Out of the Mouths of Parrots


Good Bird Magazine takes a pretty scientific approach


to behavior.We also fully understand that the “A” word, (anthropomorphism: projecting human emotions and feel- ings to an animal) can cause a miss-interpretation of be- havior. But don’t let that mislead you! We also enjoy a loving relationship with our birds and get a kick out of those stories about birds doing things that seem unchar- acteristically human. Perhaps the tales we enjoy the most are the ones in which a parrot seems to say the right thing at the right time.We realize birds may or may not under- stand what they are saying, but itmakes us laugh anyway.


BE RIGHT BACK By Georgi Abbott Pickles is a CongoAfrican grey parrot owned by Georgi


and Neil Abbott. Here is a fun anecdote about this chatty bird. Follow Pickles on FaceBook.Visit Pickles website.


I left Pickles a little too long in the dining room while I


worked on the computer in the roomdown the hall. I can tell he’s getting bored with the ‘baby butt birdies’ outside thewindowbut he’s still calling good naturedly, “Anybody home? Hello? Wanna go to the freezer”. He’s being a good boy so I drop what I’m doing, pick him up and take him to play on the chest freezer in the laundry room. He runs around for a while then settles into a fluff ball, al- lowing the freezer vibrations to course through his body. This makes him sleepy, at least I think that is what it is doing, if you knowwhat Imean. Sowhile he’s in this con- tentmood, I take himhome to his cage in the living room and go back to the computer.


A few minutes later I hear him yelling, “Said be right


backarack, jackarack!” I remembered I did tell him I’d be right back and then forgot, but wait! Did he say ‘jackarack’? He got ‘be right backarack’ from Neil but where the heck did the last part come from? Regardless, I headed back and shared a banana with him.He only eats the outside, leaving me with the crappy core, and the stringy stuff is flown in my face. When we’re finished, Pickles indicates he wants to go back to the dining room and “listen to some music.” So I transport him to the din- ing room and put some flute music on for him.


Pickles doesn’t often climb down to the floor, he’s not


comfortable there.He kindawants to go home but he had braved the whole trek all the way to see me and wasn’t comfortable about turning around to go all the way back. He wanted me to either pick him up and take him home, or he wanted to join me at the computer. Meanwhile, I just sat quietly and watched the show.


Neeka and Pickles are at a stale mate. It’s stressing


Neeka out but it’s really pissing Pickles off and Pickles takes to growling at the toy and telling it off. “Ratty beak! Stop it! Go home!” he snarls.


Neeka creeps ever so slowly up to the stuffed toy, takes


a toe gingerly in his mouth and drags it carefully back- wards down the hall and out of my vision. Pickles dashes through the doorway but Neeka must have thought Pick- les was taking a run at him because I heard a scrambling series of clicks beating it further down the hall.


Pickles makes it to my feet and roosts there with one


foot in the air, signaling that he wants up. He sits on my kneemuttering over his ordealwhile I surf the net looking for more stuffed toys.


Good Bird Magazine 25


Pepper the African Grey. Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich Later,whileworking on the computer, I’mvaguely aware


of clicking sounds on the hall floor but assume it’s our dog, Neeka, a miniature pinscher. I ignore it until I hear a tiny voice saying “Let’s go home” and turn to seeNeeka on one side of a stuffed toy and Pickles on the other through the doorway. Neeka’s looking horrified because he’s afraid Pickles is after him but also because he wants the stuffed toy in front of Pickles – he doesn’t like to share. But Pick- les, on the other hand, is horrified by the toy and justwants to get past it and go through the doorway to get to me. “Stop it!” he yells at the toy as he paces back and forth.


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