But he's not that smart

[angelicvampyre]

I have Elmo the King Parrot and alot of people have asked me why i got a King instead of an Eckky or an African Grey. I was going to get a Quaker when Elmo stole my heart at the local pet shop and after thinking and deciding I took him home. He is not a Lovey bird who wants cuddles but he is funny and into everything and has mood swings and wants evertything his own way so you know a typical male...

Anyway as I said alot of people have asked why i got a King as they don't talk, they are not very smart, they don't learn, they don't bond with their owners and they don't play with toys.

My guy says "out" when he wants out of the cage "Elmo what you doing" "hello" No Elmo No" and makes the kiss kiss noise. He has also in the past said "Pardon" and counts to 3 but these are not normal phrases that he uses.

He has learn to open all of the containers that hold his treat nuts under cage and gets me pencils out of my basket on the desk when I ask him and he is in the right mood!

I have taught him to thow his ball and fly air ball. he sits on the book shelf I thow the ball in the air he flys across the room catches it and lands on his cage and then normally throws the ball back at me (aimed at my head) or flys above me above me and drops it on me.

He knows me and knows my boyfriend. He does not like my boyfriend and we have a few issues with them both being in the same room. he also knows my mum (who does not live with me) and is a suck to her making kisses noises and wanting attention off her. However my sister who I live with he does not interact with at all. He gets so excited when certain people come see him and not so much with other people.

He has pretty much destroyed every toy I have put in his cage. he loves his forrage box (4 plastic boxes that all open in a different manner) and his spike ball (plastic/rubber ball with slots to put dowl pegs in)

I find it funny that king parrots are totally underestimated as compaion pets. They are put down as not being able to bond and not high on the recommendation list for would be owners. As the first big bird i have owned (kept Budgies for years) I think Elmo and the rest of his breed are great pets and I would recommend them to anyone looking to move to a big bird. Having said that there are times when we have issues and he acts like a toddler and I end up with a bitten or bleeding finger but the good times outweigh the bad!

[avinet]

Elmo sounds like a typical male King Parrot to me. I've had several as pets over the years, and they are a great bird, can be good talkers, especially the males, are playful and are certainly very smart.

I don't know who has been giving you all that mis-information about Kings - they have obviously never lived with one as a pet - great birds to have.

cheers,

Mike

[angelicvampyre]

Thanks Mike. When I was researching getting a larger bird no one recommended a King to me. I am a members of about 10 different bird boards and I got very negative feedback when i mentioned that i was going to get a king (not here most people here just said they had never had one or offered what little they knew) Even now people on other boards ask me if I am ready to give up on Elmo or give him back. Them seem to be waiting for me to give up on him which I can't see happening any time soon.

[Karen]

I think if people don't know a bird they tend to assume certain things.
I don't know much about Kings except when I watch them in the wild around my place and know they are very inquisitive birds who are not afraid of much - and tend to be cheeky!
As a pet I only know of 2 people with one as a pet and you are 1 of them. I find them an incredibly attractive bird that looks highly intelligent. It is good you letting us in on Elmo's activities as it gives us all an opportunity to learn more about this parrot.
Well done on such a great success with him in a short span of time. You must be proud of him and yourself for having such a good rapport with him.
LOL those 2nd boyfriends humans insist on having! don't you know that a male parrot is all the man you need?

[vankarhi]

I agree with both Mike and Karen here. I don't know much about them but have heard they can make great pets and can talk. So I have no idea why you have been told what you have. I also get some around here and they sometimes come onto our verandah and eat the left over seed around and they seem to be very inquisitive and gentle birds.

I have to also add that when I bought Skye and joined a forum so as to find out more about ekkies......I joined a US forum. The negative feedback about ekkies not making good pets, not being good talkers, being boring blah blah blah.......I just couldn't believe it. I can tell you now the info out there is much different about them now that so many more people own them. I actually proved them wrong by posting links of Skye talking single words and 2 and 3 word phrases that she had just picked up in 3 weeks of us owning her......needless to say that particular forum were quite surprised. lol

Congrats and it sounds like you are doing a wonderful job. I also love the look of the kings too.

[robert]

Angelicvampyre,For some silly reason,especially
in Australia,a number of our Australian Natives are not appreciated as companion Parrots. Here I include the Australian King Parrots.Also I include the Superb Parrots,Red Rumps ,Bourke Parrots,Princess Parrots. Maybe there are others. More likely to find a site promoting them, as companions from overseas. Thanks for what you have written above. from Robert and Precious

[Jane]

I think its fantastic you are keeping one of our beautiful natives parrots Kings are stunning to look at and Elmo sounds just as if not more talented than foreign birds who are so heavily promoted as pets and really aren't that flash to look at

[angelicvampyre]

Thanks guys.

[angelicvampyre]

Just thought I would add we have a few new talking phrases, we now cough like my sister (a smokers cough) which freaked me out and I thought he was sick. We also (after alot of work) taught him to do the evil laugh and he now says "love you, mummy love you" in the hope is will get him more out of the cage time as the first time he said his I cried and he got the whole day out of the cage.

[Karen]

hahaha he has you wrapped around his little claw!
He sounds adorable and would have me wrapped round his claw too!

[meandem]

I still reckon no matter what type of bird - you get out of them what you put into them; and it is obvious Elmo is getting plenty of lovin' because he is giving of plenty of lovin' back.

I love the Kings, we have the wild ones here and I hand feed them. They haven't been hand-reared and they know the difference between me and a complete stranger. They won't come down to feed when there is someone different at the house.

[angelicvampyre]

I agree, he is the type of bird that could have ended up in a home and never talked and just been a pretty bird in a cage I know how much time he takes out of my day and I also know that outside of a select few alot of people would not put the time and effort into him. One of the reasons that I just had to buy him I did not want to see him go to a home that he would not get everything.