Out of all our birds, I've had Honey, (Quaker Parrot), the longest of those that have not passed over the Rainbow Bridge. Of the fids I/we had given to us by my youngest brother, J. Everett, Pesto (Peachfaced Lovebird), was the first of that flock, then Homer (Nanday Conure), Lisa, passed away in 2006 (Nanday Conure), & Herman*.

With them, we also share the nest with Bosco, Tweak, Trixie (Quaker Parrots), Osiris Passed away in 2006 (Zebra Finch), Logan (Ringneck), Angel, (U2), Mollie Passed away in 2007, (Cockatiel), M.B. aka Baby, (Sun Conure), Bandit, (Nanday Conure), Oscar, (Peachfaced Lovebird) Felix Passed away in 2007, (Split Dutch Blue Lovebird) Remington aka Remi, (Peachfaced Lovebird) Magellan*, Elmo* and Gabriel* (Peachfaced Lovebirds, *Offspring of the late Sally & Paulie).

Bandits Story:

Written by Jim:

   In April of 1999, Tina and I went to Petco (a pet supermarket) in Mount Vernon, WA for some more ZuPreem, seed, vitamins and medications, toys, and a new cage for Honey. Of course, being bird lovers, we can't walk into a pet store without looking at the birds. They had a nice pair or Goffin's cockatoos, a female cockatiel, and a variety of finches, canaries, and lovebirds.

   We inquired about Nanday conures, and we were told that they don't get many in, as conures are a noisy bird and they have a difficult time selling them. The girl in charge of the bird room at Petco (Autumn) did tell us about a customer who bought a Nanday for her young daughter, then lost interest. Autumn gave us a brief history of "Bandit" before She was sold, then told us the customer was anxious to get rid of the conure because She was noisy and required too much attention. So, we gave Autumn our number and told her to call the customer to let her know we were interested in the Nanday.

  Two days later, I got a call at work from the customer who invited me to come look at "Paulie." Petco gives their birds names before they're sold. The Nanday conure from Petco was named Bandit, but when she was sold, the customer (or her daughter) renamed Bandit to Paulie. The movie was cute -- Tina and I have a copy in our video library -- but something about the name just tweaks me.

   Anyway, I took lunch from work and made the 10 minute drive to see the conure. When I walked into the house, Paulie was squawking up a storm. She was in a California cage which appeared to be kept clean. I believe her squawking was due to neglect, because as soon as we were all in the spare room/small office where her cage was, She was quiet and looking to be picked up.

   We agreed on a price, and I brought Paulie back to work. I work at an Internet service provider, and was able to keep her in the office without a problem. She only squawked at people wearing hats! Now, She's a lovable bird who only squawks in the morning before being uncovered, and when I come home from work. *smile*

   We renamed Paulie back to his original name, Bandit, and the name fits her well. Autumn at Petco told us She's about a year old (hatched in March of 1998). She's really a great bird -- a typical conure. She plays on her cage or on her jungle gym most of the day. She loves to hang upside-down from her jungle gym, and talk into her mirrors. She says "hello," "whatcha doin," "bandit," "Careful","what?" and a few profane words. Tina and I once heard her say "C'mon you fucking bird," which we can only assume she picked up from his previous owner.

   She has plenty of company with all the other birds in the house, and gets plenty of attention from her "human pets." She's almost spoiled.