Kenya

Kenya is my "dream" bird. After deciding that I wanted a big bird, my first choice was an African Grey. But when I considered the cost of the bird, the cage, the extra vet visits, etc, I kept putting it off. Months went by, and I still had my five cockatiels and no big bird. I visited the local pet store every week, and I talked to and played with the Greys there. More and more, I wanted a Grey. I started to research how to take care of them, what to feed them, etc. and so on. But I still could not find the perfect bird.

About this time, I ran into my first mini-macaw, a little Noble macaw. I was amazed at this bird. The first day I ment him, he ran up to me in the store, rolled over on his back, and wrestled with me for about 20 minutes. I left the store thinking maybe I wanted a mini-macaw instead. (Actually, I left there thinking I wanted *that* mini-macaw.) Three days later, I went back, on the pretext of showing the little bird to a friend, but thinking I would buy the bird if he were still there. Well, the bird was gone, and my heart sank.

I started checking out mini-macaws, thinking that this was the bird for me. At this same time, my friend's cat died, and I talked him into buying a bird (his first). We found a breeder who raises mini-macaws (!), and we went there to check out a little YCM. While we were there, the breeder mentioned that she had just pulled two baby CAG's for handfeeding. I talked to her about both macaws and Greys, and I came back to look at some Military Macaws she had. Again, I saw the baby Greys. And my heart melted to see those two little grey fuzzballs.

I visited almost every weekend, and I could never decide which of the two I wanted. They were easy to distinguish physically, since one had much more red in its underbody than the other. But their personalities changed from week to week!

On the fateful day that I picked up my bird, it came down to chance more than design. I ended up bringing home the younger bird, which we thought was a female. (A later DNA-sexing determined he is male.)

Kenya was born on 8/30/95, and he is a CAG. He is a very sweet bird (knock on wood), and has yet to ever bite me. (As opposed to his clutch mate, who the breeder nicknamed "Dracula" for a short time!)

At a little over six months old, Kenya has picked up two languages: cockatiel and macaw! He is in the process of learning English, and can say "good boy" clearly (and "Froggy" as little less clearly). He mutters a lot, and says a lot of almost-words.

We are currently working on rolling over. Until recently, he has been uncomfortable being on his back. But we are making progress, and I think he is actually beginning to enjoy it! :)

Kenya loves just about any food, but his favourite is berries (any kind). He also really likes dried rotini pasta, almonds and any wood soft enough for him to sink his beak into. He *hates* baths most of the time, although he has his moments! :) He hates cockatiels on his cage, early bedtimes and has a love-hate relationship with his little plastic cat toy (plastic ball with a bell inside).

Kenya is the first bird of my flock who I *chose* (as opposed to being chosen by the other members of my flock). I hope I don't turn out to be a disappointment to him. I can imagine him, sitting with his other AG buddies, saying, "I wasn't planning on having a person, but she just kept coming over to me and begging for me to step up...what could I do?"

The Spector Flock
Merlot - 3 year old normal gray, mother of Beau & Fume	Chablis - 3 year old male pied bonded to Merlot	Chenin - cinnamon pearl hen, bonded to Beau	Beau - 1 year old male pied, bonded to Chenin
Fume - 10 month old pearl hen, bonded to Spector	Froggy - 8 month old yellow- collared macaw	Kenya - 7 month old congo african grey

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Last revised 5/22/97