Waldo

My Name is WALDO
Submitted October 1999
by his owner, Elayne

Mynahs are very photogenic and Waldo is a real cam ham!
As you can see, he's one handsome Greater Indian Hill mynah,
and his owner says he's the Mouth of the South!

Waldo was bred and hatched in the state of Florida, a male Greater Indian Hill (Gracula religiosa intermedia) mynah bird. His hatch date was April 18, 1992. He was 32 days old when Elayne and Mickey picked him up from the breeder. When Elayne and Mickey were on their way to pick up their new family member, they had already decided to name him Waldo because at that time the "Where's Waldo" books were popular. Elayne told Mickey that if she saw anything along the way that made her think of another name she liked better that she was open to changing the name. But 50 miles from where they were to pick up their baby bird, they passed through a little town called Waldo. It was meant to be. Their new bird's name was definitely going to be Waldo.

Waldo loves to tease Mickey by calling out his name over and over, "Mick!", until Mick yells "What?!", then Waldo giggles 3 times in a row as if he were saying "got you!". He also likes to giggle along with laughing he hears on television. Some of the other things that Waldo says are: Hello, my name is Waldo. - You make me laugh, Ha Ha Ha! - I'm a bad bird, yes I am. - Are you my little buddy? - Want any grapes? He's not much of a fruit lover but Waldo does love to eat his grapes. Sometimes he will eat bites of apple. His favorite toys are a topless plastic film canister, a lattice ball with a bell in it, the latter is difficult to clean when his droppings fall on it.

Waldo has favorite places to perch when he is out of his cage. Elayne has made a T-bar stand for each room in the house. The bases are made from plastic Christmas tree stands she found on sale after the holidays. She used the screws that came with them, to hold the PVC pipe into the stand. Then she attached a PVC flange to the tree stand and a 4 1/2 foot section of 1 1/2 inch wide PVC pipe. A tee joint was added along with short pieces of PVC extending from each end. She then put pipe insulation on the extensions so the T-bar perch is not too slippery for Waldo to grasp with his feet. A newspaper half way to the center lays at the base of each stand to catch Waldo's droppings.

Waldo loves to go for rides in the car. He joyfully sits between them perched atop his travel carrier. They have even taken him on long trips. He goes inside his travel carrier during their stops at restaurants, etc. Waldo has more than 50,000 miles on him with Elayne and Mickey.

Waldo loves his baths and gets fluffed up with the blow dryer.

Waldo's cage is all decked out with Daffy Ducks toys.
The cage is on the small side but that's ok since he spends very little of his waking hours in it.

Look at the mouth on this little guy!
They don't call him Mouth of the South for nothin'.
Daffy Duck looks a little intimidating to Waldo and he wastes no time telling mom.

2003 update:
Waldo passed away on May 23, 2003. He was 11 years old.
He had a good life, was very loved, and is very missed.

2004 update:
Elayne & Micky have a new baby mynah and guess what his name is?
Waldo Jr., of course.

He has some big bird tracks to fill but I bet he will do a fine job.

Waldo Jr.

Update:
We lost our very good friend Elayne on April 3, 2007.
Due to Elayne’s love of birds, it was stated in her obituary:
The family asks that in lieu of flowers, everyone is asked
to hang a bird feeder at their home and keep it full.

We will never forget Elayne. She was a special person and good friend.
Her husband continues to care for Waldo Jr.

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