SRSeedBurners

Wow, those were in-the-wild cockatoos. Wonder if you could friend them and they would be regular visitors?

She has very similar mannerisms to my Greycie. You have a roll-over Grey there if you notice at 0:23 she does the exact same thing that my Greycie does. I have a video on here showing her on top of the fridge trying to roll. How old is Scarlett? What a cutie.

Yep, first thing when coming out of the cage for any extended length of time, we head straight for her potty spot and I start using the phrase "Go potty". She knows it and will start the tail wiggle. We only have rare accidents these days.

Ok as far as I know. She wasn't in a fright-flight, we're just baffled that she did it. It's not like it was in her way either as she has to go up and over her tree and then down sharply to hit the glass. She's a weird one sometimes.

Greycie is just past her 1yo bday and she flew into a window on the other side of her tree. I couldn't believe it as she knows it's there. Occasionally they will.

I feed brussel sprouts warm and they get DEVOURED. I also feed cabbage straight out of my salad and my Grey loves it. We have a lot of diversity here so they are practically eating different things just about daily though.

I highly suggest getting a sign-in or whatever is needed to view the pictures at the link I provided. That guy built a really really good aviary that is not to over-the-top. He even provided the source of the aviary netting that he used. With four birds and possible being five in the next few months we're putting a serious push into getting our aviary built. Your carport idea is interesting. The breeder we bought Greycie from has a flight pen built from a huge hoop-style greenhouse. She demonstrated flying her birds in there for us and I thought it was neat. One of my points for having an aviary is so Greycie can be outside in the UVA/B rays so she can get her quota fulfilled. Hate to de-rail the thread but it's a very interesting topic.

Thoughts? Mine - Loved it that they didn't glamorize parrot ownership. Reinforced my guilt for parrots in the first place. I've always felt it should be illegal to own/breed/etc parrots in general. My wife actually commented during the piece that it's a highly selfish act to bring a parrot into your home and ask it to bond with someone in the home. Unfortunately I agreed. Really sad to see some of the cases they profiled. Lou left abandoned in a house to basically fend for himself. The overwhelmed parrot rescues. I really wanted to cry when the profiled the African Grey that was addicted to nicotine. Just breaks my heart. I wish there was an organization like that at the end that was focused on training the birds to be reintroduced back into their wild habitat. The parrots are just another segment of this world we've managed to pollute and destroy.

No advice on the crazed cockatiel but would love to hear what your plans are on the other topic you mentioned - the aviary. We had a guy come out just today to give us a quote on a Pergola to see if that would somehow work as an aviary. This guy has an awesome setup too.

You might try some warm food to jump start her appetite. It might just be mine but warm things will go down almost no problem.

I have the book 'For the Love of Greys'. I agree, not that special - will probably sell it online. One of the best books I have read that I compare other books to is by John C. McMichael PhD 'Caiques - Their care Breeding and Some Natural History'. Granted it's not about Greys but he does a really good job of not simply regurgitating the false information that's out there. I wished he had experience and would write a book about Greys. I so often see people just propagating misinformation because it's so often quoted elsewhere (guilty as charged here). Examples are parrots and chocolate and similar. Greycie decimated a chocolate bar the other day that was left out and we couldn't tell a thing with her. I swear she ate half the bar, the wrapper and piled the rest on the floor. She's also gorged herself on my wife's coffee that was left out. Milk - she's been into that constantly. I don't know what's true and what's just being parrot'd because it's popular to quote. McMichael addressed the lactose topic in his book and basically went on to say that he gives his birds a half inch cube of cheese per day. Greycie will do anything for cheese, it's her absolute favorite. Read it on the internets though and you're led to believe you're poisoning your bird with lactose. Anyway, a good book is a must. I have that African Grey Parrot Handbook mentioned by Dave. I'll have to break it out and read it. I quit reading For the Love of Greys about 1/4 of the way through.

True dat! I love how Greycie wants to see me every time I come through the door in the evenings. Our little Toby (Caique) is even the same way. He will waddle, not hopping yet and he was clipped, across the floor to ask to be picked up. They're so cute. I think about them all day long. We plan our days around them. My wife acts like they're her children and she wasn't even a bird person till I begged to get a Grey. The weirdest thing I do is probably telling Greycie little bedtime stories at night, in the dark, before putting her up. She has a hard time going to bed and needs some extra bedtime coddling.

Sweet baby face.

Sounds awesome. Your lil TAG just moved out of the stone ages. We had some idiot come in one time and tried petting our birds with a broom handle. What a dumba55. The ex-wife promptly removed him from the premises.

She has a cute voice. She sounds like Einstein (from Houston). May have to run that one across Greycie and see if she picks up on it.

Exciting times! I remember taking a week off after we brought Greycie home. How ridiculous is that- NOT! Wish I could find a job where I could work from home, or take my birds to the office with me. Have fun and post some pics.

How hard is it on the bird to get them micro-chipped? I can imagine I'd be on Greycie's s*#t list for a good long time if I take her in for that.

- you were showing attention to that stupid Caique that I detest. < -Miss Greycie-poo

I've bought bird toys with plastic chains of that exact size. You're good.

Haa, you get called with an annoying cough, I get called with a dog whistle and a "Coommme onnnn" and if I don't respond I get a loud angry raspy squawk. You don't have to be an African Grey to know what that means. I think it's similar to your "get your A$$ back here - NOW!" Hilarious.

Sounds like a situation I could have gotten myself into. I get bullied and pushed around a lot because I can't look people in their faces and say 'NO' until it's too late. I too would have sat there and watched as she did whatever to my Grey while getting nervous and trying to figure out a way to say something. IMHO she needs to pay dearly except she's running a rescue you said? I would hate to make it harder on the birds that are there now. This is a tough tough situation. It might be of little help but I know myself and probably several others would love to hear about Lilo if you posted more about her in the memorials section.

This statement sets off my violation of common sense alarms - so I went looking. From the University of Michigan Range of lifespan in captivity: 40-60 years Average lifespan in captivity: 45 years Average lifespan in the wild: 22.7 In general, it's harder to survive in the wild for most animals, although there are lots of exceptions but not many for prey animals. Just ask your neighborhood rabbit who averages in the months in the wild and in the years in captivity. As for the Alex/Dr. Pepperberg debate - I have no clue.

Would love to hear more about your Zon and see pics too! I had a BFA and kind of wished I had more room for another big birdy.

That's sweet. She's going to be a real gift.

Have you considered rehoming an adult bird? There are lots of birds in sanctuaries in need of a home. You may want to contact some of the organizations in your area: Maars.org. Occasionally people signup here just to see if they can find someone to take a bird they need to rehome and don't want to just craigslist the bird. Hang around long enough one of those will pop up. There's one recently.