I am an ornithophile — a person who loves birds. I love to hear them sing and think they’re amazing little creatures. Peep the wrens I captured in the photo below having breakfast just outside the front door of the barndo, and you’ll have to agree they’re downright cute:
But I only love outside varieties and am not a fan of birds inside.
My Nanny loved birds too — even the inside kind!
Nanny loved canaries and had a few that I remember. She also had parakeets… usually taking care of the ones I acquired from the now closed, 5 & 10 Cent Store (5 and dime) in Seymour.
I remember her preparing a bowl of water so they could bathe and how that was always fun to watch. I also remember the little seeds everywhere that they threw outside their cages and the constant need to sweep them up.
Romulo and Julianne was my biggest fail attempt at inside birds.
Perry and I got a couple love birds in 2008 (read about them here). They were named Romulo and Julianne after characters on World of Warcraft — a satire of Romeo and Juliette. Those two shrieked so loudly, even when the cage was covered, that business calls sounded like they were being conducted in a zoo.
I ended up giving them — and the expensive cage and everything to go with it — to my friend, Sherry. She was thrilled! But she wasn’t nearly as happy as I was knowing they had a great home and it wasn’t mine. đŸ™‚
Now you know: People who study birds as a profession are called ornithologists.