Sunday, May 12, 2019

Poor Clyde

Last week, I saw the Columbus Zoo's African grey parrots outside for the first time this year. The viewing deck is about five feet above the ground, and I looked down after I heard a rustle followed by a thump-splat. A parrot had made a hard landing and began to climb the mesh.
Clyde, a gray parrot with a red tail, climbs his enclosure's fencing.
Clyde climbs.
 Later I learned the parrot's name is Clyde.
A closeup of Clyde's head in profile.
Clyde approaches my eye level.
Clyde's tail was in bad shape, and I assumed this year's feathers hadn't come in yet.
Clyde's tail feathers are ragged and torn.
Clyde's tail feathers
Then I observed a crime.
A parrot at the top of the picture holds two red feathers in its beak. Clyde is at the bottom.
A comrade has plucked two of Clyde's tail feathers.
(I assume plucking another's feather is a bird crime. Given the importance of feathers, plucking one from another must be a grave insult at the very least.)

 Clyde suffered more harassment.
The tormentor nips at Clyde's head.


The tormentor pulls on Clyde's wing.
Keepers arrived and discussed the situation: "I think it's Clyde." "He doesn't fly very well." "Is he bleeding?" They put Clyde into a carrier and took him inside for examination by a veterinarian. 
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1 comment:

  1. Steve PiehlerJuly 17, 2019 at 11:38 AM

    I've learned that Clyde is okay and back with the flock. Because he doesn't fly well, and the floor in the indoor, winter enclosure is concrete, Clyde is kept in a separate cage. Every spring there is a flock-Clyde reintroduction that is not always smooth.

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