The Gang of Four
by Garry Wallan

Hola! My name is Guapo and I’m the First-hatched member of a flock of Blue-Fronted Amazons who emerged from their eggs the week after Easter, 2005. I thought I was going to be the only one, but soon I had a brother (Google), a sister (Ginkgo) and then another brother (Grace) who, by the time he hatched a week after me, was itty-bitty in comparison.

We lived with our bird mommy and daddy for quite a while until the nestbox became so crowded that my daddy starting biting everyone. Luckily, our mammal-dad rescued us and we joined a much larger world. I found out later that mammal-dad accidentally left mommy and daddy's nestbox up and that we were kind of a surprise (mommy and daddy hadn’t had any chicks for over twelve years). He could have just thrown us away as eggs; I’m glad he didn’t!

As we were growing up, mammal-dad (or just Dad from now on) gave us yummy food, let us wean at our own pace, and provided toys, places to flap our wings, interesting things to do, and humans to play with. We didn’t know it then, but Dad was giving us “environmental enrichment” which is just a fancy way of saying he gave us what all parrot-slaves should give their birds. Now, we are a flock of four who...

Shut up, you! It’s MY turn! Hi, I’m Grace and I’m the real boss, see? I guess some humans think that’s a funny name for a boy bird, but I don’t care. I like it, so there ppphhhbbbbtttt. Hey, that’s MY toy! Leave it alone! MINE!

Hi, it’s me, Guapo again. Grace is battling with his brother Google for a toy they just found. Dad likes to hide them from us just to make us think. As the First-hatched, I have total rights to all toys I can see or touch, but I let my siblings have them sometimes so I can nap.

My sister, Ginkgo, is hiding behind some stuff on our play area, watching the battle. Sometimes she waits for the right moment and runs out to steal the toy, but usually she stays in the background and lets us protect her from...from...well, the macaws look sort of threatening over there, and there’s this funny white bird with a big fluffy head who bounces a lot, and a grey bird with a red tail, and another Amazon like us who says his name is Bluto, and who claims he’s our older brother from long ago, but I don’t buy it because then HE would have rights to all my toys! None of them threaten us, really. My sis is just cautious, I guess.

Google and Grace are the singers of the group, and love the “UP THE SPOUT” part of the Itsy Bitsy Spider song. Grace also likes to hang upside down like a bat, which is kind of weird. Me? I like to hang out with Dad. Whenever he brings us food, I like to try to jump onto his shirt and climb to the Magic Spot on his back where he can’t reach me. It’s wicked FUN!

We like it best when Dad brings vegetables, fruit, pasta and beans to us for dinner. It’s probably the only time of the day we are quiet. Mmmm, yummy! Other times we play, scream, sing, play, eat, play, and then take long naps. There are times when....

Hi, Google here! This is MY toy! MY TOY! See it and despair all you toyless ones! All mine and not yours, or yours, and especially not yours! I’ll keep this toy forever and ever and never let it go and...oh look, an ALMOND!

Guapo again. I need to go and retrieve the toy Google just dropped. No, not “the” toy...MY toy!

And so the Gang of Four, the Four Wingmen of the Aperchalypse, continue their daily search for toys and new ways to amuse themselves. Who am I? I’m Bluto, their big brother, patently waiting for the moment when I will claim ALL the toys.

The Alaska Bird Club • P.O. Box 101825 • Anchorage AK 99510
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