Funny story at vet

[lyndaelyzoo]

Couldn't believe that my parrot did this at the vet's office, so had to share. I have an African Grey parrot (Brutus) that I adopted from an avian vet that I worked for about ten years ago. He is missing some feathers by his beak, so I decided to take him to a bird vet. He was sitting on a perch in a plastic clear carrier cage in one of the examining rooms and when the vet walked in, he said "What kind of bird are you?" I swear!!! I mean, what animal does that??? Then, when she put him on the electronic scale, he tells her "up" and after she put him back in his cage, he says "bye bye". Then when the examination was complete, he starts whistling as if he knows he passed his inspection!!!! BTW, I am not promoting owning parrots or exotics as pets and only adopted him because he was neglected by his previous owner. But I have to tell you that life is great with a grey!!!! These birds are truly amazing and if anyone is interested, I highly recommend Dr. Pepperberg's book, Alex and me. The intelligence of these animals is truly amazing!!!
Anyways, I later learned that the missing feathers are from scratching himself on his food dish. When in his carrier cage, he picks up his food dish, dumps out the food, and stares at his reflection in the metal dish!!! Apparently, he sometimes scratches himself on the side of the dish when holding it. The price of vanity!!!!

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[BurntFlower]

This story cracked me up.

I've always wanted a gray parrot; I've heard a lot of great stories about them.

 

[ckgilabert]

that is really cute! i think i saw something on animal planet that talked about the human/animal bond and how this lady had an african grey.

ok: so they put them in separate rooms....showed the lady some pictures, videotaped the bird....and for real...the bird would mention things that the lady saw! this stuff was happening at the same time, so the lady saw a picture of a car and the bird (at the same time, and in a different room) was like "i want to go for a ride". it was amazing.

 

[HandD42]

I just inherited a cockatiel (nothing like having a parrot I know) but I am kind of enjoying bird ownership even if he is super cantankerous. It is a very different experience then the dog/cat route.

 

[lyndaelyzoo]

Wow!!!! Never heard of a telepathic parrot, but I guess anythings possible with these birds!!!!

 

[vulturesrow]

One of my aunts has several African Greys and they are amazing animals. Her husband built a small aviary outside for them so the birds could enjoy the Florida summers. They used to call my aunt's cats, using my aunt's voice, and then when the cats would come strolling over to the cage they would squawk at the cats. It was pretty funny. They are amazing animals.