MarcusCAG

What a horrible thing to have happen! It's almost too much for me to digest without being overwhelmed right now.

I am so glad you two had such a lovely evening together in your blanket tent, Gwen! A big smile spread across my face when I read your post, it's wonderful news, I am just so happy for the both of you! Those tender moments are just the best, especially when they signify new milestones in our relationships with our beloved Greys. :) And I just emailed my husband about what you said, and he wrote back how that was awesome and I should tell Marcus (who is presently above me on his Boing). So I got up and started describing our blanket tent situation, and reminded him how his daddy took our picture, how I put the picture on the computer... and I finished saying that another birdie liked the tent his mommy made over her head because of seeing us together in our tent. While I was talking, Marcus' feathers got all ruffly and he lifted his foot (a sign he is always getting into whatever is being said) and when I was done he looked so happy and said, "Woof! Woof!" Don't ask me where that ever began to mean Yes and I understand! for him, but it generally does when he raises his foot like that anymore and punctuates his 'words' with a light foot stamp or two. So Marcus seemed very happy for the news of your breakthrough, too.

Thank you, the tent was kind of an impromptu thing that he seemed to enjoy quite a bit for the time Marcus behaved himself on my shoulder--and you never know, Dee, Gilbert might just surprise you in the end. We never would have thought Marcus would willingly step up for us (well, at least me) regularly in the quasi-near future when we first got him, he came to us with so many issues... JeffNOK: Yes, Marcus can be quite the character sometimes. He's not as roguish as some Greys I've read of here, but he does have his cheeky moments! Parrot14: I've been trying to keep on top of Marcus' talons with the nail file as he'll let me as the cement perch seems only to work as advertised in terms of his beak, but he's still learning to be comfortable with that 'game' of ours. So we will probably be making an appointment with the groomer again soon. Thank you for the reminder, though! And chezron, Ray P, and bmatrow--thank you so much for all of your lovely comments! Marcus is our dear boy, and we love him so.

It definitely was a scare for all of you ^^ but again I'm just so glad that Timmy is okay after all's been said and done. In our family, we do have one of those 'grooming' concrete perches in Marcus' cage for him to use, but it unfortunately only seems to be helping his beak... so I've been trying to train/teach him that my using the nail file on his talons is a game when he hangs upside-down from his top bars. I'll say, "Mommy's filing your toes!" and he'll let me do it on one talon for maybe four seconds before he tries to nip the emery board. I figure maybe with enough time and patience he'll get used to the idea and it'll be fun for him (especially because he gets a treat afterward), and I can do all of his talons enough that, between the filing and the concrete perch, that will be all that's needed for Marcus to keep his talons a proper length. Between now and then, though, we'll probably have to make an appointment with the groomer, ourselves. Ah, well.

Those are some really lovely pictures of Dayo, it looks like he really enjoyed his time outside in the sunshine!

Maybe it's the weather cooling off, but Marcus has been pretty feisty these past few days. He's also been very "lovey" and has been more than willing to step-up for us and hang out with us around the house. We've had him about a year already, though, so apparently he's settled into our home very well by now. Here are two pictures from this weekend that show Marcus with both his daddy and his mommy (the pic of me is not the best, but whatever!). In this photo, taken yesterday morning, Marcus is shown hanging out on his daddy's shoulder... And in this snapshot taken earlier this evening, Marcus and I are having fun in a blanket 'tent' together. He kept giggling as I walked around the house with it over my head to a mirror, and he really seemed to like looking at us together that way; but once we sat down on the couch again and got cozy and this picture was taken, my hubby switched on the video--and Marcus got really feisty! So we had to take down our very tent quickly because I got a little wary of having my ear suddenly 'nibbled' on. Anyway, just wanted to share those!

Wonderfully put.

Personally, if I feel that things around the house might be extra 'germy' I often put some apple cider vinegar full strength in a spray bottle and spritz it around. ACV kills germs when it's used as a diluted solution in the bathroom, kitchen, etc. so I figure it probably helps when it's dispersed into the air occasionally. At the very least, it makes the house smell fresh and best of all it's not harmful to our boys. I use it (vinegar) and baking soda for all of my general cleaning purposes, as well as some Dr. Bronner's liquid soap.

I give our boys TOPS Organic Pellets and all of them, from Marcus down to little Bunsen the cockatiel, just love them. I'll give them large portions at night prior to bed which they'll nibble on and then eat throughout the length of the next day. This is supplemented during the daytime with greens (they particularly like collards), nuts, other fruits and veggies, and whatever grains/beans and homemade birdie cookies I've made and have on hand. They also get hard-boiled egg and chicken periodically. I don't leave the fresh food out overnight in their cages, though.

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I don't want to 'quote' the whole of your passage here but I just want to say: Excellent, excellent reply with everything you wrote, Dan. So very enlightening and informative; and I particularly enjoyed the thought above ^^ pertaining to these comparatively larger Greys "throwing their weight around" with the smaller parrots, and that it's still a flock mentality instead of an issue of I'm-higher-than-you. Thank you so much for everything you shared, I truly enjoyed reading it all. And I just want to say, I just emailed my hubby and shared what you said about everything, and he wrote back that he is consequently "honored" that Marcus has decided to use our individual names and not just a general 'title' like he does for the little parrots, that we mean that much to him. (I mean, I figured we did, but it's still nice to hear such reasoning broken down so clearly.) Funny thing though, like your Dayo, Marcus calls our dog by name too... but the cats aren't even 'cats', they're nothing! Hahaha. So interesting, these lovely Grey minds! Again, Dan, thank you for all of your insightful input and experience, we really appreciate it.

Marcus' feathers have almost all grown back in, so I'm awaiting the day when I'll start experiencing such things as you describe with a medium-sized parrot. At this point, it's just our "little boys" who are all fully flighted and can get lift (and lots of it!) and Tybalt is by far the one who gets into the most amount of trouble. He's smaller than Marcus but very fast, and he's truly an aerial acrobat. When he starts getting into too much trouble I do lure him back into his cage with an almond or something; usually he'll just fly back and forth from his hanging Boings and swings and stuff though and have a lot of fun trying to sneak time on the (stopped!) ceiling fan blades. (I think it's a game now, Will Mommy notice I'm up here when I'm not supposed to be? Me stopping whatever I'm doing to 'shoo' him off--since he won't step up yet--takes more time away from my chores than anything else he does!) But maybe with Sully, since flying like this is so new for him, he's just pushing his boundaries a little more and in a few weeks he'll settle down some, and then you can get more done... think of it like the terrible twos or something, haha. Truly, though, I hope that you both can work something out together so that he can enjoy being out quite a bit and yet you can get your work done, too. And a sudden thought: Maybe give him lots of foot toys on his cage top and that might make it seem more appealing to play there quietly by himself for longer, too.

I'm so glad to hear that Timmy's okay!!

Yes, thank you so much for your reply, Dan, that does make a lot of sense. And that part you shared about Dayo and the "Jeff" flock, I just love it!! I've just kind of been assuming for a while that maybe it was a developmental thing, that Marcus just hasn't, erm, progressed far enough (???) to determine the need to differentiate between various things in a general category (ie- food). Because a lot of Greys I read about here have a vast vocabulary, again as an example, for their various footstuffs: cookies, almonds, apple, whatever. But if that generalization is common, too, then I won't worry about it all so much and just let him be who he wants to be. Although I will say that Marcus does occasionally say "birdies" to refer to the calls he hears outside. So thinking about it now, I suppose that would suggest a certain communal acceptance or at least an acknowledgement of these other small parrots (Beaker, Tybalt, Bunsen) being a part of Marcus' life and those other "birdies" being strangers, separate from our flock. Would it suggest any form of a hierarchy too (presumably with Marcus at the top?) even though parrot flocks generally don't have a 'top bird', as I understand things. Yet this is a flock of mixed species and I kind of get the impression that Marcus considers himself Number One when dealing with the others... Anyway, I don't mean to ramble, I'm sorry. Just thank you so much for your reply, it really was very enlightening and I shared it with my hubby too. We both appreciate it very much that you took the time to write all that.

Your Louie is really beautiful... I agree, he just seems to be 'testing the waters' so to speak and not really biting you. That day will come when he feels comfortable enough to step up. Our Tybalt, the Indian Ringneck, is kind of at that point. He will fly across the room and perch on us occasionally, but he will not willingly step up for either of us yet--although sometimes he seems to be contemplating the idea. And in terms of "kisses" and things, he sees Beaker clean our noses and whatnot and the other night, Tybalt was making all of these happy sounds and leaning toward my face, like he wanted to do it too. But when he grabbed my nose, it was more than a pinch!! I laughed it off like it was no biggie, telling him to be gentle, but honestly that big, open red beak scared me (the thought of it still does)! My hubby says he just doesn't know his boundaries yet when it comes to that sort of thing. But I'm sure in time your Louie and you both will become so comfortable with each other that you will barely remember there being any issues with these sorts of things. It may take some more time than you'd hope, but if it makes you feel any better, if you recall the troubles we had with Marcus stepping up when we first got him--he will step off onto my forearm with no issues at all from his door perch now, the first time I ask him anymore. I'm sure Louie will someday for you, too.

Aren't they sweet? And you have one, Cupid, right? If you've never seen the documentary The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, besides following the flock of (basically) cherry-headed conures, there is also a little segment of the film where a flock of rainbow lorikeets are shown in all their lively glory too, in the nearby zoo I think it was. You might want to check it out if you haven't seen it yet. Our boys like that movie very much, too--except for the hawk scenes, we need to skip over those particularly for sensitive little Bunsen.

I'm glad you enjoyed it, Dan. And really, I was surprised and impressed by what Marcus said, myself--but more because he revealed he didn't like how messy I'd let the birdroom become before (I didn't ever think to wonder if he'd notice/care either way!), and not so much because of what he actually said. In some respects, I'm starting to get used to him just popping out with stuff like that, even though it is always like "Wow!" when I do first actually hear him say something so relatively complex. I mean, I generally don't consider the goofy babble that Marcus produces during the day 'talking' so much as just him having fun with sounds and words. And all food is still "french fry" to him, and all the other parrots are still "Beaker", he makes no effort at all to differentiate between them vocally and learn/use each of their names, in spite of our efforts to encourage him otherwise. But then Marcus comes out with stuff like this... and it's like, yes, he's definitely paying attention to the things we say around him. If I may say so, it's humbling to me, really, because it's a reminder that even when I get so caught up in my own life, there's a whole world of little lives and feelings that--even if not human--are all intertwined on this beautiful planet and of whose existence I have only the slightest, vaguest understanding.

I have another "Huh!" moment to share about our Marcus... A few minutes ago, I went into the boys' room where my closet is to dig out some books from the depths of a small chest I had hidden in there. I re-organized and generally cleaned out my closet a few weeks ago, so when I opened the closet door just now I told the boys--who are all presently in their cages after being out for a while this morning--that I was just going through my closet again to look for some books. This comment was made as I started yanking things out and throwing them behind me on the floor. Marcus was on the cholla cactus perch affixed to his closed door, his body facing me directly as I started littering the floor in front of his cage with various objects. Very clearly, but in a decidedly low (unenthused) tone, he said, "Are we going through this again?" Ha! I guess he didn't like the big mess I made last time (when it took forever to organize my clothes and things), so today I cleaned up the floor as quickly as I could once I'd found my books, and I told him it was all back to normal. I assume he is somewhat relieved, considering everything.

My boys just LOOOOOVE the different parrots-in-the-wild videos on YouTube. I'll just type in "wild" and then some particular parrot species (Amazons, African Greys, lorikeets, whatever) and see what pops up. There's a handful of nice videos of flocks of parrots in the wild, like at salt licks and things in their natural habitat, that Marcus and the other smaller parrots just adore. It doesn't matter if it's their species or not, they all get very excited to hear the other birds. There are a few DVDs out there though that have footage of parrots flying and preening in the wild and things, and if you're willing to pay the money, the free clips of them available online suggest that they'd be a similar type of thing to the little 3-minute clips I play for my boys. If that's the type of thing you're looking for, I know at least two online bird stores that sell them with their other parrot merchandise. Here's a link to one of them, hope it helps somehow: http://www.mysafebirdstore.com/product.cgi?group=6020&product=8782

There are at least three members here who have cockatoos. Jay and Maggie do, Robin does, and--yee, I can't remember her screen name, but she's a pretty, dark-haired girl who has a Grey and an M2, I think it is, and she posts pictures of herself with them on her shoulders sometimes. Personally, I think the advice that has been given here in these forums before can be offered again: Anyone interested in buying/adopting a large cockatoo would do well to visit this site so that they can make a more educated choice before doing so. http://www.mytoos.com/ They can be extremely demanding animals and, from what I've read, most people are truly not up to caring for one properly for the entirety of its life.

Marcus is generally pretty good about keeping out of stuff that isn't his. But our Tybalt, the IRN, has decided that if any bananas are in sight, then they are his for the taking! If the boys are out in the main part of the house (out of the birdroom), I have to keep a mental tally: Marcus is on the Boing, there's Bunsen, there's Beaker... where's Tybalt?? 90% of the time he's perched on top of the microwave, where we've kept our banana bunches until recently. I've had to start hiding them because he would just start ripping into them, pretty as you please, and eat as much as he wanted while throwing little pieces of the peels everywhere!

Around the :40 mark, to me it sounded like she was saying something about "Get off of this table." But I could be quite wrong.

The box of toys sounds like it was a lot of fun for Gilbert! And Marcus will often do that 'head gyration' thing when he's hanging upside-down from his cage bars, too, if we blow air onto his belly. Then he'll make "blowing air" sounds back at us and start giggling his little self into oblivion as he whirls and snaps his head and body all around. It leaves me in absolute hysterics! It's kind of become a game for us now and I think it's interesting to read that other Greys do this sort of thing too. Birdie games.

Thank you all so much for your lovely and very sweet comments; and no, I don't think this type of thing will ever get old, either. Tybalt perched on my shoulder again yesterday to eat some banana--and he landed on my head this morning, seemingly for fun! (It was for all of two seconds and then he took off again, but my hubby raised his eyebrows at me afterward as if to say, He's really getting kind of comfortable with you.) So we are very pleased to see these developments in our dear little boy. <3 And luvparrots, I know how good you are to your birds so I'm sure Louie will 'cross that chasm' given enough time, and what a day it will be for you when he does!

Thank you for posting that, Ray, I look forward to reading more about Cricket's transformation in your home.