As soon as I enter the Wallingford home of Bevin Kelley (aka world-class electronic musician Blevin Blectum), her white male cockatoo, Kiki, emits a horrific squawk. It sounds like Steven Tyler’s voice in Aerosmith’s “Back in the Saddle,” but deeper and more abrasive. By contrast, Kelley’s other bird, a female white-crowned parrot with green feathers, also named Kiki, quietly listens to us chatter about birds from beneath the dining room table.
Both birds are adorable in their own ways, but I warily eye Kiki White as he perches on Kelley’s arm during our interview. He’s prone to nipping humans when excited, or when he hears noises from outside, or when someone makes a sudden move. In this agitated state, his crest rises. It’s beautiful, but Kelley warns that there’s serious strength in his beak, so approach with caution.
