Pigeon van der Beak as Dr. Evil

On Christmas Eve 2009… this Red-Bellied Poicephalus Parrot half-flew, half-tottered into our lives.

Okay so I brought him home from Goodwill Birds Trading as a Christmas present… and I can’t think of a better present.

When I saw him at the bird shop, he was ultra-affectionate – practically begging for attention. Now my friends know that I’ve never been a ‘bird-person’ ever, but this little thing was just too cute to pass on.

After toiling with a name for long time, we ultimately came to the decision to name him ‘Pigeon van der Beak‘.

Yes I know he’s a parrot. Yes I realise he’s not a pigeon. Yes it’s meant to be ironic – a name that is as quirky as he is…

Here are some photos that I took of him in the first few weeks of life as part of the family – predominantly with the exceptional Canon EF 50mm F/1.2L lens.

This is the first time I tried to get him to ‘Step Up’ onto my finger… okay so he was a little nippy and nervous at first, but he’s not quite used to it. Even though I got a semi-bloody nail (he got a little too enthusiastic chewing on my fingernail), I am exhilarated about how comfortable he is with me.

Pigeon started doing this strange ‘aeroplane’ position with his wings low and wide. Think it might be something to do with mating behaviours. Should I be worried… nah, it’s actually quite cute.

My two favourite images:

Shower Time                                                                  Dr. Evil

Pigeon van der Beak (age: 2) – December 2009

Now truly part of the family, Pigeon gives me one more thing to look forward to at the end of the work day. Now all I have to do is get over the separation anxiety I feel when I have to leave him at home all day!

I’ll be charting his growth and development as the über-pet-parrot on byNoelYeo – so stay tuned.

The following kit was used to create these photos:

• Canon EOS 5D Mark II
• EF 50mm F/1.2L USM
• EF 70-200 F/2.8L IS USM (only for the 3 photos that I was in – thanks for taking the photos Mark)

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