OK, so I dress my bird, what of it? LOL...kind'a reminds you of little girls who dress their cats huh! Unlike most cats however, Ick loves the attention.

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It's not easy to get a bird to wear anything, much less ears! Here is the process. Gently hold head, and slip ears over Ick's face while he growls....

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...while grabbing the camera for a quick shot.

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Ick had just torn off his top hat when I took the shot. Lo and behold the innocent look and halo above him!

As Scrapbooking Maven says "Of course we know better. Where angels go, trouble follows."

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Ick can now untie anything!

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Birds get bored easily, which is why they should have a play gym. On the side of Ick's, is a little wagon, and his red roller skates, which he will eventually (hopefully!) learn a couple tricks with. Ick hasn't discovered the treats kept at the bottom, but it's just a matter of time before they will have to be moved. The empty TP rolls near the top make for fun shredding and only last a day or so before they are mulched into nothingness. LOL...my neighbors save them for the kids, so we are never in short supply.

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Ick lowers his head so it can be placed on his head...

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From the look in his eyes, Ick has plans of his own!

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The ruffling says it all!

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Ick didn't want us to miss the pretty artwork in back on the cap.

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The gurgly sound the espresso machine made while making this brown liquid made Ick positive it wasn't as safe as it tasted....but he sure wasn't going to go without a few samples just the same.

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With lots of posturing, bird growls and ruffles, Ick has to prove he's the bigger bird than the coffee machine while he samples it's wares.

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Like most 5 year olds (the maturity of an African Gray), grays are very playful. Ick is no exception. You can even see it in the expression he wears. That is one big happy smile!!

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Seems I have to rebuild the bird gym every other month or so, as the wood curls and the birds tear it apart, but hey, that's what the gym is for! This time, I cut down a rather large manzanita branch in hopes it will dry straighter and not need be replaced so soon.

Disassembling the old one and reassembling the new one takes about four hours. Once disassembled, everything needs a good wash with soap and water. Toys repaired (birds are very destructive) and broken toys tossed or refurbished into new ones. Reassembling, various branches need to be wrapped with jute so your birds can easily climb and maneuver from branch to branch without becoming intimidated by sliding.

Why take the time? Parrots are so like children, without play, they quickly become bored and depressed. The original bird gym is the short metal stand you see below the "tree". Now imagine you are a bird...which would you be more content with?

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Ick trying to feed his little brother Davinci...really surprised me because Ick isn't even a year old yet, and here he is trying to regurgitate.

In the human world, vomiting all over your brother/partner/friend/pet is not considered part of a perfect day, but in the bird world, it means love.

Regurgitation, perhaps the most unusual avian behavior, occurs when a bird throws up small amounts of food with the intent of feeding it to a loved one. Gross? Perhaps, to those who don't understand avian behavior. Normal? Absolutely.

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Icarus is naturally curious about water (he seems curious about EVERYTHING lol) and he loves playing in it.

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African Grays are one of only two parrot species that create dander, a fine white dust that covers their bodies. This dust causes Ick to become super itchy, to the point the dander absolutely needs to be washed away or he gets cranky.

Congo African Gray Parrots come from the rain forests of Africa (the Congo, thus the Congo part of the breed name) and do everything in the rain in their natural habitat. So showers are perfectly natural to them.

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A parrot's chest muscles contract rapidly and repeatedly after a bath. This looks like shivering, but it's actually the way the parrot creates body heat after getting wet. Here, Ick is chattering happily while shaking gently. It's a silly sight!

Notice Ick's tongue has changed from pink to black from his earlier pics? His eyes have changed color too. Instead of the infantile solid black (sclera and iris both), the sclera is now a light gold circled on the outside edges by a deep golden brown ring. As Ick matures, that soft color will turn to a deep golden yellow hue.

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What is most incredible about African Grays is how closely they bond with their human families. Ick interacts so deeply and rationally that it's hard not to relate to him as if he was a human child. In fact, I am always calling him my "little bambini" and he answers to it by laughing at me lol. Guess who is wrapped around who's feathers?!!

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