Today Would Be Phantom's Eighteenth Birthday

Today would be Phantom's 18th birthday. His brother Pippin will be 20 in a few days. Buzzy, the other African Gray who lives with me is a mystery. He was wild caught and imported at some unknown date prior to 1988. He could be as young as 25 or who knows how old. When he came to live with me he was a wild parrot, seemingly uninterested in much human contact. As inexperienced as I was at the time, I went to a questionable pet store to find an affordable parrot. I was not yet aware that efforts to breed parrots here in the US were supplanting the terrible practice of trapping birds in the wild, and then exposing them to the possibly life threatening process of shipping and quarantine after importation. I had wanted an African Gray companion after spending a month caring for an acquaintance's parrot, Pogo. I had a limited budget to match my limited experience. Two Grays were on consignment in the pet store with the largest selection of affordable parrots I had found to date. There was a small handsome Gray in an ancient cage with one toy. An old enameled bell, hanging on a metal chain, was the only plaything in the cage. I was told this was a female bird. She and her mate had been set up for breeding by her owner. Allegedly a child in the family had opened the door and the male had escaped. The family decided to cut their losses and try to sell this untamed single bird as a pet. The gray let out a constant low growl when people neared the cage. Despite her warning to keep some distance between us, something about this bird reached me. I had a feeling that together we could learn to develop a friendship. I did not see her wildness as a drawback - it was an opportunity for both of us. I could offer a caring home to a bird with questionable pet-quality, and she could teach me how to reach her with trust and patience. Little did I suspect the path this small bird would draw me toward. She had already begun to do so.

Phantom Comes Home

What a stoic little parrot. It is clear that he has been in pain due to the sprained leg, but he soldiers on, exploring his world with an openness and curiosity which amazes me. I think how much people grumble and complain when their lives are consumed by physical pain. Not the case with this gray feathered bird. He is gentle, very quiet, and, as Mary Jo had observed, very ephemeral. He elicits the most profoundly tender emotions. I have loved pet dogs, and love the three parrots who've lived with me for these recent years, but there is something ineffable in my response to this little soul.

The day after Phantom comes home we visit Dr. McMillan at Windhover Vet Center. Dr. Marge takes some x-rays to confirm her suspicions about his injured leg. It isn't a sprain after all. Phantom's hip was dislocated. This is a relatively rare injury in birds. She feels that the percussion of a hard landing while he was learning to fly was the cause. Some of Phantom's siblings from other clutches over the years have had congenital skeletal problems, and this appears to be a related congenital issue. Marge feels that with physical therapy at home, good diet, the encouragement to exercise in and out of his cage, and calcium supplementation, Phantom will walk again. He might lurch about in a Frankenstein-ish gate, but he has the ability to be ambulatory. This is good and bad news. The good news is all about his recovery. The not so good news is that he harbors a vague but real tendency toward some health issues which are difficult to predict or foresee. His serum calcium levels are not the best, and hypocalcemia can create life threatening problems in African Gray parrots.

I try not to focus on the worries starting to haunt me. This diagnosis was unexpected, and the long road ahead for Phantom's recuperation is full of unknowns for both he and I. I've never done physical therapy with a baby bird, or had a frail bird with an uncertain future to care for. Phantom and I will somehow figure this out, and he'll walk again. I take the back roads from Walpole to Needham, beautiful rural roads in Westwood and Dover I've known since childhood. The beauty and familiarity are a balm for my worried state. Am I up to the responsibilities for successful care and healing of this sweet little parrot?

As thoughts turn uneasily in my mind, I look over at Phantom, in his wire topped carrier. He's lying on his back, watching the shadows and treetops zoom past overhead outside the passenger window. His expression suggests peace and ease. I need to learn something from him about what I see in his eyes. For want of a better description, I think to myself that his eyes seem full of trust. Total transcendent trust.

Phantom announces himself

Mary Jo called me several weeks after my first meeting with Phantom. My friend Hannah Bonner and I went with a very well respected member of the professional avian community to meet the baby parrots at Mary Jo's home. For several reasons, she practiced having the baby parrots exposed to human contact and handling from their first few days of life through fledging. In this way they do not become fully imprinted on humans because they continue to be fed, cared for, and socialized by their parents in the nest box. They enjoy the experience of parrotdom with the intriguing opportunity to experience what makes humans tick. Each of the babies had a particular style - one chose to march over and bite the toe of the esteemed avian expert who was with us. The others were more circumspect, but no less willing to show us that they had a presence worth respect.

After that first meeting she called me to say that she had had to name one of the babies Phantom, because his nature was so ephemeral. She apologized, saying she respected the dream I had a year earlier, and would not take away my right to recognize MY Phantom, on my own, when he arrived in my life and name him myself. But this one just suited that name.

Several weeks later Mary Jo called me to say that she had a problem with the one named Phantom.

There was a problem with one leg, which the visiting vet diagnosed as a sprain due to the test flights and occasional crash landings to which very young African Gray Parrots are prone. He would need extra care, and the expertise of someone other than the first time bird people who had claimed two of the three baby parrots. There was no question. Of course this Phantom would be welcomed as my own.