Name: Calliope

Breed: Indian ringneck parakeet

Age: 4

Parents: unknown

Siblings: unknown

Eye color: dark brown

Voice: Apostolia Zoi (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IluM8hnzCYI)

Mate: Nilo

Likes: Nilo, singing

Dislikes: anyone opposed to her and Nilo being together

Personality: She is open-hearted, kind, lovable, and loving, as well as passionate. She has a great sense of humor. She is noisy, loud, and indiscreet. She appreciates the small things in life. Is silly but also serious. She's romantic. As well, she is not afraid of anything.

History: She hatched in Amaliada, Greece, in early 1999. Her owner was an aspiring singer who was fascinated with Brazilian culture, and who was getting tired of Greece's economic problems. They moved to Rio de Janeiro when Calliope was 6 months old, and soon adjusted to life there. Her owner kept practicing her singing, and Calliope soon developed a love of singing as well. When Calliope was 2, she was outide singing, with a crowd of other birds gathered around her. After she had finished, a caracara landed by the crowd, who flew away in fright. Calliope stayed put; the thought of flying away didn't occur to her. The caracara, who introduced himself as Nilo, told her her singing was beautiful, and she thanked him and introduced herself. Nilo, curious, asked where she was from, and she told him. After talking for a few more minutes, they flew off.

During the following weeks, they met and talked often. Despite them being different species, Calliope found herself being attracted to Nilo, who was also attracted to her.

Late one night, when she and Nilo were out flying, another caracara grabbed her in his talons, and started a fight with Nilo. The other caracara, Kadu, who was Nilo's brother, broke Calliope's wings and dropped her. As she fell, she saw Nilo diving after her, trying to save her, but Kadu blocked Nilo's path. Nilo, worried and angry, fought harder, tossing his brother into an electrical transformer. Nilo landed by Calliope, hoping she wasn't dead; luckily, she wasn't. Nilo picked her up gently in his talons, being careful not to hurt her. He set her in a tree hollow outside Rio. Nilo perched on a branch below the hollow, leaving only to bring her food.

A couple months later, Calliope's wings had healed and she could fly again. Late one night, near the end of 2002, she and Nilo were perched on a rooftop overlooking the city. Calliope was pointing out how beautiful the stars and Rio were at night; Nilo agreed and said, "But not as beautiful as you." He paused. "Calliope... could I tell you something?", he asked. Calliope said sure, then Nilo continued, "Since I met you, you've brought joy back into my life. I was sad and lonely for a while, and hearing that lovely voice of yours made me feel a lot better. Now, I love you, Calliope. I don't want to live the rest of my life without you. Will you be my mate?" She happily agreed. Despite them being different species, they love each other more than anything.

*Speaks Greek, knows only a couple words of Portuguese

Relation to Rio: lives in Rio, her mate's brother knew Jewel before she ended up in Tulio's bird sanctuary