The Colored Birds

The three crossed the street and hurried to the entrance of the zoo building. Right inside the door, they saw many people standing around and heard someone talking. They stepped inside to see what was going on.

“There are a lot of people here, Jake,” said Midge. “What are they doing?”

They moved between a couple of little boys, pushing their way to the front of all the people. In the middle of the room stood a young man and woman and each was holding a very large colorful bird.

“Wow, Jake!” said Midge. “They are really pretty and very big.”

“What kind of birds are they?” asked Booker-T.

“That sign over there says they are Micky and Margo,” said Jake. “It says they are talking Macaw birds.”

“Are we Macaw too since we talk?” asked Midge.

“No,” smiled Jake. “We are not birds.

“Who is Micky and Margo?” asked Midge.

“I'm Micky,” said the red colored bird.

“He talks, said Midge glancing over at Jake.

“Sure we talk,”said Micky. “I can talk to you and I can talk to these humans.”

“I can talk to you too,” said Midge. “But we can't take to humans. They can't really talk to us in our language.”

“The humans tell us what to say to other humans,” said the beautiful blue colored bird. “My name is Margo. What are your names?”

“I'm Midge, and this is my friends Jake and Booker-T,” said Midge.

“Can your friends talk to humans,” asked Margo.

“No,” said Jake. “We can't speak to the humans who care for us.”

“Do the humans talk to you?” asked Micky.

“They talk to us all the time,” said Booker-T. “But when they do, they seem to always say, I know you don't understand me but that's okay.”

“Do you live with humans all the the time?” asked Margo.

“Yes,” said Midge. “We each have an owner who takes care of us every day.”

“Where do you live?” asked Booker-T.

“Those two humans are married and we both live with them,” said Micky.

“What do the humans teach you to say/” asked Jake.

“They told us to say, 'Margo wants a cookie',” said Margo. “When we say it, they give us a cookie to reward us.”

“They taught me how to count to ten,” said Micky.  "And some colors of things, like blue, green and red.”

“They ask us questions and we already know the answer,” said Margo. “The people think we are really smart and they laugh and clap for us.”

“Wow, you are really smart,” said Midge.

“What kind of birds are you?” asked Booker-T.

“We are in the family of Parrots,” said Margo. "They call us MaCaws.”

“I thought your name was Margo?” asked Midge.

“It is,” smiled Margo. “I am a Macaw parrot and my name is Margo.”

“What are you?” asked Margo.

“I am a dog,” said Midge. “And Jake is a dog and Booker-T is a cat.”

“We have a friend who is a bluejay bird,” said Jake.

“Does he talk to humans like we do?” asked Micky.

“No,” said Midge. “He only talks to other birds and animals like we do.”

“He is really small too,” said Booker-T. “He's not as big as you are.”

“Who is really small?” asked Gabby as he landed in front of Jake and stared up at the two very large birds.

“You are Gabby,” said Midge. “Look how big those two birds are.”

“Those are birds?” asked Gabby. “Wow are they big ones.”

“You must be Gabby,” said Micky. “I'm Micky and this is Margo.”

“What kind of birds are you?” asked Gabby. “I like your colors.”

“We are Macaw parrots,” said Margo. “We talk to bird and animals and we also talk to humans and do tricks for them.”

“Can I learn to do that?” asked Gabby. “I would like to learn to talk to humans.”

“We only say what they want us to say,” said Margo. “If we say what we want, they don't understand us.”

“Maybe you can learn the tricks,” suggested Micky.

“Will you teach me?” asked Gabby.

“Now who is wanting to do what the humans want to do?” laughed Midge.

“I'm not trying to do human things,” said Gabby. “I just want to learn some tricks to do for the humans to watch. You and Jake and Booker-T can do tricks for the humans and I want to learn too.”

Micky and Margo agreed to show him some tricks after their show ended.