If you ask Tamia Overes how she would describe her bird, Prince, one word comes to mind: sass.
“She can be a sweetheart and show affection on her terms only, but the majority of the time, she’s being sassy and trying to get into trouble,” Overes told The Dodo.
Prince loves sneaking into places she isn’t supposed to be, which is how her parents learned she likes doing things like sitting inside garbage cans and singing to herself. Her favorite and most destructive pastime, though, is glassware.
“The day we learned that Prince loves glassware was when we found her in a cupboard sitting in a coffee pot,” Overes said. “She was just sitting inside doing a little dance when we found her. We initially thought she had gotten stuck, so we opened the top for her to come out, and she refused to move. A few days later, the exact same thing happened again. So, we took the top of the pot off and let her play with the coffee pot. Her pot has the name ‘Emotional Support Coffee Pot.’”
From the coffee pot, Prince graduated to cups and mason jars, moving her love of glassware to the next level. For the most part, it was all harmless — until she discovered the “forbidden cupboard.” This is where her parents keep all their nicer, special glassware, and as soon as Prince discovered it, she made it her mission to try and break it all.
“She tries to get into the forbidden cupboard several times per day,” Overes said. “She even started flying like a hummingbird and levitating in front of the cupboard to try and get in.”
For the most part, her parents manage to keep Prince out of the cupboard — but every once in a while, she outsmarts them.
“The times Prince ends up getting into the forbidden cupboard, the only word I can use to describe her would be feral,” Overes said. “She hops around mocking me (laughing, dancing or singing), and then tries to push the glasses out of the shelf. She even starts growling when you try to get her out.”
Prince throws a full-blown party whenever she gets into the cupboard, and her parents have to rush to get her out before she breaks everything in sight out of sheer excitement.
Prince definitely isn’t like any other bird her parents have ever seen before. She’s feisty, energetic and very sassy, and every day with her is a new adventure.
