Carlinville Macaws’ futures up in the air
Dave Bakke Column
Del Nejmanowski is a colorful, controversial character in Carlinville. At 81 years old, Del has been on top of the heap and near the bottom as well, carrying wads of cash during the fat years and all but broke in the lean times.
Through his highs and lows, one thing has remained constant - his birds.
You may find it hard to believe, but Del has a small flock of macaws (think parrots on steroids), which he has trained to follow him. When he goes out for breakfast in the morning, they fly above his car, then sit outside the restaurant until he comes out. You can ask anyone in Carlinville about it.
Del has driven in parades; his macaws flying above his car along the parade route. It was a winning entry at a parade in Jerseyville.
Del gets his birds to fly to his vehicle by honking the horn or by whistling for them.
“I can take them to St. Louis,” he said, “or Springfield and let them out. When I’m done with my business, I honk the horn or whistle and they’ll come back.”
He drives around the neighborhood, honking his horn repeatedly until the birds show up. At least one neighbor called the police to complain about the noise. There have been other complaints as well.
Neighbors see the birds as a nuisance. You know birds - the world is their bathroom. A macaw can also be annoyingly loud. Del’s neighbors suspect the birds of damaging their houses’ roofs and siding by their pecking. Del said that is nonsense.
“They won’t do any damage to a house,” he said. “They just peck at the rocks on the shingles. Squirrels do the damage.”
He would get an argument on that point - and he did while we were having coffee at Hardee’s.
“Ask him if those birds ever damaged a roof or siding,” a man from a nearby table called over to us. He insisted that they had.
“Do you have any proof of that?” Del asked him. “If you do, you’re the first one.”
Over the years, Del has found one or two of his macaws shot dead. Previously, he offered a $5,000 reward for information. That didn’t work. Now he has asked city officials for help.
Del said he got into it with Police Chief David Haley because the chief, Del said, wouldn’t do anything to protect his birds.
“I cussed him out,” Del said. “I called him every name I could think of.”
Cussing out the police chief probably is not the best approach. But the chief confirms that is what Del did.
Then, a few weeks ago, Del appeared before the Carlinville City Council to ask for an ordinance protecting his birds. He wanted it modeled on an ordinance in Olney that protects that town’s white squirrels, which have become a tourist attraction.
Del’s request was turned over to the public safety committee and has not yet come back before the council. Most doubt that it ever will.
The house in which Del lived in recent years is gone. Only a vacant lot remains. Del said he was illegally evicted. The house was eventually sold and torn down.
Del moved in with his son. The birds will visit the new place but the old place is still home to them. They fly around town during the day and roost in the trees where the house used to be. Del puts food out for them.
A few days ago, Del drove me to the site of his old house, and we looked for his birds. He honked the horn repeatedly, but no macaws turned up. They fly all over town during the day so they could have been anywhere - Blackburn College, maybe, or on the hospital grounds.
“I was once offered $5,000 for one,” Del noted as he turned his truck from an alley back onto the street. “They’ll go for about $2,500 in a pet store.”
“Did you sell it?” I asked.
“No,” he said. “Would you sell one of your children for $5,000?”
I asked him whether he would consider donating his birds to a zoo, such as Springfield’s Henson Robinson Zoo. He was noncommittal on that idea. Putting the birds in a zoo would be difficult for him. He has bonded with them and they with him.
A macaw’s life span can be longer than a human’s. Del has owned some of these birds for about 25 years.
But now that the house is gone, it might be time. Putting the birds in a zoo where they can be admired would probably be best for everyone at this point, and that includes the macaws.