B.C. man drives around with exotic bird perched in classic car

Adam finds out what happens when a toddler who loves birds meets a macaw who loves car rides.

PARKSVILLE, B.C. — When Evalyn Fitzsimmons walked out on her balcony to look through her binoculars to look for her young daughter’s favourite things, she expected to find the usual birds.

“Quinn looks up at them,” Evalyn smiles at her toddler. “And when the ravens do that throaty sound, she’s like blah-blah-bloop-bloop.”

When Quinn’s not answering the call of the wild birds perched on the tree across the street, she’s asking to visit the injured ones being rehabilitated at the animal sanctuary.

So, you can imagine how the toddler felt when she noticed, riding in a classic car on the street below them, an unusual bird.

“Is that a macaw?” Quinn’s dad David Kelleher yells down from the balcony.

“Yeah,” Jim Turner answers as the blue and gold macaw perches on the car’s windshield.

After David asks if Quinn can come down and meet the motoring macaw, Jim stops the car and introduces us to Admiral Nelson.

“He’s a good companion,” Jim says as Admiral Nelson alternated between sitting on his arm and climbing up his shoulder to snuggle up near his neck. “He’s a very good companion.”

Jim says Admiral Nelson first bonded with him when the bird was a baby, and for the past 25 years the macaw has followed his man everywhere.

“He’s been in schools, he’s been in hospitals, he’s been in old folks’ homes,” Jim says. “Even when I’m in the shower he’s on my shoulder.”

And whenever Jim gets the car ready, Admiral Nelson jumps up on his perch in the passenger seat. The bird seems to relish the rides and the people they meet along the way.

“The worst thing for him was COVID. He had to stay home for a year and a half,” Jim says. “That’s when he started pulling feathers, which is what parrots do when they’re unhappy.”

But as soon as they returned to visiting others, Jim says Admiral Nelson’s plucking decreased, feathers increased, and mood took flight.

“He’s a flock animal,” Jim says. “And people are his flock.”

And today, Admiral Nelson is expanding his flock by raising one of his legs to include Quinn and her family.

“Kids started waving at him,” Jim says as Admiral Nelson lifts his leg again. “So that’s why he’s waving now.”

Quinn responds by raising her arm in return, before sharing more than a few smiles.

“Anytime I can put a smile on people’s faces, it’s a good day,” Jim tells them.

So, the next time Quinn and her mom are searching for birds up in the trees, they’ll also look down from their balcony on the road, in the hope of waving at their new feathered friend driving by.