DavidH

Although the reporter claims this is the first study of its kind, I read of an earlier one with crows at UC Berkeley. From ScienceDaily (5/19/09): "Mockingbirds -- No Bird Brains -- Can Recognize A Face In A Crowd "The birds are watching. They know who you are. And they will attack. Nope, not Hitchcock. It's science. University of Florida biologists are reporting that mockingbirds recognize and remember people whom the birds perceive as threatening their nests. If the white-and-grey songbirds common in cities and towns throughout the Southeast spot their unwelcome guests, they screech, dive bomb and even sometimes graze the visitors' heads -- while ignoring other passers-by or nearby strangers. "We tend to view all mockingbirds as equal, but the feeling is not mutual," said Doug Levey, a UF professor of biology. "Mockingbirds certainly do not view all humans as equal." The research is described in a paper set to appear next week in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The paper describes the first published research showing that wild animals living in their natural settings recognize individuals of other species, Levey said. It may provide clues as to why mockingbirds and selected other bird and animal species flourish in heavily populated cities and suburbs -- while other species either grow rare or disappear entirely. "The real puzzle in the field of urban ecology is to figure out why certain species thrive around humans," Levey said. "One of the hypotheses is that they have some innate ability to adapt and innovate in ways that other species don't." Mockingbirds are among the most common birds on the University of Florida campus in Gainesville, where they nest in trees and shrubs close to the ground. For the research, student volunteers walked up to the nests, reached through the foliage and gently touched the nests' edges, then walked away. The same volunteers repeated the same visits again the next day, and again for two more days. On the fifth day, however, different volunteers approached the nests. All told, 10 volunteers tested 24 nests at least five times last spring and summer, during the mockingbird nesting season. It didn't take a bird's eye view to spot the resulting pattern, Levey said. On the third and fourth days, the birds flushed from their nests more rapidly each time the increasingly familiar students appeared -- even though the students took different paths toward the nests on successive days and wore different clothes. The birds also gave more alarm calls and flew more and aggressively each succeeding day, with some especially defensive birds even grazing intruders' heads -- not exactly deadly, but annoying, because the birds tend to hit the same spot repeatedly, Levey said. And yet when different students approached the nests on the fifth day, the birds hardly ruffled their feathers, waiting to flush until last moment. They also gave fewer alarm calls and attacked much less than on the previous day with the familiar intruder. On a campus of 51,000-plus students, paths are filled with students walking back and forth from class all day every weekday -- so it's no stretch to say that thousands of different people come within a few feet of mockingbird nests during the breeding season. And yet, the mockingbirds in the study were clearly able to recognize and remember a single individual, based on just two brief negative encounters at their nest. Levey said that sharply contrasts with laboratory studies, in which pigeons recognized people only after extensive training. "Sixty seconds of exposure was all it took for mockingbirds to learn to identify different individuals and pick them out of all other students on campus," Levey said. For most wild animals, urban development brings less habitat and more predators. Many species flee or die off, but a few persist, and some thrive. It seems obvious that these species do better around people, but why? Few people bother mockingbird nests, so that is hardly an answer. Rather, Levey said, the birds' ability to recognize people suggests perceptual powers that give them an edge in dealing with the complexities of urban environments -- such as being able to judge which cats may be aware of nests and which are simply passing blithely nearby. "We don't believe mockingbirds evolved an ability to distinguish between humans. Mockingbirds and humans haven't been living in close association long enough for that to occur." Levey said. "We think instead that our experiments reveal an underlying ability to be incredibly perceptive of everything around them, and to respond appropriately when the stakes are high."

They're all greyt, but the sleeping one is REALLY GREYT!

What a pair! Greeeeeyt!

NPR has the video too: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103629651&sc=emaf Parrots Rock!

Count Greycula

Jason, There's a lot of good stuff on the web. Here's my favorite parrot website: http://www.parrots.org/ You can link to many other good sites from there.

Great pics. Thanks!

Go for it, Shannon. Sounds like you'd be a greyyyt parront.

Nice. I took Shanti to Taco Bell the other day. He loved it.

>>I guarantee you PETA and all the animal welfare groups have stepped forward. >> PETA and other animal welfare groups are not the enemy of parrots or of people who have them as companion animals. On the contrary, animal welfare groups are our friends and advocates and have helped protect animals all over the world. It is smart to get involved early on with legislation, bearing in mind that the way a bill is first drafted is almost early quite different from its final version, and most bills die in committee with no action taken. This bill will be modified based on citizen and NGO input, even if it survives. So by all means, check it out early and write to your representatives. But it may develop into legislation that benefits our parrots and other animals without any downside.

Cool name. I like it!

I took Shanti to the beach yesterday in the Adventure Pack. He cannot fly yet, but I still take every precaution. The AP is ultra-secure with two locks and the cloth backpack over the door side. The backpack is an enclosure, so it's not absolute freedom, but Shanti gets to breath fresh air, get some sun, move about and see the natural world in all its beauty and with plenty of other wildlife, while remaining a safe distance.

Yes, Misty, on a serious note it would be horrible for parrots. Bird mills would flourish; wild parrots would be further threatened; parrot pets would be mistreated and abandoned, as the novelty wore off. If on the other hand, the president's family adopted a rescued bird or rehabbed a bird to be released in the wild, that would send the right message. Hmm, maybe I'll write a letter to Michelle. She's already off to a good environmental start with that garden.

One of us..... http://www.livevideo.com/video/E58A65B09B93410686C4739C38FEC557/the-obama-parrot.aspx

Has anyone any experience using rice, lentils, popcorn either raw or cooked as a supplement to pellets? Shanti loved a couple of raw lentils I gave him. Previously, I had been using a commercial mush of cooked grains for parrots. Any help or advice appreciated.

Looks good. Let us know how it works out. I'm also looking for a good playstand.

Shanti gets extremely restless just before bedtime. If he is inside the cage, he starts pacing and generally behaving in a very hyperactive way. If outside, he will flutter his wings like crazy and sometimes jump to the floor. He never gets this agitated during the day. My hunch is that he's overtired and just wants lights out (I cover the cage overnight). Anyone else noticed similar behavior?

I thought I would start a topic on online shopping for Greys. There are so many sites and products out there that we may raise our collective shopper's IQ by sharing info in a single thread. Like most of you I'm sure I look for quality, price, safety, environmental awareness and everything else that goes into a good perch, toy, food item, playstand, accessory. What websites do you recommend?

>> after I struggled with putting the canvas backpack onto the cage>> Been there. >>> (and, of COURSE, put it on backwards the first time) >> Done that. Sounds greyyyyt! Keep us posted on how things go.

Shanti will also jump or fall once in a while. He lands on carpet from about 4 or 5 feet. The last time was two nights ago when a racoon was standing staring at him through a glass door about 3 feet away. He totally freaked and "flew" out of the cage. I think he gets a little lift from his spread wings, so the landing is not a bone-breaker. He was also clipped by the breeder, so all this will pass when he grows some flight feathers. (Then I'll have a new set of issues).

On the contrary, that shows what a genius Misty is 1) Became a Youtube star with one simple trick. 2) Got extended period at home and here of being center of attention. 3) Achieved immediate objective of destruction of toy. 4) Probably got a better replacement toy. 5) Didn't get hurt any more than a kid does going down a slide. I have the same problem with Shanti slowing chewing through his cord perch. He may be in for a rude awakening on the floor of the cage, but he knows his human slave will feel sorry for him and buy him a new perch.

Hurray for Sherlock, and for you Jane for doing such a good job of caring for his health by getting him to the vet ASAP and focusing so well on his diet. I'm so happy things worked out.

Most bills die in committee. This one is currently languishing in the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife. It is at step one of a very long process. If it ever becomes law, it will morph through dozens of recommendations, compromises, changes, objections, etc. Also, the purpose of the law is "to create lists of approved and non-approved species of nonnative wildlife (species not naturally found in the United States) based on risk assessments of the species’ potential likelihood to “cause economic or environmental harm or harm to another animal species’ health or human health.” In other words, if a species is not likely to cause harm it will not be restricted. Unless flocks of wild parrots released from captivity could be shown to be devastating the corn crop or displacing orioles, there is little cause for concern. Actually, the worst enemy of native birds are suburban and feral cats. Cats that people let roam their yards kill many hundreds of millions of birds annually and deplete the numbers of threatened species.

Azzie's Sam is looking good too!

I've also been without the grate since the beginning of March. It's a real time saver because cleaning the grate was difficult. I just cover the bottom tray with a few layers of newspaper. He never goes down there, not even to pick up his toys. Perhaps this is a case of a phobia working in my favor.