First of all I was kinda shocked when I saw a thread directed to me. I'll put an email on my profile.

However, I think it's very kind and well intentioned of you to be concerned about my African grey. You obviously love animals and African greys are very, very special animals. For anybody outside of grey world I'll tell you of several vocalizations my bird does which shows he understands the intention of language, not just mimics.

When my daughter came home for Thanksgiving after 3 months in the midwest, she came downstairs in the morning. My bird said "OH MY God!" (shouting) and then in a lowered voice "Sharon!"

When each individual goes to bed at night he whispers "goodnight."

When we leave he'll yell "I'll see you later" Coming home we are greeted with loud "Well hi!!"

He also says funny things like "I'm a grey bird" sings "Happy birthday to you." etc. To know one of these animals leaves no doubt that animals are very intelligent and sensitive and makes you wonder what animals who can't speak are thinking, obviously greys are quite tuned into our world.

I'm only talking about a linear move of about 6-8 feet and it would be behind a door that would allow him to sleep when it's dark instead of stay up with artificial lights until midnight. I thought of moving his cage and getting a tree for the family room where he could sit and see us when we are home (but with no flingy foods). His favorite foods are hot mashed and sweet potatoes and he gets fresh foods daily. He has plucked since he went through puberty and he's 11 years old. At first I almost went crazy looking for "cures" tried literally everything but now just accept it. I don't think he plucks anymore, just doesn't grow feathers on his chest anymore.

Thank you for your concern, it's really sweet when someone is so passionate about the psyche of animals but trust me my little grey (CAG) is well taken care of. I'm not someone who just got a bird--I have had one continually since I was 10 years old - -life isn't complete without a bird in the house.

I apologize in advance for butting in to this thread.

I love all creatures---Fury, Feathery, Scaley and even Rodenty.
I have several of the above in my home now and in the past have had some very unusual critters that found their way to me.

All this to say that this board is great for decorating, learning what works, what doesn't. And the bonus is reading replies from incredibly talented and very nice people.

Over the last year or so I've also found so many animal lovers here and on the Discussion side--really warms my heart!
Common are the doggy and kitty parents.
Not so common are the parrot parents.

I too am a Parrot Parent.
Yellow Nape.

Many, many years ago I worked for a man who bred/sold parrots on the side.
He finally opened his own Exotic Bird store and asked me to manage it.
I knew zipola about birds other than the parakeets I had growing up.
What an amazing learning experience I had during those 3 years.

The man acquired a Nape with a disability.
Couldn't sell it no matter how much he lowered the price.
After working with that bird, Me and that Nape became best buds.
For my bithday the man gave me the Nape, small cage and bag of food for it.

That was a little over 27 years ago and me and my Nape bud are still together.

My husband refers to and calls him COF (cantankerous old fart).

Always promised myself I'd get another Grey Cheek or an African Grey before I die.

Back to the Decorating Topic --- lol

It's a tricky feat to incorporate a nice room and a huge bird and even bigger cage.
These are incredibly social creatures.
They need to be where the people activity is in the home.

Over the years many, many people have asked my advice --whether to get a parrot or not.
I usually tell them Not.
These are usually people that like pristine, nice, and clean surroundings accompanied by beautiful, lush fabrics.

They are not the type of people that look too kindly when they sit on some sketti (his favorite food) that has landed on our sofa, flung 4 feet from the cage.

So, no matter how nicely decorated someone wants a main family room to look there will always be what we like to call 'food-flung decor' going on. *s*

Again, sorry for the hijack but it's really nice to know there are some Parrot Parents here!

Sorry about the shock of the post directed just to you -- I'm always a little shocked at ones directed just to me too, but I didn't know of another way to talk with you since you apparently hadn't seen my post.

I've counselled literally thousands of people regarding their birds' behavior for a lot of years and am a published author in the subject matter (but prefer to remain anonymous here). So I've heard a lot of horror stories about Greys (plus I have a rescued Grey of my own).

Since you've had your little guy for so long, you undoubtedly know just what you're doing and he's pretty mellow about you and your family -- but of course I had no way of knowing that from your original post. That's why I put that caveat up front, as you could be a 40-year bird breeder or a 6-month bird owner for all I know.

I fostered a rescued plucking Red Fronted Macaw with abandonment issues for several months. I do know how to cure or at least improve plucking that is purely behavioral with pretty fair success, but I'm glad yours is no longer actively plucking. He probably damaged his folicles in all that time. If the damage is fairly recent there *may* be a cure for the folicles, but with all this time gone by I doubt it.

Yes I know how funny parrots can be. I have four who keep me amused. Yours sounds like a great little guy. Yeah, I'm a kitchen slave to mine too -- fresh fruits and veggies every AM and homemade sprouts and veggies, or some of what I'm having every PM, and a PB sandwich once a week per my vet's advice. I certainly didn't doubt that your little guy was well taken care of -- just worried that you might be getting yourself into something without knowing it.

You're very welcome! Thanks for taking it in the spirit in which it was intended and I hope the move goes well if you do it. There certainly is something to be said for being able to shut them in the dark and quiet at night, rather than having to tiptoe around them. :-) Anyway, now you know a little about where I was coming from.

Hi Amity! Nice to know there's another bird lover here. I think there's more of us out here than folks realize.

What a neat story about you and your YNA. How lucky for you both that you found each other. YNA males certainly are crotchety. I hear they improve after about age 30? I have a YCA and he's not old enough for me to prove that. hehe Does your little guy get around all right?

You're certainly right about decor. And birds shut away from the family can be very unhappy creatures. And mess? Oh my yes! Birds are the fertilizers and seed planters of the world. No fighting that one and winning. *sigh* Parrot ownership is certainly not for everyone, and two of my four are rescues for just that reason. I also have 5 dogs. So decor and house plans have to revolve around all these critters. Needless to say I don't own white pants or white furniture. Nor do I believe there is such a thing as a perfect flooring material. Nor do I dare have real stained glass, or burn scented candles, etc, etc, etc. Y'all know the drill. We animal lovers pretty much need bullet-proof surfaces.

Question: Do all parrot owners become prematurely hard of hearing?

And you mean to tell me a 200 lb parrot cage decked out with poop, nut shells, and tossed foods is *not* beautiful decor? Repeat after me, "I am sexy with a mop in my hand!" lol!

How fun that there are other bird lovers her in the decorating forum and Oceanna you are a professional, how cool! I'm just like the Mark Twain saying--the kind of woman who keeps a parrot!

I love my house to look nice but I LOVE my animals too!

As for the "hard of hearing" my grey is very quiet except for the talking and imitating sounds. We were all kind of in awe the other day when I was hammering for around a minute and the grey couldn't duplicate the sound--so what did he do? He imitated the cadence of the hammer sound perfectly by hitting his beak against the cage--we were all just dumbfounded.

I think greys are quite a big different from amazons when it comes to sociability and being around people (I've never owned an amazon though) At least my grey is more like a grumpy Englishman and is fairly skiddish around strangers (men)--I don't think the greys like a "party" atmosphere like those yellow napes.

To bring this a little more on topic --it will be a challenge to update my tv situation with the grey.

One of the things I really like about this forum is obviously we all share a passion for all things decorating and furniture BUT it seems like most people here are realistic in how real people live and try to incorporate practicality into their living spaces.

True, Greys rank way down low on the loudness scale. But if you'd like to experience it I can loan you my big macaw for a week. hehe

Yes, we have real lives here -- many with kids and pets. While quite pleasantly quiet, my Grey is really high up on the tossing food scale. I used to have her next to an antique lawyers cabinet, and whenever she gets wet food on her beak she shakes it. She splattered my cabinet but good, though she really enjoyed seeing her reflection in the glass. I wouldn't want her eating near my TV, although TVs are more scrubbable than antique wood.

In my last house my birds were in my family room, but here they have a bird room. They spend time in my office daily, but I don't let them eat in here -- and they still manage to make an unholy mess requiring very frequent cleaning, only now it's in two places. Shappy, does your bird spend much time out of his cage? In my case the bird room did give me the advantage of a dedicated sleeping place for them, and they're not lonely as they have each other. But I multiplied my cleaning tasks. That may be another consideration. I'm always up for ways to cut down on and deal with the mess. If sleeping is your only consideration, you could put her in a smaller cage or crate in the laundry for that. But protecting your new TV is another thing -- that's why I tried to supply some ideas, lame as they may have been. :/