Saying Goodbye to My Beloved Parrot, Sunny
May you rest in peace, in the company of Chirpy and Chirrupy
Little did I expect that I would have to part with Sunny so soon after Chirpy’s passing just a few months ago. The house has suddenly fallen quiet. I probably won’t keep pet parrots again in the future. This post is dedicated to the memory of my beloved parrot, Sunny.
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Sunny was a monk parrot I adopted in July 2021. At the time, due to COVID-19, I was working from home and decided to get a pet. I adopted Sunny from a parrot rescue group, which helps reunite lost parrots with their original owners or rehomes them if the owners cannot be found. Since Sunny was a lost parrot, I didn’t know her age or gender, but I always imagined Sunny was a girl because she was quiet and had a pleasant smell.
On her first day in our home, Sunny was understandably nervous and remained silent all day. The next morning, however, she suddenly let out a series of screams, startling us with sounds that resembled an electric drill (we jokingly called her the “drill chicken” for a while). Later on, she rarely screamed like that; it seemed to be a call she used only when she was feeling nervous or unhappy.
Sunny’s left wing was injured, and her left foot was weak, which meant she couldn’t fly and was hesitant to perch on our hands. Being introverted, she usually stayed inside or on top of her cage. It took about two weeks for her to finally set foot on the ground for the first time, though she still rarely walked on the floor afterward. It wasn’t until more than six months later that Sunny became comfortable with my presence and would even stand on top of the cage to interact with me.
In March 2023, two new “old-bird” neighbors, Chirpy and Chirrupy, joined Sunny. Although Sunny seemed more interested in their cages than in the two birds themselves, the livelier behavior of Chirpy and Chirrupy must have influenced her, encouraging her to spend more time outside her cage. Looking back, perhaps Sunny was also an old bird—she spent more time in her cage and napping compared to Chirpy and Chirrupy.
In August 2023, after Chirrupy passed away, Chirpy seemed to start interacting more with Sunny. I never quite figured out the relationship between the two birds, though. After Chirpy passed away in September 2023, Sunny seemed to grow quiet again, as if she felt lonely too. On Saturday, December 7, Sunny appeared a bit low-spirited, but on Sunday and Monday, she ate a lot and seemed to regain her energy. She played with me happily all day on Monday. However, on Tuesday, she suddenly fell to the bottom of her cage.
She lay on her belly, weak and never recovered. She passed away on Wednesday, December 11. Her passing really caught me off guard. Although Sunny had experienced some minor illnesses in the past six months (from which she recovered smoothly after seeing a vet), I always felt that she and Chirpy could have lived for several more years. Unexpectedly, in the second half of this year, the two birds passed away one after the other. Human life is impermanent, and so is bird life — a hard lesson.
I kept asking myself: Was I trying hard enough, or not? The end of caring for a pet is always death, so we must comfort ourselves in the midst of sadness and self-blame, telling ourselves that we did our best. The deceased is gone, but the memories left behind are beautiful and touching, and the sadness will gradually fade. I wonder if her original owner still misses her? A second home for a lost and injured parrot — it wasn’t too bad for Sunny, right?
I keep thinking of Sunny’s lovely figure: how she stood on top of the cage, acting coquettishly with me, asking me to scritch her head and rub my face against hers, and how she would close her eyes happily. I keep thinking of her good temper: how she would just threaten us and never actually bite, even when she was angry and didn’t want to be petted. Every time I sneezed in the morning, she seemed to think it was my “call” and would happily respond. When I said hello to her and made tut-tut sounds, she would try to imitate me, and sometimes I would also imitate her calls.
Thank you for accepting me and allowing me to walk into your life. You will always be the best parrot in my heart. May you rest in peace, and may you fly happily in heaven, in the company of Chirpy and Chirrupy.
