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I love that Sophie feels very sure of herself, and feels she knows whats best for dogs and Sunny. If she tells dogs to go outside and pee, they run for the door. She will always share with Ollie her peanuts. She will walk in with a peanut, drop it in front of Ollie the dog, and ask him if he wants a peanut. In return, he will give her a piece of chicken every morning. Zoey my pup, LOVES lipstick. Sophie will break into my purse, find my lipstick and throw it down to Zoey. When I hear, " here you go Zoey", I know what has happened. They are all in cahoots against me! Nancy

Sounds like you may be a " bird whisperer" like my son is. Not only is Ryan a " chick magnet", he is a " bird magnet!" I just roll my eyes when he is home. They all love him, including our boy sunconure. I'm just chop liver when he is around. LOL Nancy

Sooo sorry guys! I am half deaf in my right ear, so noice doesn't bother me. It does drive the kids bonkers, so if I say " quiet".. they do comply. Nancy

Mama woooo! I LIKE that. LOL Sophie calls me ROM. Can't say mom. It is endearing, and I never corrected her. Nancy

Welcome Carrie, Diana and baby. I also am saddened for your loss. Having your grandmothers grey, is such a precious gift. Please be hesitant to throw out the old bird cage. Keep it in the birdroom next to new cage for a few days, or in the garage, in case the adjustment doesn't go well. The birds cage is the most precious to them next to their owner. I just worry there are too many new things going on in his life right now.

open the door.. and read a book to him. nancy

I personally, would NEVER adopt two greys. If you want multi birds, most work, but NEVER two greys! I like that Sophie has other birds to become friends with, which she has done, but she rules the bird and dog kingdom. She is best friends with birds, dogs, etc. Of course, she rules the entire animal kingdom.She knows it. Sometimes I have to remind her, when Zoey our favorite pup, that is full of energy, runs around her and Sophie will growl at her,I will correct her behavior.zoeys behavior,is not up for negotiation. Zoey is the baby in our family. Nancy

Don't trim paco's feathers! It can work, thru determination. I had three birds of different origins. Am amazon, sunconure and grey. Sunconure was a rescue, amazon a baby, and grey was adopted at age two. Sophie the grey took over as the matriarch of the family. Amazon, Kiki, would fight with Sophie, always under supervision. Sophie immediately took over dominance. Once Kiki understood and respected the pecking order, they did just fine. Yes... they need to work it out, but always supervised. Practice flying in the same room away from their cages. One bird to a different parent. Koko is only fighting for survival, especially being unflighted. Interactions always need to be away from cage. It can work to have birds of different origins. Once Kiki and Sophie worked out their differences, they became best friends.I went from three cages, to one. Their choice. Sunny and kiki fell in love, Sophie was offered to come into their home, when she hated her new amazing cage. I have open cage belief. It was crazy! Kiki was trusted to pick fresh fruits and veggies, then Sophie and Sunny would try them.Sophie would pick and choose toys when I would buy in bulk. She would pick most toys to go to Kiki as Kiki loved wooden blocks and Sophie could give a hoot. The best experience with my gang loving each other,was Kiki could fly so well. Sophie... not the best flyer.She walked. Kiki taught Sophie to fly this past year.It was amazing. Kiki would fly off, land quickly and wait for Sophie. Sophie would catch up, and Kiki would take off again. I know Kiki was teaching Sophie, because Kiki never landed! Nancy

Steve... Misty is too darn cute! Nancy

bluedawg... She will do just fine. Whats most important, is, you get better! I've had birds that were " clipped", and they did just fine also. What is most important, is your bird already knew how to fly. Any bird that can fly in the beginning, will continue to fly. Sometimes they get grounded for a bit. Nancy

He looks beautiful! Feathers are perfect, and it is obvious, he grooms himself quite well. Covering cages doesn't work for everyone. I covered mine partially, but they didn't like it. The cover didn't last. My birds eventually all put themselves to bed at 8pm. Bedtime, does take a serious commitment. Birds can be worse then kids. Nancy

I am so happy you were picked by Inara! It sounds like a perfect match! I too was picked by Sophie at age two. Your description of " life at home", was similar to ours. Sophie had a FANTASTIC home prior. I look forward to hearing more about all new developments and experiences. I hope you will share. More than a decade later, Sophie remains my best friend. I am sooo excited for you, Inara and family. You guys are in for the greatest ride of your life! Nancy

LOVE these stories! Nancy

My girlfriend who got me into birds, was on this site. Nancy

Sophie can't say " mom", so she yells " Rommmmmm". She has had so many people involved in her life, including a wrestling and football team that slept here often. Her words that she picked up immeditately, were asshole and shit! She learned quickly, these were not words that were NOT allowed in her vocabulary. Nancy

I have spent a ton of time preparing Sophie for kids going off to college. I taught her that kids were going off to college to get smart like Sophie. Whenever we read a book together, which is daily, and she repeated the word, I would tell her how smart she was. She learned what the word " smart" was. We never had the separation anxiety when kids went off to college two years ago. Sean came home last night late... Today Sophie walked out to meet him, and immediately gave him a kiss, and told him " Sophie is smart!" She hasn't mentioned that for a long time! I believe she truly associates them being off in college, getting smart! ( or just a good thing!) She is all over Sean, like nothing has changed. I am thrilled! Nancy

Don't stroke the back and feathers! I have learned this from all our bird owners. They can interpret it as sexual. I never did, as Sophie likes her head and chin petted. Avoid it, pet head, under chin. Sophie LOVES it. Nancy

Rick... you are doing great with your bird. You guys have a great relationship. Keep doing what you are doing.DON'T change a thing with your bird. I would suggest focusing on educating others, that need your help. " how did your relationship, get where it is"? Sometimes, we self doubt, where our other relationships failed, but our bird relationships thrived. We get confused. Nancy

How about some competition for Miley Cyrus song " hear me Roar!" LOl! She should have hired your baby, and would never had been in trouble with animal right activists. LOL! Nancy

God bless you all! Jellybean looks great. You have done an excellent job! Nancy

Brat Birds... You are screwed! It takes just once! LOL! Try those crocs that Sophie finds so fascinating. Nancy

Sophie really isn't afraid of anything! Once in awhile, she gets spooked,,, screams " ROM"... I come rushing to her rescue, it is something silly. I show her its no big deal.... she is okay with it if I am. She knows I will protect her and keep her safe no matter what. ( I hope I can always protect her!) Nancy

My interpretation is.... a bird finding his voice. Totally normal! Sophie and Kiki did the same thing. Baby is " working on it!" Nothing compared to a growl. If you still remain unsure, watch the eyes. They will pin. As youngsters, their pupils will constrict and dialate. It is a warning. As they get older, pupils constrict and dialate can mean " I am learning". I would be a proud parent if I were you. Bird is attempting to connect the cognitive, with vocalization. Nancy

Awwww. Greys go crazy over the most silliest things! Your slippers are important, and Paco needs to learn that you LOVE them! Take one off, let Paco check it out and remind him that you LOVE your slippers! Show some affection to those slippers. LOL Sophie is fascinated by my son Sean's Croc shoes. He lives in them. She LOVES to put her beak in the holes, and she basically starts a game of tag.If she gets her beak in one of the holes ( no bite), he is tagged. She runs off hiding a few feet away with her butt in the air! It is soooo amusing to watch Sean pretend he can't find her! She will be wagging her tail, thinking he can't see me! Once he DOES find her... the chase is on! Nancy

Mine go to bed around 8pm. I'm up around 5am. Sophie will drag her sleepy butt to hang with me for 15 minutes. Snuggle time she doesn't want to miss.I don't encourage her to fully wakeup. She just wants to be with me. I leave their fresh veggies and fruit, pellets and mix, available. Quick kiss.... and I'm sure, Sophie goes back to sleep. Nancy