If I had to vote I would have to vote for "resting". All because I have obsessive house mates and friends who would cry foul at using "sleeping" whereas that term is never used in the sketch.
If it were totally up to me though I'd rename the card "Ex-parrot" so that when played it would be up to my fellow players to take on the role of shopkeepers desperately trying to convince me of it being anything but dead.
Or would that influence the rest of the deck too much? Regards, Niels