THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, June 12, 1996 TAG: 9606110160
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Coastal Journal
SOURCE: Mary Reid Barrow
LENGTH: 92 lines
Jake's empty bird cage sits with the door open in the corner of Maureen O'Brien's living room.
The Congo African gray parrot was stolen from O'Brien's home three months ago, but she still hopes the feisty bird will once again be walking around his cage and squawking like crazy whenever a stranger comes near.
Jake is not a friendly parrot, O'Brien said, and she is at a loss to understand why anyone would ram a shoulder against her front door, hard enough to break the door jamb, enter the house in broad daylight and kidnap him. The thief took only Jake, nothing else.
Even though Jake's feathers had been clipped and he couldn't fly, signs in the house indicated that the bird managed to make it out of the living room and half way down the hall before the thief caught up with him. O'Brien knew Jake was frightened because he was bolder with other strangers. He would screech at them and bite their fingers if they came too close, not try to escape.
Not only is Jake not friendly, but he's also got a nervous habit. He's a feather picker, so his breast and shoulders are always downy rather than fully feathered. Because of his appearance, Jake could never be resold for anywhere near the price a fully feathered African Gray would bring, O'Brien said.
The police told O'Brien that they had never had a case of a parrot being stolen from a home. Right after Jake was taken, she advertised in the paper and called all the pet stores, parrot breeders and avian veterinarians, to no avail. But she's decided not to give up.
Despite his downy chest and shoulders, Jake has a handsome look in photos. Piercing black and yellow eyes glare through a white mask across his gray face. His gray head, flecked with white, blends into a charcoal back and feathers. His designer colors combined with a striking red tail might cause a thief to think from afar that Jake was in fine fettle.
O'Brien purchased Jake in the first place because she felt sorry for him. She had happened to go along with her sister who was on a mission to buy a parrot that was advertised in the paper. Jake, who was shut away alone in a basement at the same house, caught O'Brien's eye.
``When I saw that, it nearly broke my heart,'' she said.
When she and her husband, Gary Burr, decided to purchase the parrot, they had no idea what they were getting into, she added. For example, when O'Brien asked the seller where Jake's feathers were, the seller said the bird was just molting. Later, O'Brien found out Jake was actually a feather picker.
The nervous habit was probably a result of being captured in the wild and/or being neglected. Parrots born in captivity are hand raised and are used to humans, she explained.
Then she discovered, that not only was Jake not used to humans, he would shriek whenever they came near. ``When we first got him, he was wild, just awful, awful.''
She and her husband sent Jake off to parrot school in Toronto, Canada, and when he returned he began to tolerate the couple.
``He became friendly to me and my husband,'' O'Brien said. ``He'll come on my arm, but if you came near, he'd scream. He's got a real good spirit.''
Jake never did get used to strangers. ``Not even my sister, who looks like me,'' O'Brien said.
Over the nine years that O'Brien and Burr had Jake, the bird also became a talker. When Jake was stolen, Sweet Georgia Brown was his favorite part of a medley of songs he would sing early in the morning when all was still and quiet.
So if you hear a parrot whistling Sweet Georgia Brown at dawn or if you see a feisty African Gray with a downy breast, it could be Jake. O'Brien, who is offering a reward for his return, still hopes that Jake may be in the vicinity. Call her at work, 631-3242, if you have any information.
``I feel so bad,'' O'Brien said, ``caught in Africa and caught in your own home, too.''
P.S. False Cape State Park is celebrating the Virginia State Parks' 60th anniversary with a canoe caravan from 9 a.m. to noon, a wilderness walk from 1 to 3:30 p.m. and stargazer's delight from 8:30 to 10:45 p.m., all on Saturday. Transportation into the park is $2 per person, and the canoe trip is $5. Call 426-7128 for reservations.
BIRD CALL: Purple grackles are exhibiting some unusual behavior in Carol Steentofte's yard. They are stealing moth balls she put in her garden to keep the squirrels from digging up the bedding plants. The grackles hold the moth balls in their beaks and use them to preen their feathers. Could the birds be using them as an insect repellent against mites? MEMO: What unusual nature have you seen this week? And what do you know
about Tidewater traditions and lore? Call me on INFOLINE, 640-5555.
Enter category 2290. Or, send a computer message to my Internet address:
mbarrow(AT)infi.net. ILLUSTRATION: Top photo by MARY REID BARROW
Jake, the Congo African gray parrot, has been missing from his cage
in Maureen O'Brien's living room since her home was broken into
about three months ago. The thief took only Jake, a feisty,
unfriendly, feather-picking bird. by CNB