Dorian, an African grey parrot best known as one of the birds of ThreeBirds Coffee House, passed away on April 23. He was 30 years old.
Dorian was adopted into what would become the ThreeBirds family by owners Joseph Langdon and Jennifer Murray in 2018.
“We were in the midst of big renovations and, actually, we were worried that he might be traumatized going from the only environment that he knew to a new place that has a lot of construction and people and loud noises,” Langdon said. “But as soon as he got here, we realized that he loves anything to do with construction.”
“He loves drill noises and all sorts of sounds,” he continued. “So he was really in his element.”
Dorian maintained his high energy when he began his job greeting customers once the coffee house opened for business in 2019.
Langdon mentioned that he was not sure how social Dorian would be, but that he — and the rest of the Easton community — were pleased to find that Dorian was a born entertainer.
“He would say hello to people, he would sing along or dance along to little songs everyone would play for him,” Langdon said. “So he was definitely engaged with everybody who came by.”
Members of both the Lafayette and greater Easton communities reminisced on the time they spent with Dorian.
“He was the only bird I’ve ever actually liked,” Brooke Lippe ‘25 said. She mentioned at first avoiding the cages until a friend brought her over to the birds, which she found to be “really cool.”
Lauren Daniels ‘25 remembered a time when videos of Dorian on her Instagram feed brought her some comfort while she was homesick abroad in Edinburgh, Scotland.
“It immediately brought a smile to my face,” Daniels wrote in an email.
Langdon mentioned that some child patrons, who would typically visit Dorian on their visit to the cafe, have been especially vocal about missing him. He mentioned that one young visitor — who always made sure to say goodbye to the bird when leaving the coffeehouse — asked to say goodbye to the flowers set up in Dorian’s memory.
The announcement of Dorian’s passing on the ThreeBirds’ Instagram generated an outpouring of support from the Easton community. Over a hundred commenters sent well wishes to his owners, highlighting Dorian’s dancing, “sweet personality” and energy.