Stats
Full Name: Loiosh
Date of Hatching: May 5, 1999
Died: August, 2001
Color: Sparrow!
Uncommon Fact: The extreme disfunction of his legs should have made him unable to fly. Instead, he flew so well he'd fly away from us and hide when it was time to go back into his cage!

Even before Trix and Chex hatched, we found Loiosh! (Pronounced Loy-oh-sh) There was a nest in our eves, and gour baby birds fell from the nest that year. Only Loi--the smallest! and just a few hours old--survived the impact! We picked him up and hand-fed him until he grew his feathers in. By the time he was adult, we learned that he was deformed. He has a calcium deficiency, and he can't stand on his legs or uncurl his toes. So he lives in a part of the cage partitioned off from the rest of the 'tiels, but rucked up on one corner--so he can get out and visit them, but they can't get in and eat his food! We used Tupperware lids as bowls, so he could reach, though after a year or so he figured out how to balance and eat out of the cockatiel's dishes. So they couldn't eat his food, but he could eat theirs...

Loi has a temper, and this odd tendency to nip a new person every so often . . . about every three weeks, it seems, he starts biting someone, as if he's seeing if the rules have changed and now he's allowed to! He always gets in trouble for it, and after a few tries stops. Strange little bird! Here's a picture of his baby feathers. He's got his adult feathers in now, but I don't have a good picture of them!

He's a male house sparrow--the kind with the black bib. He's not very big, but he manages to hop around his cage, and he flies just fine! Once he flew out the door, but he knows how to come, and he came when I called him back! The 'tiels get along with him pretty well--as long as he remembers he's not allowed to dive-bomb them!

Loiosh went with me to Canada, but was sick at the time. He hid his illness really well, and by the time we realized he wasn't well it was too late. Still, how many sparrows get to travel across country tucked safely in a car?