Nanday Conure
 

                             Written by Jim:

                                   In April of 1999, Tina and I went to Petco
                                (a pet supermarket) in Mount Vernon, WA
                                for some more ZuPreem, seed, vitamins
                                and medications, toys, and a new cage for
                                Honey. Of course, being bird lovers, we
                                can't walk into a pet store without looking
                                at the birds. They had a nice pair or
                                Goffin's cockatoos, a female cockatiel, and
                                a variety of finches, canaries, and
                                lovebirds.

                                   We inquired about Nanday conures, and we
                                were told that they don't get many in, as
                                conures are a noisy bird and they have a
                                difficult time selling them. The girl in
                                charge of the bird room at Petco (Autumn)
                                did tell us about a customer who bought a
                                Nanday for her young daughter, then lost
                                interest. Autumn gave us a brief history of
                                "Bandit" before he was sold, then told us
                                the customer was anxious to get rid of the
                                conure because he was noisy and required
                                too much attention. So, we gave Autumn
                                our number and told her to call the
                                customer to let her know we were
                                interested in the Nanday.

                                  Two days later, I got a call at work from
                                the customer who invited me to come look
                                at "Paulie." Petco gives their birds names
                                before they're sold. The Nanday conure
                                from Petco was named Bandit, but when he
                                was sold, the customer (or her daughter)
                                renamed Bandit to Paulie. The movie was
                                cute -- Tina and I have a copy in our video
                                library -- but something about the name
                                just tweaks me.

                                   Anyway, I took lunch from work and made
                                the 10 minute drive to see the conure.
                                When I walked into the house, Paulie was
                                squawking up a storm. He was in a
                                California cage which appeared to be kept
                                clean. I believe his squawking was due to
                                neglect, because as soon as we were all in
                                the spare room/small office where his cage
                                was, he was quiet and looking to be picked
                                up.

                                  We agreed on a price, and I brought Paulie
                                back to work. I work at an Internet service
                                provider, and was able to keep him in the
                                office without a problem. He only squawked
                                at people wearing hats! Now, he's a
                                lovable bird who only squawks in the
                                morning before being uncovered, and when
                                I come home from work. *smile*

                                   We renamed Paulie back to his original
                                name, Bandit, and the name fits him well.
                                Autumn at Petco told us he's about a year
                                old (hatched in March of 1998). He's really
                                a great bird -- a typical conure. He plays
                                on his cage or on his jungle gym most of
                                 the day. He loves to hang upside-down
                                 from his jungle gym, and talk into his
                                mirrors. He says "hello," "whatcha doin,"
                                "bandit," "Careful","what?" and a few profane words.
                                Tina and I once heard him say "C'mon you
                                fucking bird," which we can only assume he
                                picked up from his previous owner.

                                   He has plenty of company with all the other
                                birds in the house, and gets plenty of
                                attention from his "human pets." He's
                                almost spoiled.