BATH TIME

When one brings an abused animal into their home the process of trust is slow. That has been the case with Beignet. African Grey's are not usually a cuddly parrot like some other parrots. They enjoy their personal space, and for Beignet that personal space is carefully controlled by her. I observe it and honor it. That is how trust is created.

For some time she has been cuddling my cheek and I have a hand sign that means cuddle to her. Once again, sign language takes down one more barrier for a parrot. They are keen observers of body language and this is a way to use that to my benefit. Last night when she cuddled with me she purred! I have never known that a parrot would do this. I heard her growl at a lady she didn't like once, but to hear her purr with affection was pure bliss.

Over the past two weeks Beignet has been eagerly coming for a bath. In the past I tricked her to get her to the bath, but now she looks forward to it, and is insulted if I don't offer a bath to her when I take mine. This is a great sign of trust on her part. Parrots need daily baths and she has always used her water dish for this. Now she does both. The fantastic part of this is that her feathers have begun to glow. All this from a parrot who was rescued bare naked.

MATH

Beignet continues to grow. We moved to an apartment about 2 months ago while selling our house and finding a new house. One would think that would slow down the progress of a parrot. Not Beignet! When I told her we were going to move and that the cats would go in their "bye-bye house" and she would go in her "bye-bye-house" and we would all go in the car to a new house I was amazed at her understanding. When all was ready for her to leave her cage we said to her, "Okay, we're ready to move to our new house now. The cats are in their bye-bye house and we need you to go in yours." Her reply to this was in all new words in the form of a question, "In car?" I believe I referred to this in my last post.

In the meantime, we have been trying to teach Beignet the word "want". It is a functional word that will expand her ability to ask for what she needs. She has used it three times now, but seems hesitant to have it as a regular part of her vocabulary. She does, however, ask for crackers every single day. Low Salt Triscuits are her very favorite thing (along with sunflower seeds). They are relatively healthy for a parrot, but we limit her consumption to two crackers in a day. She knows how many she has eaten and how many are left and has started to stop asking for "more cracker" when she has had her daily two. Today I put five of them on my hand and asked her how many she could have in a day. She pointed to my fingers and indicated two. I asked her how many would be left if she ate those two and she pointed to three. I asked her how many would be left after she ate one and she indicated four. I am convinced that her addition and subtraction and counting is only limited by my lack of fingers. I'm now searching for a better way to communicate math to her. It occurs to me that an abacus would be a good choice. This mathematical ability is equivalent to six to seven year old children. I don't believe we have seen this complexity of math skills in parrots before. I will be checking with Dr. Irene Pepperberg for more information about this, as she is the founder of the famous Alex Foundation.

Until then, Beignet continues to learn.