MarcusCAG Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Hello everyone... So on this rainy day, I'm home cleaning. While I was in the bedroom making the bed, in the other bedroom I realized that I was listening to Marcus repeat a little monologue over and over. I quietly moved into the hallway and peeked around the doorframe without either he or Beaker noticing me. This is what I witnessed: Marcus was sitting on his long perch, before which and slightly above hangs his new swing. He has yet to climb on it but he has chewed at the dangling bits a little. Anyway, Marcus said to the swing in a sweet version of my voice: "Step up?" His feathers ruffled as he whipped his head down, his eyes pinning, and he made his signature SNAP! sound of displeasure. Then, lifting his head again, in a man's voice (not quite my husband's) he said, "No!" and he bit savagely at the swing. Then his feathers ruffled again, he looked normal for a moment, and he began it all over: "Step up?"... So my question is, was I watching some form of Grey parrot role playing, or daydreaming? Marcus, as many people here know, came to us with a number of issues, the "step up" command/action being a big one. In February, we were delighted that he stepped up onto us both a handful of times and didn't seem terribly distressed by it. It wasn't like he jumped up on us with adoring gusto, but he at least let us pick him up that way for a few seconds. So we are making progress to a degree. But what do you guys think of his little repetitive monologue? Is it self-therapy of some sort? When he finally noticed me he walked over and offered to kiss my fingers between the bars, he was his perfectly normal little lovely self. Any thoughts would be appreciated, thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 I don't know whether it was role playing or just day dreaming but it was cute, I imagine it was more of Marcus being well Marcus, they certainly amaze us with their antics, thanks for sharing that funny little story with us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QP4CAG Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Awwwww I loved that cute little story! It reminded me of what my little QP Ross did the other day. We had Jax on the floor (10wks young) playing w/his toys, having a great time. After 30min. of this, i put his toys up and bent down to pick Jax up. Instead, I introduced my finger just to see what he would do, and before I could even get the words out, Ross said ever so sweetly, "STEP-UP" Of course he was teaching his little brother the command! ha ha ha I just adore these little guys!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingles Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 maybe that's what he did with the other people? But is now saying it in your voice bc he's been around you to learn your voice? I have no idea. good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Hahahahahaha, love the story. They are smart and do role play through previous experiences. I hate to be anthropomorphic, but just like a young child playing by themselves and you hearing them have a conversation with a toy, doll or an invisible figure. They play out scenarios of things learned. They will also do it in real time with another critter like a dog, cat or other bird and started telling them what to do, where to go etc. Wait until you hear him growl at a toy while playing. Thanks for sharing this. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greywings Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 I think he is knowingly expressing discomfort in the new swing. May be going out on a limb with that remark but it fits the behaviors I think he is expressing himself and may be working his way up to a brave new step there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdnut Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Sounds to me like he was having a little argument with himself about whether or not to dare to step onto the swing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingles Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 a little argument with himself - love it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdhouse Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 The more you post, the more I really wonder what Marcus would do if he got some model training like Alex got. He seems like he'd be amazing at learning things & maybe really enjoy the challenge & interaction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcusCAG Posted March 2, 2011 Author Share Posted March 2, 2011 Thank you, everyone, for all of your input. And thank you, Dan, for your comments about Grey role-playing. I had imagined that perhaps Marcus was envisioning the swing as some representation of the individual whom I simply refer to as "that evil man" who was his previous owner and apparently traumatized Marcus so much with the whole step-up command. I thought maybe he was trying to bite the swing and pretend it was that man, because maybe he couldn't bite that man before for some reason but wanted to. (????) I think he is knowingly expressing discomfort in the new swing. May be going out on a limb with that remark but it fits the behaviors I think he is expressing himself and may be working his way up to a brave new step there. Sounds to me like he was having a little argument with himself about whether or not to dare to step onto the swing. These thoughts were particularly interesting to me. That idea hadn't occurred to me at all, about him psyching himself up to step up onto the swing. It would make sense, though. Marcus let me put his swing in his cage right out of the box without any apparent issue, he went right away to inspect it and everything (so far Beaker, our Quaker parrot, is truly the bird with more 'phobias' pertaining to new things, which surprises me). But he hasn't made any move to really perch on it yet, even though I let Beaker 'demonstrate' how it's to be used. So... maybe. He does like chewing on the plastic dangling chains though. Thank you for those comments... The more you post, the more I really wonder what Marcus would do if he got some model training like Alex got. He seems like he'd be amazing at learning things & maybe really enjoy the challenge & interaction. Thank you, birdhouse, and yes, I would love to be able to do that with him. Every once in a while I can convince my husband to M/R with me for a few minutes, and Marcus did seem to respond to it last time, after a short session one night we got him to say the "Puh... puh!" for the beginnings of the word pomegranate (because, much to my chagrin, everything is a french fry, he brought that with him from his last home, it's how he tells us he's hungry: "French fry?"). When I told my mom, she was like, "Why such a hard word?" but the boys do love their pomegranate arils... Anyway, my husband is impatient with the M/R process, unfortunately, and so far I have yet to convince any friends to come over and help me M/R for Marcus in that regard. It is on my definite to-do list for the future though, if I can arrange things to work it all out, it does seem like something that he would do well with just from what I've seen from him so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdhouse Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 (edited) ...after a short session one night we got him to say the "Puh... puh!" for the beginnings of the word pomegranate (because, much to my chagrin, everything is a french fry, he brought that with him from his last home, it's how he tells us he's hungry: "French fry?"). When I told my mom, she was like, "Why such a hard word?" LOL Too right Mom.!! How long does it take to learn to say pomegranate when you don't have any lips? Edited March 3, 2011 by birdhouse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 That is adorable! I agree with Birdnut - sounds like he's trying to get up the courage to step up. But who knows! It could be anything any of the others mentioned, or something else all together. And "How long does it take to learn to say pomegranate when you don't have lips" cracked me up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcusCAG Posted March 3, 2011 Author Share Posted March 3, 2011 LOL Too right Mom.!! How long does it take to learn to say pomegranate when you don't have any lips? You'd be surprised what pops out of his beak sometimes!! Long strings of nonsense words mixed in with a few intelligible phrases, and then a question clear as bell that he seems to want an answer for... But yes, I know pomegranate is a long word, and we haven't really been able to work on it since with him, but Marcus really doesn't have any favorite treats so far (almonds are nice, and chicken is good, but nothing drives him bonkers) and so since he sometimes says "Want some" when I eat pomegranate in front of the him, I thought it would be a good starting point, a decent incentive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cinlnk Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Such wonderful stories of Marcus......... My Riley has a very prolific vocabulary, and has many words that seem long. One of has favorite phrases is... I have big dinosaur feet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcusCAG Posted March 16, 2011 Author Share Posted March 16, 2011 Such wonderful stories of Marcus......... My Riley has a very prolific vocabulary, and has many words that seem long. One of has favorite phrases is... I have big dinosaur feet! Thank you, that is sweet of you to say... and I have to tell you, my husband laughed out loud when I told him about Riley's phrase. "I have big dinosaur feet!" Oh, that's awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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