Love for Birds
Barbara Fallenbaum loves birds! She’d been fascinated by them for years. As a teenager she had a pair of mated parakeets, ‘Bonnie’ and ‘Clyde’ lived in a large cage in her bedroom. They were her best buddies, besides her dog ‘Ringo Star A Gogo’. As an adult she bought a beautiful albino cockatiel which she named Matisse. With albinos it’s hard to tell their sex. After about ten months Matisse became Matissa as she started laying large clutches of eggs. You see birds are very affectionate when hand raised and Barbara adored this about her. With all the kissing and petting the two she was mated with Barbara.
Matissa lived on her shoulder most of the time. When in the studio she would jump down on her work table and play with the watercolor pencils. Loved to get down on the floor and sneak up on her dog ‘Sweet Pea’ and pull her tail then run back to Barbara for protection. It was fun to watch her take baths and try to get to the other bird that was in the mirror on the bottom of her bath tub. She was extremely entertaining. At one point Barbara tried to get Matissa to mate with a boy cockatiel. Matissa tried to beat up the poor little guy.
Matissa was Barbara’s love as well!
Because of their love Matissa kept laying large clutches of eggs every three to four months. After awhile she was becoming weak. The vet told Barbara that she would continue to do so. Because Cockatiels mate only once for life, if she went to a really good home Matissa could live a long healthy life. So with a heavy heart Barbara found her a REALLY GOOD home . From that point on Barbara decided it was best not to own a particular bird but to love all birds. She helps them when she can directly and indirectly.
Because of their love Matissa kept laying large clutches of eggs every three to four months. After awhile she was becoming weak. The vet told Barbara that she would continue to do so. Because Cockatiels mate only once for life, if she went to a really good home Matissa could live a long healthy life. So with a heavy heart Barbara found her a REALLY GOOD home . From that point on Barbara decided it was best not to own a particular bird but to love all birds. She helps them when she can directly and indirectly.