height, but flying all the same. The other two birds followed to the same tree, but to the higher branches.
That was the last I saw of that little group. Later that day they were gone, hopefully flown off together to some nice high branches. At the moment I can hear cockatoos calling. I'm hoping my three are amongst the flock.
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| Mum and Dad |
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| The baby of the family |
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I'm not sure what the lesson is from this parable. Perhaps it is that if someone seems to be threatening you, you should throw flowers at them.
