Hello Sheila Bird - Vero Beach

We met Sheila Bird at the Vero Municipal dock. We picked up a mooring ball so we could hang out for a couple nights to catch our breath on our way north on the ICW. Sheila is a African Gray Parrot and she had us at "Hello".

We'd spent much of the day ashore and were just getting ready to kayak back to Mystic when we heard a distinct greeting from within a patch of mangroves. It would have been rude to just walk by so, of course, we ventured under the trees and spotted Ms. Sheila perched about 15 feet above us. It was obvious that she was a pet; not because of the band around her ankle but more due to her communication skills. She gave us cat calls and she clucked her tongue at us. Every once in awhile, she repeated, "Hello"!

A couple walking by asked what we were looking at. We showed them the Gray Parrot in the tree. Ms. Sheila seemed pretty happy with all the attention she was getting. She strutted back and forth, strained her neck, hung upside down and continued to charm us with her ramblings. We learned that she had flown the coop from the second floor marina apartment. The couple we met called her master, Mike, who said she'd been missing for three days. He said he'd come home and collect her. We would wait for him.

Sheila had been without her food bowl for three whole days. Thinking she must be hungry, I pulled an orange out of my backpack and began to peel it. The smell was instant and overpowering. I swear her eyes lit up and she did the head bob dance, then began to walk her way down that mangrove tree. We had no idea if she could fly but it appeared that she was afraid to try. We must have tempted her for a half hour before she finally took the bait and got within five feet of us. Suddenly, she lost her footing and fell, but caught wind and glided low, landing in the brush on the ground. We made our way over to her, which wasn't easy, and tried to get her to come to us with the reward of an orange slice. I think she would have taken Dave's finger off if he'd gotten any closer. Since she was stressed, we let her be.

When Mike arrived, he brought her food bowl. He called sweetly to her; "Here Sheila Bird...Here's your food bowl, girl!" Sheila responded right away and hopped right into the bowl snagging a sunflower seed in one motion. The look of love on Mike's face was heartwarming. He was so happy to see his Sheila Bird, but, as he walked her toward her home he said, "You know, I really missed her but I imagined her flying free for the first time in her life, on an adventure of a lifetime! It's almost sad to think about putting her back in the cage!"

       

Vero Beach will always be remembered as the place we met a friendly African Grey Parrot named Sheila. Like us, she took a chance and released her hold on security; flying free only to find that there's no place like home!