I'm being Home Schooled now!

Yeah, that's right! Ever since Barbara Heidenreich came to visit me in the summer of 2008, Marcia has been reading and learning all about Positive Reinforcement Training.  She went to http://www.goodbirdinc.com/ and bought a bunch of books and DVD's.  Marcia is a busy lady, but she made it a priority in her life to train me to do a few things on cue.

To date, (March 2011) I have learned learned 6 vocalizations and 2 movements on cue.  Marcia recently posted this video on YouTube and some of you have asked questions.  So watch the Video and then I'll answer the questions.



What treats do you use?
The treat used in this video are Chow Mein Noodles from Szechuan Chinese Restaurant. I also like pretzels (low or no sodium!), almonds, pecans, and Baked Lays Potato chips. All treats are cut into very, very tiny pieces!

Do you use a clicker?
A clicker can be used in Positive Reinforcement Training, but Marcia doesn’t use a clicker because I would learn to imitate the clicker sound. (Very annoying!) She uses use the word "Good!" and then follows up quickly with my favorite treat.

How much time per day do you spend in training?
Every minute of the day is a possible training opportunity. She has treats at the ready at all times. (In the bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen) So if I utter the word she’s trying to capture, she can bridge & reward ASAP. Right now she’s trying to capture "Raspberry". Every time I say it, I get a treat! Pretty Cool!

Our "going through the routine" (like what is on this video) is anywhere from 5-20 minutes about 3-4 time a week. Sometimes I’m not interested, so Marcia doesn't make me. Sometimes, just the basics, like “step up” & “step down” still require treats to get me to do those tasks. Jeff, on the other hand, doesn't have to. I’ll do most anything for Jeff! He’s my favorite!

During the course of the day... every interaction with me is training in some way. When I’m given something, they tell me what it is. (Carrot, apple, sweet potato, etc.) When they do something, they tell me what they are doing. (Go computer, take a shower, gotta clean, etc.) But, I don't treated for these because it is interaction.

How long does it take to get a word on cue?
It varies. Depending on how diligent Marcia is to capture the word and how often I'm willing to say the word.  (I can really drive her crazy with that!)

Are you hungry or starving when you train?
Ha! Do I look underfed?  No, my training sessions are usually right before lunch or dinner.  I'm motivated to work for my treats at those times and they are kinda like an appetizer!

What's your favorite subject?
I like recess a lot! But, my overall favorite subject is LUNCH!!!

How can I learn more about Positive Reinforcement Training?
Just go to http://www.goodbirdinc.com/ and click on "Parrot Store".  You will find all the DVD's and Books.   When you are ready to check out, enter the word "Einstein" in the box that says "special code" and it will give you a 10% discount!

How did you train Einstein to Talk?

Last Summer Barbara Heidenreich came to visit me again!!!  This time she brought a bunch of people with BIG cameras and all kinds of movie equipment.  It was a really fun day and believe it or not, I was not scared!  I talked for all the visitors and had the best time!

So what was the reason for this visit?  Well, so many of you have asked, “How do you train Einstein to talk?” and many of you have requested a talking CD of Einstein! Barbara Heidenreich of Good Bird Inc. has just released a fantastic DVD and CD ROM combination set entitled, “Train Your Parrot To Talk”.

In the DVD, Barbara explains several ways to expose your parrot to sounds you want them to repeat, methods for encouraging your parrot to talk, and teaching them to talk on cue. She also talks about the myths associated with talking parrots and discusses which birds are candidates for talking.

The 45 minute DVD also includes a 15 minute interview with my humans, Jeff and Marcia, with entertaining footage of me talking and a CD ROM to play for your parrots!

Jeff and Marcia share many stories about me on the DVD.
• The time I said my first word.
• The many ways I learn new words.
• The story about imitating the security door alarm.
• My Mirror Friend.
You’ll also see me perched on the shower asking Jeff to make animal sounds! I've really got him trained!!!

And there's MORE!!!
The CD ROM is 2 hours of many different species of parrots vocalizing 1000’s of words and sounds! Very entertaining for humans and parrots alike!!! Included is 8 minutes of Non-stop Einstein talk!!!

Here is a “Behind the scenes” video and you can see for yourself  how much fun we had the day of the filming!



Visit Good Bird Inc. to order! Barbara is offering a very special 10% off to all of my friends!!! The discount is good for all of Good Bird products!  Just enter “Einstein” in the Special Code box when you check out.

HAPPY TALKING!!!

The Name Game

I often get asked many questions about my name, "Einstein". Let me answer them for you!

1st Question: If they think I'm a girl, why am I named Einstein? 
I was only 2 months old when Marcia and Jeff named me. African Grey Parrots are monomorphic. That means both males and females look exactly alike. They didn't know if I was a girl or boy and it didn't matter to them because they liked the name Einstein. When I was 3 months old, they took me to an Avian Veterinarian who looked me over and through vent palpation determined I was a Girl! He was about 90% sure, but asked if we wanted a sex analysis through DNA testing. Since I was not going into a breeding program and was going to be a pet, Marcia and Jeff thought it wasn't necessary.
UPDATE: In January of 2015, at the age of 17 1/2 years I was DNA sexed as a male! Read about the discovery here!

2nd Question: Why "Einstein"?
Einstein the human was a very smart man and African Grey Parrots are known to be very smart, so the name just seemed to "fit". Marcia and Jeff actually thought they were being original! You see, back in 1997 not everyone had a home computer, the Internet was not as fast as it is today. All you had were dial up connections that were as slow as Christmas! It wasn't until a few years later that they discovered many more parrots with the same name!!!!

3rd Question: Are you the parrot from Animal Planet's TV Show, "Pet Stars"?

No. That Parrot is also named Einstein and lives at the Zoo in Knoxville, Tennessee. (This Einstein has been DNA confirmed female.) Einstein was hatched in California in 1987 and lived with a couple until donated to the Zoo in 1992 at age 5. Einstein is a very talented parrot and knows many words on cue! In 2006 she was featured at a TED Conference. In 2007 she performed on the TV show, Animal Planet Pet Stars. More recently, on June 23, 2015 she made an appearance on America's Got Talent TV show. She is now a popular “spokesbird” for the Knoxville Zoo and for Knoxville tourism. 

4th Question: There is another really smart African Grey at a University. Is his name Einstein too?

No, his name is Alex. In May of 2008, a USA Today article referred to Alex as "the Einstein of parrots", and in a PBS documentary, Alan Alda referred to Alex the same way. This has lead to some confusion. Alex was an African Grey Parrot and the subject of a study on parrot intelligence by animal psychologist Irene Pepperberg at Brandeis University in Waltham, MA. Sadly, Alex passed away 9/7/2007 at the age of 30 years old. However the Pepperberg study continues: http://www.alexfoundation.org/

So, to all you other birdies out there named Einstein, Welcome to the Club!

My Shower Time

I have a pretty good time in the shower. Sometimes like it, other times I tolerate it. They tell me it's good for me, so I'm OK with that. Ever since I posted My Shower Videos on YouTube many people have ask about the perch and the sprayer.

Here are pictures that I want to share so other birdies may have a good time in the shower too!

I don't like the name on this thing, it makes me a little nervous! But it works really good and can be found at any home improvement or garden centers. Not too expensive either. (Maybe the one you find and buy will have a different name on it.)

Just fill it up with warm water, pump it up and spray away.

This Sprayer is used just for me! It never, ever, ever gets filled up with anything but pure water!

Here are pictures of the perch. Jeff made this for me. He is pretty handy when it come to building stuff. It's made out of PVC pipe.

Look at Choo!!! You're All WET!!!!!!

"How Many Parrots Does it Take to Change a Lightbulb?"

Eclectus: Change a lightbulb? Leave me alone, I'm busy foraging. On second thought, will I get a treat for it?
African Grey: I'm way over qualified for that job and I'm busy inventing a new lighting source but I guess I could at least supervise the stupid Amazon in the next cage.
Parrotlet: Who's scared of the dark? I'm not scared of anything. But to answer your question, just one if it's a parrotlet, I can do anything.
Hey, who called me short stuff!
DY Amazon: Let that arrogant African Grey over there do it if he's so darn smart!
Quaker: Can I rearrange the furniture and the light fixtures first? Don't you people know anything about interior design?
Caique: And why would I want to do that? Lightbulbs look like they would be much more fun to tumble with.
Umbrella Cockatoo: Duh, it only takes one Umbie to change a lightbulb, don't you know we are mechanically inclined?
We can do anything but you gotta watch me, come on now, watch me, watch me.
Cockatiel: I'll do it but only if I can whistle while I work.
Rose Breasted Cockatoo: Let that big brute macaw do it! I'll be so glad when the light's are back on and everyone can clearly see how pretty I am.
Macaw: Darn, I don't know my own strength. Do you have another one?

Thanks to my friend Deb who let me post this! I buy toys and other parrot stuff from her and you should too! Check it out!!!!! www.AvianEnrichment.com

Nest Rebuilding

You may have noticed there hasn't been a lot of Blogging the past year. Well, I apologize. My humans, Jeff and Marcia decided last year that they would be making some changes around the nest. Boy, It sure has been hectic!

Last January, Marcia found these huge pieces of stone called, "Granite". They make counter tops out of this stuff! Well, some men came into my kitchen and hauled off the old counter tops. (Nothing was wrong with them either!) But Marcia had been wanting granite ones for about 20 years, so I guess it was time for a change. Then came the new ones. BIG, HUGE, flat pieces of stone! These men were in my kitchen practically the WHOLE Day! (I had to stay in my cage in Marcia's office.) It looks really nice, but I was kind of afraid to walk on the granite at first. It was colder and slippery. But it didn't take me long and I was running all over it!
The next day a man called a plumber came and hooked up the new faucets. He hooked up a big one and a little one. The humans call the little one a filtered water faucet, but I call in my sink perch! It's where I perch when I help Marcia do the dishes. I bet when they bought it they didn't realize it would serve two purposes! They really got their moneys worth... didn't they!
Then, a couple of weeks later some more men came to my kitchen with little square pieces of stone and started putting them on the wall in back of the countertops. They took their time and were here for about a week! Again, I had to stay with Marcia in her office. I didn't mind it so much. I got to come out once in awhile. These guys really liked me and tried to teach me new words in a lauguage called Spanish. It was OK, but I'll stick to English because it's easier for Marcia and Jeff to understand. ;>

When they were finished I had to leave the house! They needed to put something called a sealer all over everything and it had something called High VOC. Marcia learned a lot about "Volatile Organic Compounds" (VOC) during this nest rebuilding. It was best that I leave, so I went to stay with my neighbor who I REALLY like. They live right next door. I only had to stay there for a day. Marcia and Jeff opened all the windows and got the place aired out for me to come home that night.

The place actually looked really nice! Ahhh! Done at last!

OH! NOOOOO! Now Marcia wanted the wall paper taken off and and new paint! Will this ever end??? I hear paint is really stinky and this will take forever because she want the WHOLE HOUSE painted too!!! While they are at it, they (well... Marcia) decided that the carpets needed to go and now would be a good time to put in wood floors. Are they out of their minds!!! I can't live though this kind of upheaval!!! Not to mention all those nasty VOC things! This is going to take weeks! If not months!!!! What is a bird to do!!!

Time to fly the coup!!!!

That's exactly what we did! All 3 of us! We have this wonderful friend, who needed to go out of town on business for several weeks and said he needed a house sitter. Will we needed someplace to sit! We moved lock, stock, and cage over to his nest. He only lives about 15 minutes away, so Marcia could go back and forth to take care of me and supervise work on the house. I like this temporary nest because it had a cool patio and a big swimming pool. It was Summertime by this time and I got to perch in my small cage and watch the squirrels and birds on the patio. (Marcia or Jeff had to be with me, she wouldn't leave me out there alone.)

This was a summer I'll never forget! One time Jeff locked himself out of the house! I was on the perch inside. He decided to go for a swim until Marcia got home, I was a good birdie and stayed perched. Marcia got there and couldn't find Jeff and I was "Home Alone!" Finally, she figured it out. It was so funny! A couple of weeks later Marcia locked herself in the garage! I was on the perch and her laptop was on the kitchen table right next to me. She knew I could fly down and have some fun with her laptop if I wanted and she panicked! Luckily, a man was there working on the garage door opener and he helped her break into the house! From then on they carried house keys with them ALL the time!!!!

I had a great time at the temporary nest, but after about 6 weeks it was time to move back to the new and improved nest. I must say it was an adventure and I thank Marcia, Jeff and our friends for keeping me safe. The nest looks great and I hope we don't have to do this again for a long time!!!!!

My First White Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I live in Texas, and it doesn't snow very much. It never snows on Christmas! However, this year it did! This was the first time the Dallas/Fort Worth area had a White Christmas in 80 years!!! Yippee! It was so fun to watch! Really different! I wish I could go out and play, but it's too cold!!!

Einstein's Hatchday

WOW!Was I REALLY this Small?

It's hard to believe, but on June 15, 1997,

I hatched from an egg just like this!

A special thank you to my African Grey friend "Rita" for laying this egg.
(Rita doesn't have a mate, so the egg was not fertile.)

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