as my local nature center is out of stock (potentially forever--/stares blankly at the wall), I have switched to using the Canadian roaster that I used for my parents' xmas gift last year for my coffee needs -- birds and beans.
it is certified as bird-friendly by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center (the specific criteria are kinda interesting), and is organic, fair trade, shade-grown, small family farms/cooperatives, compostable bags, etc.
the roasters have recently partnered with Audubon (their online bird guide is the best one out there) to sell within the U.S., donating a portion of the proceeds, which is convenient for me.
I'm trying the light and medium roasts. I'm still too scared of the Starbucks-ification of dark roasts, so I'm staying away from that for now. [their Canadian site still has a greater variety of roasts than the Audubon selections, so maybe I'll order directly from them in the future and just make a donation to Audubon myself.]
[I have a coupon if you want one]
[this is not an ad. I just like coffee, birds, and supporting charitable organizations and small businesses.]
It recently came up in conversation with my toddler that some birds can talk, and this has caused her great concern.
See, we were talking about how movies are pretend and how in real life, animals don’t talk. I mentioned that there are some birds who talk a little bit, but not like the animals in movies, and she just looked at me like “???”
So I informed her that some kinds of parrots can copy sounds that people make, and can learn how to say words. I thought this would give her a giggle, as fun new facts often do, but she was just deeply perplexed and a little worried about this.
“Birds can talk?” “Do they ask questions?” “What do they say?” Why do they talk?” “Do chickens talk?” “What about Blue Jays?” “Why do some birds talk?” “How do they talk?” “Birds TALK???”
We showed her a video of a parrot doing the “Hello, pretty bird, give a kiss” thing, and she was dead silent the whole time, hugging her comfort pillow with her knees to her chest. We asked if she wanted us to turn it off, and she shook her head. But we also asked if she wanted to see another one, and she shook her head even harder.
I don’t know why it has distressed her so greatly to learn that some birds can mimic human speech; but then again, I don’t know why it doesn’t distress the rest of us more to know that some birds can mimic human speech.
I keep thinking about that post that’s like “The first person to hear a parrot talk was probably Not Okay.” Because that’s exactly what happened. She had never been introduced to the concept, and her entire worldview got SHOOK.
A Hat In Time OCs drawings part 1 ( Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 )
Lurker: He/Him belongs to @chocowhomps
Beans: He/Him belongs to @hoodedjelly
Vex: They/Them belongs to @slimgrin