Park City journalist and photographer C.J. Johnson runs a bird sanctuary where she takes care of orphaned birds during the summer months and, once they’re nursed to health, she releases them into the wild.
She also takes care of domestic birds that have either been abandoned by their owners or mistreated in pet stores.
“I’ve been around birds for more than 20 years and I worked at Tracy Aviary for six years, helping with the bird shows and giving tours,” Johnson said during an interview with The Park Record. “I’ve taken classes and read books to learn about bird behavior. I think they are the most magical creatures.”
Still, throughout her years of bird care, she has never seen anything like Coco and Petal.
They are Johnson’s love story of the decade. The birds are inseparable. Coco, the male, watches over Petal as she eats, drinks and sleeps.
He escorts her to and from the seed dish and pushes her with his beak while she sits in a coconut-shell swing.
If any of the other birds get too close to Petal, Coco will flip them with his wings.
Coco, by the way, is a healthy gray cockatiel and Petal is a small, disabled yellow parakeet that can’t walk or fly.
Johnson was so taken by the couple’s relationship that she authored a children’s book called, of course, “Coco and Petal.”
“Because of her severe disabilities I don’t know how long she’ll live,” Johnson said about Petal. “The saddest part of it all is the fact when a cockatiel’s mate dies, the cockatiel will usually die shortly afterwards. So I had a reality check and started taking pictures and filming them, because I don’t know how long they’ll be together.”
At first, Johnson put together the pictures as a book for her family.
“As I did that, I realized I wanted kids all over to read the book because I wanted them to know love is this huge wonderful thing, and if you truly love another creature or person, you don’t see the disabilities,” she said. “Coco doesn’t care Petal can’t fly or walk. He just loves her.”
Coco and Petal were introduced five years ago.
“I already had Coco when Petal was brought to me and I immediately knew something was different about her.”
Petal was hatched with severe physical deformities, Johnson said.
“She doesn’t even sound like a parakeet, but more like a cricket, and when you pick her up, she weighs absolutely nothing,” Johnson said.
In the past, Coco, as the only cockatiel in the cage, never paid attention to the 15 other parakeets, Johnson said.
“He ignored them, but as soon as Petal showed up, she was it for him,” she explained. “He absolutely and completely adores her. When she eats, he sits beside her. She actually has to sit in the bowl to eat because she is so small, but he stays with her until she’s done and then escorts her back to their perch.”
The protective cockatiel isn’t just worried about the other birds in the cage making the moves on his love. He keeps a watch on Johnson as well.
“I can’t hold Petal alone for long because it upsets Coco so much,” she said. “As soon as I put my hand in the cage, he starts squawking. When I take Petal out of the cage, I usually have to take him out at the same time. If I don’t, he runs to the cage door and squawks and screams and causes a huge commotion.”
Writing and taking photographs for the books has only deepened Johnson’s appreciation for anything avian.
“I hope the book will help kids learn to love completely,” she said. “That’s the main reason why I published it.”
C.J. Johnson’s children’s picture book “Coco and Petal” is available at www.amazon.com and wwwcreatespace.com. For more information on the book or helping orphaned birds, call Johnson at (435) 901-1948.