TC

May started off cold and rainy. My aunt had been sitting on the enclosed back porch watching the different birds come to our feeder. She mentioned that there was a new green bird showing up.  To be honest I blew her off, “yeah, sure, green bird.” I figured it was just an ordinary bird that might have a hint of color. Well the day before trash day arrived as always and it was another cold, rainy day. Yippee, just the kind of day I want to take out trash and recycling.

Going out on the back porch I saw the bird sitting at the feeder. It was a green bird alright, an escaped or released parakeet. Holy fig, my aunt was right, that bird was GREEN. Somewhere I had a long handled fishing net that I could catch the little guy with, but then what. We have cats, and a dog. How could we add a bird to the mix?

By all appearances it wasn’t going to be an issue because I couldn’t find the net. How about the garage, my aunt asked. Yeah, sure garage. There was no way I put my nice long handled net in the garage. Well after a thorough search of everywhere else turned up nothing, you guessed, net was in the garage.

It didn’t take all that long and about five to ten minutes later one parakeet was safely snared and residing in our cat carrier. I called my friend who raises birds to get some advice. I never had a bird and had no idea what to do for him. She gave me all the bird raising info I needed, but cautioned that because the weather had been so cold, near freezing at night, he might not survive.

Well not only did he survive, he has thrived. I named him TC, short for, Thundercracker, seeker of the Decepticon Elite trine. If you’re one of the five people who read my blog, you all ready know about my Transformer addiction.

One of our cats was a little too interested in TC and a couple of spritz from the water gun of Karmic cleansing cured him of that. So TC is now residing in his new cage, in the living room, free from feline interest.

I bought him a variety of toys. All of which he refused to play with until I moved them next to his swing perch. The wooden perches did not serve his play purpose. No, he wants to sit on his swing and gnaw on his chew toys. Now satisfied with their new location, he’s mutilating them with glee.

I know this will sound contrived and even untrue but my bird is a Transformer fan. He loves Transformers Generation 1, Prime, Animated and even Transformers the Movie. Yes, the one that has left me permanently scarred. It was on The Hub as I was flicking by; he started singing and jumped to the front of the cage. Since I have it on DVD we’ve reached an agreement, we skip the deaths of Prowl, Ironhide, Wheeljack, Brawn and Optimus Prime and TC watches the rest. So far he hasn’t voiced any displeasure at this arrangement.

And yes, he voices his displeasure, frequently. He doesn’t like his fruity bits. With a flourish of screeches and foot stomping, those get flung near and far. And pretty darn far for a little bird too. He likes other cartoons as well. I am now well versed with Bubble Guppies, Little Bill, Little Bear, SpongeBob, The Backyardigans, etc.

He dislikes when I turn the cartoons off, that results in a perch pouting. He has thrown a couple of full blown temper tantrums, complete with foot stomping, running around the bottom of his cage, wing flapping and screeching. That was my first indication; I had to mix plain seed with the fruity bits.

He loves music which I expected, but his choice was a little surprising. He loves show tunes, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Evita, Miss Saigon as well as Judy Collins, and Sarah Brightman. In keeping with his preference for kids’ shows, he loves The Rainbow Connection as long as Kermit is singing it. His taste is well rounded, Cher, Alanis Morrisette, 80’s tunes, but his all time favorite, sending him into a shrieking singing frenzy joy is Journey, and his favorite favorite Journey song, Only The Young.

I never thought I wanted a bird but now that I have my TC, I love him to pieces. Parakeets, who knew?