Alexander the Grey's Home Page

Ya gotta love 'em! African Greys are the clowns of the bird world and Alex (short for Alexander the Grey) is no exception. He is constantly looking for trouble and, when he finds it, he'll look innocently at us and say "whatta ya doin'?" It's hard to get mad at the little guy even if he's making another head-first dive for the butter dish!

Normally, Alex eats Harrison's Bird Diet but there are other things he'd rather eat; one of those is whipped cream. I don't know how he found out about it but, when he hears mom using the electric mixer to make some, he goes nuts! We usually let him lick one of the beaters after most of the whipped cream has been removed. It's not good for him but we don't have it very often and who can say "no" to a Grey? However, he found out the hard way that the whipped cream daddy uses on his face in the morning isn't as good as the stuff mom makes!

Are you considering adding an African Grey to your family? African Greys can live for 70 years (or more) and require a lot of attention. They have the intelligence of a three-year-old and act like one for their entire lives! If you understand the commitment you need to make, however, these bird make wonderful companions. Before you run out and buy one though, you'll want to read everything you can on the subject; birds are not like dogs and cats! Here are a few good books I've read on the subject; I recommend reading all of them:

My Parrot, My Friend - Arguably the best parrot book on the market!
The Pleasures of Their Company: An Owner's Guide to Parrot Training - A wonderful text to help you have a well-behaved bird
The Parrot in Health and Illness : An Owner's Guide - Birds are delicate animals and this is a great text explaining how to keep them healthy
The African Grey (An Owner's Guide to a Happy Healthy Pet) - A very nice African Grey-oriented book

The book titles are linked to Amazon.com where you can find reasonable prices and good service. Whatever you do, make sure you buy your bird from a reputable breeder, buy a hand-fed bird and make sure the eggs and/or the bird were not removed from the wild.

Alex wants to share links with other birds (especially African Greys)! If you want to link to Alex's home page, please feel free to do so; he'll return the favor.

Maggie's Home Page - Maggie is Alex's sister, a Citron-Crested Cockatoo. Maggie had a terrible ordeal where she came very close to dying. But, through the help of a team of very good veterinarian's (and a couple of months in birdie ICU), she's doing great today!