Spirit's Page
I have always wanted to have an African Grey Parrot ever since the met "Merlin".
Merlon was an African Grey Parrot that I found in a small local pet shop who
was there because former owner was having health issues and he needed to find a
new home for Merlin.
Merlin took to me right away and I was very interested in
buying him, but did not have the funds to get him at the time. He was very inteligent
and the first thing that attracted me to him was his ability to mimic just about
anything.
One day while I was visiting with him, he was sitting on my shoulder
while I was scratching his head, a favorite thing for most parrots. A young
person came up to me and started asking me questions about Merlin, when out of
the blue, Merlin lifted his head, put his beak to my nose and said "What are you
doing?"
He was perturbed that I was no longer paying attention to him and worse, I was
no longer scratching his head. Ever since that experience, I was scrimping to
save as much money as I could, in order to bring Merlin home. He ended up being
sold before I could come up with the purchase price and I was heartbroken.
Acquiring my own Grey: "Spirit"
Several years later I received a phone call from the lady who has done nail
trimming and wing clipping for my birds. She had an older woman who came in to
her store with an African Grey by the name of "Merlin". The woman had recently
purchased this bird from a private party and she was concerned about his
behavior, he spent most of the time staring at the ceiling, did not eat much or
take any water. She knew that there was something terribly wrong with the bird
and explained how critical the situation was. She believed there had been some
physical abuse that caused brain damage. She ended up taking care of the bird
and wondered if I would be able to determine if this was the same "Merlin" that
I knew. I went to visit her and Merlin and after a short period of time, I was
certain that this was the Merlin I knew. Some of the vocalizations were dead
giveaways. His condition was far worse than I could have imagined, suffering
with seizures and blank stares he was fighting to stay alive. We immediately
took him to an avian vet who did a blood workup and general examination. The
results were inconclusive and I ended up taking him home and cared for him as
best as I could. At that time I was working from home and could be there for him
as much as needed. I hand fed him during the following weeks, including doses of
meds for the his seizures. This was one of the most heartbreaking times I've
ever experienced with a pet.
Merlin passed away, in his sleep, one night several weeks later. I believe that
the cause of his death was zinc poisioning, from the cage that he was housed in.
I found out that he had been in a homemade zinc wire cage wile living with the
family that bought him from the pet store I met him at.
Due to a house fire caused by a lightening strike, I had to find a place to
board my birds. During the months that we were waiting for the reconstruction of
our house, my birds were taken care of by Deb, the lady that reunited me with
Merlin.
I was at one point we were discussing Merlin and how much I wanted to get a baby
"Grey". Through her contacts in the trade, she told me that she knows a person
in southern Minnesota that breeds "Greys". To make a long story, short, I got in
touch with the breeded and got my name on her waiting list. One fine day I
called to inquire on my status on her list. She told me that her breeding pair
had produced three eggs and that I was the first person on the list.
Her baby birds hatched around the end of September, and she was going to be attending
a bird show in November.
Being first person on the waiting list, I was able to take the pick of the three
babies. We met the breeder at the bird show, and I was able to visit with and
examine all three of the babies. It didn't take long at all to determine which
bird I would select. Spirit (a name I selected) was the one that seemed to be
most outgoing, confident and most willing to be handled. As well, he was very
steady on his feet and perched on my finger without fidgeting. He seemed very
comfortable being held and cuddled, quite and observant. The photo here shows
Spirit (in front) and his clutch mates and was taken at a bird show where I
first saw him. He hatched on Sept. 24, 2009, the second one of the three. I hope
that the middle child syndrome does not apply!
Since I work outside of the home and would not be able to hand feed him, I had to
wait until he was fully weaned (fully capable of eating
solid food and taking water) before bringing him home. This was an
intollerably long wait, but I finally brought him home January 2, 2010. We had to
travel to Owatonna, MN to meet the breeder, who drove half way up to meet us. (The high temperature that day was around -8° F. I was praying
there would be no problems with the car.)
The first couple of days were extremely fun, getting to know Spirit. 
He just loves
sitting on my lap and getting his head scratched, just like a cat enjoys getting
its head pettted. If I stopped scratching he would pick up one of his feet and nudge
my hand with his foot. If I did not respond to his satisfaction, he would walk over,
grab my index finger in his beak and lift it as high as he could. Next, he would
let go of my finger and very quickly duck his head under my raised finger, expecting
me to resume scratching.
He is a very good eater and loves a variety of foods: seed mix, pistachios, brocolli,
peas, green beans, etc.
The
picture to the right, was taken the day Spirit came home to live with us. He is
very outgoing and inquisitive. He enjoys being handled by anyone, at this point,
which could change. He is more that willing to come out of his cage at any time,
charging the cage door when I reach toward the latch. He does not hesitate to step
up onto my hand. He is very comfortable sitting on my lap, actually preferring that
to sitting on my shoulder. The whole family sits on the couch watching TV, Lynn,
Spookee & Mysteree (our cats) and Spirit. Both of the cats have had experience
with parrots in the past. They have learned that parrots are not helpless play things
and they fear the beak and flapping wings.
Feb. 3, 2010: I've been working with Spirit trying to get him to vocalize.
I have been tryng to get him to say his name, "Hello" and other phrases. This morning I walked
into his room and heard him say "Hello". I was totally flabbergasted, since I've
been told not to expect an African Grey to start talking until around one year of
age. He has been making many different vocalizations on his own; sounds similar
to a small puppy whine, odd whistles and the like, but no phrases or words.
Below is a video about African Grey Parrots and Alex the most well-known parrot
who was the subject of 30 years of research with Dr. Irene Pepperberg.