Arrrrgh, matey, it's a pirate's bird!: 'Captain' Biro is bound for the fair with his exotic feathered crew
By Ryan Feeney, Columbia Basin bureau
MOSES LAKE - Chris Biro is a modern day pirate whose vessel is a 1977 Winnebago motor home that navigates a sea of winding gray highways.
With 60 exotic parrots and a 26-foot clipper ship, Biro - or captain, as most know him - brought his popular show The Pirate's Parrots to the Grant County Fair last Tuesday through Saturday.
You wouldn't believe it by looking at him, but this sword and pistol wielding buccaneer is really a land lubber in disguise. He was a drill sergeant in the U.S. Army reserves and was studying to be an electrical engineer when he happened upon his true calling a decade ago.
Someone, who saw him riding around Walla Walla on a motorcycle with a blue and gold parrot named Jeremy on his shoulder, tracked him down and had him bring the bird to show and tell at a local school.
A decade later, he and his wife, Gudrun, are hop scotching from fair to fair.
To find Biro, just look for two tall ship masts and a large crowd of children captivated by the wildly colorful and well-trained birds.
The show blends Biro's intimate knowledge of the birds with humor and a hands-on approach to teaching people that the birds and other animals need special care as pets and protection in the wild.
People just gave 50 of his 60 exotic birds to him because they didn't want them as pets anymore, he said.
The 45-minute show features about a dozen parrots from large to small from South America, Africa, Australia and India. Some of the parrots can say things like: "I love you" and "Crackers" "Birds don't talk."
People can hold and pet the birds after the show.
"There's kind of a trick to this," he said. "You give people general information and don't preach. It's a hands-on program with the parrots and you let people see for themselves why it is important to save them."
There are 325 species of parrots and one-third of them are considered endangered because the rain forests where the birds live are being cut down, he said.
Before his days as a favorite attraction of fair-goers, Biro, of Morton, said he and a parrot spent three years visiting schools, elderly care centers and parties for free in his spare time.
To make a few bucks, he would scout out Halloween costume parties that offered prize money for the best costume.
In a pirate suit with a real parrot on his shoulder, he rarely lost.
His show is so popular that fairs, parties and carnivals throughout the country have him booked SOME dates for the next three years. His next stop is at the Tennessee Mid South Fair on Sept. 23.
He said he's shipping out early for that one, which will take him about a week to drive to in the motor home with the boat in tow.
"I do this because it's fun; I'm not getting rich," he said. "It's addicting to do something people really enjoy."
The show is also on the World Wide Web at www.thepiratesparrot.com.
NOTE: We have taken the liberty to make a couple minor editing changes to this article.