Tyler

Hatched: Approximately 3 years before we bought him. Purchased: 10/20/2001. A grey-green American Budgie. Male. Date of Death:
6/10/2002.

Jeanne and I bought Tyler from Meline LeMay on 10/20/2001. He was already about 3 years old at the time that we bought him. He had a bad habit of flying down from any of the cages and eating whatever he could find in the carpet. We believe that he ate something poisonous and died from poisoning. We only had him about 8 months before he died on 6/10/2002.

Written 2/12/2010.

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Shellie Marie

Hatched: 2/6/2002. Purchased: 4/20/2002. A Gray-Green and Lt. Yellow English Budgerigar. Hen. Date of Death: 12/7/2007.

Jeanne and I purchased this pretty female English Budgerigar from Melinie LeMay. We had her for 5 years and 10 months. She was the older sister of "Blondie," Pooh-Babs and Perri-Ann, each of which we purchased at a late date. Her parents were "Miss Drops" and "Abner." Miss Drops got her name because she would hang or swing up-side-down from the top of her cage, and she taught each of her babies to do the same. Jeanne would love to watch Shellie hang up-side-dwon from Jeanne's index finger. Shellie was a good friend of Tyler, whose story I told above.
Shellie died on 12/7/2007.

Written on 2/12/2002.

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Perri-Ann

Hatched: 6/22/2002. Purchased: 8/10/02.
A Blue-Violet, AKA, Violet Normal English Budgerigar. Hen. Date of Death: 2/4/2008.

We purchased this beautiful Englsh Budgerigar from Melinie LeMay, and at first, Jeanne named this bird "Perri," because Jeanne thought that it was a male, but its demeanor, its cier and its wide bones convinced Jeanne that it was a female. So "Perri" became "Perri-Ann,"who was the younger sister to Shellie Marie and from a different cluth of Miss Drops and Abner. Like Shellie, Perri-Ann would also swing or hang up-side-down from Jeanne's index finger. We had Perri-Ann for  about 5 1/2 years before she died on 2/4/2008.

Written 2/13/2010.

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Babs

Hatched: 6/29/2002. Purchased: 8/10/2002.
A Gray-Green Spangle (Gray-Green Body and a Yellow Head and Wings). Cock.

Jeanne and I bought the younger brother of Perri-Ann the day that we bought Perri-Ann from Melinie LeMay. We thought that "Babs" was a female, but we were soon mistaken. He is most definitely a male. I started calling him "Pooh Babs," but eventually, he became "Pooh Bear," a name by which he is known even today. Like Shellie and Perri-Ann, his mother, Miss Drops, taught him to swing up-side-down from the inside top of the cage.

Written 2/13/2010.

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Mandilynne

Hatched: Approx. 3rd week of January of 2001.
Purchased: 3/2/2001. Cobalt Blue Parakeet. Cock.

Jeanne bought this handsome "Mini-Keet" at PetSmart for my 54th birthday. Until we bought "Audacity," Mandilynne was our smallest bird. Jeanne named him in honor of our "Mandy Jean" who was also known as the "Keet!" He is in a cage with several of our other males, because all he wants to do is breed! We can expect to be on the receiving end of his beak, if we pick him up, because he does not like to be held!

Written 2/13/2010.

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Houdini

Hatched: 5/16/2001. Purchased: N/A. A Navy Blue Parakeet. Hen. Date of Death: Unknown.

When this beautiful little bird hatched, at first we did not know what to name her, but she quickly chose her own name! As soon as she was old enough to eat seed and to emerge from the nest box, she became our "Escape Artist."  So her name became "Houdini." She could and would crawl through the bars of the "Nest Cage" and would simply "vanish!" We would spend a great deal of time looking on, under and behind the giant dining room table as well as behind the Microwave cabinet and even in the pantry. Sometimes, we would just have to wait until we heard her cheeping, before we found her, and often, the cheeping sound would be coming from the "Formal Dining Room" which we converted into our Library!

She was a beautiful and a sweet-natured bird, and we hated to have to give her away, but we finally decided to give her to Melinie LeMay.

Written 2/15/2010.

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Teal

Hatched: 5/18/2001. Purchased: N/A. A White Parakeet with a Teal Blue Belly and Intermittent Black Spots. Hen. Date of Death: 3/12/2008.

Teal was the daughter of Miss Amani Onjanue and "Mister" and closely resembled her father, "Mister" in appearance. She was a very "high strung" bird, and very hormonal after laying her four eggs. Unlike our "Miss Buddy" and her daughter, "Miss Marie," who were very gently and laid back with respect to our holding their hatchlings, Teal would attack Jeanne and me if we came anywhere near her eggs and especially when each of the four eggs hatched.

She bit "Midge" twice shortly after he hatched on 3/10/2003 and almost killed him, so we had to remove her from the nest box, by "penning"her against a corner of the nest box and with heavy gloves, physically remove her from the nest box. Now we had a dilemma. "Midge" was only a few days old, blind, naked and totally helpless, having hatched on 3/10/2003. "Big Bird," the oldest of the four hatchlings was less than 2 weeks old, having hatched on 2/27/2003. "Wings" hatched on 2/28/2003, and "Third Bird" hatched on 3/2/2003. So we had four baby birds and no mother bird to feed them and keep them warm.

Normally, the father bird will only feed the mother bird while she is sitting on eggs and sometimes after the eggs hatch. But under most circumstances, the father bird will not care for, feed, nor keep the babies warm. But "Candi" was not the usual father bird. We had taken him out of the nest cage after the eggs were laid, because the parents usually want to mate again soon after the hen lays eggs.  After we put him back in the cage, much to our surprise and elation, he immediately started feeding his four babies and keeping them warm. What was even more surprising, he continued to care for them, even after each of them was able to feed and to care for itself. It was amusing to watch the four little birds follow Candi around for many months after each of them was able to care for itself. We never let Teal breed again, but kept her in a cage by herself. She developed an ulcerated sore on her belly, and our vet said that it might be cancerous. We kept her as comfortable as possible and took her out of her cage and loved her and played with her daily to show her that we still cared about her. In spite of her short comings, she was still a beautiful bird, and she knew that we loved her. She gave us 4 pretty babies, "Big Bird," "Wings," "Thrid Bird" and "Midge." (I have arleady written "Third Bird's" story, which you can read on the "B.I.R.D.S." page.) Teal died on 3/12/2008.

Written 2/17/2010.

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Big Bird   3rd Bird  Midge  Wings
(on Left)  (Next)   (Front) (Rear)

These 2 pictures taken 4/2/2003, about 6 weeks after Big Bird left
the nest box and 1 month to the day that Midge, the youngest of the 4 baby birds, left the nest box. 

  

Big Bird  Midge  Wings  3rd Bird
 (Left)   (Next)  (Back)  (Front)

Cobalt

Hatched: 5/20/2001. Purchased: N/A. A White Parakeet with a Cobalt-Blue Belly and Intermittend Black Spots. Hen. Date of Death: Unknown.

Cobalt was the 2nd daughter of Miss Teal and Mister. Jeanne named her "Cobalt" because of her the color of her belly, just as Jeanne named "Teal" because of Teal's Teal-Blue belly. Cobalt was a beautiful white parakeet with a cobalt-blue belly and black spots, and like her sister, Teal, Cobalt was very high strung. As far as we know, Cobalt never had a mate. We gave Cobalt to Melinie LeMay. Date of Death is unknown.

Written 2/17/2010.

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Candi

Hatched: 7/11/1999. Purchased: N/A. A Dark Gray American Budgie. Cock. Date of Death: 12/9/2006.

Although he was Miss Marie's and Dana Brent's 2nd hatchling, Candi most resembled his grandmother, Miss Buddy. It is a well known fact that birds can skip a generation or two and resemble grandparents or even great grandparents. But Candi also resembled Miss Buddy and Miss Marie in his gentle demeanor. For sake of brevity, I am not going to recite Candi's demeanor regarding his four hatchlings, which I have already described in Miss Teal's story. Candi died on 12/9/2006.

Written 2/19/2010.

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Big Bird, AKA, B-Bird.

Hatched: 2/27/2003. Purchased: N/A. A Medium Purple Parakeet with a Navy Blue Tail. Cock. Date of Death: N/A.

Big Bird or B-Bird, as Jeanne calls him was the first of Teal and Candi's 4 hatchlings. I have already told Teal's story in which we had to take her out of the nest box because she almost killed Midge. Big Bird was less than 2 weeks old when we took Teal out of the nest box. His daddy, Candi, fed him and cared for his 3 siblings until all 4 of them were old enough to feed themselves.

I bought a green and yellow female Parakeet at the Alamo Exhibition Bird Club on 9/24/2005, right after Hurricane Katrina, because Jeanne wanted a green and yellow female Englihs Budgerigar, and there were none to be found in the entire Bird Show. I was told that this cute little green and yellow female Parakeet was only about 3 months old. and relying upon this information, Jeanne and I felt that it was safe to allow "Little Bits II" to be with the flock, since females do not breed before 6 or 9 months of age. Well, surprise, surprise, surprise! Big Bird mated with Little Bits II, and we got "Jeanne Marie" and "Ann Marie." We later put Big Bird in a large 20" X 20" x 50" cage with his son, "Jeanne Marie ii" whom we first thought was a female; "Audacity;" "Cori Lemay;" "Mandilynne;" 'Third Bird;" and "Jordy LeMay," because all that these 7 males wanted to do was breed!

Big Bird, like the larger English Budgerigar and/or the American Budgie Hybrid, has developed tumors on his back, right below the back of his neck and are prominent, because there are no feathers. There is only a large mass of pink skin visible. Big Bird will be 7 years of age in 8 more days. Neither Jeanne nor I have any idea how much longer Big Bird can live with his tumors, but we will love and care for him as long as we can!

Written 2/19/2010.

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The bird on the right is as close in color to "Big Bird" as I can get. Jeanne and I took pictures of "Big Bird 2 days ago, but we did not want to show the tumors on the back of his neck and upper back. Randy Faulk 2/24/2010.

Wings

Hatched: 2/28/2003. Purchased: N/A. A Light Lavender Parakeet with a White Head. Hen. Date of Death: Unknown.

Wings was the second of Teal's and Candi's hatchlings, who hatched the day after Big Bird hatched on 2/27/2003. After she emerged from the nest box and began eating seed on her own, Jeanne put her in a cage with the rest of our flock. It was soon apparent that she began fighting the other birds, so Jeanne had to isolate her from the flock, much like Jeanne had to isolate Teal. A Mr. Carroll from Universal City, Texas, a suburb of San Antonio, called us to ask if we had birds to sell, because he wanted a Parakeet for his daughter. We invited him and his daughter to our home and gave Wings to Mr. Carroll and his daughter to raise as a pet, because we have never, nor will we ever sell any of our birds! We obtained his phone number for future reference. Date of Death is unknown.

Written 2/20/2010.

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Third Bird

Hatched: 3/2/2003. Purchased: N/A. A Ligth Lavender "Pied" Parakeet with a Navy Blue Tail. Cock. Date of Death: 2/10/2010.

I have already told Third Bird's story the morning following his passing on the evening of 2/10/2010. He looks alot like his older brother, "Big Bird." Jeanne and I miss him terribly!

Written 2/20/2010.

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"Little One"

Hatched: 3/6/2003. Purchased: N/A.
Parakeet. Sex Unknown. Date of Death: 3/7/2003.

We never got the chance to get to know this little bird, because he or she died the day following his or her hatching. We do not often know why baby birds die shortly after hatching.

Written 2/20/2010.

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"Sweetie Pie"

Hatched: 3/7/2003. Purchased: N/A. Parakeet. Sex Unknown. Date of Death: 3/8/2003.

We never got the chance to get to know this little bird either,  because he or she died the same day shortly after his or her hatching.

Written 2/20/2010.

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"Midge"

Hatched: 3/10/2003. Purchased: N/A. A Dark Violet Parakeet with a Navy Blue Tail. Cock. Date of Death: 1/27/2009.

Our story would not be complete without "Midge's" story, which I have told several times. Midge, short for "Midget," also known as "Our Very Special Bird," hatched 3/10/2003. Two days after he hatched, Teal bit his head and put a gash behind his right eye and his "ear hole." Since baby birds have very little blood in their tiny, naked bodies, a gash of any size can be life threatening!  Jeanne was able to stop the bleeding and save Midge's life, but not two days later, Teal bit him again, and again, Jeanne was able to stop the bleeding and save him.

Once he began to grow feathers, his plumage was absolutely gorgeous: dark violet feathers and a long navy blue tail. Jeanne quickly taught him to climb onto her finger, but as an added attraction, Midge would preen Jeanne's face with his tiny beak. He also began preening his siblings and any other bird within range of his beak.

I was writing my first book, DEVIL at my Doorstep, on the afternoon of 1/27/2009, when Jeanne brought in Midge's body. I tearfully said my good-byes, before Jeanne took him away for burial in our special bird cemetary in the back of our house.

Written 2/22/2010.

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Larkin Hastriter I

Hatched: About 13 months prior to purchase. Purchased: 10/20/2002. A Purple Englsh Budgerigar with Large Black Spots on neck. Cock. Date of Death: 10/1/2004.

Jeanne and I bought this handsome male Enlish Budgerigar from the "Celestial Parrot" Vendor at the Alamo Exhibition Bird Club Bird Show on 10/20/2002. Jeanne named him "Larkin Hastriter" after a very good friend of our family. As Jeanne has often said, "You know that you have 'arrived' when she names a bird after you!'" We did not have him long, because he fell off the top of the cage one day and broke his neck. About four years into our future, there would be a Larkin Hastriter II, named in honor of Larken I.

Written 2/23/2010.

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Lyle

Hatched: Unknown. Hatched after Shelly Marie from same clutch around 2/6/2002. Purchased: 4/19/2003. A Sky Blue and White English Budgerigar. Cock. Date of Death: 4/14/2004.

Jeanne named this handsome male English Budgerigar after John C. Lyle, a very good friend. "Lyle" was the son of Miss Drops and Abner, and was the younger brother of and from the same clutch as Miss Shelly Marie, who hatched on 2/6/2002.

Lyle's right eye became infected, and we took him to our Veterinarian. Lyle subsequently lost the sight in his right eye, and one day, one of our other birds pushed Lyle off the top of the cage to his death. We found him dead on the floor beneath the cage on 4/14/2004, almost one year after we bought him. He was a beautiful bird, and we miss him.

Written 2/26/2010.

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Bradley

Hatched: 8/21/2002. Purchased: 4/19/2003. A VIolet English Budgerigar. Cock. Date of Death: N/A.

Jeanne bought this handsome English Budgerigar from Mr. Carroll Myers at the Alamo Exhibition Bird Show in Northeast San Antonio on 4/19/2003. Mr. Myers will not sell any of his birds until each one is at least 6 to 8 months of age.

According to my records, Bradley's father was a "Cobalt Normal," which is a dark blue and his mother was a "Sky Blue," which is a lighter blue. We have had Bradley almost seven years. He is a very sweet natured bird, who has never had any inclination to mate. His "best bud" is "Dietert," a gray Engiish Budgerigar.  Both he are Dietert are among Jeanne's favorites.

Written 2/26/2010.

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Scottie Elyse, AKA, "Blondie"

Hatched: Date Unknown. Purchased: 1/20/2004. A beautiful Sly Blue "Cinnamon" English Budgerigar. Hen. Date of Death: N/A.

We bought this beautiful English Budgerigar from Melinie LeMay. We named this hen "Scottie Elyse" after the wife of a man whom I met in the hospital on 1/7/2004, but due to her "Cinnamon" colored wings, we nick-named her "Blondie." She is the daughter of Miss Drops and Mr. Abner and is a sister to Shellie Marie, Perri-Anne and to Pooh Babs.

Blondie hates being held and like our "Sweetums," lets us loudly know of her great displeasure! Like Sweetums, Blondie is very lean, and we almost lost her to starvation, because she stopped eating, and we had to force feed her to keep her alive. She has never regained any of her weight and is still very thin. We keep a gaurded and a very close watch on both Blondie and Sweetums.

Written 2/26/2010.

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Harry Allred Faulk

Hatched: Date Unknown. Purchased: 4/17/2004. A handsome Cobalt=Blue English Budgerigar. Cock. Date of Death: 11/21/2008.

Jeanne bought this handsome bird from Mr. Carroll Myers at one of the Alamo Exhibition Bird Show. His plumage was absolutely gorgeous, but his temperment was interesting and unusual. Jeanne named him "The Screaming Budgerigar," because he did not like being held.  We bought a beautiful female English Budgerigar, whom we named "Miss Martha," to be his mate, but neither was interested in the other. He died on 11/21/2008.

Written 2/27/2010.

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Ammon Allred Faulk

Hatched: Date Unknown. Purchased: 4/17/2004. A handsome Cobalt-Blue American Budgie. Cock. Date of Death: 8/14/2005.

Jeanne also bought this handsome American Budgie from Mr. Carroll Myers the same day that she bought Harry Allred Faulk, and like Harry Allred Faulk, Ammon was also Cobalt-Blue. We only had him about 16 months before he died on 8/14/2005. We certainly miss his "cheerful chirp!"

Written 2/27/2010.

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