This Parrot Is No Bird Brain

Whoever came up with the expression bird brain, had probably never met one-year old Willie, a talkative Quaker parrot, who is being credited with saving a toddler's life in Denver, Colorado.

The incident occured earlier this week, when Meagan and her pet parrot Willie, were babysitting two-year old Hannah Kuusk. After settling Hannah in her high chair with a pop tart for breakfast, Meagan went to the restroom. Suddenly, she heard Willie screaming and flapping his wings like he had never done before. Then he started to cry out Mama Baby! Mama Baby, over and over again.

Hearing this, Meagan rushed out of the bathroom and to her horror she saw little Hannah, her face all blue, choking over her pop tart. She quickly picked up the little girl and performed the Heimlich maneuver - an emergency procedure for removing a foreign object (in this case the piece of pop tart) lodged in the airway, that prevents a person from breathing.

Meagan says had it not been for little Willie, she would have probably been in the bathroom a little longer and would have never realized the danger Hannah was in until it was too late. She and Hannah's family are sure grateful for this intelligent little parrot. Hannah who is blissfully unaware of what could have happened, is stil unsure about this little creature who is always making funny noises!

Willie, the hero is unaware of his recent fame but happy to have added the word baby to his vocabulary, which until now had consisted of I love you, mama and a couple of other not so nice words.

Quaker parrots, which are native to South America, are one of the most talkative species of parrots. They enjoy human contact and make great pets. These beautiful vivid green creatures are very active and need plenty of space to move around and exercise. They thrive on fruits and vegetables and can live up to 30 years in captivity.

Source: digitaljournal.com