Last week, we bought a white parakeet to the Mansion to keep the blue parakeet company, her mate had died several weeks earlier and the first parakeet had stopped chirping.
The Mansion residents were upset at the idea of the first bird being alone and silent. So Maria and I went to Petco and got another one, also a female.
Tonight, visiting the Mansion after the weekly bingo game, I saw the two parakeets – they have both been inseparable ever since they got together – seeming to kiss one another.
It was a touching thing to see, but I wondered if this was really a kiss, or meant something else for birds. I got online, and the answer was surprising.
Parakeets and other birds do “kiss” each other, they are showing one another acceptance and affection. It’s a sign of friendship in birds, rather than human love. Two birds who are friends will also groom each other occasionally, huddle together on their perches and snuggle together while sleep.
Parakeets can be generous as well, they will also share food, if they have a treat, they will often divide it up between the two of them and eat each one will eat an equal amount. They care for each other.
These are the perfect pets for the Mansion residents, along with their adopted rescue cat, Summer. Thank you, Army Of Good, for summer and the birds and the cage they live in.
The two Mansion parakeets – still unnamed (send your ideas for names to [email protected]) do all of those things together.
This feels quite good, the protypical small act of great kindness, and it cost $21 and some birdseed. It brought great pleasure to many people who were deeply upset, and to one sad blue parakeet. The newcomer is very happy also. Another ripple of kindness that could change the world.
Your support of the Mansion project is welcome and necessary. Please send your contribution – small contributions are very welcome – to me, Jon Katz, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816, or via Paypal, [email protected]. You can also send a donation using the “Support The Army Of Good” button at the bottom of each post. Please mark your payments “The Mansion.” Thanks.
Parakeets have so much joyful energy, I remember when my older mother-in-law got a pair and how much they brightened up her house. And birds, like dogs, are made to live in flocks so a single caged bird is a true sorrow and so stressful.
I had a parakeet that changed its hormones. The structure above the nostrils is brown or blue depending on sex. When I got a new bird it completely changed from brown to blue! Birds are amazing and I love knowing the Mansion has a happy pair.