The Death of a Companion

I was out for a bit of this evening watching a friend's band practice, and when I got home one of our birds, Woody, was on the bottom of her cage and acting odd. This is not a good sign with birds, but she often exhibited behavior like this when she was younger and in egg laying mode. I was a bit concerned, but not overly, as she has been acting fine lately, with no signs of illness. She hasn't been quite the same since her sister, Sunny, died about a year and a half ago, but since they grew up together, that is understandable. I reached in to her to see if she would come to me, but she hissed at me and wouldn't allow me very close. Again, this is something she would do when she was egging, so I decided it was best to leave her alone.

My wife is out of town, and I told her all this by phone, and she agreed it was probably no big deal. Then she called me back about 15 minutes later to wish me good night and see how Woody was. When I looked in her cage she was lying on her back with her feet in the air. I grabbed her quickly but it was over. She was dead. Her body was still warm, but her heart had stopped and she lay limply in my hand.

My wife was devastated. She had Woody and Sunny when I met her almost 13 years ago. I myself am kind of in shock. It happened so quickly, without any warning.

Our pets are our companions. We take them on as our charges, knowing that time with them may be brief. And the price we pay for loving them is paid at the end, when we lose them.

I don't know what else to say, so I will post some pictures of Woody. She was a strong spirit. I hope she rests in peace.

She loved to sit on the steps up to our loft, spending hours there sometimes. My wife said she was watching TV.

This picture captures some of her fiestiness.

I imagine she was pretending to fly here.

I love this picture of her. She looks like she's giving a speech, or singing opera!

This is the most recent shot I took of her, taken about 5 days ago. We will miss her very much. I am not sure what else to say. I feel very sad.

Our birds---because this is the birdhaus!

It has been a while since I've posted our birds, so here are (some) of them:

Our newest edition, Dede, checks me out through the window.

Here's Dede inside the house, outside of her cage.

Wide-eyed Gimpy, always ready for fun . . . . 

Woody looks ready for a nap!

Gotta put a bird up once in a while

This is still the birdhaus after all.

Since her sister and cage mate Sunny died, Woody (pictured here) has been pretty subdued. formerly a spry flyer, she has preferred to languish in her cage, or just sit in one spot when out, fairly sluggishly. The last few days though, she has seemed a bit more her old self. It's been a year since Sunny's passing, and I don't know if birds observe some sort of grief period, but it's nice to see the feistier bird back at it.

Here she is on the steps above our living room, observing our antics in preparation for Thanksgiving. That's quite a crest ya got there, sweetie!

Just plain silly bird pictures

Yes, we still live in the birdhaus!
Here's Woody doing her impression of an opera diva---

And here she is with her headless bird look---
Ah, they are truly capable of hours of entertainment!