Here we go again - my wonderful new throw-away orphan African Grey Parrot

I got a call last Thursday Night: "Bob, there is a lot going on at the rescue, blah, blah, update the website, blah, _____ has been sick, blah, blah, there's this bird we want you to take because nobody else can handle it, new cages should be here next week, how's your family? see you soon." 

OK, wait a minute.  I have room for 2 birds - and I already have 2 birds.  What's the story?  Who is this new bird you want me to take and for how long and why?

The parrot is a Timneh African Grey (or one of the variations).  I am calling him Kalimba.  According to the leg band, he appears to be a wild caught bird and had to be imported prior to 1992, so he is at least 16 years old.  He is beautiful and talks clearly.  As far as people remember, he has been for sale on craigslist at least 4 times in recent years.  The previous owner probably got him from there.  The previous owner is an experienced parrot owner and has had several rescue birds in the past. 

At this point in the story. I had been told that this parrot had been given up to the rescue and because of the current load it would be great if I could help out and take him for a while.  "And, besides, he's your kind of bird.  Just come meet him and see what you think." 

So, I went in to meet this bird on Saturday morning.  We talked for about an hour, standing about 2 inches from each other.  I would offer him treats and he would take them gently from my hand, lick them for a minute and then spit them out (it was like he was just taking them to be polite - he didn't really want them, but he didn't want me to go away).  I left for a bit and when I came back, I didn't notice where he was standing and walked past him - and he called out to me to let me know he was "over here".  I went back over and we chatted some more.

He seemed like a fine bird.  He wasn't afraid to take treats from my hand, he was gentle, he was attentative, he wanted interaction - it looked like I could probably teach this bird anything.  It would be a piece of cake.  Whatever his problems, he was set up for learning.  Let me charge up the clicker and let's get going.

There was a bit of trouble getting him into a cage.  He had to be netted.  He would not let anyone pick him up.  They got him into a transport cage and I took him home.  I didn't care if he didn't want to be picked up.  We can solve that by making it really fun to be picked up.  No problem.  Let's go home and get to work.

The next day, Sunday, I was at the rescue building cages and some folk from the local bird club came in.  They asked what I was up to and I mentioned that I was working with the bird that ________ used to have.  They got a strange look on their faces and the woman said, "You have that bird? Really?"  She turned to the man and said, "You know that bird - the one _______ said would attack him every time he walked into the room! The one who has been passed around so much the last few years because he is so viscious!"

He doesn't seem viscous to me.  He seems to be freaked out by past experiences being grabbed by people.  It may go back to being wild caught in a country where it was illegal, smuggled to a country where it was legal to export birds (but not that bird), being shipped to California and quaranteed in a customs wharehouse, and then sold in a pet store 20 years ago.  I don't know.

My job isn't to get him to obey me - my job is to get him to like me.  I think we are getting along fine so far.  One of the first things he said to me once he got home and calmed down and decided he had something to say was, "That's a nice shirt you're wearing."  I told him he had a nice shirt too and then covered him up so he could get some sleep.  We will see what tomorrow brings.