Long overdue Dooley update

Dooley is most talkative in the morning before he is fed or gets his morning treat. He’s been saying “good morning” quite a bit and using his nick name of “Doodlebug” which I call him now and again. It’s hard to describe but it sounds like “Good morning dootle-buuuug.” He goes real low in tone on the “buuuug” part. He also says “Dootle-bug treat-um” and “I love you treat-um.”

This morning he was making a new sound and I could not immediately place it. Cynthia recognized it after a bit.

You know the choral “aaaaaaahhh” at the very beginning of the Simpsons theme song? Yup….

I fear where this is going….

Dooley and the ice cube

My apologies to those who have already seen this…but I am moving the Dooley posts from the old blog to this one.

There are things one must consider when owning an exotic pet, not the least of which are their dietary needs. Foods that are necessary to sustain your pet are essential in the promotion of good health and mental well being.

Take Dooley, my African Gray parrot, for example.

Many of us enjoy the french fry but do you know where french fries come from?

That’s right! AFRICA!!

African Gray parrots are sustained on a steady diet of french fries which grow wild and plentiful in the deepest jungles of Africa. French fries contain essential vitamins and minerals not found in any other food. That is why it is important to supplement Dooley’s diet with the occasional McDonalds french fry.

 

 

Another little known fact about African Gray parrots is that every winter they migrate to Antarctica to feed on life sustaining ice collected from the glaciers. While it has not been determined the exact nutritional benefit of ice it is known that an African Gray parrot that is deprived of ice for long periods of time will become irritable and “beaky”.

Sadly, Dooley was not raised in the wild so was never taught the proper way to eat ice and, as a result, struggles with the concept.

 

 

Dooley takes the ice cube from the water bowl.

Left foot, cold.

Right foot, cold.

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!

Dooley and the holidays

Dooley has an interesting sense of timing and can associate one event with another, for example:

When we get up and turn on the light in the kitchen he says “good morning”
When I pick up my keys he makes the sound of the house alarm being armed
When I close the microwave door he makes the sound of the timer being set
When I say goodbye on the phone he makes the sound of the teeny, quiet beep of the cordless phone being turned off
When I turn off the light in the TV room he says “good night” and then makes the sound of the house alarm being armed

Well, it’s October and Dooley has started to say “Trick or Treat”…something he’s only heard the last few years on that one special night when the kids come to our door. He hasn’t said it but a few times after Halloween last year and then not at all for the whole year. It’s like he knows it’s October.

This would be more surprising if he didn’t wait till December to sing Jingle Bells.

That bird is smarter than he looks.

Dooley on the yellow sproingy: