Merry and Pippin

Let me present to you: Merry and Pippin!
  
Verdict is given - I tested out the names on the budgies last night, and they blinked at me affirmatively for Merry and Pippin. Which would be the nicknames for Montgomery and Pequenita. So, there I have the Star Trek connection after all (Montgomery Scott aka Scotty), and Pippin is actually swedish for 'the birdie', which is gender neutral, so I definitely think it can be used for a female bird. Then we have the French king, Pippin the small/little (Pepin le bref), son of Charlemagne unless I am mistaken (will check shortly) who lived in the 700's, and Pippin is definitely small! Which, with the spanish spelling of Geoffs invented portuguese, is also what Pequenita means (feminine diminutive form of pequeno)! Merry is a very merry bird indeed, so in all, I think my birds chose the right names.

I would hereby like to thank all the contributors of names. There has been a wide variety on themes from stars to pirates to star trek to mexican food to flying related names to patriotic winnipegian names. See comments of Chirp for a few. Romy and Sofia both thought of LoTR-names, so I think I owe them at least half a dinner each. Sofia was also rather persistent about the Star Trek theme, which I really liked myself. Scotty and Seven was a close-up in the competition. Christine's suggestions should get some kind of honourable mention for their originality, and my parents ideas are supersweet as always... David's flying related ones were as well really close and kept to the preferred two-syllable structure. And then we have Jack's pirate suggestions Guybrush Threepwood and Gunpowder Gertie which just deserve to be mentioned... It might get to be their superhero alter egos. Then I got quite a few other suggestions in verbal form, which I thus of course can't remember, from Jonathan and Geoff and others (and, me deep apologies if I forgot anyone now...)

Merry and Pippin had their first flight yesterday, and they are very skilled. The first time they were however happy to jump up on my arm to be carried back to their home after a having ended up in the kitchen. In the evening however they didn't really feel like going to sleep, so it took a bit of persuasion. Pippin has no problem to be carried around perched on my finger, as long as she doesn't lose Merry out of sight, then she takes off and flies back to him. And Merry is not really interested at all in being carried around, he's too much of an explorer. But with one bird on each hand, it works well. They are then very well-behaved and jumps into the cage (the Shire) with a merry chirp.

Ok, back to work.