The Fonz Quaker Page

Once upon a time, the Krueger household in Acton, Massachusetts was too quiet. Used to be there was cheeping, tweeting and some mighty fine speech by Pippy and Sam, the two parakeets who lived there. Then all at once, really over a sad two month period, the wonderful birdie noises were gone. The Kruegers were very sad. They needed a bird to make them complete again.

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So Ellen, the mom, did some research and found a new kind of bird they hoped would fill the birdless gap in their lives. The bird was a Quaker parakeet, also known as a monk parakeet. (The Quaker name comes from their habit, as babies of frantically bobbing their heads, begging for food, as well as the gray bib on their chests reminiscent of Quaker garb.) These birds are not Quakers, monks or parakeets, but they sure are fun. They have a great big personality packed into a relatively small body for a parrot. They're impressive talkers, long lived and, as parrots go, not horribly expensive. Ellen joined the Quaker parakeet mailing list on the Internet and learned an enormous amount about the birds from people who have become her friends. Originally from South America, the Quaker has made its way to North America, both as a domestic pet and as a feral animal, one that has
returned to the wild.

For more information on feral Quakers, check out the links provided for in Quakerville.

The Kruegers met Fonzie in mid June when she was just 4 weeks old. What a charmer, even if she was a little shy of real feathers. She and her sibling, believed to be a girl, were being hand fed by a woman in Hudson, MA who raises lots of different parrots. Once each week, Ellen, Lauren and Max would drive to Hudson to bond with Fonzie who grew pretty green feathers and learned to "step up" onto a hand in a very short time.

He loved to be cuddled and made them all laugh with her baby sounds and bobbing head. By 8 weeks old, at the end of July, Fonzie was ready to come home to her loving family. In no time she was all moved in and in control of the household. Even Allan, the Dad, fell under her spell. Everyone tried to teach him to say the phrases that Pippy and Sam had said, "Chirp" and "How's your bird?"

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Fonzie's new phrases include: "Hi, Buddy" and "What's up?" She yells "Hello" when the phone rings. She also says, "Beer. Gimme kiss (Sometimes it comes out Gimme beer). Dee-licious! Wanna drink? Wanna bath. Wanna come out? and of course Wanna beer? One day, from out of nowhere, she said, "Oooh, Baby! Oooh, Baby!" It was Max who determined she was only singing part of a song from the radio that Ellen sings while she dances with him. Fonzie dances very nicely. When you say "Dance", she'll bob her head in time with the music and say, "Dance?".He's recently, added "Turn around"...which she does quite gracefully.He's working on a special kazoo rendition of the theme from Star Wars. As yet, it's pretty random and tuneless, but very amusing to behold. She's also mastered "I'm Fonzie the Quaker Bird.Er-Er". "Pippy and Sam would be proud."

A brief visual comparison of Fonz and her many friends from the Lost World (gifts from special birdy buddies) leaves little doubt of the relationship between the bird and dinosaurs.

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