THANK YOU!! :rolleyes:

ooooh, cute one!

Wow, Rue! I just read on the other post that its a pic of your own yard. What a beauty! <img border="0" alt="[clappy]" title="" src="graemlins/clappy.gif" />

Very nice Rue!!!!! I like it a lot!

How cool is this???
They gave me "Lola" on my button!!!
My Af(rican) Grey Parrot!!!

Hi Lola!!!

That is a great button Cindy. It fits you to a T!

Great button Cindy,lola must be so tickled!

Karen

We are THRILLED!!!

Lola is now offically a star!!!

No way to count all the words she knows. She uses words like "I" and "You" in the proper context. It's freaky. She can tell me anything she wants to. My daughter says "It just ain't right! Animals aren't supposed to talk to you!" When my grandson was little, he thought that all birds could talk. One day we were out in the garden, and he kept talking to the birds, and said "CindyGranny, why won't they talk to me? I don't think they like me." It was kind of hard to explain it to him, because I had Lola before he was born, so he assumed birds could talk. She can, literally, carry on a conversation. When I play the piano she sits on my sholder and sings, and makes up songs. She'll say something funny in a song, then laugh her a** off at herself!

In the book of world records, an african gray parrot (forgot its name) has an extremely wide vocabulary. It has the intelligance of a 6 year old! They do tests with it n stuff. They'll be like "what's this?" and point to it, and it'll tell you what it is, and everything it knows about it. Its pretty coolios.
I want one!

You should get one!
I wanted a quaker parrot before I got Lola, but decided to do some Parrot research first. After I read about African Greys, that's the one I HAD to have. I like having a pet with the same intelligence level as me!

Well i've got a very pretty bird that i'm happy with right now her name is Magic


Very smart for a cockatiel, but she has the mentality of a cheerleader lol. She can't talk, but she'll do everything she can to tell you she wants something. From divebombing you, to strumming the bars on her cage, she'll find a way to tell ya stuff.

How PURDY!!!
I hear those cockateils can whistle quite a tune!
Have you taught it any songs?

Thank you for editing the link for me bill!

lol ms. cindy, i wish i taught her some tunes when she was younger. she just refused to learn anything. She has the worst A.D.D. i've ever seen in a bird o.O Well yesterday i started her lessons on the catcall whistle. She's 6 years old, turning 7 in November

I need a bird with ADD! I, personally, have ADHDTV!!!!!

By the way...
What is the lifespan of a cockateil?
A Grey is a "more than" lifelong member of the family. 50 to 70 years. Makes me pretty sad, but I've left instructions as to what is to happen to her in the event of my death. A lot of people don't agree with my wishes, though. (Andy, for one.)

Cockatails live average 13 14 years but have made it(rarely to 20 )

I have a pretty male gray tiel also. In a good environment for a birdy, they can live up to 20 years, but yea, that would be old for them. Usually, the males are your "singers", while the females will just make some chirps. Sammy (my tiel) goes crazy when Ed, Edd, & Eddie comes on.. (it's a cartoon for those of you less fortunate to not have children monopolize your tv) he whistles with the theme song..lol.

Your African Grey is beautiful!

Meg

Thanks!
She learned some theme songs, too, when my grandson was younger. The Smurf song will always be with us now!

"Laa...laa...la la la la,
la la la la la laaaaa!"

hey there cindy!

Well you learn something new everyday, I thought that parrots could only say what they were told to say, I never known they could fomulate there own sentences!!
I bet that your bird is very possesive. do visiters to your home get a friendly welcome?

hope i'm getting the whole posting thing right!!
Adam

Adam...
African Greys are the only parrots that have actually been proven to have cognitive speech...they know what they are saying. Sometimes Lola surprises me with stuff she says.

That's putting it mildly!
Let's just say if anyone touches me when she's on my shoulder, they might lose a finger!

Visitors get a very warm welcome...unless she picks up the vibe that they are afraid of her. Then, she flies at them, and when they hit the floor, she laughs like a maniac. She's a constant source of entertainment.

Keep postin'!
Cindy

Hi Cindy,

Did you see Pet Star last night? I just saw the end and the winner was - - - - Einstein, an African Gray!!

I think of Alex everytime I see your name but had not read anything on the web about him. He turned up regularly on nature specials involving parrots, animal intelligence, language, etc. This is a site with Irene Pepperberg's research summary. There are also some links on the home page to other sites and to photos of the parrots.
Alex has been joined by Wart and Griffin, also afgreys.

Alex Foundation

I really enjoy tales of Lola's antics. Glad to see people are waking up to the vast intelligence of animals.

Thanks.

Ann

No! I've never heard of it...but then again, I could have it on the right channel and never know it was on. I keep the sound on the T.V.s turned down all day until David Letterman comes on, and Lola's T.V. is always on cartoons! Dang! I'd like to have seen that.

Alex is the reason I got an African Grey instead of another parrot. When I decided to get a parrot, I had in mind something more colorful...like a Macaw. But, when I read how intelligent Greys were, I bought every book I could find on them, and learned all about Alex.
I was hooked!

I waited months for the parrot breeder to call and tell me that she finally had 3 eggs, and sat on pins and needles until she called back and told me she had candled them, and they were all fertile! Lola's egg had a "#2" written on it, and this was MY baby!

After she hatched, I drove to Indiana to see her. She was all beak and feet! With a few pin feathers sticking out here and there. I brought her home at three months, and hand fed her parrot formula for quite awhile.

I couldn't believe how smart she was! She was potty trained before she was 4 months old. But, she didn't talk until she was almost a year old. She whistled songs, but that was it until one day she said "Hello!" to me!

She hasn't shut up since!


Cindy

Pet Star is on Animal Planet and the new season has started. I think they replay many of the competitions once the finals are held--though I've only watched it a few times and wasn't very impressed at the talent displayed.

The winning performances are available on-line and this is the one for Einstein. Since my sound isn't working and I have a dial-up web connection, I didn't want to spend the big chunk of time to watch it all.

Einstein\'s winning performance

Tom loves birds but I'm allergic to them when they live with us, so he hasn't been able to add one to the menangerie since the first parakeet died. Actually, I would have liked one also, and the African Gray had made me ALMOST ready to get one despite allergies. Tom teases the animals we have--they love it--but I think a parrot might get mean.

If you watch it on line, please give us a review--Is Einstein a great performer?

Ann

That was AWESOME!

I was ROFLMAO!

Lola would never do that in front of a crowd of people.
I wish she would! She could make me some MONEY!

Thank you!

Cindy

P.S. I'm VERY allergic to birds, too. But, she's worth it!

Ann...that was great.

Cindy have you tried taking Lola out in public? How does she react to people outside....talkative?

You must have a total blast with her!
The only birds I have had in my home were a couple of zebra finches along time ago.

Catlover

I never take Lola anywhere. I should have started that when she was a baby so she'd get used to it. She's been to the vet several times, and we've moved out and back in at least once a year, but she gets real upset whenever that travel cage is brought out!

I have a friend that has an African Grey that goes out with her a lot. She has a place fixed on the console of her Escalade for Shakespeare to sit, and sometimes opens the sunroof. I think she's going to end up with a broken heart one of these days when he gets scared and flies out (all it would take is a horn blowing to startle him).

Lola won't talk in front of strangers. Whenever someone sees her they want to hear her talk, but she won't talk on command! If everyone leaves the room, THEN she starts gettin' down talking, though.

However, I found out she WILL wolf whistle at a guy walking in front of the house when she's in her cage out in the yard. Very embarrassing..he didn't see her, and thought it was me.

i'm loving this topic, but it needed to continue here in banter hall, so, i locked up the orginal and moved it here!...

GEEZ! Did we get a little "off-topic" up there or WHAT?

How'd that happen?

I have no idea what these blue/purple flowers are on my button but I do like them

Shooting Stars (Dodecatheon meadia)




It's a great Rock Garden Plant

Thank you so much Mr. bill. They are so pretty.
Blue is my favor color. I don't have alot of blue/purple color flowers yet, but I'm working on it.

oh wow I just read about them, if I had some I could put them under my pecan tree. I have trimmed enough to get a little sun through them. I had an eroding spot and filled it with gravel and dirt, so now I have to find plants that like rocks.

I book marked the rock garden pages, thanks

blue is my favorite color too!