I think I’ve mentioned the African grey parrot Michelle and I inherited from her grandfather. In case you don’t know, they’re considered the smartest bird, rivaling the great apes and cetaceans in intelligence. Toto, as we know and call him (interestingly, the Google section on these birds predominately lists sites named after the bird’s name) is a young and inquisitive bird who spoke mostly spannish when he arrived (Michelle’s grandfather was Cuban). He also squeeks and squawks and makes lots of noise at inappropriate times such as early in the morning when we’re trying to sleep and late afternoons when a nap would really be nice. He makes telephone noises and answers ‘Hello’ when the phone rings.
After several weeks with us Toto started learning to imitate us. I forget the first thing he learned but early on he started greeting me each morning with a yawn. Me yawning. Then he learned to meow like our cat. But he’s louder than the cat, he sounds like a cat in heat. He stil doesn’t know my name, although supposedly he knows how to call the cat. Then, just a couple of days ago, he started saying “Hey, don’t bite” in a good imitation of my voice. He still bites (we’re working on that behavior) but when he’s in a talkative mood, we hear lots of “Hey, don’t bite!” and “Ow”.
But anyway, the reason I’m in trouble. He’s started burping. Yes, he does a fair imitation of a short, loud burp. Supposedly it is my fault…