Nickolas Greybird
Feb. 15th, 2011 02:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
summer_jackelTwo days ago, this splendid creature came to live with me.
I have a fluffy grey valentine.
I will confess that when I mentioned that I was planning to add another parrot to my flock, what I had in mind was a second greencheeked conure. (Although there is always the little voice in the back of my mind going, 'what about that grey you've always dreamed about?') When a friend contacted me and asked me if I would like to try living with her beautiful eleven year old Congo African Grey, Nickolas, I was both terrified and excited. Greys are my favorite parrots; I have always loved their expressiveness, intelligence and just what it feels like when you are in the room with one. I've been thinking about it on and off for my whole adult life.
Of course, this is also one of the biggest responsibilities you can have in a companion animal. Their intelligence is phenomenal and their needs complex, and I've always stopped just short of bringing one home because I don't know for absolute certain whether I am up to the task. This situation seems ideal for all involved, though. if it turns out that Nicki's needs are too much for my household resources, his first person is able to take him back, so either way whatever happens will be to Nicki's best advantage. I am telling myself that this is a foster, and I will make a permanent decision no sooner than March 14, no later than the end of March. But I really want this to work, because Nickolas is absolutely charming.
See?
If I am going to adopt a grey, I must confess that Nicki is the perfect candidate. He's eleven, so a young guy but past babyhood and adolescence, which is fine by me. I'm at about the right age for this; he and I should have similar life expectancies. His person did a really fantastic job of raising him; he is well socialized, happy and easy to handle (if you are good at reading parrots) and has no apparent behavioral issues (gleefully destroying wood is a feature, not a bug). He is very vocal but not a screamer, and his contact call appears to be an adorable trill-purr which I'm happy to re-enforce. He's in excellent feather, eats lots of varying foods and comes with a clean bill of health.
What's not to love?
Nicki is extremely expressive, and things like the various ways in which he raises the feathers on his face and body, posture and eye contact have subtle meanings that I'm going to have to learn. His communication is like my little birds', only magnified and made more complex. I love the description of these birds as having some of the cognitive skills of a four year old and the emotions of a two year old, equipped with a wood chipper and the ability to fly, but actually it feels more like an adult dignitary of an intelligent alien species to me than a human child. Nicki is a little alien dinosaur person.
This expression seems to be "I'd really like to have my face skritched, but please approach me carefully."
Nicki is a big guy! At 440 grams (and not overweight) he's on the larger end of the species.
The way these parrots look at you. As though they were thinking about things. Which, of course, they are.
I am a brrd. I can turn my head backwards. See?
I made him a driftwood tree before he came here, and he has a bunch of interesting toys, but I need to get him some more. Lots of stuff to shred is a must for this guy.
My living room, now lots birdier. I have needed to rearrange the whole house so that he, all the rest of my zoo and I have harmonious living arrangements, but that needed to be done anyway. The house actually feels more open and airier now, though I still have lots and lots and _lots_ of cleaning and rearranging to do. Sigh.
Oh yeah: Nickolas talks. At one point, I asked him to step up onto my hand from his cage, but he wasn't sure he wanted to; I offered him a dowel and he stepped up readily, following with a very sweet, soft "thank you." He purrs, trills, rings like a phone, does a startlingly good water drip, chirps like a 'bird', various cute little dings, pops and whistles, a number of hellos, "cookie dough!" and something that was definitely speech but I can't actually describe it. He does a few shockingly loud and horrible parrot screams too, but really not so often; Gavin is more strident and irritating. (Of course, no bird gives you an accurate sampling of his vocal habits in the first days with you!) I spent most of yesterday home sick, resting on the couch, watching and listening to this little guy.
The really unexpected speaking, though, came from Gavin. I have chosen not to quarantine Nicki; he hasn't been exposed to other parrots in years and he just had a full blood panel and exam done before coming to live with me. Doing a real Q in my house with a bird this size would be almost impossible, at least without confining Gav and Kaya to tiny cages in the bathroom for a month. That seems unfair and excessive, and given that Gav is finally letting his chest feathers grow back, I don't want to do that to him. So I am taking a calculated and reasonable risk with that.
Gavin's cage is now between Kaya and Nicki. When I first put him back in it, Gav plastered himself as close as he could get to the enormous grey, looked right at him and said "you're handsome" in his clearest voice.
What could I do but laugh? Dream big, tiny parrot. Dream big.
I have a fluffy grey valentine.
I will confess that when I mentioned that I was planning to add another parrot to my flock, what I had in mind was a second greencheeked conure. (Although there is always the little voice in the back of my mind going, 'what about that grey you've always dreamed about?') When a friend contacted me and asked me if I would like to try living with her beautiful eleven year old Congo African Grey, Nickolas, I was both terrified and excited. Greys are my favorite parrots; I have always loved their expressiveness, intelligence and just what it feels like when you are in the room with one. I've been thinking about it on and off for my whole adult life.
Of course, this is also one of the biggest responsibilities you can have in a companion animal. Their intelligence is phenomenal and their needs complex, and I've always stopped just short of bringing one home because I don't know for absolute certain whether I am up to the task. This situation seems ideal for all involved, though. if it turns out that Nicki's needs are too much for my household resources, his first person is able to take him back, so either way whatever happens will be to Nicki's best advantage. I am telling myself that this is a foster, and I will make a permanent decision no sooner than March 14, no later than the end of March. But I really want this to work, because Nickolas is absolutely charming.
See?
If I am going to adopt a grey, I must confess that Nicki is the perfect candidate. He's eleven, so a young guy but past babyhood and adolescence, which is fine by me. I'm at about the right age for this; he and I should have similar life expectancies. His person did a really fantastic job of raising him; he is well socialized, happy and easy to handle (if you are good at reading parrots) and has no apparent behavioral issues (gleefully destroying wood is a feature, not a bug). He is very vocal but not a screamer, and his contact call appears to be an adorable trill-purr which I'm happy to re-enforce. He's in excellent feather, eats lots of varying foods and comes with a clean bill of health.
What's not to love?
Nicki is extremely expressive, and things like the various ways in which he raises the feathers on his face and body, posture and eye contact have subtle meanings that I'm going to have to learn. His communication is like my little birds', only magnified and made more complex. I love the description of these birds as having some of the cognitive skills of a four year old and the emotions of a two year old, equipped with a wood chipper and the ability to fly, but actually it feels more like an adult dignitary of an intelligent alien species to me than a human child. Nicki is a little alien dinosaur person.
This expression seems to be "I'd really like to have my face skritched, but please approach me carefully."
Nicki is a big guy! At 440 grams (and not overweight) he's on the larger end of the species.
The way these parrots look at you. As though they were thinking about things. Which, of course, they are.
I am a brrd. I can turn my head backwards. See?
I made him a driftwood tree before he came here, and he has a bunch of interesting toys, but I need to get him some more. Lots of stuff to shred is a must for this guy.
My living room, now lots birdier. I have needed to rearrange the whole house so that he, all the rest of my zoo and I have harmonious living arrangements, but that needed to be done anyway. The house actually feels more open and airier now, though I still have lots and lots and _lots_ of cleaning and rearranging to do. Sigh.
Oh yeah: Nickolas talks. At one point, I asked him to step up onto my hand from his cage, but he wasn't sure he wanted to; I offered him a dowel and he stepped up readily, following with a very sweet, soft "thank you." He purrs, trills, rings like a phone, does a startlingly good water drip, chirps like a 'bird', various cute little dings, pops and whistles, a number of hellos, "cookie dough!" and something that was definitely speech but I can't actually describe it. He does a few shockingly loud and horrible parrot screams too, but really not so often; Gavin is more strident and irritating. (Of course, no bird gives you an accurate sampling of his vocal habits in the first days with you!) I spent most of yesterday home sick, resting on the couch, watching and listening to this little guy.
The really unexpected speaking, though, came from Gavin. I have chosen not to quarantine Nicki; he hasn't been exposed to other parrots in years and he just had a full blood panel and exam done before coming to live with me. Doing a real Q in my house with a bird this size would be almost impossible, at least without confining Gav and Kaya to tiny cages in the bathroom for a month. That seems unfair and excessive, and given that Gav is finally letting his chest feathers grow back, I don't want to do that to him. So I am taking a calculated and reasonable risk with that.
Gavin's cage is now between Kaya and Nicki. When I first put him back in it, Gav plastered himself as close as he could get to the enormous grey, looked right at him and said "you're handsome" in his clearest voice.
What could I do but laugh? Dream big, tiny parrot. Dream big.
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no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 10:28 pm (UTC)For mental stimulation, have people tried suitably-reinforced toddler toys? Perhaps some of the interactive electronic ones? I wonder if anyone's tried to get a Grey playing Simon? (The game with the four colored lighted buttons to be pressed in sequence.)
no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 10:46 pm (UTC)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WY7ZqO-0f0
These birds are Amazons, but this video makes me laugh: they're playing a voice-activated video game against each other (on cue, but still).
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/80510370/
no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 10:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 10:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 10:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 11:32 pm (UTC)And, uh, 440 isn't on the high end of the species. :) Cin weighs about 520 grams. Granted, he's ridiculously huge, but.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 11:37 pm (UTC)Any grey help is appreciated! I have never attempted anything like this.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 11:41 pm (UTC)As far as greys go, Cin LOVES foraging toys. More or less, go out and find the most challenging foraging toy possible, the ones that you think 'hey, even human beings can't really handle these', and he'll figure it out in the span of minutes. *sigh*
no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 11:44 pm (UTC)Kaya could use some new ones, too. They are her favorite thing ever, but she has getting stuff out of them completely down.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 11:55 pm (UTC)http://www.greyfeathertoys.com/store/products.php?pid=54&detail=true is a favorite too and no, I have NO IDEA how he gets stuff out of it.
http://www.thelaughingparrot.com/Foragingtoys.html will probably be considered too easy. :)
http://www.parrottoy.com/ are favorites too. Yes, he can open them ridiculously quickly.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 11:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 11:57 pm (UTC)"Little alien dinosaur person" indeed.
I do hope that he doesn't turn out to be a one-person bird like so many Greys seem to be. From what you are saying, it seems you dodged that bullet, at least, but if he does bond with you, hopefully he doesn't tell the rest of the world to piss off -- I want to meet him too some day! :>
no subject
Date: 2011-02-16 07:59 pm (UTC)Nicki is very sensitive and introverted, like they usually are, but he has the advantage of having been socialized and brought up well. That I can handle him now speaks volumes, and he was pretty happy to chat up Kyn. He is not fearful of new toys, another good sign. He prefers women to men, but I am going to try and socialize him with some of my softer-spoken and more bird aware male friends to see if I can convince him to expand his horizons a little.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-17 01:35 am (UTC)(I treat these big parrots with a great deal of caution, and none more then Greys. Least you'll be blazing the trail to figure out what buttons not to push!)
no subject
Date: 2011-02-16 12:11 am (UTC)Man, CAGs are my dream parrot! Sadly, they're my dream parrot in the same way the Alfa Romeo 8C is my dream car (that is, prohibitively expensive and too high maintenance for me, realistically speaking.) Sigh. I am jealous. ;>
no subject
Date: 2011-02-16 07:54 pm (UTC)CAGs have been my dream parrot since childhood, and I would think about it seriously now and then for the last three years (before that, I had a partner who was fundamentally incompatible with a bird like this), going as far as falling in love with a very fine young grey at a local pet store that has since closed, who I will probably always wonder and worry about (that bird also began to bond to me). I never did it, and then the perfect grey showed up to give me the opportunity to see if I CAN do it...and at no risk to a sensitive, highly intelligent bird.
He is big in all ways...presence, size, sound, mess, needs, intelligence. It's a huge commitment. It's also so exciting. He's an incredible creature.
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Date: 2011-02-16 01:10 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2011-02-16 02:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-16 07:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-16 03:30 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2011-02-16 03:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-16 07:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-16 08:13 am (UTC)I know exactly what you mean about keeping large parrots occupied and mentally stimulated. In Hawaii I had:
Primo- Umbrella Cockatoo
Max- Moluccan Cockatoo
Baby- B&G Macaw
Freya- Greenwing Macaw
Okika- Gold Cap Conure
Noah- Alexandrian Parakeet
And about a half dozen cockatiels, lovebirds and budgies.
And my house was the quietest on the block. ;)
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Date: 2011-02-16 07:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-16 02:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-16 07:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-16 03:09 pm (UTC)I wanted a conure, Dear Husband said No. I wanted an Amazon or a Gray. Dear Husband said No. So I got Arthurburd. He should have let me have a Gray :P
Congratulations :D
no subject
Date: 2011-02-16 07:38 pm (UTC)Sir Arthur is a special guy too, of course. I certainly think that you chose well in finding him...!
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Date: 2011-02-17 01:37 am (UTC)Yeah, yeah, I know, in your household full of birds, once that camel got its nose in the tent it'd quickly get out of control.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-18 02:29 am (UTC)