Of course, by the time I got my camera, she'd mostly stopped:
Then decided to settle in, apparently:
He removed her right after I took this picture as he needed to get to work and didn't have time for another shower if she'd gotten him dirty.*************************
When the greys are nervous about something, they bite their nails. I'll try to get it on video, but they're rarely nervous, so whether I can video it will depend on felicitous timing.
This is something that Stella came to us doing. In the beginning, she was almost constantly biting her nails; I now haven't seen this behavior from her in months. However, she taught Max this behavior.
Last week, the greys were on the stand. Max must have been perching in the preferred position, as Stella was slowly creeping up to her with the intention of dislodging Max and taking her place.
Max was employing all kind of body language to tell Stella to stay away, and Stella was employing all kinds of body language to let Max know she wouldn't be deterred.
I brought Thomas's attention to the two of them, just as Max started biting her nails, "Look at all of that body language passing between them!" I said.
He replied, in the voice that he uses whenever he's pretending he's one of the parrots talking, "Hey Stella, wanna smoke a cigarette? Come on, let's go smoke together!"
It was funny as when Max bites her nails, it does kind of look like she's smoking.
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Parrot life lessons from Thomas
Let me set the scene. This morning, Max is on the counter, the table, the island counter, everywhere but on an approved parrot perch or stand.
Thomas, to Max: "Parrots like to perch on stands. They're like the trees they'd perch on in the wild."
Me, to Thomas: "I'm sure she appreciated you telling her how to be a parrot."
Thomas, to me: "Well, somebody's got to!"
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