For this publication’s regular feature of the Critter Corner, junior Karina Ray talks about her bond with her three parakeets.

Q: What’s your pet’s name?

A: So I have three birds: Banana, Sunny, and Bubbles. Banana is a boy, Bubbles is a boy, and Sunny is a girl.

Q: How did you come to have the three?

A: It started on social media where I saw people with birds, and they had funny videos of the birds talking, dancing, or playing. One day, I went to the pet store, and I fell in love with a parakeet (Banana), and my parents let me adopt him. From then on, it just kept growing, and I ended up having three.

Q: How do you take care of three birds?

A: Birds are definitely very expensive. When you first get them, you have to expect to be spending a ton of money. They need new toys every couple of months. The feed is expensive; it depends on what brand you get, but they should be getting fruits and seeds, and their cage has to be cleaned out at least once a week, and they should have fresh water every day.

Q: Do you take care of them by yourself?

A: Yeah, my parakeets are my full responsibility, all three of them are my pets. The only time other people really take care of them is if we’re away on vacation.

Q: How’s life living with three birds?

A: Well, they don’t really say words or anything. But they definitely do chirp a lot. And sometimes, when I’m downstairs or in my room, I hear them chirping halfway across the house.

Q: Funny stories?

A: My birds fight a lot, especially when I’m giving them treats. Banana will usually fly over to my hand and he’ll eat millet out of my hand, and then Bubbles will get mad at him and try to take the seeds himself. They get very territorial. So they’ll just start fighting each other. It’s just like the funniest thing because they’re so little; all you hear is fighting. They’re really cute.

Q: What is your relationship with each bird?

A: I’m definitely closest to Banana, just because I’ve had him for so long. He’s the one who’s most willing to fly over to me or play with me during the day. Bubbles is kind of in the middle. He’s my newest bird. Then, Sunny, she’s really mean. She just doesn’t like people.

Q: What do you love most about having birds?

A: Definitely the background noise and just not having a quiet room because my brother moved out and went to college, so it’s nice having that noise and just having them here with me all the time.

Want to feature your pet in the next edition of Critter Corner? Stretch your paw out to [email protected]!