Ruby, agent "050", Possum

We have a new member to our "flock". We were not looking for a new bird, so I think it is fate that he/she (DNA results to come!) found us. We had contacted a lady before we got Tucker about her African Grey, Ruby. We talked for a while but never heard back from her, until last weekend. She was holding on to him as long as possible, but was frantic to find him a new home because she was going to boot camp the following week. At first, we told her we already had our hands full and didn't want another one. She pressed, and we ended up with a 2 year old baby for free.

African Greys are said by scientists to be as smart as a 3-5 human child. Remember Coco? The gorilla that used sign language in the 70's? Animal Scientists did a similar experiment with an African Grey named Alex. Alex was so intelligent, that he could add numbers and identify colors. Ruby is no exception, he learned the word "Tucker" in the first 24 hours. With in two days he was saying "Tucker, no. Quiet Tucker."

Tucker loves everything about him, and Ruby only wants to bite poor little Tuckie's toes off. Even though Tucker is Ruby's elder by 15 or more years, he is not nearly as smart. They remind me of toddler brothers, Tucker looking up to Ruby and wanting to do and say everything his brother does.

Ruby is not the name we would have picked, but as we learned with Tucker's unsuccessful name change to Taco, it just is what it is! We have, however, come up with some nicknames for him. Possum is fitting because he is grey and he sleeps at the top of his cage, completely upside down. We also call him 050, because he can recite the entire answering machience recording from his previous home, but for some reason gets stuck on "050" and repeats the number series several times in a row.

Ruby is a very sweet bird and we can't wait to find out the bird's gender. Either way, I am sure I will have more stories about the duo to come!