Quintin, our Quaker Parrot, kept lifting up his foot to me when I said “hi”. I think he’s waving back at me. He’s gotten pretty entertaining!
Here’s his current vocabulary (he’s just over a year old) :
- Hi
- Kiss Kiss (the words)
- Kiss Kiss (the noise)
- Muuuah
- Whaddaya say?
- Good Boy
- Yeah.
- Pretty bird
- Pretty PRETTY bird
- AaaaCHOO!
- Bless you!
- Thank you!
- Ha ha ha!
- You’re funny!
- Tickle tickle?
- Arf! (he barks like the puppy)
- Cat call (the whistle)
- Purr (the sound)
- Pllllllbt (the sound)
Not too bad for a baby bird, huh? Right now I’m working on “good morning” and “love you”. He rambles on at the television, too – some of his words aren’t totally distinct so I don’t really know what they are. He’s so awesome, I absolutely love having him around and I can’t imagine not having a bird now. (Thumps my husband for making me wait so long.)
We were at the pet store last weekend and they had about 6 African Gray parrots, two of them were still so young that they weren’t afraid of people yet. (The more they’re exposed to passers by that don’t know how to handle birds, the more scared/agressive they become.) Catie and I picked two of the snuggliest parrots and it was hard to put them down when it was time to leave, and believe me I would have taken one home but those beauties cost a minimum of $1200 just for the bird, their cages start at around $300. Yikes! They’re totally worth it, and I’ll get one eventually, when the timing is right.
If you’re considering a parrot, I really would recommend starting out with a hand fed baby Quaker (and here’s a great web resource on Quakers). They’re sweet and loving, cuddly and talkative without being obnoxious and loud. There are a few varieties, too – I initially wanted the Blue Quaker, but Catie ultimately chose because he’s her bird and will go with her when she leaves the nest, too.
{14 Comments}
How cute! And smart too :parrot:
Does your Quaker want a Quacker? Ha! I kill myself. :rofl: Sorry that was bad.
He seems very smart.
June – and pretty – he’s a pretty PRETTY bird. Just ask him.
:giggle:
:rofl: Carmen! That WAS funny!
(and he would reply “whaddaya say?” to that Quacker because I was trying to teach him to say please, and kept asking him “what do you say?” to say please, but it wound up he just sees something he likes and says that instead. LOL)
aaaaaaaaa i just want to squish him. :parrot:
very smart bird!
I don’t have a lot of experience with birds. The Lorakeets at Busch Gardens were fun though. (I don’t think they were very smart though)
What a great photo of Quintin! I think he knows how cute he is. What a charmer!
LOVE the tulip pics too!
We have an African Gray parrot. :parrot: What a goof he is. I would strongly tell people to really check into the care and up keep of a parrot. There is a lot of work that goes into having one. Ours talks up a storm. They say an African Gray can have the intelligence of a 5 year old child, but they are normally a one person bird. Anyway, I love your work. You capture the real essence of you studies.
Thanks
Jan
That’s a huge list for a bird. I’m working on getting my almost 20 month old nephew to 20 words by the time he gets to twenty months. You must have the gift of gab.
Also, I just wanted to say I love the watermark, copyright you put on your pictures. May I ask what program you used to create it? :thumbsup:
Oh I bet it is so fun to have a parrot! I hate to think what my girls would try to teach him to say.
Tipper – that’s the fun part. I taught Quintin how to kiss and make the “muah” noise, but Catybug took it to a whole different level and now he screams “muuuuaaahh!” really annoyingly and we tease both of them about it.
:rofl:
Jan – thanks for stopping by! Your comment slipped into the wrong moderation queue, I’m sorry I didn’t catch it sooner! African Gray’s are just gorgeous. I’ve always wanted one and will definitely wait until the kids are old enough to detect that one-person-ness about them. It’s not fun wanting to be affectionate with a bird that yells at you to get away! 😛
Hi Jane – I probably talk more to my bird than I do people.
:rofl:
I used Paint Shop Pro to make my watermark – actually created it as a tube so I can just stamp my photos with either black or white and set a transparency level appropriate for the photo. Copyrights can look really intrusive, I have been trying to find a way to make it more artistic. Thanks for the comment on it – I have been wondering if everyone liked it! :love:
Your Quaker Parrot is very cute. Do you have dog pictures?
Shane
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