Dudley, My African Grey Parrot

[Calindy]

Dudley is 9 yrs old, and was raised by my Mom since he was a baby. My Mom passed away last year and Dudley came to live with me. He was in Indiana, so he had to fly back with me in the plane. I was afraid he would not adjust well, but he has. I was taking photo's with my 50 mm, and he seemed to enjoy the photo session!He talks a LOT, and he still has many phrases that he speaks with my Mom's voice. One of his favorites is "Momma's baby boy"...when I leave the room, he calls me, "Mommy"...my Mom taught him that! So my Mom is kinda here for Mother's Day....introducing Dudley!

http://DebMann.zenfolio.com/img/v8/p715054016-3.jpg



http://DebMann.zenfolio.com/img/v3/p821579828-3.jpg
http://DebMann.zenfolio.com/img/v2/p1034152492-3.jpg

http://DebMann.zenfolio.com/img/v3/p745768604-3.jpg (http://DebMann.zenfolio.com/img/v7/p220514107-3.jpg)

[DealsGapCobra]

WB seems off on the first shot and I am not wild about the BG on #2. I like #3 and #4 and he is a beautiful bird! The red tail is very vivid.

I have heard that African Greys can be mischievous :-) I always thought it would be fun to have one. I am glad he was able to bring your mother home for the day.

[Calindy]

WB seems off on the first shot and I am not wild about the BG on #2. I like #3 and #4 and he is a beautiful bird! The red tail is very vivid.

I have heard that African Greys can be mischievous :-) I always thought it would be fun to have one. I am glad he was able to bring your mother home for the day.http://DebMann.zenfolio.com/img/v3/p786388418-3.jpg

Thanks Deals, yes, African Grey's are a handful!! They are like having a 4 yr old FOREVER! Dudley is out of his cage more than he is in. He is in the family room so he is part of everything going on. He is fun to listen to, you never know what he has learned to say. The bad part of that is our smoke alarms went off, and we have the kind that start in one room, and then go thru the whole house. There was no smoke, it was a glinch in the system. Anyway, now Dudley can sound like a smoke alarm, and the only way we know it is not the real thing, is the rest of the alarms do not go off!

[Nighthound]

Dudley is a beautiful Grey, nice shots. Such intelligent birds.

We have 2 Amazon Parrots, a Rose-breasted Cockatoo and 25 Conures. I'm not a big fan of the Amazons but our Cockatoo is awesome. I think I'd really enjoy an African Grey.

Here's a fresh batch of Crimson-belly Conures after a good feed.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y67/Nighthd/Pets/Crimsonsleepyheads.jpg

[Calindy]

Dudley is a beautiful Grey, nice shots. Such intelligent birds.

We have 2 Amazon Parrots, a Rose-breasted Cockatoo and 25 Conures. I'm not a big fan of the Amazons but our Cockatoo is awesome. I think I'd really enjoy an African Grey.

Here's a fresh batch of Crimson-belly Conures after a good feed.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y67/Nighthd/Pets/Crimsonsleepyheads.jpg

When you said FRESH, you were not kidding! How adorable! I had a Cockatoo that was a ONE person bird, he used to attack anyone else! My kids were afraid of him, he would chase the kids down the hall, wings spread, beak open. So he went to live with a friend, who lived alone, and the bird was happy! African Grey's are a lot like Cockatoo's, in that they are very affectionate, and need LOTS of care & attention. Like I said, it's having a 4 yr old that never grows up!

[fosofos]

Dudley is a handsome fellow. I like all the images of him with the last several my favorite. Attached are two edits attempts I've done on the 1st image. We've got a houseload of parrots at home: http://www.pbase.com/fosofos/parrots
Morgan, our Timneh African Gray is around 22 years old, and she still says phrases in the voices of two elderly women she learned many years ago, so I imagine you have a lasting recording of your mother's voice with Dudley.

[Calindy]

Dudley is a handsome fellow. I like all the images of him with the last several my favorite. Attached are two edits attempts I've done on the 1st image. We've got a houseload of parrots at home: http://www.pbase.com/fosofos/parrots
Morgan, our Timneh African Gray is around 22 years old, and she still says phrases in the voices of two elderly women she learned many years ago, so I imagine you have a lasting recording of your mother's voice with Dudley.

Thank-you! I like #2 the best, much better than mine! It was hard the first couple of weeks I had Dudley because my Mom had just died, and he sounded just like her. Sometimes he will come out with something I have never heard before, but it is in Mom's voice. My Mom quit smoking 25 yrs ago, but it was too late and she had to be on oxygen the last few years of her life, she had that horrible cough that smoker's have. Last week Dudley was doing that coughing, but he followed it with..."Oh Great!" Must have been Mom's frustration with the coughing!

Are all those birds yours?? How cool! I have ALWAYS wanted a Hyacinth Macaw, they are so beautiful!!

[fosofos]

Thank-you! I like #2 the best, much better than mine! It was hard the first couple of weeks I had Dudley because my Mom had just died, and he sounded just like her. Sometimes he will come out with something I have never heard before, but it is in Mom's voice. My Mom quit smoking 25 yrs ago, but it was too late and she had to be on oxygen the last few years of her life, she had that horrible cough that smoker's have. Last week Dudley was doing that coughing, but he followed it with..."Oh Great!" Must have been Mom's frustration with the coughing!

Are all those birds yours?? How cool! I have ALWAYS wanted a Hyacinth Macaw, they are so beautiful!!

Thanks, Calindy. I think #2 is better, too. I increased the exposure for just the bird by 1/2 stop, did color correction and then some channel blends. It may be that there was both natural and artifical light in the room, and that can be a challenge.

Yes, most of those birds live with us, and they range is size from 40 grams or so for Bryan our Black-cap Conure to some 1450 grams for Sonny, our Blue and Gold, who outweighs Iris, our Hy, by a 100 grams or so--Sunny is more massive but Iris is bigger. She's also the apple of my eye as you might guess. :) Sonny is the baby being just 4 1/2 years old.

Dudley looks to be in perfect feather, so he must be a happy camper in your home. Having lots of out-of-cage time and attention really helps. I must build an aviary!