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I hope they are ok for our sunconures, as I leave them the same food! Sunny and Sophie eat from several food bowls. Not sure who eats what.Chicken, as well as fresh veggies and pellets. Sunny gets mac and cheese and some high carbs privately, as he is old and needs some fattening foods. He is doing well... eats high carbs privately from Sophie as he needs to gain weight.( as suggested by my trimmer!) Nancy

So I gave it some thought... Sophie always seems happy, but I now can say special happy moments. Its just a reflex now, but some things Sophie likes alot. I leave the pizza box out to chew. I leave the tangerine box for her. Several forks and spoons out on countertop for her to throw off and enjoy the sound. If I forget to leave them, she throws them on the floor from dishrack. She is very self entertaining and wags her tail all the time. Trouble is her middle name and she is afraid of NOTHING!When my NO becomes too much, I pick her up and she is the happiest on my shoulder wagging her tail. If she is out playing in the same room as me and quiet.... bad knews! she is into something!LOL! Nancy

It took Sophie 48 hours to come down off her door when we played games in front of her. Adopted at age 2. Remember, all birds are different. Relax.... don't let your bird set the pace with nervousness! Open the door... encourage bird to come to the door. Plop down and read a good book, I suggest Dr. Seuss, anything that rymes. Be consistent. If you match " high anxiety for the same", no progress will be met. Nancy

Brat Birds.... LOL! My birds HATE anything peppers! I thought we needed to give Sophie peppers, as we all hate them! I grilled with peppers. Kids refused, so did Sophie! Kids couldnt pretend! I think she may have liked peppers if we all weren't anti peppers. Nancy

They certainly do Ray! LOL! We wouldnt change a thing! Nancy

I have a fantastic vet, as well as trimmer. I hope you have these people as well. If you don't... you need too. No issues for a decade, but there were times they disagreed when she first came home. I ultimately sided with the trimmer, as he knew her best. I am happy I have the resourses I need to make Sophie well adjusted with a healthy and safe enviroment. Nancy

Yup... you are at risk.Everyone who socializes with your bird, has to be at wrist status. The trust develops for each human. I know how annoying wrist status is... Sophie LOVED to vacumn with me, but had to be on wrist. It truly limits your getting chores done, as Sophie always wanted to be with me. It took six months. The day she was on my wrist I was paying bills online, she stopped and started biting the air, rather than me.... saying " NO Sophie... NO BITE!" She finally understood! I went crazy! Did a happy dance, yelled for kids to come down and see Sophie. They all thought I was crazy, but I knew she finally understood. Wrist status went to shoulder for all of us that day. That was a decade ago. She is up on shoulders for all of our family. I am proud to say, we no longer say " stepup", that is also a thing of the past. Her foot is up and waiting the moment she sees any of us. Nancy

I wish you the best! Maybe Inara can help you.I am sure, balance is very important. I do remember trimming Sophie when she was minus feathers on one side, to be equal on the other side. Nancy

Inara sounds adorable, and certainly is bonding with you!Sophie LOVES music, and has more rhythmn then any of us. Ryan plays the guitar, Sean does the saxaphone, and I do the piano. We all have different interests in music, and Sophie loves them all. She HATES classical! LOL! Nancy

Beautiful pictures! Nancy

I agree. She does want YOU to come get her, but she is questioning her thoughts. The trust is going thru her head. Open the door as you do, start playing some amazing games in front of her. ( board games with family). Ignore her when she progresses to the door. Just say Hi. Do this nightly. Let her see her family having so much fun without her. She won't last! At least it worked with Sophie adopted at age two. Nancy

Amazing! I truly enjoyed the video. You obviously spend alot of time with your bird. A true " bird whisperer." Nancy

What a cute bundle of fluff! Can't wait to here of your adventures. Nancy

Are you sure the metal piece is completely out? Is baby eating and drinking well? Important questions. Nancy

Many greys pluck, and are still happy! For us, eye pinning in the beginning, was a " warning". We were invading her territory. As she got older, eye pinning meant she liked what we said, and she was learning. You have to learn to associate the behavior with her stage of development and the relationship! If you are providing a wonderful diet, practicing stepup, engaging with your bird whenever you can and are working on developing trust,you are doing a GREAT job! Don't worry if your bird is happy! Provide a cage and play gym with lots of engaging toys. I know and understand Sophie now. It takes time. She knows me as well! Our latest battle is she is chewing my Longenberger basket full of shells from my travels. She is throwing the shells out and chewing my basket. I am annoyed, and she knows it! She is annoyed that I am interrupting her fun. Nancy

As you mentioned, your bird will give you the time of day off the floor. Sophie learned to bond with my kids off the floor. A neutral ground. Have dad get baby on the floor, you practice stepup off the floor between dad and you. Cages are a pain in the butt... they are very territorial about their cage. For me... its a place to sleep and eat in the beginning... their home. Practice stepup AWAY from the cage. Once trust is established, and it may take sometime...give your bird a tour of the home... wrist only, make it fun! If you are consistent, involve your dad with the interactions, you will find yourself with a bird that will be chasing you to pick them up! A decade later... that is Sophie. She will stepup to all of us! I make sure we dont take her for granted, and have stressed this belief with my kids. We are lucky and have been chosen by Sophie to be adopted. We dont put her back in her cage for our convience. Hand her off if you have something to do.( she has several other friends that she will stepup too!) Trust is the one and only ingredient you need to have a bird that is amazing! Nancy

LOVED the video!Kudos to you! I am worried about bird taking off and other animals seeking grey as prey. its a sad reality. I was so much like you, and continue to be, as I dont believe in closed cages, BUT... you risk losing your bird to other prey as well as being startled, and they fly off. You need to do harness training. Please don't learn the hard way! Nancy

Yup... bigger table needed! I'm getting a new grill this spring! I want a webber! Sophie is excited! LOL! Noone rants and raves about my cooking like Sophie! So when kids complain that she is my favorite child.... they have a point. she loves my grilling... does her AWWWWWW,,,, ( that is good). I don't see my kids saying AWWWWWW Nancy

Ask Timber! You are starting to understand Timber. happiness starts when the parent understands the bird. its simple, and easy. LISTEN to your bird, develop the trust, dont make a big deal of our human issues. Nancy

Your bird doesn't hate you! Your bird is doing what is natural! Bonding with one person. Thats what greys do! If you " change" a greys plan, and have the support of all family members that are important, you can change their plan. You just have to be on the SAME plan! My kids and I stuck like glue in establishing plans for Sophie. If anyone felt weak... call me at work. Many calls! In the end... I have a grey that knows what we expect of her, can skype with my son in North Carolina, goes crazy when my other son Sean comes home from college, and is ready and willing to stepup the moment I walk in the door when I get home from work.I couldn't ask for anything more! We developed our plan, we stuck together, and now we have an AMAZING bird! It is always a family event. Nancy

I don't hide anything! I'm not the greatest cook, but do barbecue all year long. Both of my kids are health fanatics, minus Sean wanting lazagna. Lots of grilled veggies, shrimp and chicken kabobs. Sophie DOES eat dinner with us.. not the best habit, but its always been this way. She is at the dinner table first. Nancy

If you can rebuild a bird, I would like to put in a few requests! No chewing my kitchen cabinets, windowsills, eating my bills. Of course I save Sophie's feathers. She has her own scrapbook. It does amaze me how much dander and unwanted feathers she has! Nancy

I imagine it is very difficult, near impossible to establish bedtime unless you have a bird that will " stepup " Sophie was always great if away from her cage, and would stepup off the floor in a heartbeat!Sunny our sunconure also would stepup if in a neutral territory. He was much slower to ever stepup and their were times I really needed him too. Hence.... my white terry cloth bathrobe. It really is a no no... but when desperate, if I put on my white bathrobe ( I have several), there is no arguement. He can bite me all he wants, I don't feel it. ( not best for training!) Sophie was also afraid of the stick and I gave up within two weeks. I did notice, if I was taller than her when she was on top of her cage, she would stepup. ( I had a step stool so I was taller). Many have argued their birds don't care about height, but Sophie did. Just a thought. Peck has shown such progress, and we parrents don't appreciate birdtime as we should. It took Sophie six months to be trusted to go to shoulder level, but before that, the plan that was successful, was 1. open the cage door, let bird come to door or on top of cage. 2 practice stepup and step down. never going anywhere, but praising when Peck does.3. Once Peck stepsup, praise like crazy, give a tour of your home, but return to cage if nervous. This worked with Sophie, while developing the trust, she had control of us and her enviroment. I have NEVER asked any of my birds to stepup from inside their cage. Thats their domain, and I have always respected their territory. Nancy

A very interesting question....I would love to learn more! I am just happy to have my Grey have her red tail! I really dont ask why she has her feathers, her tail,... I am just happy she has them! Someday, I would LOVE the time to investigate why Sophie my Grey is such a perfect bird. I work too much, care for too many animals. Nancy

Sophie goes crazy when my sisters come to visit .I'm not from Rochester, NY, but from Westchester NY. When my sisters come to visit, the speed of of talking doubles, Sophie goes crazy trying to keep up. She is not use to it, but wants to make a great impression...my family know's how important Sophie is to me. They slow down talking, Sophie tries to speed up. Sophie will makeup words like crazy. They have reached a compromise which makes me very happy! Nancy