# Houston, The Parrot has Landed. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 10, 2004, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/houston-the-parrot-has-landed/274062 "2004-11-10T19:07:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/houston-the-parrot-has-landed/274062/41 "2004-11-12T17:04:22Z")
Good, he is on a perch. Off go the lights. I am off to bed. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/houston-the-parrot-has-landed/274062/42 "2004-11-12T20:18:04Z")
My parrot has a swing that she loves to sit on. Last night a nut came off in the middle of the night and she went “clunk.” She was pissed at me too (as if it were my fault.) ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/houston-the-parrot-has-landed/274062/43 "2004-11-12T21:12:52Z")
[Houston, the Baboon has escaped](http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2895700) ---
**Author:** ![conurepete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e57/32.png) [@conurepete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/conurepete)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/houston-the-parrot-has-landed/274062/44 "2004-11-14T20:10:22Z")
They hang upside because they like to, but he will do it more if he thinks it will freak you out. Music is good for them. The Timneh at my house can whistle motifs and elaborate on them, but his big trick is transposing them into another key. I can tell when he does this because it impresses muscians, but I am not as muscially astute as the bird. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/houston-the-parrot-has-landed/274062/45 "2004-11-15T03:43:00Z")
My Timneh (iian) is about 7 years old now. I got him from a PetSmart…ended up being the BEST way to go caus sometimes he’d get a lot of attention and others, he’d be completely ignored. Made for a pretty well balanced bird. I spent a lot of time with him, getting him used to things he wouldn’t normally be used to (being held on his back, holding his wings out for clipping), it made him easily deal with new situations when they occured. He’s in my home office with a Cockateil to keep him company, which is good as I’ve not had near as much time to spend with him since the boys were born. (nearing 2 years old) I’m hoping as they get older, that there will be three people in the family to spend time with him, rather than just me, occasionally. I’ve read that Greys need a lot of attention (not as much as Cockatoos, but still), but Iian seems to be doing okay on the ‘reduced schedule’. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/houston-the-parrot-has-landed/274062/46 "2004-11-15T03:51:00Z")
Well, the bird is older than I would have liked, and so far at least has not let me handle him. I half-suspect he might be a ‘used’ bird. ‘Used’ in this country could very well mean ‘abused.’ On the other hand, it is too soon to tell. He is happily eating his cage and ignoring the strawberries I gave him. If I found a bird in need of a good home to recover, then at least I am doing that. I like the noises he makes and only wish I could interact with him more directly. No photos yet. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/houston-the-parrot-has-landed/274062/47 "2004-11-15T05:05:03Z")
Yeah, parrots are weird. I just got a Senegal parrot last night and I’m getting almost as much entertainment out of my mother’s reactions to Psitticine behavior as I am from the behavior itself. Shamus yawns. Mom is amazed. “He has a tongue!!!” “Yes, Mom. Birds have tongues.” Mom gives Shamus a grape. Shamus holds the grape with his foot while he eats it. Mom is amazed. “He’s holding the grape with his foot.” “Yes, Mom. Parrots hold their food like that.” After I put him in his cage to sleep I looked in on him to find him hanging upside down from the bars at the top of the cage. Wondered if he was planning to sleep like that. A bit later, Mom comes into the living room and says “Where’s the bird?” “He’s in his cage.” “No, he isn’t. I just looked.” “He’s hanging upside down at the top of the cage.” Mom goes to check. She is amazed. “He’s hanging upside down in the top of his cage!!” “Yes, Mom. Birds do that.” “That’s weird.” “Yes, Mom. Birds are weird.” I was at work today, so I didn’t get to directly observe her reactions to Shamus’s antics. Apparently, he peeped at her once. She was amazed… ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/houston-the-parrot-has-landed/274062/48 "2004-11-15T12:28:27Z")
Okay, it’s tangentially related: There was an article on how toddlers develop language skills on slashdot, I contributed the following: > [@](#): > > This follows with Parrots too. You can ask polly if he wants a cracker all you want, but it took me just once knocking something off the counter and yelling “GODDAMMIT!” for my African Grey to not only pick up the sound, but the CONTEXT. > > He’d take a toy over to the side of his perch, drop it off the side, look at it with a single eye and yell “GODDAMMIT!” at it. > > Now, combine an african Grey with twin 2 year old boys and you get some really interesting results. > > Collin walks into the room and Iian (parrot) says “Ya OKAY?”…Collin says ‘No.’ (Kids pick up ‘no’ REALLY early.) > > Alex’s favorite word is shoe. Not _just_ shoe, but as a really excited question: SHOE!?!?! > > So now, of course, it’s Iian’s favorite word too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/houston-the-parrot-has-landed/274062.md?page=2)