I decided to write about the African Grey parrot because my parents own an African Grey named Tanaki and he hates me and I kind of dislike him. I thought perhaps if I did a little more research we would be able to work out some of our relationship problems but really it comes down to the fact he's got a big pointed beak, sharp claws, and he wants to bite my finger off even when I'm offering him a nice scratch (which he gladly accepts from my mom by the way, he also makes kissy sounds at her and lets her kiss his beak.) Personally I think African Greys just have huge oedipal complexes. You should see the way he eyes my and what he believes is his mom.
Alright, so there are two kinds of African Greys both of which are found in central and wast Africa. The Congo African Grey (which I believe is what Tanaki is) is about a foot tall with light gray feathers, a red "rump," and a black beak. The Timneh African Grey is slightly smaller with darker gray feathers and maroon tail feathers. Their upper mandible is also lighter colored.
Some people recognize a third and fourth species of African Greys but we don't count them because they're not distinguishable in scientific studies.
Ok, here's the part that interests and relates to me and my African Grey:
African Greys are one of, if not the most intelligent bird and are incredibly social. I guess I forgot to mention this because I forgot that I'm the highly qualified animal researcher and not you, so you may not know this tidbit, but African Greys can talk and mimic. This ability has evolved apparently from their social lifestyles and cooperative feeding (although I see robins and crows feeding together all the time and they're not chatting it up. If the robins and crows on campus could talk though they would say things like, "narrative" "neoliberalism" "analytical" and "systematic.") Anyway, because of this social way of life, as pets African Greys demand a lot of attention. As a result they can make wonderful affectionate companions, but when you bring a baby into the mix (mom and dad) things can start to get ugly because the parrot gets jealous and tries to peck the baby's eyes out (mom and dad).
Also, until the age of five an African Grey develops in the same way a human would which I think is pretty incredible. Also some people believe that African Greys can associate words with their meanings!
Alright, I was going to share some first-hand African Grey stories but I just bit into this apple and it's hard to type now so that's all for now.
2 comments:
You left the word "deconstruct" out of the crow and robin lexicon. Also, African Grays don't peck babies' eyes out. Remember, Oedipus plucked his own eyes.
I have heard of babies who were jealous of the attention the African Gray got and who carried that jealousy into their adulthood when they accused the Gray of hideous acts.
Well, the Gray, whom I love and who we all agreed will be willed to Spike (oh wait, maybe only Ren and I agreed to this - she says she doesn't want him because she thinks it will be creepy to hear her mom and dad's voices after they have, er, passed on. I, on the other hand, have no such hesitations) DID kill my parakeet. I have to point that out.
And Ren - golden opportunity to tell first hand research stories, dude. You need to revisit this particular bird.
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