Mingus

Any opinion on what cage is the easiest to keep clean (and otherwise best)?

My stainless steel Avian Adventures is rubbing off some sort of black oxide (a lot). Afraid it's going to poison my bird. Any suggestions on the best cage? Specifically I'm looking for something easy to clean. Don't care whether it is stainless or powder coat, but some cage designs trap debris more than others.

Thanks for all of your responses. Whatever type of voice you have, my point is, IT IS ALREADY PERFECT! When people try to modify their voice to sound more "parroty", that is when the poor bird is stuck trying to imitate some ridiculous sound. The effect is usually the exact opposite from that intended (which is presumably to help the bird speak more clearly). It's much more fun when people just relax and be themselves, letting their birds also be themselves.

One youtube video shows a grey that is very hard to understand. The reason becomes clear when you hear the owner talking in a goofy (sort of annoying) tone with the bird. Another video shows a Red-bellied poicephalus (not famous for clarity) speaking very clearly. The owner speaks in an animated, but very normal voice to her bird. Older books tell you to talk to your bird in a high voice when teaching speech. I say baloney! Be nice, happy, and enthusiastic, but use your real voice. Otherwise your bird only learns to communicate in ridiculous, silly tones. Poor bird! My Timneh is capable of reproducing all of my human pitches, my Jardines is quickly learning to do the same.

7 month old Spanky started saying Hi Baby yesterday, following his year-old Timneh "brother". The day before Kofi also taught Spanky to laugh. Wondering what he'll teach him next.

These things are extremely high in Vitamin A - producing carotenoids and other antioxidant phytonutrients. Parrots seem to like their sweetness, and thier tiny little seeds. The resulting parrot droppings are so orange that you know they are benefitting from them. These berries are small, sweet, and sold dried. They come from Asia. I started offering them to my birds years ago when Costco carried a sweetened, flavored variety. I now buy them online from a dried fruit/nut dealer, and it is worth getting organic to minimize the possibility of pesticides. To be extra-careful I boil the berries in water, drain, cool, then freeze. I serve them thawed & cooled with other cooked vegetables (obviously taking them out after an hour or two, so they doing spoil).

That's hilarious. Poor Alfie ducking 2-dimensional goshawks.

Janfromboone is right on the money. Kofi is a huge fan of Einstein from Texas, and is (much to my surprise) picking up practically everything she says! Funny too, he's a Timneh, she's a Congo, but when you close your eyes you can't really tell which one of them is talking. Greg

Yeah, Kofi did not say much for a while, but suddenly he started repeating phrases, and I reinforced them by creating associations (for apple I gave him apple, for grape I gave him grape, ...). Just to clarify: I'm showing him videos of other parrots (mostly Greys) talking. I try to avoid videos with too much whisling. He does not need to learn any more of the that! Love Alfie's picture by the way.

(hard to read so I'm reposting in black and white) This morning Kofi asked "Want some Apple?", "Corn", "Whatddya Want?". Last night he said "Here we Go, WEEEEEEEE!", and "you're all wet!". He learned all of this from Youtube Videos of other parrots. When he says them I use them in context, and he quickly learns to use them intelligently. Youtube is just a supplemental tool in teaching him speech, but because it allows him to see a parrot like him speaking, it seems to be very effective. He loves talking back to it, and I'm constantly searching for new parrot videos to model good speaking.

This morning Kofi asked "Want some Apple?", "Corn", "Whatddya Want?". Last night he said "Here we Go, WEEEEEEEE!", and "you're all wet!". He learned all of this from Youtube Videos of other parrots. When he says them I use them in context, and he quickly learns to use them intelligently. Youtube is just a supplemental tool in teaching him speech, but because it allows him to see a parrot like him speaking, it seems to be very effective. He loves talking back to it, and I'm constantly searching for new parrot videos to model good speaking.

Last week Kofi said apple. An hour later he understood what the word meant. Within 3 days he was accurately naming apple, corn, and grape any time I ask. He's accurate something like 85% of the time. He suddenly "gets it". Now I'm naming all of his foods so he has a chance to associate names with them.

Good idea, give me a couple of days and I'll post some pics.

Got 2 Avian Adventure Poquitos, my Timneh & Jardine's love them. They are heavy, but small enough to carry inside, put the birds in, lock them, then take them outdoors. We had a relaxing morning on the patio. A nice side benefit is that they eat all of their messy food (pomegranates, squash, cherries,...) on the patio, sparing my living room! It is worth looking around for the best prices.

I could never bring myself to actually do it. It just seemed so stupid, the puppet sits in my closet. Plus I suspect that my parrot will know that the voice is actually coming from my mouth.

It may be natural for cats to eat birds, but the concentration of cat (predators in general) that we have created by keeping so many in such populated areas puts a completely unnatural level of pressure on wild birds. They account for a large number of kills during migrations.

My birds love these, they really talk back to them after a while... Kofi is actually picking up new words from the videos. I play them each a few minutes every day. Always looking for new stuff, too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOD3-IJVru8

Let your bird frequently watch other greys talking online (Einstein vocabulary practice, salvatores phone call,... Conversation with Tui,... on youtube). My birds take it for an actual bird, and become encouraged to join in. Other than that, just keep talking to your bird as much as possible, just as you would with a kid.

ABSOLUTELY!!!!! The first thing is to get him to feel loved by you. The second thing is to talk to him all of the time, as you would a baby. Here is a great trick that helps my birds a lot... Go to youtube, google some talking Greys (Einstien's vocabulary practice, Salvatore's phone call, etc.), and play the videos often, where your TAG can see them. Talk to the video while it is playing, as if it is a parrot. This really encouraged my Kofi (TAG) to talk more.

Kofi (my Timneh) is a smart & happy boy who is up to 32 words now. He's just over a year old. Spanky, a chunky, 4.5 month old Jardine's has been with us for a week. This morning spoke his first 2 words (Kofi's name, then my name), and did so in a voice that I swear is as clear as any Grey. I was pleasantly amazed, and would not have believed it if he did not repeat the feat several times.

Thanks to all, I just put a deposit down on a baby Jardine's

My Amazon died (hormonal, age, etc.). While she & Kofi preferred to keep a distance, they seemed happy to have their cages near one another, and talk back and forth. Now Kofi gets 100% of the attention, but he's also left completely alone when I'm at work, the gym, hiking,... Trying to decide whether to keep things like this, or clean up the empty cage and get a new companion parrot (thinking of a Jardine's, which I've always wanted). Would love to hear your opions & experiences.

If he's trying, he'll get it. Just keep encouraging his efforts as you would with a baby human. I find that Kofi learns best from context (talking about something like the squirrel outside the window, the corn he is eating, the shower he is taking,...).

As soon as I become tech-saavy I'll do that.

Maybe this is normal, maybe all of you have had this feeling. My 11 month old timneh is undoubtedly the most speech-inclined parrot I've ever known. He went from baby squawks to trying to say everything in just a few months. Each morning he sits at the patio window and comments on the squirrels, birds, and people passing by. It seems like he tries to say everything I say. Even his non-words (bird imitations, maniacal laughter, etc.) are amazingly clear and realistic. He's incredibly eager to interact, play, and communicate.