While reading a magazine recently, I came across an article inviting animal lovers to enter a contest about their favorite pets. The headline caught my eye: “If you have enjoyed animals as friends or companions over the years, please tell us which was the most unforgettable and why. Our judges will select a prizewinner, post its photo and story in our next edition, and make a donation to an appropriate charity that helps animals live safe and happy lives.”

Wow, what a great question, I thought. That’s a really hard one, though. We all had loved Toto, our cairn terrier; Janey and Glenda, the lost cats who lived with us for many years; the canaries who filled the house with music; the parakeet who learned to say “McGovern for President;” snakes; even the walking catfish, who always caused an uproar when he waddled across our living room floor.

But honestly, how could I not give credit to Howard, the Amazon Parrot who had shared our home for twelve years? I proceeded to list and describe just some of the reasons why he deserved special recognition.

On the day my husband and I found him in a Montclair bird shop, I was sold. Typically, Farrell was the one on the lookout for pets of any kind. But, upon seeing several baby parrots, and after the saleswoman placed one in my lap, who looked at me and said “Hello!,” I was the one exclaiming, “Let’s take him!”

He quickly gave himself a name — Howard. He had been mimicking all of us when we came home because we always called to him, “Hi, how are you?” Soon he started saying “Hi Howar,” as he learned the greeting. We decided, maybe that was his name. He just had left off the “d.”

The parrot became a household member very quickly. Our young adult children, Beth and Peter, fell in love with him, exchanging comments all the time. Beth, who was living on her own, would start her weekend visits with us by saying, “Hi Funny Lookin’!” as she walked over toward Howard’s cage. After this happened a few times, the parrot began each visit with her by calling out, “Hi Funny Lookin’!” whenever she would enter the house. It was hilarious!

His large cage was in our family room, with a perfect view of the front door. Before long, he said, ”Good-bye!” when we left the house, and, “Hello!” when we came back home, never getting his greetings wrong.

Howard continued learning words, phrases, and music daily, just from listening to our conversations. Soon he was saying things like “I want pizza” (we always shared pizza with him and he loved it); laughing along when he heard chuckling on TV; jiving to Rock ‘n Roll music we played on the radio; calling Farrell in my voice, “Faaaarrrell!” “Faaaarrell!” until Farrell would come running into the room to ask me why I wouldn’t stop calling him.

One of Howard’s greatest accomplishments was learning the words and melody of the famous song Oh What a Beautiful Morning. I would wake Peter up every day by opening his bedroom door and singing it to him. Howard listened and learned it quickly, and before long he could sing a duet with me that went like this. I would start with, “Oh What a Beautiful,” and then stop and wait for him to add, “Moooorning,” followed by me singing part of the next line, “Oh What a Beautiful,” and Howard’s completing it with “Daaaaaaaaayy.” We continued in this way throughout the song, “I’ve got a wonderful feeling! Everything’s going my way,” and ending with the last line from me, “Oh What a Beautiful” and Howard’s vibrant conclusion, right on key, “DAAAAYYYYY!” When he belted out the last word, I had visions of Ethel Merman on a Broadway stage.

Another of Howard’s funniest moments was the day he looked out of the open front window from his cage and saw me pulling our car into the driveway after work. I got out, slammed the door, and heard him say very loudly, “UH-OH!” Apparently, he expected the worst!

One evening when my mother-in-law was visiting, she walked past Howard, who was standing on top of his cage. At that moment, the parrot grabbed the wiglet from on top of her head, and turned it this way and that, studying it closely. Farrell’s mom looked up and saw the bird inspecting her hairpiece and started laughing hysterically.

“I guess he realized it wasn’t attached and decided to check it out,” she said, as she laughed even harder. Lucky for us, she had a great sense of humor!

Another of my favorite memories was watching Howard rearrange his “furniture.” On days when he wasn’t otherwise occupied, he would remove all of the food and water bowls hanging from the bars of his cage and then put them back, but in different locations. He must have been looking for a change of pace, or maybe just doing a little straightening up.

After submitting my entry to the magazine, I was certain that our Amazon parrot would be selected as the winner. And, the next time that Farrell, Beth, Peter and I were all together for dinner, I announced, “We have a great family goal to work on. Let’s all focus on teaching Howard to say “I’m the champ!”  Because whether he wins the contest or not, he really is a WINNER!”