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Funny things your parrot says

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Re: Funny things your parrot says

Postby Pajarita » Fri Aug 01, 2014 1:13 pm

She did know that poor Alex did not get anything (not love, not treats, not even shoulder time or looking out a window) without having to work for it. She made it that way because she needed him to work at his fullest so she could prove her theory and get more and more grants. He was her bread and butter and make no mistake about this. This interview disappeared from all media once he died but she was once asked if she regarded Alex as her pet and she replied that he was nothing but an animal she experimented on. But, when he died and the whole world lamented his passing, the interview disappeared and she promptly put out a book saying how much she loved him (surprise - surprise!). I met the woman years and years ago when she was invited to give a chat for a Manhattan bird club I belonged to and she is the most mercenary and self-centered individual!

Poor Alex lived in a lab all his life, surrounded by stainless steel with not a single tree branch to peel and chew, a toy meant just for entertainment or a window he could look out from. He was all alone. Dr. P traveled constantly fundraising her research, often two weeks at a time, coming back for a few days and taking off again and she was the only constant in his life. He had no bird or human companion of its own for the simple reason that this would have been a distraction from his constant training and testing. He did not even have the same assistants testing him all the time, they had to be switched constantly so he would not bond with any of them and/or learn to 'read' subliminal clues from them that would negate his figuring things out on its own. Again, he was Avian Learning EXperiment -even his name was given with his role in mind.

The poor thing is better off dead than living in a sterile hell the way he lived all his life.
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Re: Funny things your parrot says

Postby GMV » Mon Aug 11, 2014 8:13 am

Oh my.
I met her once and she seemed pretty kind.
She also said that A.L.EX enjoyed working with her and learning all the new things. I wasn't really around to see that interview, please give me a link if you ever find it again.
I would also guess that almost every parrot is capable to learn what A.L.EX did, but so few have been tested like A.L.EX was; that might be a good thing.
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Re: Funny things your parrot says

Postby Wolf » Mon Aug 11, 2014 11:18 am

Alex plucked himself and a happy bird that is healthy does not pluck. so because of this I have no choice but to challenge the claim that he was happy.
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Re: Funny things your parrot says

Postby GMV » Mon Aug 11, 2014 4:17 pm

i guess thats true, but he only looked plucked in 1/4th of the videos/pictures. it could be (im not saying it is) a medical problem.
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Re: Funny things your parrot says

Postby DanaandPod » Thu Dec 04, 2014 2:48 pm

Pod doesn't really talk...but can now whistle the theme tune to Annie...and beginning to whistle You are my sun shine... When we would leave for the park...he would start getting verbal and making what sounded like a very loud burping sound...If It is what i think...then he learned it from a previous owner... but, it is rather loud and embarrassing walking across the parking lot where I live...burping the whole way. He has also said "I love you" and now is making a woo-woo-woo whistling and says what sounds like "YaY" from our trick training. One day while antagonizing him a little and grabbing at his tail...he very clearly told me "Stop it" which i tend to say a lot...when he acts up or chewing on a shoe whatever... I also have heard what sounds like..."Shut Up" which he learned from a previous owner. Its not random which is amazing... he said it when I got aggravated with him or he bit me...but then I feel bad...because he obviously had someone with worse patience caring for him so it actually makes me melt and ease up in sympathy. He also says something every morning continuously but i have no idea and can't make it out. Its so annoying...I wish it was clear. It just sounds like: "Rah-Rah" over and over and over and over
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Re: Funny things your parrot says

Postby liz » Thu Dec 04, 2014 8:45 pm

My aunt was home alone and my mother and I were out shopping. When we got home my aunt was out of breath. Rambo had yelled HELP HURRY HURRY QUICK QUICK. When she got to him there was a strange cat under the table. He started yelling CATCH HIM PUT HIM OUT while she ran around the table trying to chase him out.

The funniest thing I ever heard him say was when he got closed in the bathroom. He yelled MOMMA C'MERE PICK ME UP RIGHT NOW. The right now was even louder.

Do your birds bring their sentence up on the end when they are asking a question like a person does?
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Re: Funny things your parrot says

Postby Weka » Wed Feb 25, 2015 5:16 pm

Liz: Yup! "Are you hungry?" and "Honey?" are both asked with rising intonation.

Every morning when I get him out of his sleep cage, I say "Good morning" to Skeeter. A couple of months ago I noticed that whenever he gets worried about something and wants out of his main cage for reassurance, he'll say very plaintively, "Good morning!!!"

It puzzled me until I realized that he might be associating the phrase "Good morning" not with mornings, per se, but with getting to come out. He never says it any other time...
She was not quite what you would call refined. She was not quite what you would call unrefined. She was the kind of person that keeps a parrot. -- Mark Twain

Providing a forever home for Skeeter, an 11-year-old male red bellied. :redbelly:
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Re: Funny things your parrot says

Postby Pajarita » Thu Feb 26, 2015 11:54 am

Yep, that's exactly what he is doing. I only have a couple of healthy birds living in cages (the others live cage-free in the birdroom) and what I do is say: "Wanna come out!" to them when I open their cage so, if they ever learn it and need to come out, they can say so.
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Re: Funny things your parrot says

Postby Weka » Fri Feb 27, 2015 4:44 pm

Good idea, Pajarita! I'll try saying "Wanna come out?" instead. (It still cracks me up that he sometimes says, "Are you hungry?" instead of "I'm hungry." Totally understandable, as I'm sure someone asked him this a lot in the past and he just picked up on it.)
She was not quite what you would call refined. She was not quite what you would call unrefined. She was the kind of person that keeps a parrot. -- Mark Twain

Providing a forever home for Skeeter, an 11-year-old male red bellied. :redbelly:
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Re: Funny things your parrot says

Postby shiraartain » Fri Feb 27, 2015 6:07 pm

This story just came to mind. I used to take my cockatiel out in a basket. He would climb up and down the handle as we walked to/from picking my sisters up from school. One day there was a mother taking out groceries from her car. As we walked past, he wolf-whistled and then hopped into the basket so that when she turned around, all she saw was me with what looked like an empty basket in my hand. One of the most mortifying moments of my life.
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