There's a Bird On My Head

Kathleen Gilroy ^ | 6/15/2006 | Kathleen Gilroy

[Dallas59]

So, the other day I was talking with a neighbor who lives around the corner from us on Chestnut Street. And there was a juvenile bird (I think it may be a male robin) who decided to imprint himself on me. He jumped on my head and there was nothing I could do to get him off, so I decided to walk home. He just stayed on my head for the short walk back. Now he is hanging out in the tree in front of our place, and whenever I go out the front door and he is around, he flies over and lands on my head.

I want to do the right thing by him, so if any of you bird-lovers have a suggestion for how to deal with the bird on my head, please let me know.

[Bigg Red]

Sure looks that way in your enlarged picture, but I wonder why she wouldn't see that beak and realize that it's not a robin. Oh, well, I've already given this story way too much attention.

[mikrofon]

Pootie-poot had a similar problem awhile back:

[A knight without armor]

I bet it is an escaped pet bird and you look like Mommy who hand raised it. You could put an ad in the paper to see if anyone has lost a pet bird.

Or you could read up on squad recipes here: http://www.squab.com/frame1.htm

[A knight without armor]

I meant squab. Squab. Squab. Squab.

[Michael Goldsberry]

I didn't enlarge the picture, sorry for the confusion. I just searched for parrot pictures and found a couple of likely matches. Those were what I hotlinked.

[Americanchild]

as birds carry a lot of bacteria and disease, and you don't want to get any of that in your system.

Says who? All wild animals can carry disease; no need to pick on the birdies!

Besides, there's very little that can be absorbed through her head! Just don't kiss it on the beak.

[Americanchild]

It is not a black cockatoo, dude! Looks more like a starling, but I need a closer picture.

[Slings and Arrows]

Get married. For the sake of the children.

[maggief]

[maggief]

[butternut_squash_bisque]

Read-up on it, A. West Nile isn't on the list, but it's only a shortened list...

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/cfw/challenges/bird_diseases.html

Bacteria and germs on the head/hair can be easily transmitted to the hands, then to the eyes, nose, mouth etc. Bird nests are notorious for being improperly-handled and giving humans all kinds of medical problems.

Tweety-Pie Bird is taking a shower at this very moment...

[butternut_squash_bisque]

LOL!

[Americanchild]

I work in the animal business and am well aware of all the "scary" diseases. However, my point was that birds are no more likely to carry germs than other wild animals. There is no need to panic when one touches you.

[butternut_squash_bisque]

Lather well. Rinse. Repeat.

[Tijeras_Slim]

It's all part of the plan.

OTOH you could go hinting with Dick Cheney.

[xJones]

You could have a good time going to bars with it. Remember the old joke: a man walks into a bar with a duck on his head. The bartender asks him what he wants, and the duck says, "Just get this jerk off my butt!".:)

[Samwise]

This thread is for the birds.

[annie laurie]

Comment from a reader:

http://kathleengilroy.com/blog/_archives/2005/6/15/943281.html#322389

The bird's name is Hortense. My girlfriend found it on the ground outside our apartment (on Putnam Ave, a block or two from Magazine St). It was half-dead with ants crawling all over it and it looked like it had just hatched within the last day or two. We could see the nest up in the eaves of the roof but there was no way we could get it back in there.

The internet told us that mashed up puppy-chow was the best thing to feed a baby bird. Since we have a puppy we were all set.

We fed it about once every 45 mins during the day and it slept through the night for about two weeks. Pretty amazing, you could almost see it growing before you eyes. Every morning there was new feathers and it would get louder and louder.

We called Mass Adoubon and did more research online and they all told us that we should wait until it could fly and feed on it's own before releasing.

It started flying at about 2.5 weeks old. It would come into our bedroom in the morning, fly on top of our heads, and demand, noisily to be fed. After a couple of days of this we moved it's box to an open window and eventually it started to come and go as it pleased, never straying that far, harrassing our neighbors by swooping down on their heads. It became quite a celebrity in the park next to our flat.

A couple of days later it left for good.

I'm 100% sure it would have died if my girlfriend hadn't rescued it but I'm not sure we did it any favours by allowing it to "imprint" itself on humans (and dogs), but the fact that it's still alive and still causing trouble makes us happy.

Good luck.

[tje]

Nice pic..

[Soaring Feather]

Oh my, so it is!