Why does he mimic HIM????

[RMCCLAIN]

I have a 6 month old African-Grey. First time owner and I love it. His name is Chuck...its funny to say.lol. He talks up a storm. He can say "come on, come out!" "Whatchadoin", "Wanna come out and play?", "step up pretty boy", "No, no, Cricket (our dog)" or many other phrases ending in Cricket. He can say "good mornin", and much more including my husbands yelp "owwwwwwwww, no bite!!!" because my husband is constantly trying to get him to step up for him but Chuck will have nothing physically to do with him which brings me to my original point. The bird has obviously bonded to me. I can hold him and kiss him and feed him and cuddle him...even my daughters can hold and pet him. But my husband cannot so much as bring a hand near without getting bit. Chuck is obviously not a friend of the men folk. SO WHY is it that most everything Chuck has picked up is straight from the mouth of my husband. Chuck mimics him to the T. And the weirdest part is that my husband is home very few hours a day. So I don't get it. I spend countless hours with Chuck and talk to him all the time. My husband comes in and says one thing and Chuck has it down....super strange. Does this happen with anyone elses birds???

[Luvparrots]

I live alone with my birds, so I have no answers for you. This is an interesting question as others have posted about their greys mimicing the "less" favored member of the family and I am also curious to know the answer. Karma to you for posting a perplexing question.<br><br>Post edited by: luvparrots, at: 2010/01/05 20:56

[Mistyparrot]

Perhaps it is because he is trying to take your husbands place? He thinks that if he can fool you into thinking he is your real husband you will throw your human husband out :lol:

 

Steve n Misty<br><br>Post edited by: Mistyparrot, at: 2010/01/05 17:40

[casper]

You are not the only one!

I have three Greys and spend all day with them.

My husband is only home a few hours as well and they learn just about everything from him and even sound like him!

Typical eh?:laugh:

[she]

I wonder if when your husband comes home he gets the attention so clever grey that his he thinks if he mimics your husband the attention is back on him

[danmcq]

I like Steve's answer. :-)

 

It does seem that greys like to imitate a mans lower and more powerful voice.

 

I have no clue why, but it seems that a higher percentage of greys use a mans voice, rather than a woman's.

 

Perhaps Dave007 will have a more definitive answer on this with his decades of experience with these awesome creatures.<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2010/01/05 16:18

[jessdecutie18]

Lol... posts like this do make me wonder who Yoshi will mimic... she can't talk yet but she seems to like both my husband and I equally She will do most tricks better with him and cuddles most with me

[Greywings]

From what I have observed they often imitate the most expressive or most dramatic voices and sounds.

[Dave007]

Many greys like the sound of certain things they can hear. Most of the time we humans have no idea what that actual sound is. Our ears just don't have that ability. Many times, it's just one certain voice that perks him up but it definitely has nothing to do with with a bird not responding to you. This can also apply to sounds.

I'll give an example and it has nothing to do with words-----I have a TAG who loves to be on a shoulder as much as possible. He enjoys watching everything that's going on from the shoulder. If I put away the dishes, I make a certain sound with them. It's my way of putting the dishes away. He has to repeat that sound instantly. I crack some nuts open. He's got to repeat that sound instantly. I pour water into a cup. He's gotta gurgle instantly. There's loads of other things too.

 

Okay, now for my wife----

She'll have Tee on her shoulder whichhe loves and does all the same things in her style. He watches, loves it but won't do the sounds.

 

That applies to a human voice too Tee loves to be in the middle of things but responds to sounds that are attractive to him. Why? I guess that's just the way it is.

 

It also applies to actions. My wife sits at the PC, he's on her shoulder and loves to nap. He sits on my shoulder at the PC and he loves to watch what I'm doing while he nibbles on my TEE shirt until I pet him. Why? I don't know but the important thing I can say is that it has nothing to do with likes and dislikes of people who a bird is close to.