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During
his later years, Kuro was less playful and energetic
but still very affectionate. He lost some of his
voice and so words and whistles became less clear.
He would allow us to scratch his head and help
him molt whereas earlier he may have been less
open to us stroking parts of his body. He also
had to be put in a cage to sleep, as a couple
of times he fell from his makeshift nest. Even
in his old age, when all his sisters "flew
out of the nest" he stayed close to my parents
and would greet us excitedly any time any of the
sisters would come home for a visit.
The
author, Izumi, with her sisters and parents. Izumi
is in the front row wearing the pinkish
shirt. Beside Izumi is Nana, and Ayumi is behind
Izumi. Meg is on the right wearing blue.
As
the only remaining one in "the nest",
my parents treated him like a spoiled, youngest
child; my mother made a hand-crafted futon sized
perfectly to Kuro's size. And every morning, my
mother would prepare four different dishes, especially
chopped in starling-bite sizes and that covered
all four food groups. Kuro's favorite dishes were:
tofu, shrimp, and chopped vegetables. He especially
loved traditional Japanese food. He was so spoiled
in fact, that even if the fridge was empty of
"human food", my mother would only make
the trip to the grocery store if one of Kuro's
staple foods ran out!
Kuro
and his Guinness World Record Certificate
Kuro,
lived a great, long life. He saw me grow from
a primary school child to a university student
to a married, grown-up adult. In 1999, at the
age of eighteen, he made it to the Guinness World
record, as the "world's oldest domesticated
starling". Even though his feathers were
thinning and he had arthritis in his legs, he
still had his loving, affectionate character.
He lived another year to the age of 19 and passed
away in December 2000. My parents were by his
side until the end. Our whole family was devastated
and felt an incredible loss without our Kuro.
We mourned for weeks and continue to feel very
saddened by his loss. I still think about him
often and remember all the wonderful experiences
as if it was yesterday. I tear at times thinking
about him and have many dreams that he is still
with us. I really miss him and often reflect on
how much joy he brought to our family -- all his
mischief, songs, hours sleeping with us and eating
meals with the family..... We keep all his memories
in our hearts. ~Izumi
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