Students at Laurel School Upper Campus in Menlo Park were excited to meet Molly, an African Gray Parrot who visited from Mickaboo Companion Bird Rescue. Molly held the class spellbound as she fluffed her feathers and answered questions posed to her by her friend and rescuer Jonathan Kessler. She answers Yes or No, as appropriate, by tapping the word on a card or sheet of paper.
Molly, named for the grey-colored metal Molybdenum, has her definite preferences about food and people, and she makes new friends very easily, doing so in the Laurel classroom! Molly has the comprehension level of a human six-year-old, and like children, she loves story hour and has favorite books—all of which are familiar to children—that Jonathan reads to her. Molly’s longtime favorites include: My Big Dog; Mo Willem’s Pigeon series (Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, etc.); and the Grumpy Monkey series. Her current favorites are from the Beak and Ally series, and Jonathan read one of these books in class, with Molly answering questions about the book. Molly was also very pleased to recognize many of the books in the showcase at the school!
The students learned about hazards for parrots from environmental degradation and the wild bird trade, and how parrots differ in needs and care from pets like dogs and cats. The visit was part of our Pet Painter program, so the students created pencil sketches of Molly and are currently working on completing full-color portraits. We look forward to sharing their portrait gallery with you in the near future.
For information about the Pet Painter program, contact us at info@projecthumanekind.org.