Stefan has a mynah bird named Gilberto who has a vocabulary of nearly 100 words. Gilberto lives in a fairly large parrot cage in Stefan’s apartment in Mississauga, Ontario.

Mynah birds are natives of the Amazon region and are about the size of a large crow. Most Mynahs are black with orange bills and a yellow stripe around their shoulder.

This particular day Stefan is preparing to feed Gilberto his regular ration plus a quarter of an orange as a special treat. As Stefan goes into the kitchen area to get the bird feed, Gilberto is out on the balcony saying repeatedly, "Time to feed Gilberto."

Stefan returns to the balcony with a teacup full of feed and begins talking to Gilberto. Stefan chirps a few times and asks Gilberto, "You ready for your supper?"

The bird acknowledges Stefan’s antics by repeating everything his master says to him. Then Stefan reaches up to the feeding cup which is attached to the inside of the cage.

What happens next is unfortunate, as reported by the Reuters News Agency in Ontario. Stefan, who is only 5’ 6” tall, stands on a chair so he can reach the birdcage.

Did I mention that the chair is actually Stefan’s wife’s wheelchair and the wheels are not locked? That fact, coupled with the location of the wheelchair, make for a terrible accident.

The wheelchair moves and Stefan loses his balance. I did tell you the birdcage was situated on the balcony? When Stefan falls, he falls over the edge of the balcony. What can be worse? Well, Stefan’s apartment is on the 23rd floor.

The coroner reports that Stefan died instantly when he fell onto a concrete patio on the ground floor.