Believe it or not.

[texsize]

I am still having a hard time believing it even though I heard it myself.
About ½ hour before going to work Bella started asking to “Go Poop”. My response was “I have to go to work” .
She knows what both of these statements mean. Go to work means I will be leaving soon for a long time and go poop means she gets to come out of her cage and take advantage of it by flying to the top of the curtains.
So after going through this request and answer twice she added something… A word I have never heard her say before.
She said Go poop PLEASE.
If that’s not a sign of true intelligence I don’t know what is.
Of course I had to let her out. Then I had to spend 5 minutes chasing her around when I had to leave to go to work.

 

[Billdore]

I know the feeling when your telling non parrot owners especially; just how smart they are. Sometimes I wonder if people believe me!!! Thats awesome go Bella. This morning I was calling my dogs in through the back window and I whistled and Timneh said Come here. They are so amazing.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Just go ahead and surrender now.

 

[LeaKP]

Yes, incredibly smart, smarter than we are! Ugh. I'm a prisoner for life i guess!

 

[RavensGryf]

Greys always amaze me with their extraordinary intelligence!

 

[DRB]

Awesome.

My Perjo just started saying a couple words last week, she hasn't taken off with it like I thought she might, but what she has done is started using our whistle vocabulary in context WITHOUT prompting. Yesterday she said "thank you" in our specific whistle to convey that expression and she did it all on her own after I took her outside for a shower.

 

[Birdman666]

Yeah.

My CAG and the "go poop" command...

Years ago, TUSK, my CAG was bombarding me with "Wanna go outside? Wanna go for a walk?" Which was a not so subtle hint...

But in those days I had 11 birds, and we had a set order of doing thing. Tusk wanted to be taken out of order, and that generally upset the "natural order of things" in a "Judge Whopner" moment from the movie Rain Man sort of way...

So I wasn't having it. And I picked up my conures, who were poop trained.

So he gave them the "go poop" command USING MY VOICE. And all three immediately complied by pooping all over me...

Tusk did his poofy bird dance, and said "Gotta clean up the poopy mess!"

(When he was little, brooms made him nervous. I calmed him down by telling him I just "gotta clean the poopy mess." He picked it up in context... HE KNOWS WHAT IT MEANS... and uses it in context.

YES THEY ARE THAT AWARE... Don't doubt that for a second!!!

 

[texsize]

Yeah.

My CAG and the "go poop" command...

Years ago, TUSK, my CAG was bombarding me with "Wanna go outside? Wanna go for a walk?" Which was a not so subtle hint...

But in those days I had 11 birds, and we had a set order of doing thing. Tusk wanted to be taken out of order, and that generally upset the "natural order of things" in a "Judge Whopner" moment from the movie Rain Man sort of way...

So I wasn't having it. And I picked up my conures, who were poop trained.

So he gave them the "go poop" command USING MY VOICE. And all three immediately complied by pooping all over me...

Tusk did his poofy bird dance, and said "Gotta clean up the poopy mess!"

(When he was little, brooms made him nervous. I calmed him down by telling him I just "gotta clean the poopy mess." He picked it up in context... HE KNOWS WHAT IT MEANS... and uses it in context.

YES THEY ARE THAT AWARE... Don't doubt that for a second!!!

LOL.
now that's funny.
I have read they like to play jokes on there people. That's a good one.

 

[mh434]

Not only are they that smart, they have a sense of humor, too. I learned that from our CAG Reno.

A couple of years ago, one of our many smoke detectors' battery failed (you know, that high-pitched, brief "Beep!" sound, every minute or so?). I fixed it, and moved on.

About a week later, I heard another one fail...but, as you know, the sound is devilishly hard to locate. Armed with a stepladder & a handful of 9V batteries, I started going through all of the detectors (we have 9 or 10 of them in the house). After about an hour changing batteries (all of which tested fine), the beep continuing on its annoying schedule, I finally came to the last one, over Reno's cage. As it's a vaulted ceiling, and about 12 feet up, I had left it until last. As I clambered up the ladder to open the very last detector, I heard the beep again...right below me.

I looked down at Reno, and said "You little bugger!!". So help me, he cocked his head to the side so he could look directly at me...and laughed. LOUD! Then, he asked for a cookie...

Interestingly, he seemed to appreciate that the prank was only good as a one-time thing, and he's never tried again, or even made the beep sound again.

Greys have a truly Machiavellian capacity for humor!!

 

[LeaKP]

Yeah, Nigel, who knows to go poo when I say, now replies "noooooo" when he doesn't want to.

Scary...I'm in for trouble!

 

[Birdman666]

Yeah.

LOL.
now that's funny.
I have read they like to play jokes on there people. That's a good one.

Tusk does the microwave and the dinner timer so well, that you have to check to see if the food is actually done.

Same thing for the doorbell.

Gotta look at the bird before you answer it, cuz he can't keep a straight face when he is messing with you...

Got my daughter good once... "SARAH GET YOUR BUTT DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!" in my angriest voice ever... (Don't know HOW he could have picked this one up... ?!)

She comes out of the shower, dripping wet... "Dad, can we talk about it later, I'm taking a shower..."

TUSK, DOING THE POOFY BIRD DANCE...

"Talk about what? That wasn't me."

OH, YES, HE DOES!!!

 

[Birdman666]

The most amazing Tusk-ism was still the Halloween incident. We had about 25 people gathered around the tree slack jawed over that one...

I saw it. But I don't believe what I just saw...

(I've posted about that one before.)

 

[DRB]

Stumbled across this article, figured I'd share it, not sure how many of you have read this or how some of you feel about it. It seems to makes sense to me and reads as if it is trustworthy considering the author's background.

All About Your Parrot's Feathers - The Causes Of Molt, Feather Problems And What You Can Do About Them

I think Perjo definitely barbars her feathers to some degree.

 

[Birdman666]

I'M LUCKY.

Tusk is more likely to pluck you than himself.

He has taken on the hardier aspects of my amazons and macaws. He and my lilac crowned amazon are partners in crime. BEFORE THAT he was constantly hanging out with my RFM. So he has picked up a lot of their characteristics over the years... more outgoing than most CAGS.

 

[texsize]

Is it ok for a CAG and an Amazon be in the same cage?
I thought that the dust that a CAG has can cause problems for the Amazon.
I would like me RLA and CAG to be together but I am worried it would cause breathing problems for my Zon.

 

[Kentuckienne]

The most amazing Tusk-ism was still the Halloween incident. We had about 25 people gathered around the tree slack jawed over that one...

I saw it. But I don't believe what I just saw...

(I've posted about that one before.)

I've searched and searched and can't find the post! Tell us about Halloween tree slack.

 

[Birdman666]

Is it ok for a CAG and an Amazon be in the same cage?
I thought that the dust that a CAG has can cause problems for the Amazon.
I would like me RLA and CAG to be together but I am worried it would cause breathing problems for my Zon.

My CAG and my lilac crowned are inseparable. They aren't caged, i.e. caged doors don't close around here. They are never more than a few feet from each other.

Dust and dander is kept to a minimum by weekly bathings. I clean. The bird room is big enough so that there is plenty of ventillation...

CAG dander is not as bad as too dander.

 

[Birdman666]

I've searched and searched and can't find the post! Tell us about Halloween tree slack.

One of my favorite Tusk-isms...

When Tusk was younger, I used to have to constantly reassure him and keep him calm. "It's okay. You're okay." Occasionally he would freak out over something (i.e. the broom bumping into his cage when I was cleaning.) and fly off in a panic... and I would calm him down and coax him back, "You're okay. Come here." and explain what I was doing...

SOOOOO... Years later, he was 11 or 12 at the time... Halloween comes around, and rather than have a birdie freakout over everyone coming to the door, I take them outside in the tree where they can see everything and everyone. And they LIKE the commotion rather than getting FREAKED OUT by the commotion... My birds go out in the tree every day, and I keep chairs out in front so I can sit under the tree with them. It's normal for my flock. So I sat in my chair under the tree and passed out candy...

And of course, the macaws are lap birds... they don't stay in the tree very long. They wanna be with me, and with people. So I had one on my shoulder and one on my lap. The three amazons blend into the tree so well, that you can't tell they are there. And a CAG at night is invisible in a tree unless he wants to be seen... so no one even knows they are up there. Very crowded that year. We must've had 250-300 trick or treaters. Perfect weather. Nice night. Everyone was having a good time.

Along comes this little four year old girl. It's her first halloween, and she's really excited, and she is literally sprinting from house to house... BEST HOLIDAY EVER INVENTED! I GET TO PLAY DRESS UP AND I GET CANDY....
Half way across my lawn she figures out that the big red bird on my lap (Maggie!) WAS REAL!!! She tries to put on the brakes, but was running too fast, and she tripped and fell, and spilled all her candy... and began crying...

THIS IS WHERE IT GOT AMAZING!!!

Tusk, who studies everything, and everybody, walks out to the end of the tree branch DIRECTLY OVER THE LITTLE GIRL'S HEAD... He hangs upside down by one foot, SO SHE CAN SEE HIM CLEARLY... and says, "Awwww....wassamatter.... it's okay... you're okay... come here... come on.... come here."

And of course, all the other birds know "come here." So they begin repeating it as well, including the big red bird on my lap. So the birds start bombarding her with "come here, come here..." AND BY NOW WE HAVE A CROWD OF SLACK JAWED PEOPLE WHO SAW IT ALL HAPPEN, AND DON'T BELIEVE WHAT THEY JUST SAW... Once the little girl calmed down, Tusk just quietly disappeared back into the tree. "My work is done here."

So we help the little girl up, and picked up her candy. I held Maggie's beak, and taught the little girl to scratch Maggie's head. I gave her extra candy and sent her on her way...

Then ended up fielding about 1,000 questions from the people who saw what happened...

Tusk comforted the little girl, the way I comforted him when he was upset. He learned the behavior, recognized the situation, felt empathy, and remembered what a human had done for him when he was upset... COGNITIVELY AND IN CONTEXT!!!

THAT IS ABSOLUTELY WHAT THAT WAS...

 

[Birdman666]

One other good example of picking up a phrase in context, and using it appropriately in another context:

I was having one of the worst work days of my life. I came home just devestated, and exhausted. One of those days that just drains the life out of you.

I sat down on the couch. After awhile, Tusk climbed down from his cage and waddled over to me. I picked him up and he sat on my lap and "studied me" the way CAGs do. Then he climbs down my leg and waddles back to his cage, and starts digging around in his food bowl.

I figured, okay, he's not in the mood. I'll go eat now.... but nope! He picks out a cashew, and then waddles back to me wanting to be picked up. Tusk places the cashew in the palm of my hand and then looks me square in the eye and says, "It's okay. You're a good boy."

Then he climbed down and waddled off again, leaving the nut in my hand.

 

[Birdman666]

My favorite Alex story...

When I got my CAG, I went to a training seminar where the featured speaker was Irene Pepperberg. She had Alex at a fund raising event for her research showing off what his cognitive abilities were. They were giving him a spelling test. He would be given a simple word. He'd spell the word, and he was being given a food reward for getting it right. In this case, a grape.

So she gives him a word, and he spells it correctly. She gives him a grape. He spits it out and says, "I want a nut."

Irene didn't have any nuts. So she explained that to him. "I don't have any nuts. You can have grapes, and I'll give you a nut later."

So she gave him another word. He spelled it right. She gave him a grape. He again spit it out and says "I want a nut."

The third time he spelled a word correctly.... he didn't even bother to take the grape. He looked her straight in the eye and says, "I WANT A NUT! N-U-T! NUT!" Then he refused to do anything else until someone went to the store and got a bag of nuts...

Yeah. Let me spell it out for you! N-U-T...

Anyone who doesn't believe they have actual cognitive abilities... really hasn't spent much time around them.