Writin' With Sprite

Sprite is mashing some banana chunks in his beak right next to me as I write this. I wheeled him into the office on his tree stand (home office, that is), and loaded him up with snacks to keep him occupied.

Sprite has been through a lot of changes recently, as have the other birds, and I've noticed him developing a bond with Lennon through it all. He moved to and back from the west coast with Lennon. The two of them lived over there together with Ms. Flock Advisor for several months before being re-united with the rest of the flock. They do not interact directly, but I've noticed Sprite showing interest in Lennon being handled by the Flock Advisors.

I did some deep cleaning of the bird cages and the animals' corner of the Feather Dorm a couple of weekends ago. This involved putting the little guys in their carriers while I took their cages apart for a good scrubbing. Cher's cage was done first: she protested, but the other birds showed little interest. After her cage was finished and she was allowed back in it I started on Lennon's. Just putting him in his carrier, which he whined about and tried to squirm out of, put Sprite on high alert.

I could hear Sprite in his cage behind me making his mumbling noises and clanging about his cage. Lennon had my full attention though as he wriggled and nipped at me as opposed to settling into his carrier peacefully. When I finally got him into it, I turned to see Sprite flaring his tail feathers and pinning his eyes wildly. When I lifted Lennon's cage and began to disassemble it he started calling to Lennon.

I had to remove Lennon's cage around the corner to give it a good cleaning, and I took Lennon with me. He was whistling loudly and stomping around the floor of his carrier, but was not panicking or in distress. Once we were out of sight, however, Sprite came close to distress. He started whistling like Lennon and they called back and forth like that until Lennon's cage was set back up. Lennon seemed surprised to hear an answer to his calls, and I think he was looking for Ms. Flock Advisor to come through the door any second. She is normally who he whistles with. He started into a couple of his songs, but Sprite just kept doing the, "I'm over here" whistle that sounds like something you'd summon a runaway dog with.

The whistling back and forth kept on until Lennon was set back in his fresh cage and I moved on to Coconut's. Sprite showed no interest in my taking apart Coconut or Kenobi's cage, and simply moved out of the way as I cleaned his own.

Sprite has been whistling along more lately with Ms. Flock Adivsor and Lennon. Even though we will not let the two interact directly, due the extreme size difference and potential for Sprite to injure Lennon, it is fun to see them developing a bond.

Sprite has also gained a new tenant with his cage now out in the center of the Feather Dorm. Kenobi has taken to Sprite's basement where he can find tidbits of paper and wood, remnants of dismantled toys that fall to the ground. He also gets the occasional fruity pellet or vegetable shred that Sprite drops (birds are messy eaters). Its a commensal relationship.