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Wilda, who is 39, lives on the second floor of an antique store in downtown Lakeland.
Standing about two feet tall, she lives among glassware, vinyl records, furniture, lamps, collectibles, paintings and artwork. She has lived at Lloyd’s of Lakeland, 301 North Kentucky Ave., since 1994.
Wilda’s a scarlet macaw. Outside, a two-story version of her — painted by TRATOS — overlooks East Bay Street.
Before she was Wilda
Admirers stop by during First Fridays or on Saturdays after a visit to the Lakeland Downtown Farmers Curb Market. Wilda eyes them curiously, climbing over branches and up the bars of her large cage. She clucks her tongue, preens her feathers, and shows off her red-yellow-and-blue wings.
She wasn’t always Wilda. She used to be Waldo.
Before moving into the antique shop, Waldo lived in a home on Lakeland’s southside with Oscar, a cockatoo. Their owner, John Somerville, “kept them out by the pool because they looked tropical,” says Lloyd’s owner Steve DeBats.
In the ’90s, Somerville took a vacation to the Middle East. Oscar had died by this time, and Somerville left Waldo in his antique business in the same building where Lloyd’s is now. DeBats promised to take care of him.
“We were supposed to just watch the bird for two weeks, and about three years later when we decided to buy the building, she was still here,” DeBats recalls.
When Somerville acquired the bird, he wanted to ensure he was getting a male. “He paid extra money to have him DNA tested, because the males grow bigger, they talk better and they cost more,” DeBats says.
Then one day about seven years ago, Waldo laid the first of three eggs.
Now she’s named after DeBats’s good friend Wilda Gould, who died in 2003.
A stuffed leopard
Wilda isn’t the only surprise at Lloyd’s. Before he bought the business, DeBats says, Somerville had converted the second floor into a 6,000-square-foot private residence with two fireplaces and a hot tub.
Today, the upstairs is used as additional retail space, but the vestiges of Somerville’s home are still evident.
“It was a crazy house. It really was. He had statuary,” DeBats said. “He had a stuffed leopard.”
Her person
Scarlet macaws need interaction, so the busy antique store is a great place for her.
“We have a lot of people who come in and sing to her,” DeBats says. “She’ll dance back and forth, and … sometimes, if you laugh, she’ll start laughing, and she kind of says hello.”
The shoppers are Wilda’s entertainment. DeBats is her person.
“The minute I go up, if I walk into the room and start whistling a little bit, she’ll start squawking ’cause she knows I’m the treat guy,” he says. “I’ll sit up there and eat lunch with her sometimes, when we’re not open.”
Almonds are her favorite.
Watch your toes
DeBats says they don’t sell the furniture immediately surrounding her cage.
“She really doesn’t like change. … She’s like a little old man as far as wanting what she wants.”
DeBats used to leave her cage door open, but Wilda can’t be trusted around open-toed shoes. Everyone thinks it’s so cute when she waddles along, but “she’s coming after your toes, and she will bite them.”
Scarlet Macaws can live up to 75 years in captivity. Wilda will be 40 in November. DeBats is 64. His granddaughter, Layla DeBats, is 12. She might be Wilda’s next caretaker.
She’s intimidated by Wilda, but they’re working on it.
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