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On a mission 20200221_142547.mp4

I have another episode coming soon involving another well-known movie score. Stay tuned!

Your parrot is different -- he's sexually mature and he has changed over the years as you have. I do think parrot-human relationships have their ups and downs. I consider this just a less favourable season right now for you guys. And seasons change (sometimes slower than we want). You have my full empathy - it's sad to be have to be so wary and careful with a parrot -- esp when things used to be calmer/safer. Hoping better days to come!!!

Just be glad he is not trying to make a neoow burger out of your fingers and hands....LOL Always remember, it could be worse, I'm starting to think after 8 years with Sukei, relationships have their ups and downs. There not like dogs and cats, did you know that parrots have a completely different chromosome structure then dogs and cats, and humans for that matter. They are unique in and of themselves. I think maybe its the fact they were never meant to be domesticated, they are free spirits that get fed up with our BS from time to time. Truth is, I wouldn't have taken Sukei on were it not for his imminent death. No I rather think they are much more suited to being in the wild, we just try to bend them to what we want, and sometimes they wont be bended. Not without a fight any ways In my case, you let them die, or try to give them a life...... I dunno, that is a question that will be debated for a long time. Relationships are strange, I have 4 kids in my family including me, and as children, we always had a bet, who would get married first. I came in 1st 3rd and 5th LOL, I'm no saint and don't pretend to be. These poor guys dont get a choice, free will is out the door. So I imagine sometimes, they act out with the only free will they can. I imagine he loves you, I would not take it personally. Next week, he may decide that you are better then the invention of sliced cheese Its the commitment we make, and they loose sight of it, or don't understand it. You will be ok I promise, all things pass.

Don't feel bad about venting. It's hard not to be upset when you spend so much time trying to make things as good as you can for one who seems totally unappreciative and even hostile. I've felt that way several times myself! That's what we are here for, to share the joys and perils of fids.

In good news- Alfie flew to me (by choice) this evening and perched on my knee for a few seconds. He was still in 'adventure mode' though so didn't stop long, wandered off down my leg and on to the sofa before flying back to his shelves. But hey, I'll take it... after being mostly ignored (or lunged at!) Please excuse my whining post. I was feeling particularly run down and exhausted yesterday so everything seemed a lot worse than it perhaps is. I know I just need to be patient and ride it out. I can also recite the type of response I would be giving someone else if they had posted a similar story! I just want a happy and healthy bird. If he hates me, so be it... so long as he's happy and healthy whilst hating me! 😂

It's so wonderful that they have each other, even if they do annoy each other at times. OK - I actually could tell a story every day, but half of them nobody believes. Here is one though. Tobie's newest phrase is to do with "the cage". I think he has just figured out what to call that wire box he lives in. This is how it goes. "Where's Tobie? Tobie in the cage?" Where's Mamma? Mamma going in the cage? Tucker in the cage? I'm going! I'm going! I'm going in the cage? (now he goes in the cage and eats a bite, then ......) Bird in the cage!!! Jan, Jan, Jan, Hey Jan, ---Bird in the cage". About that time I've just gotten the camera set up and he stops the chatter.

From a youngster, a Grey will start to make sounds and noises, it's possible that they are practicing speech, and sounding out sounds. Most Grey's talk at around 1 year old, some earlier, some later, some say few words, some say many, you never know! Does your baby make sounds or talk? Jayd

The other night I was on the phone with my Mom, Paco was happily playing on his spinning playgym and got a little to rambunctious and slipped a bit, losing his balance for a moment. He looked at me and hollered "Woooooowwwww!" I use this exclamation whenever him and I are doing something that I think might cause him a bit of fear, or hesitation, or when I want him to know that we are doing something that is an adventure. Even without really being able to make a facial expression, it was clear that he was relieved he caught himself and was ok. Thanks for starting this post Dan, I hope I can continue to add to it.

More Grey Cognition; Joey's treat rewards are pine nuts and salt-free pretzels which are only given to him on special occasions, as training rewards and as treats sparingly. Joey is very weight-conscious and is careful to only eat what he needs and does eat a balanced diet of all that is offered to him. We, as does danmcq, use all interactions (as much as we can) for training . So, after breakfast, (since Jay does that the majority of the time), Jay asks Joey if he wants a "good nut" and shows him the bag of pine nuts. After a pause, Jay will give him one at a time (he gets two altogether) which Joey savors. Then, later, after play time, he is shown the pretzel bag and is asked if he wants a "good nut" and then he gets a pretzel. (We only started this a few days ago) Well, today is my day off and I had the breakfast duty today. After breakfast, I was cleaning up and preparing veggie plates when I heard Joey say "WANNA GOOD NUT!". OOPPSS! I had forgotten his routine of getting a pine nut after breakfast...as I headed over to show him the bag, he reminded me "Good Nut!!" My bad...he certainly was letting me know in no uncertain terms that he was upset he didn't get his nut. So, I went back to what I was doing...I then heard Joey again say "Good Nut!" I explained to him that he already had his nuts and again he said "Good nut!" I offered him a pine nut and he pushed my hand away and said "Good Nut!!" Jay yelled out, "He wants his pretzel". Sure enough, he took his pretzel and took ten minutes to savor that pretzel. Then he started whistling his own tune and danced to it before turning to his toys to play....amazing... Joey is our 3 year old rescue and it's taken us a long time to get to this point. I wish we could have had him as a fledgling... Spock; Tango, our 'Too says "Whatcha doing?" at which we answer "cooking, getting babies' food, cleaning, etc.". So now Spock will fly over to our shoulder and say "Doing?" and he will be looking down at whatever you are doing and expect an answer, such as "on the computer", "fixing breakfast", "fixing veggies" (at which time he will climb down to examine the process further and if it is veggies, he will help by tossing out what he doesn't want or like and eating whatever he does LOL). Other than a few phrases like "Gimmee a kiss", "Good Water", etc. he still using single words to get across his meaning. He is still a bird of few words...lol! Maggie

My daughter was being cranky one night...it was about time for bed. Wait, only one night of being cranky? HA! I wish! We always let her watch mickey mouse and then bed time. So, she was cranky as all get out, Jasper looks at her and says, 'want to watch mickey mouse?' (that's what we say)! It's amazing to me what these birds understand! Oh and then the dogs where barking to come inside and Jasper said, 'Let the dogs in!'

He may or may not truly understand, but it certanly appears that he does by his response. Obviously you consistently use that phrase each time a cage movement occurs, thus "It's ok", is what he has verbally and mentally linked to that event. I tell Dayo "It's OK", everytime something happens that he does not need to fear. Over the last few years, he will slip or see something a little scary and well assure himself verbally "It's ok Dayo". You are on the right path and your Grey is communicating to you, in my opinion. Thanks for sharing this. I appreciate all the others comments too and look forward to this being a jam packed thread with everyones experiences.

That is really amazing. If I have to move Morgan's cage while he's in it, I say in a calm voice, "It's OK." The other day, I sorta bumped him, and said, "Sorry, Morgan, I didn't mean to bump you." And he said, "It's OK." I was not moving the cage at the time!!! Now I wonder if he has put together what "It's OK" might mean, or if he was just babbling. He's now almost 9 months old, so I don't expect him to understand all that much, but maybe he does!!! Great story, Dan!

I'm having some troubles with Alfie in that he doesn't seem to tolerate me any more... let alone like me. Alfie has been with me for his whole life- since he was 11 weeks old. I have always been his primary caregiver. He is going to be 17 years old this year. I'll be the first person to admit I haven't always been the best owner I could be over the years. I got Alfie when I was 17 years old and thought I had life all figured out (as you do at that age). Well, life happened and I wasn't always as present as I should be for Alfie and he didn't get all the attention he deserved. Since joining these forums I have been trying to correct that and Alfie get a lot more attention and time out of his cage than he probably ever has these days. The problem is... he doesn't seem to like me anymore. Now I'm well aware that greys will have their 'favourite' person and that this can shift and change. I've got no problem with that. At the moment his favourite person is my housemate, who has very little to do with him but is able to give him the odd head scratch and treat. This is fine and I have no problem with that. I like that they have become friends over the years as my housemate never used to like Aflie (or the noise he made). Last year there was a bit of upheaval as I was redecorating the rest of the house so the cats had to live in the same space as Alfie for a few weeks, which meant he has less out of cage time. There was a lot of noise and people coming and going because I was having flooring fitted and family came round to help decorate the other rooms. Alfie's room/space hasn't been changed- other than having to live with the cats for a few weeks. I also had a biiig hair cut and now have shorter hair. He took a dislike to me after all that and would fly to the back of my head and bite it a few times. We got past that but it's never been the same between us. He stopped letting me scratch his head- either through the bars or when he was out of his cage. He stopped putting his head down for scratches and it got less and less as time went on. I can't just walk up to Alfie and start scratching his head as that is a sure fire way of getting bitten- you have to wait for him to offer his head/neck to you. He doesn't do that at all anymore- even when it's time for him to go to sleep. I can't remember the last time he asked for scritches from me. He will ask my housemate, but never me. When he is out of his cage he comes out and pretty much does his own thing. He plays with his toys and throws things around and flies to whatever perch/surface takes his fancy. He no longer wishes to fly to me, either of his own accord or when asked. I know I shouldn't apply human emotions to his behaviours but I'm feeling pretty run down from work and being a bit poorly over the last few weeks so I keep finding myself getting quite emotional about this. I'm trying to remain cheerful in front of Alfie but it's now progressed to the point where I can't even give him a treat. I always try and reward him with a tasty treat like a walnut or banana chip when he goes into his cage nicely... but now he sees this as an opportunity to lunge at my hand rather than take the treat. Now I'm finding that I'm really nervous around him (I know, I know, he'll pick up on that!!) and I'm really wary of him lunging at me or trying to bite me. Is there anything I can do to try and repair this relationship or do I just have to deal with whatever comes my way? I can stand right next to his cage and chat to him and he doesn't show signs of anger/aggression. When I get him to go back to his cage I'm asking him to step up on to a perch rather than my hand- usually because I can't reach where he is but also because I'm too nervous to offer my hand/arm. When he comes out he just climbs out of his own accord- if I offer an arm he ignores me and won't move until I get out of his way so he can climb out himself. I don't care if I'm not his favourite person but something has definitely shifted over the last year and I worry about how nervous I am around him now. I don't know how to try and shift things back to how they were before... I wasn't the favourite but I was able to give him scritches and interact with him more without worrying about him lunging at me.