Monday, March 10, 2008

Some words on the bird

In response to several frequently asked questions:

Bogart (Bogey) is a Double Yellow Head Amazon. When he is fully mature his head will be totally yellow.

He is now 7 months old. Just a baby. He will live approximately 60 years. Yes, we have a plan and he will have to be willed to someone most likely.

He does talk - so far he says very plainly:
Hello
Hi
Step up
Whatcha doin
Where'd ya go
No
Bad bad bad bad bird
Good bird
Good Bogey
Dropped it

He also whines like a puppy and barks like a puppy. The lady who raised him also raises puppies.

He eats what we eat for the most part. Last night he had chicken and rice with Mark. The vet says we can give him chicken bones, as they are marrow scavengers in the wild. He mostly eats veggies - green beans and broccoli are a favorite. He likes some food warm. This morning he had cinnamon toast for breakfast. He likes meatloaf, baked beans, coleslaw, potatoes, pot roast, hamburger buns. His favorite food treat of all is apple. He and Mark share an apple most nights.

He showers with me most days. Amazons are from the rain forest, so they like the water. Mostly he likes to drink the water as it runs over my shoulder. They are total hams in the shower - singing and laughing and talking. They go through all of their words in the shower so when he learns something new it shows up in there. This morning he said "be nice" for the first time in the shower, and we'll see if that has stuck.

During the day he is in the cage, with plenty of toys and food and the radio on NPR. No tv on - because what do they play a lot during the day? Commercials. And birds learn when they hear it over and over. Nobody wants a bird that sells cars. Seriously.

The cats like him. And he likes the cats. Kismet's tail is especially interesting to him. But they don't seem to look at him as a toy or prey or anything - they will jump up on the sofa and sniff him and are kind of indifferent really. Except Kismet gets upset when he screams.

Ok - any more questions? This concludes today's lesson on the bird ;)

1 Comments:

Blogger old lady said...

Thank you for the lesson! Sounds like it's great being owned by a large bird!

8:48 AM  

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