Owner Preference of Greys

[nooey]

I was wondering if you would mind sharing with me whether you are male or female and whether your bird is male or female or whether you dont know?

Also do you find that males africans prefere female humans and vice versa female africans male?

Or do you find it doesnt matter?

Also who has an african that will go to and likes anyone?

Many Thanks x

A friend has asked me being a female would I recommend a male or female grey as she has the choice of either? I know many people go on the bird picking you but I have read in several places that male birds after maturity prefere a female human and vice versa and so I thought who better to ask then the experts who live with these wonderful birds . . . .

Looking forward to all your replies

nooey and Echo x

[Guest briansmum]

hi nooey. i am female and i have a little boy birdie and he sure likes me better than his daddy. even though his breeder was male and he seemed to like him.

 

lots of people say that greys preferr owners of the oposite sex but there are many that find it doesnt matter. like everything with african greys, nothing is dead certain, what is normal for one grey owner is most likely different for another. and you certainly cannot predict anything about your grey after maturity :laugh:

[nooey]

Thank You for your reply beccy

[danmcq]

Well, I just brought a Male and Female home.

 

So far, the male (Dayo) is now wanting to just hang out on my shoulder and preen (Yes, sigh, I can not help it...Dayo is too sweet and gentle) :-)

 

The Female wants to be with my wife mainly and gives me little warning nips before letting me get her to step up...she just barely tolerates me.

 

But, these are both only 14 weeks, one is at our house for the first time and the Dayo the Male has been here 3 times for visits.

 

I think they both prefer females though, due to the Breeder that has been feeding, weaning and fledging them being a female.

 

I suspect their personalities could change from month to month at this early of an age through adulthood.

 

I'll keep you posted over the months and years ;-)

[Pryde]

I am female and so is Pryde. So far she will step up for anyone, but she is only 16 weeks. I hope to keep her this way though, we socialize a lot right now.

[dblhelix]

I think you will find a full spectrum here. Every bird is an individual and will have their own preferences for whatever reasons. From an evolutionary standpiont it stands to reason that females may bond better w/males and vice versa, but we are not the same species so that trend really cannot be applied. I know of many owners that are female with female birds or male owners with male birds and they are completely bonded with each other.

 

Since every bird is different, it seems the best guidline when choosing is to find the bird that you have the best connection with. There are many stories of the birds "choosing" the owner. For that matter, there are many cases of owners finding out years after having the bird that its the opposite sex of what they thought...yet they are completely bonded! So, in summary I think sex should not be a determining factor, but rather the bird that you bond with the most...

[Makena]

As we live on an island getting a bird was hard. We did a lot of research trying to find a breeder in Hawaii because we didn't want to have a bird shipped... We finally found a breeder but he was on another island. He told us he had 3 to pick from so we flew over there. We went in thinking one was going to "pick us" and it would be easy. We spent 3 hours with the birds trying to get a feel for them. Well, we loved all 3 and wanted to take them all home! Finally we decided to pick the more mellow bird as it matched our personalities the best.

 

Makena has yet to sexed, although our breeder "thinks" he could be a boy. So far he has bonded with both my fiance and I (I am the female) and doesn't seem to care who holds him, although he is only 12 weeks old. He is getting more comfortable in our house and is becoming more independent everyday. When he is in a bad mood... He lets us both know it. So far he hasn't picked favorites. We will see as time goes on.

 

I would have to agree with dblhelix, pick the bird for the bird, not the sex... I am sure we will get Makena sexed some day, but right now we could care less. We are just happy to have a healthy beautiful bird!

[judygram]

Yes I agree with Mark, aka dblhelix, and Makena that the sex does not matter, I have a female and she is bonded to me and not my hubby. She tolerates him and is warming up a little bit more as time goes by, but I am mainly the only one who can handle her. And that is partly my fault for not socializing her enough, we don't have many people come to our house so she does not get that many chances to meet new people.

 

Sometimes the bird chooses you but I don't think it matters in the long run, even if the bird doesn't choose you it will still bond with you and be just as strong a bond as if it chose it itself.

 

Just like having a baby, you just want a healthy, happy one.

[Tari]

I am female. My Que is a DNA'd female. She well still go to my husband with a little fussing but not much.

[loviechick]

All my birds are female....its a conspiracy I believe LOL I just can't get males to come to my house at all apparently :laugh: Anyway, parrots can distinguish males and females by tones of voice, hair length, etc. Usually Greys pick one owner over the other as something that person does that it likes. Now I live alone, so my birds are stuck with me LOL. I do know that neither of my Greys like men AT ALL they lunge at any that come near the cage. My Senegal is just kinda skiddish of other people in general, and my Sun LOVES men, especially if they have facial hair:woohoo: . I'm a female, and I haven't noticed that a male or female bird prefers me over the other, it's just the birds' personality.