IT was possibly the generally accepted notion that one can teach a parrot to speak that led D Johnson to acquire his second parrot a few months ago. Two years before, he had decided to get his own parrot after admitting a fascination with them.

That bird had looked a bit rough around the edges and it didn’t resemble the exotic ones common in the pet stores, he said. But the family accepted the challenge of adjusting to its noise, which was a bit louder than the squawks of the budgie birds they were accustomed to.

The bird was rather noisy and it would wake early in the mornings and start calling to the other parrots in the neighbourhood. The bird stayed in the family for approximately a year before flying the coop one day.

The newest addition to the family, however, seems rather comfortable.

Pretty, the name ironically given to this parrot, also seems a bit rough around the edges and its feathers are not nearly as ‘pretty’ as one would have hoped. It has been in the family for only a couple months, but it seems like it’s easier for Pretty to adjust than it was for the first parrot.

Pretty has already started to respond to its name and family positively and is already being released from its cage as often as possible.

Pretty stays on the back patio of the family home but tours the house whenever it is bored or feels adventurous. Its occasional squawk, it seems, is to remind the family that it is present and wants company or sometimes it responds to Aqua, the family’s budgie.

Pretty’s diet is unlimited. Aside from the sunflower seeds that parrots eat, it eats any and everything else — fruits such as apples, melons, bananas and an occasional cracker, even fried chicken, nuts and chips.

Pretty seems rather happy in its new home and quite contented with the treatment. Even though it is feisty at times, and refuses to eat from certain persons, this addition to the family is surely welcomed.