Hootie the Talking Cockatiel passed away this morning. He was 11 which was a fair age for a cockatiel. He'd been a bit less talkative of late, but our favorite oldies station was no longer on and he chattered with that mostly. David taught him to talk as a baby so the bird honestly had Davids Scot's brogue. He didn't say "good boy" ... he said "Hoot-ee is a GUID boy!' (the "ui" sound is a complicated vowel sound I'm not even going to attempt to type!!).
He tried Robert Burns' "My luve's like a red, red rose". With Hootie it always came out "My luv's .... like a ..... red, red ... red, red ... red, red, red, red, red, red, RED" 99 times out of a 100 he never got "rose" out! *smile*
His cage was on top of Luna's crate. ALL here are sad this morning. He will be sorely missed.
I'm not sure -- I know that Foxy and Muffin and Socks and Polly were all there when he flew in "over Rainbow Bridge" ... but one of Hootie's favorite phrases was "MUF-FINnnnn COME!!!" and Muffin was never over fond of the BIRD calling him! So I'm sure, that was one thing quickly settled upon Hooties arrival at the Bridge. "You can CALL me, but don't YELL at me, ok??"
*sigh* If you've ever been to http://www.critturs.com with your sound turned up, that IS Hootie saying "creee-turrrs dot come" as the page loads.