Sunshine is Here

[FoxersArtist]

Andy and I went to get Sunshine, a 10-13 yr old CAG this afternoon who was given up to us with his large, furnature like cage. We got him home and sat downfor a meal together. Sunshine was quite bonded to his owner and what I really wanted to do was somehow talk her into keeping the bird because he was perfect with her, but her health is failing and she can no longer care for Sunshine.

We had been concerned that the bird had been given such a strict routine that he would be really frightened and upset. I am going to keep an eye on him as he has not yet decided to eat or drink much, but hopefully he will be less distracted tomorrow and more willing to eat. Otherwise he has been pretty relaxed and friendly with us, studying our activities and commenting where appropriate. We brought his cage into the kitchen and I scrubbed it down and got it set up. Sunshine quietly watched from a nearby perch.

While we were at his house, Sunshine said quite a few things and I was really impressed with his vocabulary and his understanding of the words he was saying. "Time for dinner now. Having some crunchy berries for Dinner. Mmm-hmmm. And some popcorn, yes." All that I can really say now is that we had only really seen the icing on the cake and even still, I know we have barely gotten to know what sunshine is really like. He is the smartest and most vocal grey I have ever met and with even a little training, I think he easily ranks up there wih Alex the grey.

Once we put him in his cage and shut the door for the night, we experienced something amazing! Sunshine just started talking up a storm and most of the things he said were in context. The very first thing he wanted to tell us is that he was tired and wanted to get some sleep. "Are we going to have a bath? Warm feels goooood. Have a little bath in the birdy bath. Yup. Time to go to bed, put the cover on. With your blanket, comfortable. Yeah. You have good birdy dreams." We kind of sat and listened to that for a while in awe (I have never heard a bird really talk in full sentences like that) and Sunshine got a bit frazzled that we were ignoring his request for bedtime. He started saying "Too bright. Time for bed" and that just blew us away.

I decided to get a little video before I tucked him in for the night and by this time he was talking in less coherant sentences, but still talking. I'm sure I will get more videos later, but honestly I'm a little overwhelmed by just how smart this grey is. Those of you who own greys...do they talk like sunshine?

As far as sunshine adjusting to so much change, I think he will be ok so long as he starts eating and drinking by tomorrow, but he is not showing that he is too terribly frightened if he is.
Here are some photos:
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa154/Foxersartist/Fosters/Sunshine001.jpg
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa154/Foxersartist/Fosters/Sunshine004.jpg
Here is the video:
http://s197.photobucket.com/albums/aa154/Foxersartist/Birdy%20Videos/?action=view&current=SunshineTalks.flv
-Anna

[Larry, Baby and Me]

This is not a tongue in cheek comment... during this transition period - just ask Sunshine what he wants and needs... he will tell you.

[Chrissy and Flock]

This is not a tongue in cheek comment... during this transition period - just ask Sunshine what he wants and needs... he will tell you.

I think your right there Larry. Thats one awesome bird, and that bird cage wow.

Anna did the previous owner have a yappy dog, cause towards the end he sounded just like my yappy poodle.... :haha:

[Larry, Baby and Me]

I was wrong in my previous post. You don't have to ask Sunshine what he needs --- he is telling you very plainly his feelings and needs.

I put on my headphones and played the vid over and over again until I got down all that he said. Some of the things I could not make out - I will post the transcript when I get it all figured out.

Sunshine is not only amazing - he is rare and extremely special.

[iti hoa's mom]

Andy and I went to get Sunshine, a 10-13 yr old CAG this afternoon who was given up to us with his large, furnature like cage. We got him home and sat downfor a meal together. Sunshine was quite bonded to his owner and what I really wanted to do was somehow talk her into keeping the bird because he was perfect with her, but her health is failing and she can no longer care for Sunshine.

We had been concerned that the bird had been given such a strict routine that he would be really frightened and upset. I am going to keep an eye on him as he has not yet decided to eat or drink much, but hopefully he will be less distracted tomorrow and more willing to eat. Otherwise he has been pretty relaxed and friendly with us, studying our activities and commenting where appropriate. We brought his cage into the kitchen and I scrubbed it down and got it set up. Sunshine quietly watched from a nearby perch.

While we were at his house, Sunshine said quite a few things and I was really impressed with his vocabulary and his understanding of the words he was saying. "Time for dinner now. Having some crunchy berries for Dinner. Mmm-hmmm. And some popcorn, yes." All that I can really say now is that we had only really seen the icing on the cake and even still, I know we have barely gotten to know what sunshine is really like. He is the smartest and most vocal grey I have ever met and with even a little training, I think he easily ranks up there wih Alex the grey.

Once we put him in his cage and shut the door for the night, we experienced something amazing! Sunshine just started talking up a storm and most of the things he said were in context. The very first thing he wanted to tell us is that he was tired and wanted to get some sleep. "Are we going to have a bath? Warm feels goooood. Have a little bath in the birdy bath. Yup. Time to go to bed, put the cover on. With your blanket, comfortable. Yeah. You have good birdy dreams." We kind of sat and listened to that for a while in awe (I have never heard a bird really talk in full sentences like that) and Sunshine got a bit frazzled that we were ignoring his request for bedtime. He started saying "Too bright. Time for bed" and that just blew us away.

I decided to get a little video before I tucked him in for the night and by this time he was talking in less coherant sentences, but still talking. I'm sure I will get more videos later, but honestly I'm a little overwhelmed by just how smart this grey is. Those of you who own greys...do they talk like sunshine?

As far as sunshine adjusting to so much change, I think he will be ok so long as he starts eating and drinking by tomorrow, but he is not showing that he is too terribly frightened if he is.
Here are some photos:
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa154/Foxersartist/Fosters/Sunshine001.jpg
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa154/Foxersartist/Fosters/Sunshine004.jpg
Here is the video:
http://s197.photobucket.com/albums/aa154/Foxersartist/Birdy%20Videos/?action=view&current=SunshineTalks.flv
-Anna

Ava is my CAG that has no feet. Yep, Ava talks as you just described things. She came to me talking. She says the name of every animal in this house (that is 19 folks) and she learned this all while living here. Bedtime and lights out is when she gets going but she always does a spurt part way into the day (I am usually at work). She always tells me bye bye when I go to work. She has learned I love you and says it at appropriate times. Yes, she blows me away with what she can say. :exct:

Now Sam is my other CAG.He may 3 to 5 words at the most. His whistle and a couple of choice words is all he feels needs to be said. :smiles:

Next thing...Ava has no feet but balances on a rope perch.

You got a little treasure there Anna. Looking forward to more stories.

Oh, Tony has a new phrase that he put together on his own. He says good bird and whatcha doin doin doin. He now says to me "Whatcha doin birdie?" WOW.

[Larry, Baby and Me]

Here is what I translated the best I could...

**Anna - yeah, time to go to bed? See ya.
Tweet sound
**Anna - Time to go nite nite?
Get scared
**Anna - Yeah
Time to go to bed
**Anna - Time to go to bed?
Small tweet sound
Careful
Tweet sound
Careful
Give the birdy drink
Small tweet sound
(Something)
Okay?
Careful
Kissy sounds
Tweet sound
Yeah, it's me
Give the birdy drink
Mmmm
Get comfortable
Bird get comfortable
What kinda bird?
No
Ooh - stop
Ooh - get scary - (something)
Careful
Give the birdy drink
Careful
Kissy sounds
Give the birdy drink
I gotta come out (something)
Hello?
Dont bite too hard
Bite!
Ooh - too hard
Tweet sounds
Stop it!
(Something)
Scary
Tweet sound
Barking sounds
**Anna - Birdy, time to go night night.
(Something)
You're really annoying me.
Scary
Dont bite too hard
A bunch of scary
**Anna- Good bird, good bird.

[birdie]

I thought I heard him say something about thunder?
WOW! Bonnie are you gonna have a blast!! What a smart bird, and just his luck, he gets a teacher for a momma:)) I can't wait to see what he learns! Bonnie you'll have to get to practicing with the video camera cuz you know we'll want to see.

[bonnie]

I thought I heard him say something about thunder?
WOW! Bonnie are you gonna have a blast!! What a smart bird, and just his luck, he gets a teacher for a momma:)) I can't wait to see what he learns! Bonnie you'll have to get to practicing with the video camera cuz you know we'll want to see.
He says 'thunder scary'.

[FoxersArtist]

I thought I heard him say something about thunder?
WOW! Bonnie are you gonna have a blast!! What a smart bird, and just his luck, he gets a teacher for a momma:)) I can't wait to see what he learns! Bonnie you'll have to get to practicing with the video camera cuz you know we'll want to see.

He gets anxious when it gets cloudy because he thinks it will thunder. It was cloudy all day yesterday and he kept saying "Scary, Thunder is scary." His owner explained this to us before we took him.
-Anna

[bonnie]

Ava is my CAG that has no feet. Yep, Ava talks as you just described things. She came to me talking. She says the name of every animal in this house (that is 19 folks) and she learned this all while living here. Bedtime and lights out is when she gets going but she always does a spurt part way into the day (I am usually at work). She always tells me bye bye when I go to work. She has learned I love you and says it at appropriate times. Yes, she blows me away with what she can say. :exct:

Now Sam is my other CAG.He may 3 to 5 words at the most. His whistle and a couple of choice words is all he feels needs to be said. :smiles:

Next thing...Ava has no feet but balances on a rope perch.

You got a little treasure there Anna. Looking forward to more stories.

Oh, Tony has a new phrase that he put together on his own. He says good bird and whatcha doin doin doin. He now says to me "Whatcha doin birdie?" WOW.
Peggy, do you stay at home all day?

[FoxersArtist]

Here is what I translated the best I could...

**Anna - yeah, time to go to bed? See ya.
Tweet sound
**Anna - Time to go nite nite?
Get scared
**Anna - Yeah
Time to go to bed
**Anna - Time to go to bed?
Small tweet sound
Careful
Tweet sound
Careful
Give the birdy drink
Small tweet sound
(Something)
Okay?
Careful
Kissy sounds
Tweet sound
Yeah, it's me
Give the birdy drink
Mmmm
Get comfortable
Bird get comfortable
What kinda bird?
No
Ooh - stop
Ooh - get scary - (something)
Careful
Give the birdy drink
Careful
Kissy sounds
Give the birdy drink
I gotta come out (something)
Hello?
Dont bite too hard
Bite!
Ooh - too hard
Tweet sounds
Stop it!
(Something)
Scary
Tweet sound
Barking sounds
**Anna - Birdy, time to go night night.
(Something)
You're really annoying me.
Scary
Dont bite too hard
A bunch of scary
**Anna- Good bird, good bird.

Larry,
This is what we translated (in order) that was clear:
It's time to go to bed
Time to go?
Yeah, have good birdy dreams
Come on sweety
Yeah, have good birdy dreams, with your blanket. Yeah.
Get comfortable, yeah, comfortable.
Oh! Ow! scary! Ow!
You have any [?] on your beak?
Are you full?
Ok, you have good birdy dreams
Are you full? [kiss] you have good birdy dreams
Yeah? You gonna come out and sit on your crate?
Hellllo?
Your biting too hard.
Yeah, too bright!
Oh! Too hard!
[Ding] (that's her microwave and also the sound he uses to annoy her when he wants something. He was telling me that he was annoyed and wanted to be covered.)
[Ding] Shhhhhh! Stop it!
Don't make that noise!
Scary!
[Barking like a dog] - yes she gave up the bird partly because she got a few puppies
[Ding] You want the coffee maker? (I think)
You know, your really noisy.
Scary
Yeah, your biting too hard, yeah
The thunder's scary
-Anna

[Chrissy and Flock]

I wish I was getting that little guy, he would be good company.....

[Patty, Linus and Co.]

I am absolutely in shock. He will help to make his own transition easy just like Larry said.

Bonnie you've quite a bird coming!!!

[Larry, Baby and Me]

Anna,

Thanks for the translation... now it makes more sense. He does say things in "conceptial" phrases.... wow.

[Jeanie]

I have been reading about Sunshine...this is the most amazing bird I think I've ever heard of ,short of those I've seen on TV! Just amazing!:clap:

[TikiTalks]

Greys are great :) Very intelligent birds, but not quite cuddly enough for me. Whoever gets Sunshine is going to be very lucky to have a friend like him :)