Digital Sextant

The Parrot Who Owns Me

The Story of a Relationship
by Joanna Burger

I read this book as part of my library’s summer reading program.  It’s not normally a book I’d pick up, but turned out to be really interesting.  An ornithologist at Rutgers, Burger writes about the volatile and loving relationship she has with her parrot Tiko.  Like any good storyteller, she starts with a story about how Tiko courts her, building a nest under a credenza and then cooing to get her to put her hand in the nest, at which point he gives her affectionate nibbles.  It’s a little gross and a little salacious, but a great way to start the book.  The rest of the tale explains how she’s come to understand her relationship with Tiko and the experience of living with him.  A few more thoughts:

• The book has some fantastic funny moments, with stories of Tiko’s behavior mixed into general science writing about bird behavior in general.  Overall, it’s very well told and interesting.
• There are some grim moments as well, particularly in Burger’s often-sad stories about the birds who have passed away.
• I really liked her short discussion of how she’s come to see the anthropomorphizing of animals (a no-no in biological animal studies) as not only reasonable, but appropriate.  She suggests that we’re just as wrong to argue that animals don’t have feelings as we are to argue that they do.  She also says that it would be impossible to live with a bird like Tiko and not see him as having feelings.
• Because Tiko sees Burger as his pair-mate, Burger’s husband puts up with all sorts of indignities, getting pecked for simple things as affectionate tones of voice or, sometimes, reaching into the refrigerator.  At one moment, she casually writes “of all the scars Tiko has given me.”  I think I only have a couple scars on my whole body.  Yikes.
• I did not know parrots can live for 50-70 years.  She got him when he was 30.  He might outlive her too.  Yikes.

I really like the warning at the end of the book.  She warns that it’s not possible to own a parrot.  A dog, for sure.  A cat, maybe.  But anyone who lives with a parrot belongs to the parrot.  It’s a little bit of warning along the lines of “don’t try this at home.”