“Twenty springs of song, and every sunrise still sounds like him.”

Pippin Sunny Calloway

April 12, 2005 - May 3, 2025 (20 years old)

Born on April 12, 2005 in Chelan, Washington

Passed away on May 3, 2025 in Chelan, Washington

Rainbow Bridge

He whistled us awake for twenty years, and somewhere past the blossoms he is whistling still.

About

Pippin came home in the summer of 2005 in a cardboard box with air holes punched in the lid, a grey cockatiel the size of a coffee cup who screamed at the vacuum and then fell asleep in a shirt pocket the same afternoon.

He spent the next twenty years running the household from a curtain rod above the kitchen sink. He learned the wolf whistle in a week and the microwave beep in a day, and he used both to summon people. If the telephone rang and nobody moved quickly enough, Pippin answered it himself.

Every spring he sat at the window while the trees along the lake turned pink, whistling at the blossoms as though he had ordered them. He slipped away quietly in May 2025, at the end of one more of those bright, noisy mornings.

Quick Facts

Species / Breed

Bird — Cockatiel (Normal Grey)

Coat Color

Pearl grey with a lemon-yellow crest

Weight

3.4 oz

Personality in Three Words

Chatty · Devoted · Theatrical

Home

Chelan, Washington

What We Always Said About Him

If the house was ever too quiet, Pippin fixed it.

Known For

Sunrise serenadesWolf-whistle expertShoulder riderCrest of many moodsMillet thiefAnswering the telephone

Favorites

Toy

A tiny brass bell he rang for attention

Treat

Millet spray, still on the stem

Walk Spot

The blossom branch outside the kitchen window

Napping Place

Tucked against a warm coffee mug

Activity

Whistling duets with the kettle

Season

Spring, when the lake trees turned pink

Favorite Person

Grandpa Ray and the morning newspaper

Secret Talent

A flawless impression of the microwave beep

Important Dates

Birth Date

April 12, 2005

Homecoming day

June 18, 2005

The apple tree adventure

July 22, 2013

His twentieth birthday

April 12, 2025

Crossed the Rainbow Bridge

May 3, 2025