I'm walking back from Slash Run and the Petworth Dance Project Fundraiser when I come across two of the largest pigeons I've ever seen just hanging out on the sidewalk. Huge pigeons. And they just stare at me. "Hello!" one said. Uh... what?

So I said hello back (it's only polite, afterall).

Say hello to Tiger and Sandy, 15 year old and 10 year old Amazon Parrots, just hanging out on the 200 block of Upshur Street. Owned by local resident Kazm, these two chatterboxes hang out in front of the laundromat at 223 Upshur St NW, where Kazm manages.

*Whattaya looking at? Ain't ya ever seen birds before?*

Tiger and Sandy are a funny pair. They'll chat, but they won't let you near them. "I had Sandy first," Kazm told me. "I got Tiger to keep her company, and ever since then they won't let me near them anymore. She used to sit on my shoulder, would sit on yours even. Now they just hang out together and yell at me if I get too close," he said with a laugh.

*Kazm, hanging out with his parrots and friends on the 200 block of Upshur St NW*

The two of them crawled up a small iron fence to get a closer look at me. I have to say, I know how to approach dogs and cats so they aren't frightened, where to pet them, etc. No clue on birds... and they were eyeballing me. And those eyes look smart. I really didn't want one of those parrots to bite my finger.

The two of them bobbed their heads and looked at each other, then at me. "Hello." Birds of a feather... as they say

*Hello. (Tiger on top, Sandy pulling herself up by claw and beak.)*

Kazm said that during the day he puts Tiger and Sandy up in the tree along Upshur so they can hang out and chew on the branches and leaves. "Sometimes people walk by and Sandy will call out 'Hello!' from the tree, and the person will jump, looking around. Pretty funny," he said.

Kazm also has a beautiful white Cockatoo named Mercedes that loves music and loves to dance. He showed me a video of Mercedes dancing away, bobbing her head and fluffing out her large head feathers. Then he brought her out. She's gorgeous and so luxuriously soft (she let me stroke her head and back -- wasn't gonna try that with Tiger or Sandy).

A very sweet bird, she also kept saying "Hello!" in what I swear sounded like a British accent. So of course, I had to keep saying Hello back. It wasn't a deep conversation, but then, my dog hasn't ever said one single word to me, so there's that.