Quirky Parrot Wants To Be Part Of Everything

Harry has a personality that's just like a dog. He wants to participate in everything. So if I open a cabinet, he wants to get in. If I go to laundry, he wants to go in the washing machine. When I'm washing dishes, he stays on top of the faucet. If I tell him that I'm going to have a shower, he gets really excited. And then he just comes on top of my head, and he wants to have the dryer as well. It's hard to believe, but Harry wasn't always this clingy little guy you see. I always had parrots when living in Brazil since my childhood, and I moved to the U.S. in 2016. And after a few years here, I decided that I want to have a companion. So I started doing some research, and then I read about Golden Corners. So I went to this bird shop, and I saw him. He was eight months old. I was like, oh, is he real? There was a few birds. But all of a sudden, he jumped right onto me. He just came to my ear, and he started to kiss me. So that's when I fell in love with him. But when he got home on the first days, he was very shy and very quiet. Harry, I started to observe him a lot and letting him to come before I go to him. It took a few weeks for me to understand his behavior. At one point, I was worried that he might never fully settle in. But then he started to go around, and he started running on the floor and get things to play. So once he felt comfortable, he started coming to me. And he started to come on my shoulder by himself. He was like fully trusting. So I realized that he was really different from other birds. He's very curious about everything. He started to go on the kitchen, go on the laundry, the bedroom, everywhere trying to discover, first with his beak. And then he started to interact with everything around. He started to learn how to fly in my house and how to play with things that are not only toys. So everything became toys. And he started to show his personality very quick. He's a bird that is very interested in knowing everything around. It's not just about him watching what's going on in my house, but being part of everything. His personality is very open. It's like a dog with wings. But if nobody's watching him, he gets in trouble very easy. Sometimes he gets stuck. He goes into the fridge if I leave it open. And if I don't see, I just close it quickly and inside. He hides behind the sofa or in a cabinet. I have to be always alert when he's out. He has his own bird room with TV. Harry. So when I'm not home, he loves to play with his toys. And I switch them all the time to make him busy. So he doesn't feel alone. He's very independent. But I always had in mind that I would need to make him part of my life. And I had to do a few training sessions for him to get trust. Because he wasn't familiar with the sounds of the city, with people, cars, trucks, all the noises. So then I began taking him out so he could be familiar with everywhere and everything. So first I started throwing him for like 10 minutes out just on my balcony. And then second time I went downstairs and went out for like 30 minutes. So at the first time he was like really scared. He was all the time on my shoulder. But like looking around to understand what was going on. With parrots, it's always a process. They take much more time to feel comfortable with a situation. But I did a lot of training. And he started to enjoy time outside, going to the park and seeing people. And now I take him almost every day to walk with me. He's not exactly the hardest working co-worker. But I love having him around. So I go everywhere with him. We go to restaurants, to a park, to the beach. And he feels very comfortable around. Every day I go with him to the park to make him fly. And he goes back and forth a few times to stretch his wings. I bring him during the weekends to the beach. I love to watch the sunset with him. I sit by the ocean and he's always with me. He just relaxes and chills. I also bring him to breakfast. When he's in a restaurant, he's always waiting for his food. So when I get my food, he goes on the side and I put on a napkin and he just start eats. And there is always people around and they see that cute yellow ball on my shoulder. They get very excited. I mean, people look at him and they are like, how are you two so close? And when he sees people, sometimes he tries to fly to the other person. And he's sending kisses all around. Sometimes people look at him and they think that he is like a puppy. But having a parrot as a pet is a completely new lifestyle. They are wild. So you have to be very respectful on their natural behavior. And you take the responsibility that you can have them and you can give them a really nice life. He is a family member. He's my buddy for life.