Why?

Why? The age old question never to be answered. Today, one of the most beautiful creatures God ever made was taken from us.
Sienna, our 13-year old Eclectus, died. We have no idea what happened except that she may have been startled while on her favorite corner of the porch, jumped into the air and, since she was not a good flyer, landed on the rock path and either hit her head or broke her neck. I found her below the bushes lying still. My heart was and is broken. She was the most gentle, loving bird and the Queen of our household.
Sienna had been acquired as a fledgling and after about one month with us managed to fly off on a gust of wind while we were out in the front yard with her. We did not think she could gain much ground as we had just clipped her wings, but the gust was enough to sustain her and in seconds she was out of our sight. During the 3 days she was gone, it rained with thunder, lightning and hail. I had spread posters around the neighborhood and at the Vet's office and local businesses alerting people to our loss. The 3rd day a woman two blocks away called us and informed us that our bird had walked up to her in her yard and looked at her as if to say "help me, I need a home and food". The woman brought her back to us and we were thrilled.

Ever since then, Sienna had no desire to leave our home or the proximity of her cage. She could be let outside to wander the porch or play on her cage. If something startled her and she did take flight (limited as it was because we kept her wings clipped), I would wander around calling her name and she would reply "Woo" to let me know where she was. She was capable of speech but only said "Woo" (her nickname), "Wow" and "hello".

Sienna loved her freedom on our porch. She was queen here and the dogs and cats ran from her when she approached. She would growl at them to let them know it was her territory. She was loving and quiet. She could sit on my shoulder for hours to the point that I would forget that she was there. She loved eating peanuts with my husband and drinking orange juice out of his glass.

We often took her up to her bed in the afternoon where she would make a mad dash for anything resembling a tent and scratch and peck to her heart's content. She was not a chewer like the other birds who would love to demolish any wood item in their grasp. She would never take anything in her foot to feed herself. We would be sitting on the porch forgetting she was out and suddenly you would feel your toes being nibbled and there she was wanting you to take her up. She would often stand outside the window of our bedroom and peer in just waiting for one of us to come and get her.

She loved having an empty box on the top of her cage and would scratch for hours inside making a nest. The first year she did this, she laid an egg. After a few days my husband removed it replacing it with a polished stone and she was content. She continued on for years making nests but never laid another egg.

She could have lived another 20 years or more and the loss of this beautiful pet is devastating. We have lost 4 pets now since coming to the island. Two of our dogs; Tippy and pepper, one cat (Midnight) and now Sienna.

If you never had a pet you cannot comprehend the loss of a loved animal. I have cried over her like I cried when my daughter died. Sienna was such a joy to have around and totally devoted to me. I will never have another bird quite like her.....she was, as impossible as it seems, irreplaceable.