penny
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 Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2006 7:54 am Post subject: Know something about my Quaker parrot |
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I think the wonderment began to click in when Tango started using phrases in context. He has a huge vocabulary; at least I think it's pretty huge...over 150 words and combinations. He'll tell you exactly what he wants for breakfast, for e.g. "Want some toast, banana, peas, tomato, melon, peanut butter, which is his very special treat only. On working days, he'll give us a "good morning!" shortly after the radio comes on. On weekends, he'll wait only so long before giving out the same wake up call. Followed immediately by: "want breakfast!"
He is very good at sharing his food, and when he's eating something he'll always ask "want some?" to either of us, just as we do when we are eating something...he has yet to refuse anything, by the way.
We share our home with a pretty terrific little green bird (not to be confused with that "other" big green bird), named Tango, a Quaker Parrot. Tango will be 7 years young on June 1st and hardly a day goes by that he doesn't have us shaking our heads in wonderment or laughing ourselves silly at his antics and ever increasing vocabulary.
He has endeared himself to our 2 Wheaten Terriers, to the point that Brio (our female) ran to his defense one day, when a friend's cocker spaniel lunged at Tango who flew off my shoulder, landed on the floor, and Brio went trotting over and stood her ground over top of Tango!
He calls the dogs and will sometimes toss food off his cage top to them. He tells them to "sit" and tells Brio when she is a "good girl!" I don't think he's mastered Murphy's name yet, as Murphy is a relatively new member of the family. I'm sure, in good time, Tango and Murphy will join forces, too.
In the last year and a half or so, we have had him boarding at the avian vet clinic, when we go away, and he comes home with new and interesting sounds each time. Lately it's the AG "whistle"...not the wolf whistle but just the long tone whistle.
One thing I find funny, is that Quaker's are supposed to be escape artists...well for however many years he has been using this cage, he has yet to figure out there are 2 sliding doors at the side that we use to take food dishes in and out if he's in the cage. He hasn't yet used those doors to get out of his cage. Go figure! Of course, now that I've said it, and he's watching me type this, he'll try it tonight!He chatters along when someone is having a telephone conversation, and will precede our answering the phone with a "hello", and somehow he knows when we are about to hang up, and says "bye, bye!" before we do! When I leave for work in the a.m. he offers a "bye, bye, and see you later!"
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