After this revelation, I started my search for the perfect pionus. In the summer of 2004 I found an ad in a newspaper for a baby white capped pionus. After several calls to the breeder, we were finally able to go and visit the not-yet-weaned baby.
It was so sweet and cute, we just could not resist it. At first the breeder tried to talk us (my dad and I) into finishing the hand-feeding (a bad sign), but I had done research, and read that that was not such a good idea, so we agreed to let the breeder finish the hand-feeding and wait patiently.
After a couple of visits, we knew this was the bird for us. I decided to name him Kyba. We got a big cage, toys, and perches, and were eagerly awaiting for it to be weaned.
One day, the breeder stopped returning our phone calls. We were concerned that she had sold him to someone else as we hadn't put a down payment on him, but the reality was much worse. A few days passed and we finally got a call back, with some bad news. The baby had gotten it's foot caught in a toy and died from stress on the way to the vet.
I was heartbroken. I had only known the baby for a few weeks, but I felt a connection to it all the same. I decided that perhaps, it just wasn't meant to be and put my search on hold for a few months.
After a short break, I decided that it was time to fill that empty cage of mine.Some friends on a parrot forum helped me look for some available birds. We found an ad for a 9 month old baby dusky pionus in Arkansas. We emailed them, and planned to get the baby over Thangsgiving break while visiting my Grandma in Missouri. Unfortunately, my dad was robbed and we were unable to make the Thanksgiving trip and decided to postpone it until Christmas. I was heartbroken again, and worried that they would sell him to someone else because I knew how rare duskies were and I thought they would have a lot of interest in him; but luckilly, when Christmas came around, he was still available.
So we drove from Minnesota to the very Southern tip of Missouri where they met us to pick him up. It was about a 15 hour drive each way, but we stopped in Columbia Missouri to spend Christmas and New Years with my grandma on the way back. Kei was so well behaved throughout all of this new stress, he was such a perfect pionus, and I fell in love instantly.
It was a learning experience. I had owned budgies and held parrots a handfull of times, but owning one was different. I have to admit that I didn't care for Kei like I should have at first, but he was happy; and our bond grew strong.
Kei and I have a very special relationship. We have been best friends for nearly 6 years now and I wouldn't give him up for the world.
He's so special and smart, and I'm so lucky to have him. I love my Kei bird.
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