Cheeky

STORY OF CHEEKY

Cheeky was given to me in 1978 by the manager of a company at which I was working for in Zimbabwe. I had two female Capes which my Grandmother and I had raised from the nest. The more dominant, Lucy, died from Psittacosis, and when the manager heard of my unfortunate loss, he offered me his bird. Please read their story on Lucy and Shayne under Capes & Their Stories. I initially turned him down, and told him that I did not have any spare money to think about a replacement bird. He insisted that it would be a gift from him and that he did not expect to receive payment. I agreed to consider taking the bird, only if I was happy after seeing it.

Cheeky gets a name and a new home

The family who had Cheeky had only had him a short while. He had not been given a name and was wild caught and bred. They were unable to approach the cage, and if any woman came close to the cage, he went berserk. If the woman wore a red or a green outfit, he then went totally berserk and out of control. They decided that best course of action was to get rid of him. When I lost Lucy, this was the opportunity they had been hoping for. An opportunity had now arisen for this family giving them a way out of the situation they found themselves stuck in. He explained the problem they were having with the bird and said that they would understand if I did not take him. I had never handled a problem bird before, but being young and adventurous, I always went in "where fools fear to tread", so that was nothing unusual for me.

I visited them at their home one evening as arranged. Imagine my surprise when I arrived and found that he was a male bird of the same species as my "babies". When approaching the cage, he growled initially and then became quiet. The family could not believe that this was the same bird. One of them approached me next to his cage and he went berserk again. I agreed to have him. The man reiterated that I did not have to take him if I did not want to and that he did not expect payment if I did take him. I took him to my car and thanked them very much for the gift. The look of relief on their faces was very apparent, although I never said anything at the time, or even later.

When I got him home, my landlady tried to look at him and she was wearing a green dress. He went totally berserk. She was not at all happy with me bringing him inside and said he must be consigned to the outside storage shed. She said that she did not want a bird like that in her home. As I was only lodging in one room, I had no alternative but to comply with her wishes. I immediately decided that his name must be Cheeky, as it was very appropriate. I agreed that he could go out to the shed the next day, after I had arranged places for the two cages. The next day was a Saturday and I rearranged the shed to give them a place close to the door and window. That way they would not be affected by bad weather in any way and could always see the light. I took him outside and for company, took Shayne from my bedroom and placed her out there too. This seemed to have a calming influence on him.

Cheeky calms down

As the months went by, he slowly calmed down and allowed me to approach him without creating and making a fuss. He watched closely every time I took Shayne out and handled her, but never once allowed me to handle him the same way. He still would not tolerate any woman, and loathed the colours red and green, regardless of which sex wore them. I learned not to wear those colours whenever I was feeding or tending to their needs. I could scratch his beak through the bars, but no closer, and definitely not in the cage.

Someone new arrives in his life

When I married in 1981, he and Shayne moved with me to my new home. I had married someone with three children, aged 7, 6 and 5. I had known them for about five years before the marriage, but Cheeky was only just being introduced to family life. He continued to create with my wife, Aileen as he did with all females. She would not take it lying down and always made a point of talking to him and quietly and calmly telling him off for creating. Slowly as the months went by, he accepted Aileen, but still would not tolerate the colours red or green on anyone. The children, he accepted without too much fuss, but wouldn't allow any of them to touch him.

He gradually accepted all members of my family, with the exception of my second eldest son, Craig. He would jump down from his perch and bite Craig as soon as he put his arm in the cage to feed or change his water. So much so that Craig refused to take his turn in feeding and watering the bird. He allowed my daughter, Corrine to get a lot closer than the other children, and even allowed her to touch him when he felt in the mood.

As the years progressed, Aileen made the best progress with Cheeky. The day she was able to touch him became a huge milestone in all of our lives. It also changed Cheeky and his attitude for good (with the exception of our second eldest son, Craig, who is still unpopular to this day). She was able to stroke his head, under his wings and pick him up. I slowly became the third favourite, with my eldest daughter, Corrine taking preference for second place in popularity over me. As a result, she is beneficiary to him should anything happen to Aileen and I. I have since had the gift of three children of my own from the marriage. They are all fortunate enough to be able to touch Cheeky.

Tragedy for Cheeky

Cheeky used to get time out of his cage with Shayne and Percy, and although Shayne was a female, tolerated her but preferred to make advances to Percy. Percy being an African Grey. Percy on the other hand tolerated Cheeky but preferred the company of Shayne, who had grown up with him. We never knew what sex Percy was, but it really was a complex love triangle.

When Percy died, followed shortly after by Shayne, Cheeky would cry every night like a baby after the lights were turned out. We took him to our vet, and she said that we could only show him love and hope that he would accept us as a substitute for his family he had lost.

It took a few months for him to settle down again and stop crying during the night. My wife, Aileen always made a point of going down in the dark and speaking to him and comforting him. After he had settled down, he was closer to Aileen than he had been in the past.

The new Cheeky

Cheeky's whole nature changed and he suddenly became a lot calmer and accepted us more and more. Each month we noticed something else change in him. Our youngest son, Ray used to stroke his beak and turn his wrist hard down to make a surface which Cheeky could not hurt. He used to lunge at Ray with his beak, but as the skin on Ray's wrist was taught, this had no effect. Ray refused to pull his hand away and eventually Cheeky gave up and accepted Ray and allowed him to stroke him too. Our youngest daughter, Luzanne is a natural with all birds. Cheeky accepted her as did all the other birds. He had become a totally different bird to the one we all first knew.

Playing Games

Cheeky loves looking at himself in a mirror. He knows it is not another bird as he parades up and down admiring himself. His favourite toys are cardboard boxes. He enjoys different sizes and climbs into and out of them. If they fall out of fancy, they get the "beak treatment". He chews them up into small pieces until you cam no longer recognize them as having once been a box. If a toilet roll inner is put onto the top of his cage, he loves to push it back and forward. When he gets bored with it, it gets thrown down for Aileen to pick up. Then a new game starts; "toss the roll on the floor". He enjoys chewing the apple branches on the top of his cage, and is very territorial of them when in his cage and others land on them.

Cheeky gets a mate (and a change of personality)

The latest developments as regards Cheeky are something that we feel other Cape and other breed parrot owners should be made aware of when contemplating buying a mate for their Cape or parrot.

We bought a mate for Cheeky, both to keep him company and also with a view to get baby Cheeky's from at some time in the future, all things being well.

Sweety was purchased on 01 July 2000 at an age of approximately one year and eight months old. He took to her immediately, and she to him. It was as if they had grown up together, or as we believe, had been destined for each other.

We gradually started to notice changes in both birds, but more with Cheeky. He was starting to get mood swings. Up until the purchase of a new mate, he would go through an annual breeding season mood, where he would make passionate love to his seed bowl and would be extra loving with certain family members. Other family members he would show a mild aggression toward but never more than a lunge in their direction from his beak. When let out of his cage for his daily walk-about, he would climb the budgies cage and make loving sounds to the female budgie, Bunny. He was always very gentle with her, and never ever aggressive towards her. Her mate always got the short-end of his beak, so to speak.

Once his breading mood passed, he always returned to the same lovable, almost cuddly bird he had been. I say "almost cuddly" as he would allow certain people to do anything with him, whereas as others were restricted to stroking his head or wings only. These breeding season moods only lasted a few weeks and then they were gone. Sometimes he would have several a year, and other times only a couple.

He had always been very sedentary and only ever walked anywhere and almost could not fly. Flight was very laboured and definitely a last choice of movement for him.

Once his "wife" appeared on the scene, he suddenly took a new interest in the world. He "discovered" flight and became more investigative. In the past, legs were more useful than wings, and although he could get by, preferred not to fly at all. He got into places he would not normally go and even took to walking on the floor, which he had never done. He suddenly started becoming very protective of Sweety. He would "go for" any bird near his mate and sometimes any person too. He started chewing anything he could get his beak into. Mostly wood, paper and cardboard. He would go through stages where even his favourite person was not popular with him.

We accepted that this may happen when we purchased his mate, but never anticipated the extent to which he was to change.

Tragedy struck on 03 February 2001. We always let "companion or friendly" groups out to have their flight together, and had never had any problems over the past several years. The budgies were one group where he accepted Bunny, the female but barely tolerated Honey, the male. This time out, Bunny the female budgie had flown to the floor, and I had not noticed her going down there. Things suddenly went very quite in the bird room. I got up to investigate and could not find the Bunny where she had been just ten minutes before. All the birds seemed to be looking at the floor. The male budgie, Honey had gone back into his cage and had pulled the door closed. He was holding onto the door and would not let me open it. I looked down at the floor and found Cheeky down there and he was tossing the bleeding body of the female budgie Bunny around. I rescued it and was immediately attacked by Cheeky. I grabbed a towel and put it around him and covered his head, while putting him back in his cage. He continued to try and bite me as I took the towel away from him. I left him for a while and took the budgie's remains and buried her out in the yard. When I went back in the vicinity of Cheeky's cage, he would lunge at me with open beak. While writing several days after the incident, Cheeky is still very aggressive to all members of the family as well as any bird coming within the vicinity of his cage. We have now taken to flighting one cage at a time, while covering all other cages. That way, there will be no chance of even having toes nipped through the bars.

I am still very unpopular with Cheeky, but Aileen can still stroke him on the wings and head when he feels in the mood. He shows his disapproval of me by going for the bars every time I walk past his cage. A long while after, his attitude top me has not changed, and he is now the Cheeky I knew before Shayne died all those years ago.

Please be aware that a birds personality definitely changes in the mating season, and you can never contemplate to what extent. This was a very sorrowful and painful lesson for all of us, birds included. Our reasonably mild mannered bird had suddenly become a monster. He still has our love and will not be treated any differently, other than segregated flight to avoid any future repetition. His attitude to his mate has become more protective and loving as the months have gone by. With a bit of luck, he may repay us with a baby to substitute for the loss of the budgie one day. Unfortunately a lost bird can never be replaced.

I would mention at this time that we got Honey & Bunny in June 1995, so Cheeky and Bunny had been friends with each other going on for six years before he turned on her. He had also been together with his new wife the relatively short time of six months when this happened.

Thank you for reading the story about Cheeky. Please go on to read the stories of my other birds from the HOME PAGE location.

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