Parrot honored for warning that girl was choking
 

Parrot honored for warning that girl was choking

By DENVER

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

A parrot whose cries of alarm alerted his owner when a little girl choked on her breakfast has been honored as a hero.

Willie, a Quaker parrot, has been given the local Red Cross chapter?s Animal Lifesaver Award.


In November, Willie?s owner, Megan Howard, was baby-sitting for a toddler. Howard left the room and the little girl, Hannah, started to choke on her breakfast.

Willie repeatedly yelled ?Mama, baby? and flapped his wings, and Howard returned in time to find the girl already turning blue.

Howard saved Hannah by performing the Heimlich maneuver but said Willie ?is the real hero.?

?The part where she turned blue is always when my heart drops no matter how many times I?ve heard it,? Hannah?s mother, Samantha Kuusk, told KCNC-TV. ?My heart drops in my stomach, and I get all teary eyed.?

Willie got his award during a ?Breakfast of Champions? event Friday attended by Gov. Bill Ritter and Mayor John Hickenlooper.

Yeah was reading that in the news paper this morning.. Cute little bugger too.

i think the parrot really cares about being honored.

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

the parrot better not get a big head over this hero trip lol

:1orglaugh

A Quaker parrot? I didn't even know parrots had religious affiliations.

:1orglaugh

I bet the parrot actually caused her to choke. Evil bird!

I somehow have my doubts over the story. but hey at least it ended well anyway !!!! :thumbsup

That's pretty cool. Does he get all the birdseed he wants now or something?

What a good bird

that aint shit ,my bird knows the heimlich

We see what we want to see.

come on, whatever... hahaha

Animals have a good sense of this stuff. Such as dogs barking / hiding before earthquakes, my fish also behave erratically before an Earthquake happens. I've also got a few birds, when were sick they give us a lot of attention.

It's being slightly thrown out of proportion, but really they can sense when things are going on, and react. As for saying "Momma / Baby" it may as well have said "Pretty bird / red door", while some birds have the potential to understand language to a small degree (African Grey parrots for example) the truth is it was just reacting to something happening.

About the African Grey's.. There is one that has a vocabulary of a 6 year old, and can tell us basic things like when he's hungry / tired / thirsty. He can respond to answers and mean what he's saying, not just saying "yes" or "no". They've got a team of people working on this bird.. It's probably a $1 million project for whoever is funding.

I saw a story once about a kitten who managed to call 911 because it had the phone cord stuck around its throat. Yeah, right! :1orglaugh Probably more likely that it was some bratty psycho kid strangling the cat, and he called 911. :1orglaugh

I remember once when my older daughter was a baby.. She had been very ill and in the middle of the night she threw up and was choking in it (she was a few months old). Our old tomcat who'd never been more than 50 feet from her from the day she was born came in and jumped on our bed and raised hell in any way he could. When I woke up he streaked off into her room and meowed and paced until I saw and ran to pick her up. He probably saved her life that night. Animals can be amazing.

Alex is a good example of what Greys are capable of:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_(parrot)

They have the emotional capability of a 2 year old as well as the intelligence of a 6 year old. Anyone who's had kids realizes just how immense that can be.

I used to have a Quaker parrot named Paco. He loved french fries.