A FLIGHT INTERRUPTED

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A flight interrupted,

        These beautiful green birds fly all over Miami, especially near Miami Beach. This particular type of bird is called a conure or more specifically a white-eyed parakeet. They are part of the parrot family and there are many different types and colors. You can hear them as they gather in the treetops and as they fly by in the sky. It has been about 3 years since this amazing bird crashed into my world. It all started when I was driving my truck on one of the Venitian Islands near Miami Beach. These parrots or parakeets usually fly in groups of 2 or more. On this particular day, I had my driver's side window down and I was driving about 25 mph. A flock of around 7 of these green beauties swooped out of nowhere and flew in front of my windshield. Unfortunately, this little character missed the assignment, flew threw my window, hit the steering wheel, and landed on the passenger seat. He was sitting there stunned with his little wing stretched out. I pulled over and asked him (as if he was going to answer me) in a calm voice, Are you Ok? He did not respond lol, I drove home because I did not know if he was seriously injured and I wasn’t just going to put him on the ground to get eaten by a cat. 

     When I arrived home I was able to get him into a box and bring him inside. He was extremely calm and quiet. I did a bit of reading about what to feed him and fortunately, I had a sweet nectarine that turned out to be just what he needed. Since I couldn’t take him to the vet until the next day I lined a box with a fluffy towel so he would stay warm during the night and I put him in it on my nightstand. When I woke up in the morning he had hopped out of the box at some point thru the night and he was sleeping nuzzled under my arm. I was completely surprised and immediately felt like, how in the animal kingdom is this happening? The next day I took him to the vet and my vet said his wing was not broken but injured and he would need a week or so to get back to normal and suggested I keep him in a box or cage so he doesn’t try to fly. On the third day of his being with me, he hopped out of the box that was sitting beside me on the couch and hopped over to one of the dogs and cuddled up under my big dog’s ear to take a nap like they were long lost friends. 

     After seeing this I decided that he was just too special and completely at home with the dogs that he had instantly become part of the family. Of course, we named him Rio (like in the movie) and he is now part of the family. Rio sits on my shoulder all day while I work on the computer, I am essentially his jungle gym. I potty trained him to go on command so there isn’t bird poop all over the place. I had no idea you could potty train a bird but with dedication and patience, I guess anything is possible. Rio has a free range at home flying back and forth between the humans and the dogs. But at night when it is time to go to sleep he always moves from my shoulder and sleeps cuddled under my chin and my beard. When I wake up he looks at me and says in his little cartoon voice, hi Michael. I have to say it is pretty amazing to interact with an animal that can talk to you and imitate you. Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed reading this story. I have a bunch of videos that I will share with you and I am sure you will enjoy as much as I have how cool and sweet this little creature is. 

Thank you for taking the time to check it out. 

Sincerely,

Mike.