I LOVE CHICKEN BONES!!!

I don't know why I Love Chicken bones so much! Some may think it's not natural, kind of cannibalistic. I don't think so. I just love them!!!! Especially the drumstick!!!! OH YUM!!! Marcia has rules that must be followed before she will give me a chicken bone. First it must be from a natural, organic chicken. Second, it must be REALLY COOKED, THROUGH AND THROUGH! Third, it must be cool to the touch. (She is so PICKY!)

Then watch out.....

IT'S CHOW DOWN TIME!!!!!

Here's a movie of me eating the bone ...

Tribute to Alex

Alex, you will be greatly missed!

Spread your wings - fly free!

Alex, the African Grey passing away on Friday, 9/7/2007. I have been very sad since I've learned about Alex. It was because of Alex that my humans decided to adopt an African Grey Parrrot. They watched a show on TV about Alex and they fell in love! (Lucky for ME!)

Alex was a true pioneer and paved the way for the understanding of parrot intelligence, and I believe he is largely responsible for the better and more humane treatment that many parrots receive today because of that understanding. We still have a long way to go before all parrots receive the treatment they deserve, but Alex can rest knowing that he made a massive contribution to parrotkind.

The death of Alex is not only a great loss to the parrot community and the field of Avian research, but also for humans too! Dr. Pepperberg's research, which uses a training method called the model-rival technique, also holds promise for teaching autistic and other learning-disabled children who have difficulty learning language, numerical concepts and even empathy. So far, results using this learning technique with small groups of autistic children have been very promising.

Here is an excellent video produced by PBS about Alex.

Visit the The Alex Foundation for more information about the work being done.

So this is where we part, My Friend,

And you'll fly on around the bend,

Gone from sight but not from mind,

New pleasures there you'll surely find.

I will go on, I'll find the strength,

Life measures quality, not its length.

One long scritch before you leave,

Share one last look, before I grieve.

There are others, that much is true,

But they be they and they aren't you.

And I, fair, impartial, or so I thought

Will remember well all you've taught.

Your place I'll hold, you will be missed,

The feathers I stroked, the beak I kissed.

And as you go to your final rest,

Take with you this -- I loved you best.

~unknown author

The Drawer

This is my all time, new, favorite activity in the whole world! I LOVE TO PLAY IN THE KITCHEN DRAWERS! I will beg every day after lunch to go to the drawer! I get very noisy when I beg! Lots of bird sounds and I also say "I Love You!" ... Sweet-talking Marcia works every time!

Here is a picture of me begging!

When Marcia finally gets tired of me acting this way, she clears off the kitchen counter and empties a drawer next to the drawer where she keeps the kitchen towels. (She puts toys in the empty drawer for me to play with. You'll see what happens later!) I'm soooooo happy when I sit on the kitchen towel drawer! Then when she goes into another room, I crawl down and open the cabinet below. There's not much in the cabinet except boxes of dishes that she only uses at Christmas time.

Here I am, about to go into the cabinet! THIS IS SO FUN! When I'm in the dark cabinet, I pretend that it is a hollow in an old tree! A perfect place to build a nest if I lived in the wilds of Africa! I climb in and close the door behind me! Then I climb up and onto the side of the closed drawer that has a bunch of toys just for me. I perch myself on the edge of the drawer and have the best time shedding paper and all my toys! Then when Marcia comes back into the room, I crawl out of the cabinet via the towel drawer. In this picture, she opened up the other drawer to take a picture of what I had done! I'm so proud of my accomplishment!

I'm I building a nest? I dunno, but it sure is fun!

Watch this movie of me and my kitchen cabinet exploration:

I hope you enjoyed my drawer adventure as much as I do! See ya next time!

Samantha's 2nd Birthday Party

Samantha is my favorite little human. She comes over and visits me when she visits her GiGi and Pappa. I'm teaching her how to talk. Right now, I talk better than she can! Marcia and Jeff were invited to her 2nd Birthday Party the other day. From what I understand everyone had a great time.

The Cake was Tasty!

Samantha got A LOT of New Toys! Oh! I Love Toys TOO! Can we play????

I couldn't come to the party, but I was able to be seen and heard via the computer! Everyone enjoyed visiting my website at the party. There were many other boys and girls at the party! I made them all laugh while watching my movies!

Frisco was at the party!

Frisco belongs to Samantha's GiGi and Pappa. He is a sweet dog and Marcia LOVES Frisco! GiGi and Pappa used to bird sit me before they got Frisco. Now they don't because Frisco would like to have me for lunch! Frisco is a Coastal Waterfowl Herding Dog. I'm not a Coastal Waterfowl, but Frisco thinks I am! So I stay in my cage when Frisco comes to visit!!!!
Another reason... I was not at the party!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAMANTHA

and MANY MANY MORE!!!!!

WE LOVE YOU!!!

A Day With Einstein

My Human, Jeff usually wakes up first. He takes me to the shower with him. Sometimes I will get wet. Sometimes, I just like to sit on the edge of the shower and I enjoy the steam and sometimes I take a little nap.

As he gets dressed, I'm talking. This is when I talk the most. I practice practically my whole vocabulary. Then Marcia wakes up (could it be because I'm so noisy? You think?) and we go to the kitchen. She feeds me breakfast. It is a grain mixture of Cooked Kashi (Whole: Hard Red Winter Wheat, Oats, Rye, Barley, Triticale, Long Grain Brown Rice, Buckwheat, Sesame Seeds), brown rice and mixed veggies. It's yummy! She cooks all my food in large batches and freezes them in small batches. That way it's easy. All she does is warm it in the microwave. (Recipe and tips are noted at the end of this article) I imitate the microwave beep sound, so I'm usually beeping way before she even gets up in the morning! I eat and I make a mess. Then, I take a nap for a little while because I'm pretty worn out from all my morning talkin' and breakfast was so good!
Marcia cleans up my mess after I eat.

Then about Noon it's time for lunch. If Marcia is busy and not at home, I get a muffin that she bakes for me. They are easy to make and so yummy! If she is home, I get a warm meal on my perch. It is a cooked concoction of beans, pasta, grains, veggies, and sweet potatoes. Again, very yummy! I also have pellets available and I eat those too, but Marcia's cookin' is so good! I prefer it. I eat and I make a mess.

Marcia cleans up my mess after I eat.

Then I usually want to play on the towel drawer. This is a new activity! Marcia and Jeff let me go over there one day and I had the BEST TIME! Now I beg to go over there almost every day!
As you can see Marcia has removed everything from the counter, otherwise I would throw it on the floor. (I like to see things fall.) She also put bird safe paper and some toys in the drawer for me. I had the best time tearing all that up! Good Job!

Sometimes Marcia has to go out, so I go to my cage. I just hang out and play with my toys, or I nap.
When she comes home, I usually start talking a lot around dinner time. Marcia cooks the human dinner and I help by making the microwave beep. Sometimes she goes over to the microwave and nothing is in there! That's because I made the beep and tricked her!!! I LOVE Doing That To Marcia! One time she was preparing a new and complicated recipe. I was taking so much that I really got on her nerves! She said, "Einstein, please! Can you just be quite for 10 minutes!" So I started to count to 10! "One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten!" After all, isn't that what she wanted? She was laughing hysterically and seemed to be in a better mood after that!!!

When Jeff comes home from work, we all eat dinner. I usually get the same thing that I had for lunch and also I get a little of the human dinner too. (Providing, that it is safe for me. You see there are some things I can't eat. But it is OK to feed me some people food.) I love chicken! (I prefer dark meat.) Salmon is good too! All veggies that don't have salt or butter on them. I love pasta with tomato sauce. And anything spicy! LOVE Mexican! (But please no avocado. It is VERY TOXIC for birds!)

After dinner, Jeff and Marcia clean. Marcia cleans my perch. She gives it a good scrubbing and Jeff disposes of all the dirty paper under my perch and vacuums the kitchen floor.

Then after dinner we all hang out. I watch Jeff work on the computer, or we all watch TV.

Right before bed I get a treat. "Wanna Nut?" is what I always say around 10PM. I get a pecan and a couple of almonds, and a few pistachios. I'm such a lucky BIRD!

"NIGHT - NIGHT!"

Recipe and Tips

Breakfast Grain Pilaf

Lightly oil an 8" by 8" Pyrex glass pan with olive oil. In the prepared pan, combine
1/2 cup brown rice and 1 package (1 cup) Kashi Grains
Add 1 Tablespoon olive oil.
Pour in 2 1/2 cups boiling water.
Cover tight with foil and bake in a 375 degree oven for 1 hour.

When grains are cooked, lightly steam or boil about 8 ozs. of any frozen vegetable. I usually use organic mixed veggies (corn, carrot, peas, green beans) Then add them to the cooked grain mixture. Mix well.

I Love to eat all the products from Avian Organics The cooked mixes, the sprouts, and the birdie bread. I also enjoy the birdie bread from Momma Bird's Cafe.
Other cooked mixes that I like are: Cream of Tweet and Caribbean Crunch by Beak Appetit. As well as, Original Corn Bean Mix, Noodles-N-Nuts, Kung Fu Yum and Polly Pasta by Crazy Corn.

When feeding fresh or cooked foods, remove the food item from the cage/bowl after 2-3 hours. Bacteria may grow that will be harmful. Use common sense. If you wouldn't you eat it, then your bird shouldn't eat it and it should be removed!

Marcia likes to cook, so it's not a bother for her to do it. However, I would rather eat Marcia's cooking than my pellets and I'm totally spoiled in that regard! Another thing Marcia has found useful are those little 2 oz. single serve containers.

They are great to portion the food and freeze. When it's time to eat, 30 seconds in the microwave usually does the trick! You can usually buy these at any liquor store, because people use them to make jello shots. (Personally, I'd much prefer food in them!)

For more information on my diet and more recipes, go to my website!

So why can't a parrot have a Blog?

I have a lot to say! Just ask my humans! They will tell you a talk A LOT! So I decided to become a Blogger where I can get a few things off my feathered chest.

Truth is... I don't really have a lot of time to blog. You see I spend a good deal of the day playing with toys, eating, bothering my humans, and watching my humans clean up after me. See, it's not easy being a parrot! I'm noisy, I make a mess where ever I go, and I need to hang out with my humans as much as possible. I'm a flock animal! Unfortunately, most people just don't understand that! So they get a parrot... because the think "OH! How CUTE!" or "Gee! I would love a bird that TALKS!", then they put it in a cage and forget about it! SHAME ON YOU! (Sorry, I didn't mean to get emotional.) You see, we are really great to have as pets, but you REALLY need to know what you are getting into when you get a parrot. So... allow me to explain...

#1. How noisy is a parrot?

This is what a 5 year old Moluccan Cockatoo sounds like. Cockatoos, Macaws, Conures, Amazons, and African Greys are the top 5 loudest parrots.

Loud enough for you? Now, granted we don't do this 24/7. But we often know when you are watching the news or a favorite TV show and we usually choose that time to exercise our voices. I'm not as noisy as some of these parrots, but I certainly can be annoying with my constant chatter!

#2. How messy is a parrot?

Think a 2 year old is messy? It's like having a 2 year old for the rest of your life!

Here is a picture of me having dinner! It was yummy too!

#3. I need YOU!

This is a hard one to explain, so bear with me. Parrots are among the most intelligent creatures on earth, and their 'intelligence scale' may very well be alongside the higher primates, or even, in some cases, in the range of a two to four year old HUMAN child! (Such a statement may startle some people, who think of parrots as only 'bird-brained' imitators of human speech.) In fact, parrots are socially and psychologically complex beings, and exhibit the same range of emotions that humans feel, like love, sensitivity, anger, frustration, revenge, humor, pain, sorrow, fear, loneliness, anxiety, excitement, happiness, anticipation, and, of course, sexuality. Dr. Irene Pepperberg has been studying the intelligence and reasoning abilities of the African Grey parrot for almost 30 years.

Like human children, parrots NEED to be held, to feel warmth and love. They NEED companionship in order to avoid loneliness and depression. They need reassurance and security. They need physical and intellectual interaction with their environment and with other creatures, in order to grow and learn and prosper. They need to escape boredom, and the frustrations of being kept in a cage for hours on end. They need good nutrition, and a sanitary environment...
The list of needs could go on and on, just as in the case of human children.

OK, I'm on my soapbox now! Don't believe me? Well, here is a picture of Lola.

Read more about Lola here

I could go on and give you more examples, but if you want to learn more, do some Googling. Just Google: "Parrot abuse", "Parrot rescue", and/or "Parrot sanctuary".

What is a day like living with me? That will be the subject for my next post! Stay Tuned!

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