Annabelle

Annabelle, aka Stinkybellum entered our home with nothing but quills. She was three weeks old and as tiny as a rose blossom sitting in the palm of my hand. Her skin was reddish pink in color and she was anything but cute, even though my husband and everyone else kept calling her that. Her dependency on us for food and water, (she had to be fed pureed food from an eye dropper), quickly ensured her ‘cuteness’ in my eyes. Baby food was next on her diet and everyone loved watching her eat from a tea saucer filled with a combination of Gerber foods carefully placed on her dish for her to consume The entire family adored her and we witnessed with warm pleasure as her quills began to open up into beautiful colorful feathers. .

Because we raised her from such a tiny developing creature, we kept her cage in our bedroom. Each night, before bedtime, it was a nightly ritual to have her with us in bed while we read or watched TV. She loved to cuddle under the covers and drift off to sleep. I never dreamed a tiny bird like would enjoy snuggling next to a human. Every morning, when we stretched our tired muscles and moaned the start on an early mourning with deep groans emanating from our throats, Anna belle would copy this sound.

Anaabelle is the smallest bird we own, about the size of a cardinal so its surprising to witness her protective behavior. Since we are the only family she has ever know, she feels a strong need to protect us. When friends or relatives come into the house, she screeches loudly and puffs up her feathers. If by chance she is out of her cage, she will attack unknown visitors. Once, a friend of my husband’s dropped by and insisted that she be let our of her cage. He tried to warn his friend to reconsider but it was no use. When Annabelle’s cage door opened, she flew straight for his head and bite him on the neck.

When she got older, we moved her into the den, where her cage is today. At first, she objected, but quickly learned to adjust. She is by far the most beautiful bird in the house, covered with bright yellow, orange, and deep green and blue feathers of a sun conure, and after four years, her colors have deepened even more and her beauty has amazingly intensified. She makes the groans in the morning but to her, they are just her way of saying ‘Good Morning’.