Posted on 01/17/2006 8:32:11 AM PST by doc30
LONDON - Chris Taylor, a 30-year-old British computer programmer, grew suspicious of his live-in girlfriend when his pet parrot began to imitate her saying, “I love you, Gary.”
Ziggy, an 8-year-old African gray parrot, would also make kissing noises whenever the name Gary was mentioned on TV and would mimic Suzy Collins saying, “Hiya, Gary,” every time she answered her mobile phone.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
We also have 3 cats. The bird knows each one by name and will talk to them, too. Sometimes, he gets to sit on the kitchen island near where the cats have their food (to keep it away from the dog). The cats hop right up and sit next to Trevor. No problems. Birds and cats seem to ignore each other. But my wife greets the cats by saying "HI" and the cat's name. Bird says the same thing and in her voice when a cat comes visiting. Recently, he's been saying 'you're annoying' in my wife's voice. She's been studying like crazy and the bird can be a major distraction while I'm at work. He says it when my wife starts talking excitedly. He then laughs when we start laughing at him. It seems he has a sense of humor. One day, he said "dirty bird" did his business on my leg, hopped onto the floor and started laughing. I think he does have a sense of humor and will play jokes on you.
You must be talking about Alex. He is a well studied bird and has documented exactly how smart they are. Somce scientists are beginning to think they are one of *the* most intelligent animals on earth, aside from humans. Everything from context speech to manipulating tools and incredibly dexterous feet and beaks seems to indicate this. Mine will even hold a spoon and eat nicely out of it.
A little chatter then chuckles and more chatter and then laughter and then a response -- this would go on and on. Like a cocktail party in the next room.
My sister has two cockatiels, which are nowhere near as smart as African greys, of course. I am hesitant to buy a parrot because they live for decades, and I don't think it would be fair to buy one and then have to get rid of it for some reason down the road. Plus my sister's cockatiels get cranky in mating season and when they're molting. Not such a big deal with cockatiels, but some of those larger parrots could do a lot of damage biting you. Do you have trouble with aggressiveness with your bird?
I wish I had the time to dedicate to a bird like that. The Wife really isn't into birds though my cat seems to think they'd be tasty. I guess its for the best. :-)
The girlfriend sounds like she doesn't even listen. If she were so clueless that she would have incriminating conversations with an African Grey in the house the guy is better off without her.
The bird's tossing food to the dog - he wants a pet of his own...
Parrot turns into "stool pigeon."
ahayes - a Hanhs Macaw is a mini macaw with a big macaw personality. *VERY* vocal and *VERY* smart. They live 35-40 years. I have one that chatters away, yells at the kids, "answers" the phone and goes "uh-oh...KITTY!" when the kitten comes into the bird room. She talks to the big macaw (who can only say hello 8 different ways), sings ABCD and yells at the vacuum.
This is a nice parrot that isn't too big and intimidating (smaller beak!) and doesn't live as long as other parrots.
My African Grey "Sinbad" used to love to imitate all the sqeaky doors in my house. Drove us crazy. Had to WD40 every single hinge in the house. He'd also copy exactly in my voice a one-sided telephone conversation, "Hello? Oh, hi. Yeah, yeah, uh huh. No. No. Ha ha ha ha! Okay, bye." and then make the sound of the phone hanging up. It was hilarious. He also imitated (exactly) the smoke alarm, birds outside, the neighbor's dog, kissing sounds and the sound of my then infant daughter crying. He'd sing or whistle along with television commercial jingles. And his favorite phrase was, "Oh, would you be quiet?" Hee hee.
He was a constant clown. I miss him.
All in all, a great bird.
When I worked tech support for Toshiba - I was working an issue with an owner, and in the background, I kept hearing a burglar alarm getting armed. I asked what it was, and he explained that it was their parrot, imitating the burglar alarm being set. He told me to wait a minute, and then I'd really hear something. Suddenly, there's a siren going off in the background, all whoops and wails - it's the parrot. Guy tells me that it's really fun when the bird decides to do it in the middle of the night.
You mean like a cockatiel party
hehehe
Maybe you'd better slow down on the "Scothch ." ;-)
No, no - that's not the joke ending. After hearing the Parrot say "Jesus is watching you", the burglar turns around, sees its only the Parrot and says "What's your name?" The Parrot says "Moses". "Who would name his Parrot Moses" says the burglar?
"Same one that would name his doberman Jesus" says the Parot.
Never had any significant agressiveness issues with the Grey. Once in a while, he'll be in a mood about something. Or he won't want to go in his cage at bedtime. He usually will get more stubborn than mean. He did bite my wife, but it was because he stepped up to her and his footing was unstable. He used his beak to get e grip to keep from falling. My quaker, on the other hand, can be the Spawn of Satan. The grey does love having his head petted and the pin feathers around his jaw preened by fingers when he's molting.
Mine loves doing the sound of the microwave beeping and the buttons on the washer and dryer touch screens being pressed. He also loves to say "be right back" when one of us leaves the room. My wife taught him to say "trick or treat for Halloween.
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