Twenty-five years ago, we had a lovely pair of parakeets. Our children were delighted with them. Alas, one flew away, never to be seen again. When the remaining bird became lethargic and refused to eat., I decided to make a wooden companion which I mounted on a perch inside the cage. It made all the difference, the bird came back to life and resumed normal activity.
Last year, when my kid sister enjoyed a 50th birthday, she asked me for a special present, a replica of "Sparky", a perky blue parakeet her children once enjoyed. She found the old cage and hung it on the summer porch. The display was magical, the wooden "Sparky", like Pinocchio, seemed to come alive as gentle breezes rocked his cage, and he became a silent witness to daily family goings on.
I enjoyed my "pine parakeets" so much I decided to present them to you. They have many advantages over flesh and feather birds: no shrill whistling, no scattered litter, no clean-up, no anxieties about fly-aways or the cat's whereabouts, no feed expense, no splashed-about water bowl, and no vet bills. It's a wonderful excuse to bring out that lovely old bird cage. Although the birds are, indeed, merely wood and paint, they seem to provide the same companionship as live birds.
The birds are sold separately from the perches to give you many options: you can use your old perch by creating a hole for the mounting stem, or you can mount a single or a pair of mixed or matched colored birds on standing or swinging perches.
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Old decoy makers often used their skills to make carvings of amusing critters other than decoys, and Will enjoys doing the same. Creating this piece, He used the same wingtip carving and stippled paint work used by shorebird decoy makers of 19th century Long Island.
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