Psitt right down and tell me about your bird(s)

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
41

Zen is an Indian Ringneck that is supposedly about 2 years old; she’s already had at least three owners before me, though this seems to be unfortunate coincidence rather than anything about her personally. I don’t know how she was raised or taken care of. Her last owners claimed that she was very happy and pampered; however, they also explained that they decided to give her away because their other bird, an African Gray, was eaten by one of their four dogs. I therefore suspect that her previous home may not have been as idyllic a refuge as claimed.

At first she was terrified when anyone even got near her coop, but lately she has calmed down a bit and will tolerate being looked at obliquely without pitching an enormous conniption fit. She is deathly afraid of hands, but will shoulder-perch if coaxed sufficiently. I’m not thrilled about the shoulder-perching, but I figure that some contact is probably better than none.

She also talks a bit, although her repertoire is not great. She wants people to know who she is, crying: “Baby bird Zen! Baby bird Zen! Baby, baby, baby, baby, baby bird Zen!” Long pause; then, imperiously: “Ah’m bay-bah bard ZAY-UNN!” (Her previous owners were Southern people, so she occasionally manifests the accent.) She also says “I’m fine; how are you?”-- though, paradoxically, this is usually at times when she is visibly agitated by something. She also has the endearing habit of screaming, “FEED ME!” This means that she wants me to feed her.

She surprised the hell out of me one night by suddenly whistling the Andy Griffith Show theme music almost perfectly (see above: previous owners were Southern people). Since then I occasionally play it back for her on Google Video, but so far there has been no repeat performance.

All this is stuff that she learned from others; she hasn’t picked up anything from me yet, except for one isolated incident when the ferrets were running around and she yelled out, “WEASELS!” This is my warning to the ferrets that they are being too ferrety. They didn’t listen to her either, which made me feel a bit better.

Lately she doesn’t seem to be talking as much. I’m not sure what that signifies, or what to do about it. She seems fine otherwise, and appears somewhat more comfortable with my presence in general. I try to give her as much attention and encouragement as I can, but the sad fact is that she still just doesn’t trust me.

42

I have a large-ish CAG Zahzoo. We got him from a friend who was scared of him, reporting the bird would escape his cage and terrorize the humans and dogs from one room to the next with screaming, biting, blood and curses. We went to see if we could help. We found a standard-sized CAG with a stupid look on his face just chillin’ in his cage. After staring at it for a while, my husband got bored and decided to let it out. The bird owner dashed for the door and SHUT US IN! With the SCAREY BIRD! Zahzoo scrambled out of the cage, attacked the floral curtains , and slid to the floor. He then swelled up, growled and charged.
There are a few things more terrifying then a waddling, gargling, spherical parrot. Like… um, spoons. Library cards. Pudding. Just about everything.
My husband lost it, and started laughing at the deadly threat avdvancing on his ankle. Poor Zahz stopped like he hit a wall. Zahz deflated and shuffled behind the couch. It took us a half hour to convince him to come back out, and we agreed to take him because he was such a bad match with that owner.
Zahzoo is actually a very gentle and sweet bird who begs for kisses and neck scratches. He adores technology and loves to talk to remote controls. If you want to make friends, show him your cell phone. If it is a good one, he will let you pet him with it. Even a substandard phone will get a few comforting peeps. His violent streak still surfaces once in a while: if he gets a hold of good projectile weapons (almonds, hand toys, washers) he will whip them at the cats’ heads. He can huck a moving cat head at ten feet.

43

Ahh, your Zahzoo sounds like a great pet. Good on you for giving him a good home.

Piglet has lots of sounds. Wolf whistle, “I’m getting SOME!”, Pretty bird, Tweety Bird and I swear he can mimic my cell phone ringer. I have to admit, having someone in the room wolf whistle when you enter is an ego boost.

Maybe that’s why I keep the little bastard around…because Freddy can’t do the “Elle Mae going-down-the-stairs” guitar rift.

44

We got Steve bird in 1995. He was a Timneh that supposedly needed more attention, but really was getting re-homed for biting toes off the cat. He loves hockey, heavy metal, and parties, When I was finishing college he was birdy-sat by by my sister. Steve and her husband became good buddies. They would sit on the couch and watch hockey (Steve can say “get the PUCK!”) Steve used Jedi mind-tricks to make them serve 3 parrot meals a day: fresh fruit, homemade waffles, eggwhite omelettes, homemade pasta,toast with peanut butter,watermelon on demand, etc. Steve is a kissn’ fool. He is my only bird who will lay on his back in your hand. He DOES NOT approve of moving any upholstered furniture.

45

Oh my gosh, what is the deal with birds and their opinions about everything and obsessions and quirks? :smiley: On the intelligence scale of household pets where do they align, at the top?

I will not let my kids see this thread or they will want a flock!

46

Birds are an absolute TRIP. I’ve fallen in love with all the birds in the LiveJournal parrot_lovers community. And I’ve always had a huge soft spot for African Grays. They’re awesome birds. If I didn’t have Her Royal Highness, I’d want a Gray.

47

You’re kind of mean, aren’t you? :smiley: :wink:

48

Their ratio of brain size to body weight is extremely high. Maybe it means that they can devote more brainpower to cognitive functions than would be expected of something their size.

49

“Cognitive functions” being code for getting in to trouble.:smiley:

50

I would love to have a TAG, but the hubby has put a moratorium on any more fids on the Farm. WAAAHHH!!

51

I already don’t have time to give the dog, the cats, the bird, the husband and the house all the time and attention they need, NOW, so I don’t know how I’d manage with multiple birds who need separate out-of-cage time–and Sunshine would NOT be able to be out-of-cage with anyone else, I’m sure. (The little witch.:p)