Our Toodles, "The Clown Bird"

Our Wren I (10/21/96 to 8/10/97) the 4th of our Miss Buddy's eight eggs to hatch and live, was the "Original Clown Bird," but Wren I had nothing on our Toodles, when it comes to being a clown bird...

Jeanne and I bought Toodles on 31 May 2010, Memorial Day, from Irene Campos who lived near downtown San Antonio. He was among about ten to twelve identical "Peach Cheeked" Lovebirds who had a orange crest, a bright green back, wings and chest and green, royal blue, and orange tail feathers.

As always, I let my wife , Jeanne, chose the bird that she wanted to buy, and from among this ten or twelve lovebirds, she chose the bird which she quickly named "Toodles". I do not know how she came up with this name, anymore than I know why she chose this particular bird, but the bird and its name just seemed to fit!!! He soon got another name, "Red Crested, Peach-Cheeked, Loud Mouth, Trouble-Maker" due to his loud mouth and his always getting into mischief and trouble...

We bought Toodles, which we hoped was a male, for Miss Shy Girl, who by this time, had tired of being in the same cage with the tempermental, hormonal, Miss Azure. But after two months of separation from Azure, Miss Shy Girl was lonely for companionship. We had been told, on more than one occasion, that a female Parakeet will kill a male Parakeet, if the female considers the male to be a threat or an intruder, but we never saw such an instance with any of our Parakeets. So, we decided to risk putting Toodles in the same cage with Miss Shy Girl, and we saw no instance of any fighting between the two.

Jeanne had already taught Miss Shy Girl to climb the power cord to Jeanne's portable fan, which was fastened to the top of Jenne's medicine cabinet, and Miss Shy Girl quickly taught Toodles to do the same. Shy Girl also taught Toodles to crawl all over the top and sides of their cage and to head "straight down, head first" down the sides of their cage. It seemed like whatever Shy Girl did, Toodles did also...

We had purchased a bird book on raising Lovebirds, and were told that Toodles would grow out of his organge crest and develop a red crest, as he got older, being that he was reported to be only about six weeks to 3 months of age when we bought him. He finally did grow a bright scarlet (reddish-orange) crest after a few months.

When Shy Girl died suddenly and quite unexpectedly on 8/13/2010, we were both shocked and saddened at her death, but we were not alone. Just like the male Swallow, who grieved for his dead mate, in "Birds Have Feelings, Too!" Toodles grieved for Shy Girl, too. Jeanne and I immediately decided to buy a female Lovebird to keep Toodles company, but we could not find a "Peach Cheeked" female Lovebird, so we drove across town to buy a cute little 9 month old "Orange Crested, Light Beige Throated, Female Lovebird, which Jeanne named Miss Ira, after Ira Wagner, a friend of our family. So now, Toodles had another mate...

The Story of Our "Miss Ira".

Ira Wagner and his wife came over to our house a few months later to see his namesake, and he told us that "Ira" could be either a boy's or a girl's name. At first, we were concerned that Ira may have been a male, but Ira soon let us and Toodles know that Ira was a GIRL!!!

 I could readily understand why Jeanne bought Ira, hoping that the bird was indeed a girl...She quickly tamed down and became the perfect (second) mate for Toodles, now that Shy Girl had died only three days before. Although Ira looked nothing like Shy Girl, Ira's sweet disposition and her "cuddlying nature" made her a choice companion to both us and to Toodles, who quickly began teaching Ira to climb the power cord to Jeanne's portable fan. But unlike Shy Girl, who quickly taught Toodles, Ira was not overly enthusiastic about climbing the power cord. Jeanne had to "coax and prod" Ira before Ira would finally climb the power cord to the top of the medicine cabinet, but once Ira and Toodles were both situated on the top of the cabinet, they would screech at Jeanne, who was more than a foot below them!!!

Since we did not know how old or young Shy Girl was when we got her on 10 December 2009, we were shocked at her death. But since we knew approximately how old Miss Ira was when we bought her, we were more than shocked and saddened when she died in Jeanne's hands on 23 January 2011...

Jeanne saw Ira squatting on the bottom of hers and Toodles' cage when Jeanne uncovered their cage on the morning of 23 Januar 2011, and Jeanne was concerned that Ira may have been sick, but nothing prepared Jeanne for Ira's suddenly dying in Jeanne's hands shortly after Jeanne picked Ira up from the bottom of the cage. We let Toodles say good-bye to Ira before Jeanne wrapped Ira in a bag in preparation for burial.

The Story of Our "Miss Mini-Ira"

We did not wait to find Toodles another mate. I called Joe and Betty Pawlik, from whom we bought a Cockatiel for Janice a year or two ago, and asked Joe if he had any "Peach Cheeked" or "Orange Crested, Light Beige Throated" Female Lovebirds for sale. When Joe indicated that he had both, Jeanne and I drove across town to Kirby, Texas to see the birds.  

Jeanne could not decide which breed she wanted. She finally settled on a smaller version of Miss Ira, and immediately named the bird "Miss Mini-Ira," or "Miss Mini," for short. Like Miss Ira, "Miss Mini" instantly took to Toodles, who also immediate took to her. I wonder if Toodles thought that Miss Ira had revived, but I don't know for certain...

In no time, Toodles taught Miss Mini to climb the power cord and to climb up the side and across the top of their cage, and yes, to climb head-first down the side as well. Toodles taught Miss Mini to do something else, of which Jeanne highly disapproves, and that is to climb up to the mantel over the fireplace or to fly up to the chain which is hanging from the ceiling to our chain-lamp.

Jeanne has resorted to carrying a long blue "feather" duster around in order to "usher" the two Lovebirds back to their cage. Toodles and Miss Mini are "scared to death" of that long blue duster, which Jeanne has started leaving on the mantel as a deterrent....

Although Miss Mini-Ira is about one-fourth smaller in size than was Miss Ira, nevertheless, Miss Mini has Miss Ira's sweet disposition, and she is just as cute and cuddly!!!