Allee
Well-known member
My male quaker, Sammy, is a talker, he often picks up new words or phrases after only hearing them once. He speaks clearly and in context, he has a few favorite words that if he is in a receptive mood, I can cue him to say, but he has his own ideas about verbal communication. He recently moved to a new cage and had some trouble adjusting, he was uncharacteristically quiet for a couple of weeks. In the last few days he has been very happy and in the mood to chat.
Sammy talks with his whole body, if I tell him he's done a good job, he will stretch his neck, stand up tall and say, Thank You! He can say, I love you, but since the cage fiasco he has not mentioned the L word to me. Tonight I said, I love you, he cocked his head to the side, seemed to be seriously considering his reply and said, Thank you.
Last night after a song and a game of peek-a-boo, he said, Good night, Sweetheart! He also says, Nite Nite, and Gimme, gimme, gimme a kiss, followed by loud kissy sounds.
This evening when I brought Sammy a fresh bowl of dry food, he got excited about a couple of fat pumpkin seeds. He said, Yum Yum Yum, Good Good Good! He says, Yum Yum Yum and Good Good Good almost daily, he's enthusiastic about his food to the point of purring at special treats. He paused mid chomp, looked up at me, clutching his prize in his foot and said with absolute sincerity, You are a good, good, bird!
Harry, my girl quaker climbs up on the side of her cage for a tickle every night at bedtime. Without fail, Sammy says, Tickle tickle, Harry!
Not to be upstaged by quaker hooligans, Poppy will try to take part in most any conversation. Her favorite new phrase and she says it really well is, What the bird? I have no idea where she got the phrase, she must have put the words together on her own. She's extremely proud of her new sentence, the first time she used it and every time since she's been rewarded with laughter. Yesterday she actually used the phrase in context. She was being extremely obnoxious, I placed my hand on her play stand to roll her into her own room to give her a chance to calm herself, when she felt the stand start to move she yelled, What the bird? I was overcome with laughter and Poppy was overjoyed that she avoided being temporarily exiled.
Harry loves Poppy and when Poppy talks, Harry answers, usually with animal noises, monkeys, ducks, dogs, electric drills, car alarms, this inevitably leads to Harry crying like a baby, one of a few noises Poppy does really well. Poppy and Harry will cry together, this leads to what must sound to the untrained ear like a terrible cat fight. We have no infants and no cats. Sammy doesn't take part in the Harry/Poppy comedy hour, but at some point he will usually end the ritual by saying, Poppy, stop it! The only time he demands that Harry, Stop It, is when Harry flies into him intentionally to knock him off his human perch. Who needs TV when you have a roomful of feathered comedians?
Sammy talks with his whole body, if I tell him he's done a good job, he will stretch his neck, stand up tall and say, Thank You! He can say, I love you, but since the cage fiasco he has not mentioned the L word to me. Tonight I said, I love you, he cocked his head to the side, seemed to be seriously considering his reply and said, Thank you.
Last night after a song and a game of peek-a-boo, he said, Good night, Sweetheart! He also says, Nite Nite, and Gimme, gimme, gimme a kiss, followed by loud kissy sounds.
This evening when I brought Sammy a fresh bowl of dry food, he got excited about a couple of fat pumpkin seeds. He said, Yum Yum Yum, Good Good Good! He says, Yum Yum Yum and Good Good Good almost daily, he's enthusiastic about his food to the point of purring at special treats. He paused mid chomp, looked up at me, clutching his prize in his foot and said with absolute sincerity, You are a good, good, bird!
Harry, my girl quaker climbs up on the side of her cage for a tickle every night at bedtime. Without fail, Sammy says, Tickle tickle, Harry!
Not to be upstaged by quaker hooligans, Poppy will try to take part in most any conversation. Her favorite new phrase and she says it really well is, What the bird? I have no idea where she got the phrase, she must have put the words together on her own. She's extremely proud of her new sentence, the first time she used it and every time since she's been rewarded with laughter. Yesterday she actually used the phrase in context. She was being extremely obnoxious, I placed my hand on her play stand to roll her into her own room to give her a chance to calm herself, when she felt the stand start to move she yelled, What the bird? I was overcome with laughter and Poppy was overjoyed that she avoided being temporarily exiled.
Harry loves Poppy and when Poppy talks, Harry answers, usually with animal noises, monkeys, ducks, dogs, electric drills, car alarms, this inevitably leads to Harry crying like a baby, one of a few noises Poppy does really well. Poppy and Harry will cry together, this leads to what must sound to the untrained ear like a terrible cat fight. We have no infants and no cats. Sammy doesn't take part in the Harry/Poppy comedy hour, but at some point he will usually end the ritual by saying, Poppy, stop it! The only time he demands that Harry, Stop It, is when Harry flies into him intentionally to knock him off his human perch. Who needs TV when you have a roomful of feathered comedians?