Elmo came to live with us on September 12, 1988 when he was 4 months old.  Our son wanted an exotic parrot for his 18th birthday so he and his dad visited Kookaburra to find the right one for us.

Terrie spent a great deal of time telling them about the characteristics of each species and educating them on the care of birds.  They selected this little black-headed Caique, who we named Elmo.  Although our son liked to play with the little guy, the initial daily care and feeding of Elmo was performed by me and guess what…Elmo never left for college. In fact, he is still with me and while he’s only 9” from the top of his head to the end of his tail feathers, he thinks he’s in charge and is a little green person.  What a personality he has!

Being the “monkey bird” that he is, he loves to play and mimic sounds such as my laugh, running water and anything else he hears that tickles his fancy.  He seems to know when my husband says something funny as he laughs at the right time almost every time.

In the spring, he enjoys sitting in his cage on the patio visiting with the mockingbirds.  While they mock each other back and forth, the mockingbird tries to speak louder but Elmo will not be outdone by the different sounds or the loudness.  He loves to go outside and will wolf whistle at the ladies in the neighborhood.  Once I was told by a neighbor that she hadn’t been whistled at like that in over 40 years!

Another favorite past time of his is watching Sunrise Earth on the Discovery channel in the morning.  I roll his cage in front of the 65” HDTV and he will actually watch the show and imitate the sounds he hears.  I know when the show is over and it’s time to change the channel because he starts calling for me – “Di, Di…”  Then it’s time for him to watch cartoons. 

I never knew having a parrot could be this much fun while being a lot of work to care for him; it’s been a joy watching his personality develop and change.  And it’s all worth it when I cover his cage to get him ready for “night, night” and I hear him whisper (in his own way) I love you.

Diane Lewis