my mum has wanted a parrot for ages and i have kept saying they i will get her one, last christmas i got her an Indian Ringneck, named 'Ollie', who now says hello, the phone ringing and kissing sounds, but mum still wanted a parrot she could talk to and that would talk back, a few months ago when on a night shift my brother phoned me and asked if i still wanted a parrot, said he had found one with cage for a very low price, said i would but couldnt afford it before christmas he said not to worry it was his fiances aunts parrot and she would keep hold of it for me. Managed to sort things out so that he could come to us at christmas, so christams eve my brother, sister-in-law, nephew, parrot and christmas pressies all come down from manchester to essex.
Since Billy has been here he has not shut up, ive frequently been called 'stinky' and a s***, as well as everyone being stopped in their tracks by billy shouting b******d at the top of his voice, but he is brilliant and he has a lovely way of 'asking' for food, if im eating i hear 'oooo' and theres billy dancing asking for food.
Billy used to live in an old peoples home which is where he learnt his colourful language and his 'gracie fields' songs which he likes to sing :) but when it closed down Billy got shut in and left behind until my SILs aunt broke in and rescued him and he has lived with her for the past 6 years.
Im sorry if ive rambled a bit but i just had to share Billy the african grey with a mancunian accent :) with you all

tanya

Tanya he sounds very entertaining, lol
Good luck with him.
mari                  

I am sooo jealous. I lost my African Grey called Hobbit this year and she was only seven. A couple of weeks later my little conure died also. I think he must have died of the same thing as Hobbit but I dont know what it was. They were both healthy one minute and dead the next. Charlie the conure died in my hands. He was about 8 and I had had him from about six months. Hope you enjoy your Grey, they become part of the family and you even start to think of them as human. I think its the talking thing. Anyway I have decided I will never have a bird again. I couldnt go through the loss again.  

LOL hope your Mum is besotted with Billy, tanya. :) What a laugh. How do the dogs feel about Billy?

Ahhhh...he sounds lovely and a right character.Used to know a minah bird who knew some really offensive phrases....probably the most 'memorable' was something to do with reproduction and a clergyman!!!!!!!!
Archer

lol @archer :D the dogs are fine with both birds, Ollie the ringneck has just started to come out of his cage and now spends the day sat on top rather than in the cage as does billy, last night when the dogs were allowed into the living room, i left the cages open to see what would happen dogs settled down and not bothered at all by the birds. We were a little worried how tess would react as she is a 'killer' and will normally kill anything small, but ollie flew past the kitchen gate today with tess on the other side and she just watched him, we are just being careful that when the birds are out and the dogs in the living room that we dont say the word 'find' as this is tess' command to hunt and kill, although i admit we have been practising as 'find' is also jacks command to begin work and it sends him into a frenzy, so that word is slightly banned in our house :D

tanya