Tell us about some of your parrot's funny and/or cute behaviors...

[PlaxMacaws]

I'll start by describing what Zaf does when he has been going about his business of play, then decides that he's ready for a cuddle session. He waddle-walks over to me (wherever I happen to be sitting) with his head and neck feathers all fluffed out in blue afro mode. While he approaches, he has the most invitingly sweet expression on his face... it melts me every time! He then climbs aboard and snuggles his head and body against me as tightly as he can, then starts making cooing noises as I pet and scratch him. He's like a living teddy bear in many ways. He often falls asleep on me for naps during these scratching/petting sessions. I've never known a sweeter, more loving being than my Zaffer. He's the greatest! :heart:

Please post some of the loving, cute, funny, shocking, interesting, amazing, or endearing behaviors that your birds engage in. Anything at all is fine :)

[Lady]

Aww, that is so sweet. I hope I get to post a story like that some day.

One behavior Lady has is to take everything to the edge of the bed or couch and watch it drop to the floor, then she moves right and left above it and makes noises, which to me looks like she wants it, but as soon as I retrieve it for her she does it again. It is funny sometimes, other times not so much. :)

[PlaxMacaws]

One behavior Lady has is to take everything to the edge of the bed or couch and watch it drop to the floor, then she moves right and left above it and makes noises, which to me looks like she wants it, but as soon as I retrieve it for her she does it again. It is funny sometimes, other times not so much. :)That's really cute and reminds me of Zaf. He has this special piece of wood that he likes to carry around everywhere - he used to be afraid of wood but I've progressively desensitized him to certain wooden objects. It's shaped kind of like a pork chop and he never mutilates it. Well, Zaf likes to throw his wooden pork chop around when he's on his couch, and he absolutely loves dropping it over the edge. I usually pick it up for him and throw it back onto his couch. You've probably guessed that once I do this he usually does the same thing again. He makes quite a game of it. He'll do it with other toys too... but not nearly as much as with his wooden pork chop :D. It seems that Lady loves doing the same thing with her items :). Thanks for sharing :)

[kendrafitz]

My daughter goes to a running program at a nearby park twice a week. The weather was perfect last week so I thought Rosie would enjoy going. I have had a pvc car seat for her for over a year but we never used it. So we loaded Miss Rosie and the car seat up and drove to the park.

Rosie was super excited and animated the ride to and home from the park. She was dancing, chatting, singing and playing peek a boo with my daughter. It really warmed my heart. She kissed me when we got to the park and we watched the girls play from the car for a while. She was very quiet then, taking it in. Just a great day with my crazy red headed girl. The looks on other drivers faces at lights was pretty funny too. You'd think they never saw a big red Mac on her own car seat dancing and singing her heart out before!! ;)

[PlaxMacaws]

That's a sweet and funny story, Kendra :). I love it! Rosie is an adorable girl. Thanks for sharing.

[Lady]

How cool Kendra,
Sounds like a wonderful day for everyone. I hope you have many more days like it!

[spiritbird]

Daisy has always been the "boss" bird. She has recently started a behavior that is too much for Chipper to tolerate. When Chipper is in the right spot for Daisy, she reaches over to him and gives his tail a pull. He, of course, runs away.

[kendrafitz]

How funny! Daisy has the look of a boss bird! :) Poor Chipper though.

[froggij]

Anytime my birds get near each other, there's tail-pulling and screeching.

Dori HATES new toys - she'll charge them, scream at them, no matter how "gently" they're introduced. We've found it's actually better to just throw it in there and let her dominate it sooner rather than later, but once she's got it set as "hers" and knows it's not going to try anything funny, she'll accept it on her cage, chew it once or twice, and then ignore it until I get sick of looking at it sit there collecting dust (not really).

Rosie talks herself to sleep...literally. You cover her up and turn everything off, even an hour later if you get up to go to the bathroom you can hear her saying "night-night Rose. G'night Rose. Night-night pretty Rose. Rose Rose Rose Rose." And when we first got her, she did the creepy ghost sigh in the middle of the night if she heard a creak in the floor - you'd be dead silent except for that one little loose board, then "*sigh*" ... and she cackles in her sleep, too. She just breaks out laughing for no reason in the middle of the night.

Orsino likes to sing late at night. If the rest of the house is closed up and I'm still working at the computer, he goes through every sound in his arsenal. He wolf-whistles me, he makes the noise my phone makes when I text (don't know how he picked that one up, hehehe), he does his pretty bird song, he'll start doing car alarms... then he'll just laugh and start all over, like he has to get some talking in before we go to bed (his "bedroom" is a cage in my room) because he wants to rehash the whole day with me before a new one starts. Orsino is also dog-aggressive - he's actually gone out of his way to attack german shepherds, leaving them bewildered looking. My friend had hers over one day and he rushed down my leg and bit her right on the nose while she was getting a head scratch from my friend sitting next to me - she just had this "what the heck? Did that thing just BITE ME?" look on her face like all she could think was "oh my gosh, that tiny little thing stings."

EDIT: I forgot! Orsino also built me a nest out of a Kleenex box one time, and then started singing to me...cutest thing ever, my poor confused boy.

[plax]

You have a houseful of night owl-ish birds there it seems, Jen ;). Your description makes Rosie sound spooky... but cute! :D Thanks for sharing.

As for Orsino's dog-aggression, that's so dangerous! Please don't give him (or your others) physical access to large dogs. All it takes is one snap from a surprised dog and a bird is dead :(. Orsino is clearly a super cutie, though :D What a group of personalities you have there!

[Pinkbirdy]

I took my GW Ruby to work [Im a hairstylist]. I was curious to see how she would act around other people. Ruby lost her mate a few months ago . I wasn't able to handle her [but now things had changed and she was bonding to me} . I took my 14 year old Julia to help out . Things went great :) She loved it ,talked danced and wanted the attention. Well after we were done we went to get muffins . I went through the drive thru and when the guy asked if he could help us. Ruby who was in her carrier in the back let out her Macaw blast right into the speaker before I could say anything . Those who have Macaws know about that blast :). I was laughing so hard I was crying . I could just picture what the guy on the other end thought [he he]. I don't think that happens here to much.What made this so funny was my 14 year old was sooo embarrassed . Shes like MOMMMMMMM!!!!!!! stop laughing you have to drive to the next window. All In all a great day for Ruby :)

[Lady]

I know when I order from a drive thru the speakers will be so loud, it distorts what they ask sometimes, I like to think Ruby might just of got even :th_hehe:.
I am sorry she lost her mate and am glad she is bonding more to you. One day maybe Julia will look back and have a good laugh when she thinks about it~ great story

[PlaxMacaws]

I took my GW Ruby to work [Im a hairstylist]. I was curious to see how she would act around other people. Ruby lost her mate a few months ago . I wasn't able to handle her [but now things had changed and she was bonding to me} . I took my 14 year old Julia to help out . Things went great :) She loved it ,talked danced and wanted the attention. Well after we were done we went to get muffins . I went through the drive thru and when the guy asked if he could help us. Ruby who was in her carrier in the back let out her Macaw blast right into the speaker before I could say anything . Those who have Macaws know about that blast :). I was laughing so hard I was crying . I could just picture what the guy on the other end thought [he he]. I don't think that happens here to much.What made this so funny was my 14 year old was sooo embarrassed . Shes like MOMMMMMMM!!!!!!! stop laughing you have to drive to the next window. All In all a great day for Ruby :)Ah, yes. The Macaw Blast... I know it well. The poor guy on the other end probably couldn't hear anyone's orders for the rest of his shift ;). That's quite a funny story, Terri. Thanks for sharing.

[froggij]

Tony, I tried to keep him away from the dog, that was a complete and total accident. Plus, that friend has since moved away and none of my others have dogs. I don't go out of my way to find these things out, but accidents happen.

Whoever says birds don't have enough "personality" to be in their family has obviously never actually been in the same room as one for more than five minutes.

[plax]

Tony, I tried to keep him away from the dog, that was a complete and total accident. Plus, that friend has since moved away and none of my others have dogs. I don't go out of my way to find these things out, but accidents happen.Understood. I'm glad to hear things are safer for all now. Whenever anyone posts about a bird-with-dog or bird-with-cat situation, it's important to emphasize how dangerous such interactions can be. And not only for the individual who made the post, but for future readers of the thread. Warnings may help save one or more birds in the future.


Whoever says birds don't have enough "personality" to be in their family has obviously never actually been in the same room as one for more than five minutes.I agree entirely!

Thanks, Jen.

[froggij]

Understood. I'm glad to hear things are safer for all now. Whenever anyone posts about a bird-with-dog or bird-with-cat situation, it's important to emphasize how dangerous such interactions can be. And not only for the individual who made the post, but for future readers of the thread. Warnings may help save one or more birds in the future.Indeed! Unfortunately common sense is not all that common these days, much like common courtesy (I work in retail, trust me, the customer is NOT always right, especially when they're being a jerk on purpose to make themselves feel better). I can see where it would seem like an easy thing to just let such an inquisitive creature as a bird run free and do what they want to the inexperienced bird-parent, so it's good to have such adamant support to those new bird parents who need it.

And to get back on topic, I just experienced another little cockatiel quirk that I think is both annoying and adorable - Orsino just stuck his crest feathers right in my ear to ask for a head scratch while he was on my shoulder. Apparently it's time to pet the bird and I didn't get to it fast enough...

[plax]

Indeed! Unfortunately common sense is not all that common these days, much like common courtesy (I work in retail, trust me, the customer is NOT always right, especially when they're being a jerk on purpose to make themselves feel better). I can see where it would seem like an easy thing to just let such an inquisitive creature as a bird run free and do what they want to the inexperienced bird-parent, so it's good to have such adamant support to those new bird parents who need it.Thanks for understanding, Jen.


And to get back on topic, I just experienced another little cockatiel quirk that I think is both annoying and adorable - Orsino just stuck his crest feathers right in my ear to ask for a head scratch while he was on my shoulder. Apparently it's time to pet the bird and I didn't get to it fast enough...HAHA! Nothing like a little eardrum tickle ;). And this must be a day for our birds to be extra amusing... because Salsa just did one of his tap tap taps followed by one of his "who's there?"s ... but this time when I answered him by replying with "Salsa's there... it's you!" and pointing at him simultaneously, he responded with a very clear "I didn't know that!" He's never said that before and I have no idea where he learned it. Needless to say I was quite surprised :th_biggrin:

[froggij]

what a little ham!

[froggij]

Yeah, this is what I'm getting serenaded with tonight...


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[josiesmom]

Our next door neighbor has her grass cut once a week and when the guy is weed whacking on the side of the house where josie is, she starts yelling. She will say stuff like 'stop that' 'don't do that' 'I said no' 'too loud' whenever he starts the weed whacker. He will stop and look around and she will be completely quiet until he starts it up again. I think he thinks it's the neighbor and that she is loosing her mind. It is so funny to watch and no one has told him it is a bird making him stop.

[plax]

Yeah, this is what I'm getting serenaded with tonight...A[Users must be registered and logged in to view attached photos or hyperlinks] Orsino is such a cutie :D. I somehow missed your post until now, Jen.

[plax]

Our next door neighbor has her grass cut once a week and when the guy is weed whacking on the side of the house where josie is, she starts yelling. She will say stuff like 'stop that' 'don't do that' 'I said no' 'too loud' whenever he starts the weed whacker. He will stop and look around and she will be completely quiet until he starts it up again. I think he thinks it's the neighbor and that she is loosing her mind. It is so funny to watch and no one has told him it is a bird making him stop.HAHA! That's really funny :D. Too bad you didn't capture it on video. I know how impossible that can be to do with these guys much of the time, though :(

[froggij]

Anita, that is GREAT! I agree with Tony, too bad you didn't get it on video.

[froggij]

So tonight Orsino decided to play a little game with me. I'm here on my computer and he's behind me in his cage on his nice warm perch. He'd start singing and chattering, and would stop the second I turned around to watch him. As soon as he saw my head turn back around to look at the monitor, he started up again, and I'd look over, and he'd stop. And the cycle continued. My little goofball. It's going to be our 7th anniversary next week :)

[plax]

So tonight Orsino decided to play a little game with me. I'm here on my computer and he's behind me in his cage on his nice warm perch. He'd start singing and chattering, and would stop the second I turned around to watch him. As soon as he saw my head turn back around to look at the monitor, he started up again, and I'd look over, and he'd stop. And the cycle continued. My little goofball. It's going to be our 7th anniversary next week :)Haha! That's pretty cute. It reminds me of Salsa in that he'll often cease with his vocals when I turn to look at him as well. But with Sals, more often than not, he'll then look me square in the eye and exclaim "What!?" ...as if to say "What the *blank* are you staring at?"