Sunny and Me

Today would have been Nikki’s 20th birthday. I have been thinking about her a lot today. She was, after all, my first parrot. I remember how much I cried after she passed away last year. I didn’t think I would get over it, but I managed to pull through.

While I still miss and think of Nikki, I am so happy and grateful for my relationship with Sunny. Sunny and I have grown pretty close this last year.

Even after I adopted Sunny, Nikki and I remained very close, but Sunny and I never had as close of a bond. I think it is because we never had that one-on-one time like Nikki and I did when I first adopted her as a baby.

Now it’s just Sunny and me; she is my little ray of sunshine on a cloudy day. Our relationship has been great. Sunny loves to help me with whatever I do, even if it is just going through the mail. She loves music and loves to sing along with me at the piano. She also loves to dance and is a much better dancer than I am.

Sunny celebrated her 20th birthday on March 23rd, and it truly was a special day. We had a countdown on Facebook, and people from all over the bird community sent her their warmest wishes. She was one spoiled, happy birdy. She got presents, and that evening, she and I had a little dance party.

Last year, I was concerned with how Sunny would deal with the loss of her best friend and little sister, but the two of us leaned on each other during the grieving process.  Sunny, who was normally very nervous and shy, began to blossom into a more curious, chatty, and playful individual.  I never felt as close to Sunny as I do today, and I love her more now than I did 19 years ago when I adopted her at 13 months old.  Sunny has shown great resilience and strength with everything she has been through. What a great friend I have in her.

Nikki (April 19, 2004 – May 14, 2023)

Nikki went home to God early on Sunday, May 14th (Mother’s Day). She will always be my little miracle because she was not supposed to live as long as she did. She survived anesthesia from her wing amputation surgery and fought some kind of respiratory infection which I later learned was due to her liver. Though Quaker Parrots are prone to Fatty Liver Disease, Nikki did not have this as she was always on a good diet. However, earlier this year, her labwork showed abnormal values in terms of liver function, and an ultrasound revealed that her liver was very small. She was diagnosed with Chronic Liver Disease and received supportive care for the rest of her life.

During the last few weeks I had the privilege of taking good care of her, administering oral supplements through a syringe and for 14 days administering antibiotics through a nebulizer. Nikki would chirp happily inside the nebulizer chamber I created out of the bird carrier. After the nebulizer treatments were finished I was feeling hopeful that she would continue to improve, however, she never recovered 100%. Unfortunately, I think that whatever infection she was fighting off was just too big for her little body to handle. The necropsy showed that she had liver damage and inflammation.

Nikki will always be my little miracle and favorite outlaw as Quaker Parrots are illegal in some states. Thankfully, I live in New York where they are legal.

I am grateful to God for the extra time that He gave me with Nikki. She couldn’t have very well died on January 25th of last year when she went into cardiac arrest when she had her wing amputation surgery. However, He gave her more time to spend with me and her big sister, Sunny. Thirteen months may not seem like a long time, but I did my best to make every moment count. Nikki not only celebrated her 18th birthday but she also celebrated her 19th birthday. She, Sunny and I spent lots of time together. On nice, warm days we went outside. Nikki learned a few tricks. She learned to target, turn around, shake her head “No” and wave. She did a couple of cute behaviors that I also put on cue. One was what looked nodding her head yes and the other looked like she was taking a bow.

We had a wonderful Christmas together. It was her first Christmas as a wing amputee and of course, she and Sunny got extra Christmas gifts. We even spent Easter together.

Nikki was fun, talkative, and had a big personality. She adjusted very well to being a wing amputee. She was the same naughty girl she always was. I can still remember when she managed to pull off several keys of my Chromebook while I wasn’t looking. Sunny just sat there and watched.

I think about Nikki every day and remember all the good times we shared. I will always remember her saying, “Hi buddy!” to me every morning.

Sunny has been a big help to me during all this. We have been leaning on each other. Nikki was my first bird, and I obviously never lost a bird before. Yes, I had budgerigars growing up, but they were the family’s. They were never out of the cage. I never got to hold and pet any of them. The bond I have with both Sunny and Nikki is very different. Nikki and I especially had a very close bond because I had her since she was 11 weeks old. She introduced me to my great love of birds, and then, Sunny came along. She was almost 14 months old when I brought her home. I always say that there would never have been a Sunny if it weren’t for Nikki.