31 Dec 2021 Bird is the word

By Becky Bell

A 1-year-old cockatiel named Pepper has flown into the hearts of a fourth-grade class at Baptist Preparatory Lower School in Little Rock. 

The class teacher, Jessica Jackson, said she has wanted to have a bird as a pet since she rescued baby robins when she was a child. So, when she had the opportunity to get Pepper, she wanted to share him with her students during the day and take him home with her each night.

“I got him when he was still being hand-fed,” she said. “I fed him myself like a mama bird. He and I have a very strong bond. I wanted him to bond with me and know that even though he was coming into the classroom, he had me as a security blanket.”

Although Pepper cannot speak in words yet, he has many ways to communicate, she said.

“He loves to get kisses and he will make the ‘mwah’ sound,” she said. “Eventually, he will make some words. He likes to sing a lot of different tunes.”

Jackson said her husband is the children’s music director at Church at Rock Creek in Little Rock. Hearing the songs of him preparing for church has given Pepper something more to learn and put into his birdy repertoire. Their feathered friend also likes the song “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire.

“He likes the chorus and can whistle it, which is very entertaining when we are in the middle of class and he decides he is just going to belt that out,” Jackson said.

The children are so used to Pepper in the classroom, they do not get distracted if he flies over to their desk and sits on their shoulder during a lesson, Jackson said. She said if he is not on their shoulders, or on her shoulder, he will get down on their desks and nibble at the corners of their workbooks. He also has a suction-cupped perch on the window where he likes to bask in the sun.

“He will see his reflection in the window, and he thinks it is another bird so he will whistle at himself,” Jackson said.

When some people think of cockatiels, they think of those with a yellow face, but Pepper has a white face and a gray body. That is how he got his name Pepper. He is about a foot long and is easy to feed. His favorite treats are millet seeds that come in a bunch, but when he does not have that, the students find treats for him. Pepper loves to share popcorn with the fourth-graders, and he also is happy when they bring him Cheerios.

Pepper’s wings had to be clipped after what Jackson describes as “an adventure” he went on several weeks ago. When she was going out the door to take out the trash, Pepper followed her and when he got outside, he went straight up into the air.

“The door spooked him, and he went up like 70 feet in the air. We live backed up to some woods and we lost him, and then we found him and lost him three times because he was up so high he could not fly down. We were scared. He would sit on the limb and chirp at me and pace back and forth and back and forth.”

The teacher said she could not face her students the next day, and she stayed home and searched for Pepper, finally coming to the grim conclusion she would not see him again. But that evening, a phone call came from a man who had seen a post online and said he and his family had her bird at the Maumelle Community Park.

“I sobbed in these people’s arms,” she said. “He flew to me when I walked in the door. We took him home and to the vet and the vet said he was totally fine.”

The fourth-grade teacher said it was by the grace of God that Pepper returned to her home and to the classroom.

“I had 14 kiddos very concerned about him,” she said. “He had a lot of prayers going up for him.”

And now that things are back to normal, Pepper has returned to the school to help students with their studies and remind them of how much love they can feel for a little bird who greets them every morning in class.

“Pepper never meets someone who is not a friend,” she said.