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October 12, 2005
Ilwaco parrot is ‘not your average bird brain’
If you’re walking on the West Main Dock at the Port of Ilwaco, Wash., and hear a whistle, it’s not tuna fisherman Harvey Cosky trying to get fresh. The musical note comes from Koko, an African grey parrot and full-fledged crew member on Cosky’s bright red 67-foot fishing boat EZ 1.
Forget whistling. Koko is more than likely to quack like a duck, howl like a wolf or even ask what you’re doing.
Cosky and his wife, Judy, obtained Koko when he was 6 months old. They were headed for Midway Island and hand-fed the chick with an eye-dropper on the way.
“The breeder wouldn’t let us have Koko until we assured him we’d be up 24 hours a day to feed him,” Harvey said. “He looked like a buzzard. We asked ourselves why would we want a bird like that.” That was when the “buzzard” first learned to say “no” and to identify his favorite foods – apples and grapes.
Koko is now a fine-feathered 6-year-old and part of the Coskys’ crew full-time, traveling the coast from Alaska to Mexico during fishing season. The Coskys live in Bellingham, Wash., and have an annual moorage at the port.
The bird can, like many parrots, imitate the sounds of a number of animals. He asks to go for a walk, to go outside, says “Good morning. Have a cup of coffee” to the Coskys and sings “Koko is a good bird, a good bird, a good bird” when he’s by himself.
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Posted by sue at October 12, 2005 09:07 AM