My Parrot Has a Psychiatric Problem

My parrot's name is Frida, aka Frida Fry, aka Squeaky Beeper, aka You Little Asshole

Frida is the fourth bird that I've owned. I named her after Frida Kahlo. She's also crazy. The parrot, I mean, not Frida Kahlo. Frida Kahlo was probably not crazy, though I don't know that for sure, since I never met her.

Also, it's a mistake to say that Frida is the fourth bird I've owned. You never own a parrot. You care for a parrot or you have a relationship with a parrot, but parrots are not domestic animals. The most important thing about parrots is this: they are tame wild animals.

Frida is a turquoise mutation, like the one pictured below

Green cheek conures are the quietest of the conure family, although this is kind of like being the tallest one of the seven dwarves. Parrots are loud. They have opinions and they are going to share them with you, your family, your neighbors and the people clear down the street. They tear up their toys, they poop on the sofa, they scream in your ear, they steal your food. Yesterday, Frida decided to claim the entire piece of toast I was trying to eat for breakfast by jumping onto it, standing in the middle of it and giving me a challenging look. I didn't let her have it...but I didn't eat it either. This is just the kind of lose/lose scenario that makes parrots such fun pets.

Actually, what makes them such fun pets is the fact that they are not like domestic animals. Each parrot has a unique personality. They're highly intellegent. They require an enriched environment ( a large cage, numerous toys to destroy, specialized food and social interaction) It is truly cruel to put a parrot in a cage and not talk to it or interact with it.

I got Frida when she was about six months old, and we established a good relationship. I taught her to step up on my finger. After awhile she also began to say "Step up!" Oh, how cute, I thought, I'm training her. Every time she said it, to create positive reinforcement, I went over and picked her up. It took me a full month to understand that she was training me....and I'm supposed to be the intellectually superior species here. Riiiight.

Frida has trained me to do a lot of things. She makes the sound of running water when she wants a bath. She says "C'mere" when she wants my attention. She yells "Squeaky Beeper!" when my boyfriend is working from home, thus training him to close the door to his office. She figured out how to let herself out of her cage. She terrorizes our cat.

She's always been a happy healthy bird....until several months ago. She didn't get sick. Nothing changed. Except for, sometimes, she doesn't know who I am. I'm serious. One morning, I went to let her out of her cage and she fled to the back and looked at me like she'd never seen me before in her life. After awhile she came out, started squawking at me to climb up on my shoulder, and everything was fine.

We now go though this at least once a day. Usually, the whole drama ends with her fluttering down to the floor, wandering around for awhile then looking up at me as if to say "what am I doing down here?". If she was a person I'd think she had a head injury.

I went though everything that might have changed. Had I done my hair differently? Had she reacted badly to one of her toys? Been frightened by the cat? (fat chance - the cat's terrified of her and can't get away from her fast enough) Nothing, nothing, nothing. What could possibly have changed?

I was pretty desperate to figure out the problem. After all, she may only be 13 inches long, but she's one of my best friends. I searched on line, asked people on my bird lover's forum and even went back through my journals to see if I could put my finger on anything new that happened in the house around the time her problem developed.

And I found one. Almost to the day, when I was diagnosed with having mild memory problems, she started to exhibit this odd behavior. But there's a reason why I have memory problems. The only reason that could be happening to Frida is....that it's all in her little bird head. Yes, my parrot has a psychiatric problem.

Have you ever had an animal develop such a bond with you?