Baba's Words Revisited in a Tale of Two Birds!

This year for my birthday, Mahmoud surprised and delighted me with the living, breathing gift of a cockatiel—something akin to a small parrot sporting a proud crest on its head plus an attitude to match, and colored in shades and shocks of yellow, gray, orange, and white. Torn between naming him “Charlie” (for the “regular guy” character he was) or “Mango” (for his plump, mango-shaped body and sweet blush of mango color on each cheek), we knitted the two names together and started calling him “Chango”—the name that stuck.

But when Chango came to his new home and his feisty little whistle soon dwindled to a sullen silence, we impulsively returned to the pet store and bought him what we thought he needed: an avian companion in the form of a zebra-striped blue parakeet with a neon-white circle on the crown of his head. Miniature in size compared to his towering new roommate, he was nonetheless curious, persistent, even insistent about keeping watch over Chango as if he were the bigger one—a doting, nurturing caretaker! Wherever Chango would go, so would his self-appointed little sidekick—often sidling up close, invading Chango’s “personal space,” imitating Chango’s cockatiel gurgles and mumbles, and otherwise getting into Chango’s business. It wasn’t long before he had aptly earned the name “Snoopy.”

Suffice it to say, the two didn’t start off on the best of terms—so much so that we decided to buy little Snoopy his own separate living space to keep him safe from Chango’s lunges. But, wouldn’t you know, when we walked in on them with the new cage in hand, we witnessed a most unexpected scene: a moment of Snoopy and Chango interfacing as friends! Not only that—but that moment marked the beginning of a flourishing bond between them—one that endures to this day! They have even chosen to remain together in the same living space!

Take a peek at the “before” and “after” scenes of their interpersonal interactions:

How to account for the clear change in relationship status between these two little birds?  It’s the kind of thing that brings back to mind Baba’s words (referenced in last month’s blogpost) when I asked him the secret of getting along in the face of conflict:

“The secret to getting along… is to really want to.”

Evidently the principle can apply to the world of nonhumans too!