# Does anyone else have birds or parrots?



## ls-indy (Apr 10, 2008)

I just read the post about Boo comforting Ry after the passing of his cockatiel and I started wondering who else has a pet bird or parrot.

We've had an African Grey named "Gracie" for about 15 years. Her cage is out in the sunroom - just off the kitchen. She can also see into the great room from her position.

Daisy and Beau basically ignore her - except when she is throwing her food out of the cage! She eats table food and Zupreem fruit blend pellets. Gracie will take a dislike to a certain color pellet (parrots see in color) and throw them out on the floor. Daisy and Beau snarf them up like treats! No wonder the floor stays so much cleaner than it used to. 

Gracie has quite a vocabulary! She will ask the dogs, "Do you want to go out?" and she'll tell them, "Good girl" or "Beau's a good boy", "Want a treat??" and she'll tell them "that's enough! No barking!" and when they start RLH, she'll start saying, 'Whoa, whoa, whoa...", "Be a good girl!"

She beeps like the microwave, mimics the telephone ringing, and says, "hello" when we pick up the phone before we can say hello! When one of us gets a cold, she will mimic sneezing, coughing and throat clearing. When the neighbors added a deck, Gracie started reproducing construction noise: saws and hammers! We watch the Jack Bauer saga, 24. Gracie repeats the sound of the clock ticking at the beginning of each segment!

You know we must be getting old because she'll "groan" when we bend over to pick dog toys up from the floor!

Gracie likes to go to bed on time! She starts saying, "Night-Night. It's time to go night-night" if we stay up later than normal watching TV. At dusk, she'll start saying "How about some light on out here? We needs some light on out here". 

She speaks in different voices: She can sound like my husband on the phone (he works out of the house), or me, and she also has a "little girl" voice that sounds like our daughters when they were in grade school.....she uses that voice when they stop by the house and she'll say, "Hi, Grace!" over and over again in her little girl voice!

Gracie does enjoy watching the dogs. I think they keep her entertained!


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## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

I think they're soo fascinating!! I'd love to see a video of her vocab in action-it must be a hoot!!!


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## shimpli (Mar 24, 2010)

Christy, "good buddy" just posted in my thread saying that she has parrots. I hope she sees this thread.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

We have a Green Rumped Parrotlet named Sunny. She is 6 years old. Parrotlets are tiny (she is about 6" long) parrots most closely related to Amazon parrots. They live in large noisy flocks in South America. They are shorter lived than their larger cousins, typically living less than 20 years.

Because they have evolved to live in large flocks, they are very social, and become very bonded to their family. (she's not necessarily so friendly to other people though!) Sunny doesn't speak "human", but we say that's because she has us so well trained she doesn't need to. She is fully flighted, and has the run of the house for several hours each day. She terrorizes the cat, but I haven't seen much interaction between her and Kodi. 

What Sunny lacks in size, she makes up for in personality. We call her the "little green dinosaur" because she makes clicking noises just like the velociraptors in Jurassic Park. If she's not flying around looking for trouble, her favorite things are getting a neck scritch, or cuddling up on someone's shoulder for a nap.


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## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

A friend of mine has a beautiful bird who has an extensive vocabulary and speaks in all kinds of voices. I'm always amazed when I'm there how verbal he is. It's really like having company in the house. I would love to see/hear yours in action.


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## motherslittlehelper (Mar 18, 2010)

I have wondered this myself as my birds are the reason we ended up with a Havanese. I did a search for dogs that get along well with other pets and the Havanese breed came up and the more I researched, the more I liked what I was finding.

We have two cockatiels, Sammy and Spike. Sammy is basically a rescue bird as the husband of his owner did not like him and she asked if I would take him as she knew I loved birds and had a couple of my own. He is a feisty little thing and does the wolf whistle. Spike will whistle the Andy Griffith theme song. He is a skittish bird and I have always felt that if he were a human child, that he might be one to get picked on - he is kind of an odd little guy. We did have a female, named 'Tiel, who escaped years ago, never to be found. She was my first bird, given to me by my son and a little sweetheart, and I still miss her. Spike pestered her incessantly. Spike and Sammy do not care for each other, getting into frequent altercations.

Gabe is our red-bellied parrot. Red bellies (Poicephalus) aren't large parrots, about 9 inches long, quite stocky with large heads for their size. They are originally from Africa and supposedly are quieter than the South American parrots. Gabe will tell us 'night-night' when it is time to turn out the light for bed. If he is ignored, he turns up the volume and repeats until his request is met. He also says 'here kitty, kitty', 'where's Sammy', 'where's Spikey', 'where's Gabriel', 'okay', 'Hi Gabe', 'see ya later' when we are preparing to leave the house, and 'peekaboo' when we ask 'where's Gabe'. He speaks in a funny robot-like voice and will spew huge paragraphs at times, usually in the mornings, that I have been unable to decipher. He also makes noises like the microwave, car alarms, beeping of unlocking the car, creaking doors, etc. He also laughs when we are laughing at something on TV. When someone that he does not know approaches his cage, he will turn his back to them.

The birds are full flighted and are let out in the house to fly several times a week. Augie usually retreats to his crate when they are out as they swoop and screech through the house.

They are funny characters with such different personalities, just like our dogs and humans, something I had never thought about until they came to live with us.


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## susieg (Aug 28, 2009)

I enjoyed reading everyone's posts about birds....thanks for sharing 

I grew up with birds, my dad always called my mom a crazy bird lady. You could guarantee finding a poop on one of her shirts every so often  We had a parrotlet that looked just like Sunny! His personality sounds the same too. His name was Perri and he was a feisty little thing. He'd nap in the crook of my mom's neck when she'd watch TV, sometimes, he'd crawl down to her armpit and sleep there too...ha ha. He would give you kisses and little nibbles on your neck and cheek....but every once and awhile would bite down too hard and then make a chuckling sound. What a brat! He didn't talk, but would make all sorts of funny clicking noises like Sunny and a laughing sound. He loved corn and grapes, he'd peel the skin off of them and eat the insides.

We also had an orange winged amazon named Max. My mom acquired him from someone....we think he was abused because he was really scared and mean when we first got him. But he slowly came out of his shell and really bonded to my mom. His relationship with the rest of the family was hot and cold, he always hated men and would only let my dad touch him if my mom was out of town. My poor dad tried so hard to bond with him, but Max would always bite him. He loved sitting on his perch in the shower and would sing to the tune of Phantom of the Opera. My mom would make him a scrambled egg for breakfast every morning. When he was done eating, he'd knock his dish off the counter on to the floor and laugh. He had a big vocabulary too, including some cuss words that my brothers who were teenagers at the time taught him. He would call my name like "Soooooooozie" when I would get home from school.

Maybe someday I'll get a bird. I would love an African Grey, they are so smart!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Well, Sunny is quite enough bird for us! I always had canaries when I was younger, and loved them. But my son had had a series of very nice hamsters that he would get very attached to, and then they'd die. He wanted a pet that would live longer! He did his research and decided on a parrotlet. We got her as a fledgling from an amateur breeder. 

She is very bonded to us, but as with your parrotlet, when the mood strikes her, she can bite hard!!! (fortunately, it's rare that she bites... interestingly, it's often right after we come back from a vacation... It almost feels like she's "punishing" us for leaving her!) Considering how much she hurts as such a tiny bird, I have to admit I'm afraid of those great big beaks on the large hook bills.


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## Poornima (Jun 29, 2007)

I enjoyed reading about everyone's birds. I have always felt that I would love to have an African Grey parrot but my DH can't stand birds. 

Lynda, you probably have heard about Alex, the African Grey parrot that was chronicled off and on on PBS. The book "Alex and Me" is a very interesting and engaging read about Alex and his owner, who was conducting scientific research on bird brains.


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## SnobunnieNY (Oct 24, 2007)

Wow I am amazed at how many of our homes are shared with birds. Ryan is already wanting and missing the little noises that Spike made, especially when he came home from school or got up in the morning. He had a specific whistle just for Ry. 

He is very interested in Conures, he loves the colors. But everyone I know that had one says they are very very loud and tend to be screamers. I have never seen a Parolette. Im gonna have to look into them. What is thier lifespan and expectancies?


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## mckennasedona (Feb 20, 2007)

We have birds. We had three but now have two. We had two Cockatiels, Crash and Spike, but Crash lost his battle with cancer a few months ago. He was 24. Spike is around 20. We also have a 22 year old Sun Conure, named, of course, Sunny. We didn't name him, his original owner did. We are Sunny and Spike's fourth home but they have been with us for over 10 years.


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## SMARTY (Apr 19, 2007)

We went through the bird stages of life with parrots, finches, and black face lovebirds. Each had a time and place. They are all very entertaining. Mine never carried on a conversation just mimicked sounds. I sold my last parrot to a guy that came to look at a Boxer litter. He was infatuated with the bird, thinking of the mess, dander, continuous talking and bites my decision was easy when he met the price.

At times I think I would like to have another bird then I remember………


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

SnobunnieNY said:


> He is very interested in Conures, he loves the colors. But everyone I know that had one says they are very very loud and tend to be screamers. I have never seen a Parolette. Im gonna have to look into them. What is thier lifespan and expectancies?


They live about 20 years and are MUCH quieter than a Conure (but then, almost everything is<g>) They are really quieter than a cockatiel too. About half way between a cockatiel and a parakeet. (Budgie, not a real parakeet) They can get going, especially if someone crinkles a plastic bag near them!!!<g> But they are just too small to make as much noise as many of the bigger birds. Unless you really wind them up, they mostly chitter and chatter quietly. They CAN learn to talk, but Sunny has never shown any interest. We've been told that males are more likely to talk. They'll never have a vocabularly like some of the big birds though, and I've been told their voices are quite robotic.

She's a very good pet... smart, interactive, cuddly (when it suits her :wink and small enough to be easy to handle. But she is still all parrot, with all that that entails. She needs LOTS of input, is VERY particular about who she likes and doesn't like, and can be nippy at times. She's very much a tame wild bird (even though she was, of course, captive bred) not a domesticated animal.


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## mckennasedona (Feb 20, 2007)

Sandi, I must admit, I'm with you. When Sunny and Spike pass on, we won't be getting any more birds. As much as I do love my birds, all of them were basically rescues, not a concscious choice of pet. We brought Crash home because my in-laws got tired of his chirping and put his cage in the bedroom. Well, that's no life for a bird so we brought him to live with us when he was a few years old. He had a great life and was lots of fun. We ended up with Sunny and Spike because their first owner couldn't stand the shrieking and found them a new home, and another, and another, until my husband agreed to bring them home. I never knew how noisy a Conure could be! We had made a comittment though and I wasn't going back on it! Four homes is too many so we knew were in for the long haul. 
Unfortunately, we will likely lose our beautiful Sunny within the next few months. He is suffering from cancer and is on pain meds twice per day. As long as his quality of life is good, he'll be loved and cared for by us. 
I was feeling guilty for being a bad bird parent until our wonderful Avian vet assured us that even though we didn't provide the best food (I bought bird seed at Petco), the fact that our birds are in their 20's says we've done something right. I will miss them when they are all gone but doubt I'll ever have another bird.


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## SMARTY (Apr 19, 2007)

I loved my birds when I had them. They were great. Even bred some of the smaller birds and gave to friends and family.


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## Poornima (Jun 29, 2007)

Susan, thanks for writing about your experiences of owning a bird. I have been tempted sometimes to get an African Grey but I know it is not for us, especially when DH can't stand birds!


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## ls-indy (Apr 10, 2008)

Poornima - Yes, I was always very interested in Alex. He was just amazing. For those who don't know about him - he was an African Gray who could tell you how many object were on a tray, how many were a specific color, could identify the material they were made out of and what the object was. There's a lot of info and videos of him on the internet. He was an avian genius!

African grays do a lot of talking and sounds - but don't tend to shriek and scream as much as other parrots. In general - they don't like to be handled as much as a cockatoo although some do. Gracie likes to get on top of her cage - but is nervous if we take her away from it. We had a cat when we first got Gracie - so she spent most of her time in her cage because the cat was "overly interested" in Gracie. The cat got old and died - but Gracie still prefers her cage or cage top. We keep her wings clipped - so she doesn't fly. Some parrots are feather pickers - but fortunately we don't have that problem. Gracie enjoys food puzzle toys and also loves to create toothpicks out of blocks of wood! She also mimics the sound of the wild birds she hears outside. She hates ball caps. I think it looks like a very large beak to her. I always ask people to remove caps around her.

She creates her own words: she loves apples and crackers, and asks for "crapples". If we don't respond, she will then ask for apples or crackers correctly...

We also had a cockatoo may years ago that was bonded to my husband. He would just shriek and yell unless my husband was holding him. We couldn't have company over! We reached a point where we couldn't take it anymore - and re-homed him. The avian vet referred us to a lady who was handicapped and had birds that are her constant companions. We stayed in touch with her for a number of years and Louie ended up very happy in his new home.

We live in Indiana - and back in the day, when Reggie Miller played for the Pacers, we watched a lot of basketball. Gracie would mimic the announcer Slick Leonard and yell "Boom Baby" throughout the games. When our youngest daughters were in high school, every time we answered the phone Gracie would start yelling "Robyn, telephone" at the top of her lungs. She doesn't say either of these things anymore. Her vocabulary fluctuates based upon what she's hearing.

She also whistles. She does the theme song from the Andy Griffith Show and also the whistle from The Bridge Over the River Kwai. She likes it if I whistle a part and then she whistles a part.

Gracie is so funny! If we start to laugh at something on TV, she starts laughing too! It's so funny that we laugh harder at her, and she starts laughing too and adds Gracie comments too like, "Oh God, thats so funny", and "She cracks me up!".

Gracie is an important part of our pack/family too!


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## siewhwee (Sep 24, 2009)

I had a parakeet for 3 years. His name is Billy-Bob. He was "bought" by our then lab coordinator for a science project at the university where I work. She normally returns the bird to the pet store after the project, but since Billy was the first one that didn't bite, she decided to keep him.
Summer came, and the students went home. The lab coordinator could not take Billy home because she has cats. I ended up looking after him because my husband and I have no pets. Somehow Billy ended up permanently in our house. I bought him from the university when it became clear that he was here to stay.
Billy went everywhere with me - in the car sitting on the head rest, or in his cage in my bicycle basket. He went to work with me, and came home at night. In school, he would be in either of 3 places, his perch on my desk, our secretary's office or the water bath cover in the lab. Sometimes he would nestle onto a student's shoulder while he or she took an exam. There were also times when I went to my office, and Billy wasn't there. A short while later, a student would return with him on his/her shoulder because he/she had taken Billy for a walk down the hallway.
Billy ate (or tried to) whatever we ate, except things that are poisonous to him (e.g. avocado). He loves strawberries (especially the "seeds") and mangoes.
One day we noticed that he wasn't looking and acting well. We live in the middle of nowhere, and there are no avian vets here. We planned to take him to another town where there is one, but a snow storm came. In the end, we took him to a local vet who claimed that he and his technician know how to handle birds. Apparently, they don't. I watched Billy died of a cardiac arrest (from fright) in his technician's hand.
To this day, I still blame myself for causing his death. It's been 5 years, and I still miss Billy a lot. That's a picture of him (avatar) on our window sill watching my hang clothing to dry outside.

Siew Hwee


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## mckennasedona (Feb 20, 2007)

Birds can be very funny. Crash could mimic a puppy bark and he could sound exactly like my husband's old car starting up. He also loved the Andy Griffith theme and would chirp along when my husband would start. 
Sunny used to make kiss sounds all the time. He never really spoke words but our avian vet said Conure's can but aren't particularly good at it for the most part. He would also coo a lot when cuddled into his bed. Now that he is ill, his vocalization has dropped off but every so often he can surprise us.
Spike hates to interrupted when he is chirping. If we chime in, he emits a long, loud chirp as if to tell us to shut up and listen to him! He can say "Whatcha doin" pretty clearly.


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## mckennasedona (Feb 20, 2007)

Siew Hwee, that's a sad story. I'm sorry you lost Billy. You did everything you could for him.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Poornima said:


> Susan, thanks for writing about your experiences of owning a bird. I have been tempted sometimes to get an African Grey but I know it is not for us, especially when DH can't stand birds!


The big birds are a HUGE committment. They need a tremendous amount of input to be happy and well adjusted. And then they live for a LONG time. VERY few people really can plan for a bird that lives 60 years. So these poor things get passed from pillar to post. People also don't realize that almost all sexually mature parrots bite at least occasionally. When someone gets a cute little hand fed baby, everything is fine until they get to be about 2 years old (older for the really big birds) and bite someone. Then they are looking for a new home. Parrots are even more of an impulse purchase than puppies are... and a LOT more work if you are going to do it right.

Sunny is very cute, but she belongs to my son, and will leave when he leaves.<g> I liked my canaries... they LIKE to stay in their cages... they interact with you through the bars, but they don't WANT to be out. Having a parrot, even a little one, is like having a toddler (with a temper and a sharp beak) in the house for as long as they live.


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## ls-indy (Apr 10, 2008)

I'd love to have a canary too. We had one when I was little and he sang so beautifully! I wonder if Gracie would try to mimic a canary? 

Karen is correct about birds being a big responsibility also. The larger parrots do live a long time. We were told to decide where our bird would go after we were "gone" before we bought her. Fortunately for us, one of my daughter's is a vet tech and would take Gracie if anything happened to us. My oldest daughter already has a havie (Toby, who is Daisy's littermate) and she would take Daisy and Beau if we were out of the picture. Hopefully, we'll be around for a long while!


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## good buddy (Feb 20, 2007)

shimpli said:


> Christy, "good buddy" just posted in my thread saying that she has parrots. I hope she sees this thread.


I did see it lol! and I Do have parrots! Lynda, Gracie is beautiful! I've always loved the African Greys--such beautiful birds. Karen, your parrotlet is adorable.

I have 3 Eclectus Parrots, and a Blue Headed Pionus. Eclectus Parrots are one of the few parrots where you can actually tell a male from a female without DNA testing. The females are red with a bue/purple chests and black... Uhh why don't I just show you?

These is Ruby and Tina, Jaxon my male Eclectus, and Ozzie my Blue headed Pionus.
Ozzie and Jax are my big talkers here! Eclectus parrots can have very large vocabularies and BHP's--not so much but Ozzie is still a good talker. His voice is less clear though. He says many of the same things Jax says like C'mere baby, wan't some?, wanna treat?, zat good?, ssss'ok, are you okaaaay? He also likes to whistle the Andy Griffith theme song lol! That's pretty popular with parrots! Jax says alot of things but just a few are tickle-tickle-tickle, I got yer footie!, I gotcher beak!, I love you, whatcha doin?, Jaxxxon!, uh oh!, grrreen guy!, gimmee kisses *kiss noise, good boy!

I get a kick out of them, but anyone considering owning a parrot should be aware they are alot of work! Mine-like most spill/fling food and require lots of cage cleaning. We never ever use teflon because it's dangerous to birds and are hyper aware of cleaning products, aerosols, candles etc.!

oops! No time to proof read right now gotta run, but I'll check back later!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

I LOVE your Eclectus!!!! They are one of my favorite birds!!! (Your Pionus is very cute too!)


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## motherslittlehelper (Mar 18, 2010)

It's been fun reading about everyone's experiences with the avian members of their families and seeing the beautiful photos! Just want to emphasize to anyone who doesn't have birds but who is considering them that these are NOT low maintenance pets and, as has been mentioned previously, many are quite long-lived creatures, the cockatiels even can live into their 20s. They need proper food, appropriate-sized cages, toys and attention. They are messy; it is amazing how far seeds can be flung from their cages. Also, if you are prone to allergies, the cockatiels are quite powdery (the red-bellied parrot not so much). My son found that he was allergic to cockatiels. Cage cleaning can be quite a task, especially if one has multiple birds and the cages are fairly large. Also, consider whether you have access to an avian vet. We found that regular vets do not have the ability to care for these guys, and avian vets are not all that plentiful; we drive quite a distance to one. Also, you will need someone to care for them while you are on vacation. We like to have someone come into our home to change water, feed, and spend some time with them each day when we are away. They do not get out-of-cage time when we are not home. And, as was mentioned, fumes from Teflon pans, candles, many cleaning products, as well as many plants and human foods are toxic to them.

After all that, they really are fun to have around. After we brought Augie home, Gabe would nip me (if he was out of his cage) and Augie was near me. Gabe considers me to be his 'bird' and I think he thought he saw Augie as a threat to me and was trying to get me to move out of harm's way. He doesn't do it any longer.

I found a picture of Gabe. Hope I remember how to attach it.


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## good buddy (Feb 20, 2007)

krandall said:


> I LOVE your Eclectus!!!! They are one of my favorite birds!!! (Your Pionus is very cute too!)


Thank you Karen! They are one of my favorites too! :becky: I seem to be very attracted to "exotic" type pets. I haven't a clue why as I am a very plain Jane type person! <g> I've always been crazy about animals. Growing up we always had a dog, my mom had canaries, my brother had rats, mice, snakes, lizards and fish. He's bring home horny toads and we'd catch frogs and lizards together. As I got older I'd spend countless hours at the pet store at the mall especially fascinated with the birds. When I moved out I owned hampsters and love birds fish and I was always the person people came too with baby birds that needed mothering or found turtles and such. My ex-husband even brought in a fledgling falcon or hawk? once and we fed it raw meat and nursed it up for a day or two before encouraging it back out into the world. These days I would know to find a wildlife rescue to handle something like that, but all went well that time and it's parents called to it all day long encouraging it to try and fly and the little booger eventually made it higher and higher until it was back with it's own.


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## Maxmom (Jul 22, 2008)

I've had three birds. First, was Paddie, an Indian Ringneck we bought on St. Patrick's day. In the clip he is saying, Pretty Paddie, Won't you talk to me?, and Gimme a kiss. Please don't look at me, it's early morning and I'm in my comfy torn t-shirt, how embarrassing. Paddie was wonderful, but he bonded to my husband, who spoiled him terribly and eventually he would screech non-stop to be on his shoulder. He's rehomed and very happy entertaining the crowd in a small restaurant.






My second bird was Sunshine, a yellow cockatiel. My neighbor found him in her yard. He was badly abused by other birds and when she put her hand down he ran up her arm and was so happy to be rescued! She gave him to me and he became our little ray of Sunshine. The first clip is of Sunshine whistling You Are My Sunshine to my niece. The second is Sunshine singing on his cage. That song is what we heard the first day we brought him home.
http://picasaweb.google.com/jananchandler/2002#5472998209143908194
http://picasaweb.google.com/jananchandler/2002#5472998308333944162

I had another rescue bird, Blue. A beautiful blue parakeet. A neighbor found him on the ground and gave him to us because we were the "bird people" on the block. We gave Blue away because three birds were too many and Blue chattered CONSTANTLY. He bonded immedately with a little boy, so we allowed him to be rehomed.

We loved our birds, wouldn't take back the decisions we made to have them, but probably won't have another.


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## trueblue (Jan 22, 2008)

The birds that talk are so cool. A friend at work has one...not sure what kind, but the bird imitates my friend, calls her dog from another room, and Bella (the dog) goes running...so funny. I have to admit though, that birds in general kind of freak me out. I always feel like they are looking at me and trying to figure out which eye they want to peck out first.


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## Jill in Mich (Feb 24, 2008)

My roommate and I had a parakeet in college. We weren't allowed to have any pets in our apartment so when the manager would come over we would put Sonny (in his cage) in the closet. Once, as we stood talking to the manager, this little voice came from the closet "Please can I come out? Pleeaaaaase can I come out?" 

My roommate would have a date over, be on the couch making out and Sonny would say "Whatch ya doin'?" "Gimme a kiss" "Mmmmmmm, good kisser!" 

He didn't especially like me and would torment me by swooping down to tear off the corners of my neatly, re-written notes. Or, after my roommate had left in the morning, sit in the bottom of his cage screeching. I'd roll over to yell at him and he would have ducked down below the plastic at the bottom of the cage. If I waited, his little head would slowly peek up to see if I was still looking his way. If I was, he'd quickly duck back down. After one of these episodes, when I had yelled at him, he sat up with his nose in the back corner of the cage saying "Bad Sonny! Bad! Bad Bird!" He then turned around, looked directly at me and said "B****"


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## motherslittlehelper (Mar 18, 2010)

:laugh: Jill, great stories!!


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