My Linda

[livingwaters]

I wrote a short blog post about how Linda ( ) and I came to be, here is an excerpt:
"Linda is my Congo African Grey parrot (CAG). She is a re-home and I bought her from a guy who had a job with difficult hours and no time for her. She is eight months old and has been with me for a month now. She is a sweetheart and although she has some issues I love her to bits."

You can find the entire post here: http://www.mylivingwaters.biz/blog/2012 ... eet-linda/

[liz]

Linda is a cutie.

What you have is a toddler pushing her boundries. You would never punish a toddler for destroying something. You would just make sure it didn't get the other one. She will learn just as a child. She will learn to talk as a child.

My Myrtle is 2 and does talk but also uses baby talk. Rambo is 21 and only talks when he has something to say or ask. He understands everything. Rambo is like a 6 year old boy with a speach impediment. Myrtle is like his 2 year old sister who buggs the heck out of him.

Sometimes I have shouting matches with them. Two against one they always win. My neighbors have never complained about the noise. Rambo will sit in the window and call to the neighbor as she does her yard work.

I wandered off talking about mine but that is what parrot parents do.

[livingwaters]

Hi Liz,
It's really nice to hear about your fids actually
I absolutely agree with you and most of the time I keep her out of trouble just like you said - by not letting her getting close to things she could destroy.
When she does have something in reach though I make sure to distract her until I can remove the obstacle.
It is most fascinating to see how she realizes things. She is a journey and I am loving every minute of it. She has some bad habits but they're being worked on and if her previous owners were to see her now they would probably not recognize her.
I am especially loving when she is in a cuddly mood (most of the time) or when we hang out and watch a movie.

Thanks for sharing about your parrots - they both sound amazing!

[terri]

I enjoyed looking though lindas pictures You can tell shes a big part of your life .She actually looks female in her face!

[livingwaters]

Thanks Terri!
When I first introduced her to my mom she said she was the first beautiful CAG she's seen. I was a bit surprised, never really noticing any ugly ones around but as I got to know her and seen other CAGs I realised this was true. I met the ugliest male CAG one day, he was just... male
When I finally found a CAG whose face I thought was beautiful (like my Linda ) I was told it was another female.. So yeah, it seems like there is a difference and there is definitely a feminine/masculine behaviour too.

[terri]

Thanks Terri!
When I first introduced her to my mom she said she was the first beautiful CAG she's seen. I was a bit surprised, never really noticing any ugly ones around but as I got to know her and seen other CAGs I realised this was true. I met the ugliest male CAG one day, he was just... male
When I finally found a CAG whose face I thought was beautiful (like my Linda ) I was told it was another female.. So yeah, it seems like there is a difference and there is definitely a feminine/masculine behaviour too.

I hear females in greys are the way to go.Our first bird was a male congo rescue .He was very aggessive[for whatever reason].We learned alot from him.He made me realize my deep love for birds.Im able to kiss all my birds in the face and handle them pretty much any way .But not him ! it would be nice to experience a sweet grey someday.

[livingwaters]

I've only ever handled one gray male and that was when I was interested in finding Linda a mate.
It was at this store and he really liked me apparently, although everyone I have tried to give him to he just bit but I handled him quite alright (I had a toddler on me as well so considering all he was really okay with me but aggressive to everyone else).

When I was looking for a gray I just knew I had to get a female. I didn't realise males would be more aggressive (I actually thought it was the other way around!) but Linda is definitely a sweetheart. I can't say it didn't take time and effort but she is very receptive.

While I never really paid attention to stereotypes she actually breaks most of them. She is not fearful or skittish around new things, she tries new foods with no problem (and with no real effort on my side other than putting it in the bowl) and loves to meet new people.

I hope you do get the chance to enjoy a sweet gray

[terri]

How did she get her name? You cant help but remember it!

[livingwaters]

Well, I was looking for a name for a few days but couldn't think of one that really fit her.
A day or two after I got her we went on our first trip to my mom's (we do this on a bi-weekly basis now).
After setting up her cage and settling down I introduced her to my mom and told her I had a hard time finding her a name.
My mom is Brasilian and we speak Portuguese at home and until then I always referred to her as "linda", which means beautiful in Portuguese. Then again, I refer the same way to our female dogs, my lovebird Jewel and my niece so it wasn't anything special.
When my mom first held her she exclaimed "but she is so beautiful!" and I just shrugged and said all grays were beautiful to me. Until then I have never seen an ugly one.
She kept telling her in Portuguese how beautiful she is and then she turned to me and said, "well, I can't think of a better name than Linda. She is just it", so that's how she got it.

It's funny - because linda is an adjective to me and not a name for a long time it was as if she was still nameless. Now, when I want to call her beautiful I just say "linda Linda" and that's settled