Waiting for Bunsen

About two years ago, Mom brought home a little pacific parrotlet. When he was a baby, his little squeak sounded like a “meep”. If you grew up watching The Muppet Show, like I did, you would remember those endearing “meeps” as being similar to Dr. Honeydew Bunsen’s sidekick, Beaker. So instead of the name that Mom and I had agreed on – maybe based on Greek or Roman history – he became Beaker.

Mom didn’t believe me that these little birds could talk, but one day, the little bird screamed out “Beaker Beaker”. That was the only word he would say but could imitate other sounds like purring/growling and “kiss noises”. He would he get excited when he would see me. I think all the other birds had headaches after a while.

Beaker was a character and a half. Have you ever seen a bird with phobias? I’m not kidding. He had a fear of open spaces and flying because every time he tried flying, he’d get lost or loose control. The world was just too big for him. He was afraid of water. Dad tried saying he had rabies as the fear of water is one sign. Nice try Dad! I’m guessing he fell in a water cup at some point when he was little and didn’t enjoy it. And then there was his fear of the cage floor, probably because he was too small to get back on the perch. For all this phobias and quirky personality, I loved that little bird.

Sadly one day in mid-April, he died. We’re still not quite sure why he died. It was just a sad day. And has the house been fairly quiet since. As quiet as a house can be with 4 other lovebirds. On of our other lovebirds, Thor (he lays eggs, long story), has even been making Beaker more frequently noises lately. It’s almost like having little Beaker back.

Awhile ago, I thought it might be nice to get Beaker a little friend because he did not get along with the other lovebirds, but we were afraid they wouldn’t bond. I had the perfect name picked out for that friend, Bunsen.

Mom and I had talked about getting a new parrotlet for the last couple of months and today, Mom found a fairly bald baby at our favorite bird store. I went running over and fell instantly in love with the tiny bird. His name will be Bunsen!

He should be arriving in about 4 weeks. I’ll have to try and make a weekly trip to visit until then.

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