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Our Darling Pet Starlings The European starling is universally known to be a great mimic. These particular "darling starlings" were more than "parroting" the human voice. They spoke in two languages - a bit of Istro-Venetian dialect as well as English! Skippy, the older bird, was undisputably male (by the known gender behavior), and he often said: "Bel Skippy de mama" and "non staghe dir" and he otherwise loved to say "Hello" - in a uplifted telephone answering voice - the first thing in the morning and even during the night if someone passed their covered cage. The two birds did not bond sexually, and sometimes they squabbled, so was Mickey another male or a "picky female"? Skippy was about 12 years old when he passed away several years before Mickey who left us in 2002 at the age of 14. To the total surprise of Nina and her daughter, Marisa, they adjusted with absolutely no problem to moving from a private house in Park Slope, Brooklyn, New York, USA, to an apartment on the upper West Side of Manhattan where the writer has lived since 1969. Mickey learned his "speech" mainly from mimicking Skippy, and so he was less intelligible in his speech. He was also more "Americanized" and preferred to say in a loud and clear voice "I love you" whereas Skippy, who knew more phrases and spoke in my mother's voice, had staunchly refused to learn that specific one. Both birds knew they were loved and they loved back unconditionally. Kissing via their beak and our mouth was a normal routine, and to me it seemed a throwback to the way fledgelings are fed by the mother bird. Skippy had a odd habit of drinking from a glass. He did not care if it contained water, beer or wine, but he did not touch liquids, such as milk, that were not clear. Whenever he was out of the cage and saw a glass filled with sparkling clear or semi-clear liquid, he would immediately fly to it, take a sip, and then rubbed his wet beak under his wing. He kept taking sips and drying his beak or wetting his "armpit" for as long as we let him! Starlings are well know for loving to take baths! One time, he had nipped a bit more than he could "chew" (with no teeth) when no one was paying attention, and he became noticeably tipsy. We reacted immediately to the potential danger to his life, and never again was any glass of liquid left unattended for this "Istrian wino" bird to sip! Marisa Ciceran See also: |
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This page compliments of Marisa Ciceran Created: Saturday,
April 15, 2001; Last updated:
Sunday, April 20, 2008 |
