Story Bird: Spark-E-Bird

When we first got our Goffins cockatoo, Sparky, my wife was holding her in her lap one day.  We had a table lamp (on the table) next to the couch.  In what seemed like an instant, Sparky jumped down onto the table and began "preening" the lamp cord.  Well, be careful what you name your bird because Sparky bit right through that cord (Which WAS plugged in) and created a HUGE spark and a loud POP.  When we grabbed her, her facial feathers were all burnt and charred and her beak was black with what appeared to be soot.  We immediately took her to our vet, calling the office en route with our cell phone.  The vet examined her and told us how lucky she was that she hadn't burned the tip of her tongue the way so many birds that bite through electrical cords do.  We felt that we were all lucky that she hadn't electrocuted herself as well.  Since then we have found some very creative ways to cover and or hide our electrical cords from our birds.