Parker

I‘m of the belief that either you’re a “Grey” person or you’re not. Some “Grey” people like Greys and other species. And some, like me, really prefer just Greys. There is something about them that simply enchants me. I like other species of birds, but African Greys attract me like a magnet. I didn’t know I was that way until I began working with other birds. I’ve worked with numerous species, but so far I’ve either boarded or rehabbed and rehomed Cockatiels, Quakers, a Solomon Islands Eclectus, lovebirds, and other Greys. Not much really, but enough to know what I like.

I find Greys to have more expression, personality, and “soul”, if you will. They seem more 3-dimensional to me and I find I can read them far easier than other species. They have a quiet dignity that I admire and a nobility about them that I respect. I don’t find them aloof. Rather, I find them introspective and thoughtful.

I’ve read a lot about them through the hundreds and hundreds of articles and books by almost all of the leading writers in the field.

One thing became clear to me while reading their work: Raising a companion bird is not so much a science, or a pastime as it is an art. It is a creative work always in progress and it changes every minute. There are two participants in this work of art, the human and the bird, and sometimes the collaborators don’t always agree. But this is where it becomes a work of art. Both participants must come up with a viable solution or one of them loses out in the experience. The experience is the art, as well as the outcome, and both of the participants change as time passes. It is a fluid, moving entity.

Working that all out is a daily discipline and it takes a lot of time and thoughtful effort to get it right. And the more we learn, the better we get at it.