I've had Timber (TAG) for almost 3 years. I am his third "companion" (that we know of). I was told he was 5 or 6 when we got him but who knows? Definitely not a baby is all I know for sure. I'm also not positive about gender. I was told he is male, but have not checked. Unlike you, I was totally unprepared for a grey. I was thinking of getting a bird, the opportunity arose to rehome Timber, and I took it. I was clueless. This forum probably saved his life (and possibly mine
My husband and I are both retired now, so Timber has a lot of out of cage time. The only time he is caged is when we get out and about. We are up about 7 AM, his cage doors are open, and he is out until about 8 in the evening. I have 4 cats in the house, so if I am not in the same room with him and he doesn't want to go wherever I'm going, his doors are closed.
Timber doesn't scream or pluck. He can be noisy, but just whistling and calls which are music to my ears since it means he is active and engaged. He says several words and phrases, but not often when I am in the room with him. He will become vocal with language if he is caged (like when we don't get up early enough in the morning for him) or when we are traveling to the vet. He will whistle back at me when we are in the same room, and he says his name when I'm getting the cats a treat. I assume that is because he doesn't want to be forgotten but who knows? Our problems have been more on the order that most rehomers experience. It took him months to deem me trustworthy, but now he will sit on my arm and I can scratch around his head and beak for as long as I am willing to keep it up.
He is still training me, and he would tell you my progress is slow. Seriously, I've never tried to teach him tricks. He will step up, but only if I say "Want to go?" and give him my forearm. He will not respond positively to "step up" and will not step on my hand. That is the problem with rehoming, you don't know their previous experiences and it takes awhile to iron out why they react the way they do sometimes. When I brought Timber home, "step up" would get me a bite every time, as would presenting my fingers. I have no idea what bad experience he had with that command and with hands, but that must have been what it was.