Complete Psittacine by Eb Cravens
My favourite pet Sun Conure, Kiwani, was a feisty two-year-old who always loved to fly around the bird room at Feathered Friends of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and coax some of the larger parrots into screeching matches. One day I noticed him just out of reach of ‘Rebel’, a large male imported Red-tailed African Grey Parrot. The next instant the Sun’s teasing screeches were cut short and I turned to see him flutter to the floor. He wobbled once and fell off the border of the sandbox into the aisle.
I rushed over and reached Kiwani just in time to see his eyes roll up in their sockets. He went limp. A tell-tale loss of feathers showed where the Grey had reached over and bit him through the neck. Shock took hold and I believed my pet had died. I bundled him up in a towel with his head out and rocked him, gently stroked his head, talked in his ear. No response.
His eyes were fast shut, heartbeat and breathing were not noticeable. I went into the back bathroom and got a small drop or two of water to put in his lower mandible and on the tongue. Still there was no reaction. “Come on, Baby, come back to me!” I pleaded. Four minutes went by while I continued stroking very gently and holding him in my warm hands. Abruptly the pet Sun Conure came back to awareness with a screech. Wild eyed, he fearfully bit my finger very hard and bolted from the towel in panic.