Cairo

African Grey parrots are a very unique type of pet. First of all, they live 40-70 years. Secondly, they are said to have the intelligence of a three-year old child. In the mid-1980's, a very close friend bought such a parrot and named it "Cairo". The parrot bonded with my friend and when he passed away, the bird was totally distraught, plucking out its feathers and was frantic. 

My friend's family turned to me and asked if I would take Cairo and care for her. It was a big commitment because she was such a mess but I didn't hesitate, took her in and never regretted it. This bird was the funniest roommate I ever had. 

When I took the bird to the vet after a few months of being together, I remarked to the vet that she had started laying eggs and up to that point everyone had thought she was a he. The vet asked, "Who's the love interest?" I replied, "Well, since we are always alone together, I guess it's me!!" 

One day, I had some children over to the apartment and they were fascinated by the bird but eventually they turned on the TV to watch "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles". After they left later that day, Cairo yelled at the top of her lungs, "COWABUNGA!!!!". I laughed so hard. Unfortunately she yelled that phrase every day for ten years after that!

A few weeks later, I noticed when I got home that Cairo was speaking Spanish phrases constantly. I couldn't figure out what was going on. This went on for weeks. Eventually I realized that there had been hispanic men sandblasting the outside of my apartment for the last two weeks and she must have heard them on the scaffolding all day long speaking.

When my girlfriend and I decided to live together, she intimated that she wanted to get to know the bird better. I said,"When you are home during the day, teach her your name.... just slowly repeat your name...".  When I got home, Cairo turned to me and said "I love you" like she did whenever I returned. My girlfriend turned to me and said that she had had no luck in getting a response and I said just be patient and she'll get it. The next day when I got home, Cairo yelled at me when I entered, "SHUT UP!!!!" Apparently, Cairo repeated my girlfriend's name from 8am to 6pm non-stop all day and as a result Cairo added to her vocabulary.

One night, the three of us were sitting in a darkened room watching Hitchcock's "Marnie" on the TV. There is a scene in the movie where Tippy Hendron is galloping through the English countryside on her horse and attempts to jump a stone wall and the horse breaks its leg. In a panic, Tippy runs to a peasant's house and asks for a gun and then shoots the horse, "POW!". At that very point, Cairo yells out "Bye-Bye!!" with perfect timing. The two of us fell off the couch and we were laughing so hard.

As part of her repertoire, she imitated every sound in the house, from the toilet flushing to the phone ringing. Our vet's office was over an electrical contractor's business, so every time we boarded her there, she would make the sound of backing up trucks for weeks. 

My slightly hearing-impaired father eventually came to live with us. When I would leave my father in the house alone, upon my return my father would always say there was something wrong with my phones. "Robert, your phones keep ringing but there is never anyone on the other end!!" It didn't take me long to figure out that it was Cairo up to her old tricks.   

Eventually, she even would have fun torturing my sweet little Westie, Frodo. Cairo would call "Come here, Frodo!" and Frodo innocently would come up to the cage and Cairo would nip him on the nose.

We had 35 years together until she passed away. It was so unique to have this pet interact so intelligently with me in this way. You never knew what the next surprise would be. I can't even count how many times my wife and I just busted out laughing during dinner because she would say something funny. 

Robert