Hayden man gives bird to woman still searching for her elusive pet

HAYDEN - Before Crystal Partenselder walked away with the African grey parrot in its carrier, she turned to Peter Taylor and asked one question:

"Are you sure you're OK with this?"

With tears in his eyes, the Hayden man nodded. Yes, he was.

"Just love him," he said quietly.

Then, after the two shared a final hug, it was time for Partenselder to head home with the new family pet.

"It's just like adopting a kid," Taylor said with a slight smile and laugh.

Or in his case, giving one up.

After reading reports in The Press of Partenselder's relentless quest to find Tuii, who flew out an open door in early August, Taylor felt moved to help.

"It just hit me. I know how attached you can be to an animal," he said, then telling a story of his Great Dane he had to have put down last year.

"I just felt bad, Crystal searching for her bird, not knowing what happened to him," Taylor said.

As well, Taylor is fighting lupus, and doesn't have the time or energy he once did to care for the bird he and his wife, Nancy, have owned for 12 years.

So he called Partenselder last week and offered their parrot named "Yogi."

"I just feel good about giving him to someone who will take care of him. That's what he needs," Taylor said.

Yogi and Partenselder hit it off like best buds in the Taylor living room.

The parrot perched on her finger quietly, after squawking loudly moments before when Kevin Taylor held it

"You'll be OK, you'll be OK," the Coeur d'Alene woman said as she looked it squarely in the eye. "You're a good boy. You're very pretty."

As she spoke, Yogi stretched out a leg and ruffled his tail.

"That means he's really happy," Taylor said, smiling.

Which he hasn't been lately.

"He's been chewing on his feathers. He's not getting the attention that he was getting," Taylor said.

"They're so smart if they're not stimulated all the time mentally and get attention, they'll do that to themselves," Partenselder said.

Twelve-year-old Yogi comes with a reputation for intelligence and a rapacious diet.

"He eats just about anything a human eats, except for chocolate and avocados," Taylor said. "That's poison."

Yogi comes with a vocabulary of around 35 words. He can recite phases like "hello" and "Let me out of here," and can mimic alarm noises, barking dogs and meowing cats.

"This bird is a great bird," Taylor said.

Partenselder agreed.

"Isn't it amazing to think of a bird like this flying around for two months? It's incredible to me," she said.

Her smaller African grey parrot, Tuii, flew from her A Street home on Aug. 6. Since, she has looked mornings, afternoons and nights, walking streets and alleys with hopes of a sighting.

There have been many.

Just last week, there were reports of a red-tailed parrot on a roof, in a tree and then on telephone line in the Midtown area.

She continues to believe 2-year-old Tuii may yet find his way home, or someone in Coeur d'Alene will catch him. Meantime, Partenselder said she needs to get on with life.

Her determination to bring Tuii home has drained her energy.

"I've lost 15 pounds," she said.

Ultimately, it's up to Tuii to come back.

"I realize until this bird is miserable enough, he's not going to come down and there's nothing I can do to change it," she said. "Hopefully, he's smart enough and that's what he'll do."

If Tuii returns, she'll have two birds. And since African greys can live long lives - up to 80 years or so - she will likely have a pair of lifelong feathered friends.

For now, though, it will take love and attention to keep Yogi the parrot as happy as the cartoon bear.

"If there's any problems, Crystal," Taylor said, "Call me."