Bird Spam

There is a grey African parrot in my living room. I am pedaling hard and listening to music as well as to the parrot, who is whistling excitedly. It's subtle but, I believe, unmistakable; the bird is attempting to match tone and beat to the music. He isn't very good at it, but he's getting enough of it right to convince me that I'm not imagining things. He takes long breaks to listen and is quiet when he's working on it, more confident when he has it right. Adorable. Nicholas Greybird, who I'll be calling "Nikola" in the future due to preexisting associations with "Nicki," is eleven years old; I wonder how good he'll be at whistling along with music when he's in his thirties?

( pictures of birds )