This post is for the birds
The Amazing Bird Show!
Thank you for reading Jasini’s Thoughts and Ideas
For the past couple of summers, we’ve been fortunate to have Squawk! the Amazing Bird Show at Worlds of Fun. They’re at the Serengeti stage (if you can remember far enough back, at what used to be the shooting gallery), across from the G’rilla Grill, in the African section of the park, every day except Wednesdays, 2, 4, and 6 pm.
We saw them multiple times last year, and have been making an effort to see them even more this year, even talking to them sometimes after the show (hopefully not monopolizing them too much!).
Debbie runs the show with a mix of bad bird puns and education information about the parrots, where they come from, and other information. Her husband Mark brings out the props, as well as apparently making most of them.
But of course, the stars of the show are the birds. They have 8 parrots of different ages and colors who have been trained to do all sorts of fun things. The star bird is Roxie, who among other things has learned to paint. The picture above is one of her creations, given to my husband last week. They take a volunteer every show to pick the colors for Roxie, and then give them the painting. That show, Debbie picked my husband, probably partly because she recognized him, and partly because there weren’t enough seats for both of us to sit down, and my husband was standing in the back, and may have been more visible.
The picture is now proudly displayed in our “art room” alongside of other artists such as our daughter, and
.Roxie also does things like simple math. Towards the beginning of the show, she pulls a tab that unfurls a sign that says, “No, I don’t want a cracker”. Shortly after that, Mark brings other props out and takes those back. Every show, the next time Roxie is brought up, she looks to see if the sign is still there. Maybe some time she’ll figure out what happens to it.
The day we were there was a Thursday (July 4?), and I noted that the birds all seemed unusually antsy that day. Debbie said it was because it was their first day back from their Wednesday off, and unlike people, they actually would prefer to be working, so they were excited.
If you happen to be in the KC area, and are going to Worlds of Fun, I suggest you spend half an hour and watch the show. You’ll have fun.
If you like this post, please consider liking, sharing, or subscribing. If you really like it, please consider leaving a tip.