KoKo Kastelberg

We in the Kastelberg family mourn the loss of our beloved Chirpy bird, KoKo. She is survived by her human family members Karl, Steve, Kate (Katy), Loretta, and James and her cat family members MeMe, Sherlock, and Watson. She was an incredibly smart, sassy, cute, and fun

Congo African Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus erithacus). Laid and hatched in Apex, North Carolina, she was raised and grew up in New Hill, North Carolina as the Kastelberg family bird. African greys tend to become most attached to one person and Karl was her person for life. She lived with Karl at different locations all over North Carolina throughout her life and was always a loving and loyal companion. Chirpy was a fun-loving and feisty bird who loved her family but could give a little bite every now and then. Sometimes the bites weren’t so little but we still loved her. During her early years, Chirpy also loved and was loved by Cindy Kastelberg, Steve’s wife and Karl and Kate’s Mom, before Cindy’s passing in 1999. KoKo was nicknamed Chirpy by Steve years ago because she was so good at chirping.

We never ceased to be impressed with Chirpy’s ability to have fun all the time and to understand us better than most people would think a bird ever could. Other family members and friends often commented on how smart, funny, and beautiful she was. Chirpy loved singing and chirping in addition to imitating people, other animals, and noises, all of which she did astonishingly  well. She loved dancing and would dance with just about anyone who would dance with her even if the music was bad or there was no music at all. She loved dancing with Kate. Despite her cuteness, Chirpy was also no stranger to a bit of antics and mischief. She was known to give people a side eye from time to time but she always managed to be funny when she did. Although she usually had plenty of toys to chew on, Chirpy could occasionally be a little sneaky and was known to chew on things she shouldn’t be chewing on because it was just too fun. Nothing and no one was ever truly safe from her beak, especially peanuts and crackers. She loved to nibble toes. She loved backward head pets from Karl from both his hands and feet. She could find a way to have fun almost anywhere and was always ready to party.

Thank you Chirpy for over 30 years of songs and chirps, answering the phone and having a conversation afterwards, opening and closing doors, appliance beeping, coughing and sneezing, laughing, yawning, clearing your throat, barking and meowing, water draining, and lots of other fun sounds and noises. Thank you for calling the dog. Thank you for calling the cat. Thank you for all your kisses. Thank you for chewing up junk mail, wrapping paper, paper towel rolls, wood, and almost any other thing you could get your beak around. Thank you for your woos, eh hehs, and rights. Thank you for saying good mornin' and night night, saying hey and asking us how we were doing, yelling to make sure we were almost ready, yelling to ask Karl if he wanted a beer, and yelling for Katy upstairs. Thank you most of all for your cuteness, cleverness, and love. You will be deeply missed. We will always love you.