Malaika

A photo of 4,5 year old Malaika, the first CAG in the family.

Malaika was hatched on the 3rd of June 2005.
Malaika's name is of African origin and means "angel" in Swahili.
She has a large vocabulary and tells her owners when she's thirsty ("want some juice"), when she's hungry ("want some breakfast"), when she wants to take a shower, when she's tired ("good night, it's bedtime!"), when she wants to snuggle ("tickle") etc. Malaika loves to dance by bopping her head around and she often laughs at her humans.

Sarabi the Grey

A little introduction of Sarabi, the African Grey Parrot of which this blog will follow. Sarabi was born in Sweden the 6th of June(the Swedish National Day) 2009. She is a Congo African Grey Parrot (Psittacus Erithacus Erithacus), a breed much known for its ability to, not only mimic human speech but also understand some of it, and use human speech to communicate with its owner(s). Congo African Greys, or CAG's, usually learn to speak at the age of 12-18 months but they can learn a few words or phrases before then. Sarabi is now at the age of 7 months and her vocabulary consists of:

1. Hi (Used as a greeting in the morning, when someone enters the room etc.)
2. Up up (Step up. A phrase used when she wants to be lifted onto the hand.)
3. Peek-a-boo (At the moment pronounced "Eek-a-poo." A phrase used when playing the popular childrens' game by the same name.)

Besides these words and phrases Sarabi also makes kiss noices when asked to "gimme' a kiss" and she stretches her wings when told to "Stretch."