Have you ever wonder how well will your parrot adapt to changes? We all know that parrots are sensitive creatures, and changes in the environment tend to lead them into extreme fear and stress. Like I always mention on my previous posts, parrots are like little kids. They behave like one and think like one.

Just imagine, when you bring a young child into a new room, a completely new environment where he or she has never visited. Chances are he or she will retreat and stick close to you, because there’s this little fear within him or her making him or her reluctant to explore the new place. These same goes for parrots too.

I personally feel that all parrots can adapt to environmental changes quite well, ultimately it depends on how the owners introduce and letting their companion parrots expose to these changes in the proper method.

Lately I did a major interior facelift in my room. I repainted the room and replace most of the furnitures that I bought from Ikea. Although I’m truly excited and happy with the new decors, but I was worried about how Kermit felt about the room changes.

I can gladly say I shouldn’t have worried that much, Kermit adapting well and blending himself well into the environment. Below is the video snapshot of Kermit on his “Observation Tower” (obviously is a bar stool) observing at all dimensions (left, right, up and down) in the room. Do listen carefully to the video, where Kermit say out his name “Kermit” at the 20th Second.

At the beginning when I first brought Kermit into the newly furnished room, he wasn’t adapting quite well. The moment when Kermit and I stepped into the room, Kermit immediately fluttered his way out of the room.

A total rejection! He was totally terrified of the new environment.

Few minutes later, when Kermit was all calm down. I reintroduced him into the room again, but this round I placed him on high ground. I raised my hands where Kermit perched on, high up as high as I could. I believe many might have heard of the term “Height Dominance”.

By placing a nervous parrot at the highest point will make him feel safe and less scary. In the wild, whenever parrots sense dangers are coming, they will climb up and seek safety at the top of the tree. The highest point from the ground make them feel less vulnerable and let them gain more control of the situation.

After a couple of minutes up at the “highest point”, observing the room, Kermit started to preen himself comfortably. It’s a clear indication where he start to adapting well in the new environment. Thenafter, I left Kermit on the bar stool for another 10-15minutes to carry on with his observation (which is seen in the Youtube Clip) and getting used to the room.

I’ve to admit Kermit’s vocabulary is increasing day by day.  What I can really say about Senegal Parrots, they pretty talented talkers. So far I had already recorded Kermit saying word like “Peek-a-Boo” and mimic funny sound like the human laughter and the baby-like mumbling.

To be honest, he knows other words but I lacked the chance in capturing them. This morning when I was preparing breakfast for Kermit and Kiki, Kermit replied with his own name “Kermit”. The word “Kermit” was clear and distinctive. Below is the short sound clip that I recorded:

Sound Clip of Kermit saying his own name

It’s great to see that Kermit has learned his own name. I am really hope that one day he will learn to call my name, Bryan.

Related Posts:
Kermit’s Mimicry: Laughters
Kermit’s Baby-Like Mimicry
Kermit’s Addiction to Peek-a-Boo
Kermit’s Mimicry: Peek-a-Boo

Kermit may not be the best talker compared to any African Greys or Amazons, but he has his own great talents of mimicking sounds. Lately, Kermit managed to pick up mimicking laughter from me. Do take note the first and third laughs were from me, whereas the second, fourth and fifth laughs belong to Kermit.

Sound Clip of Kermit’s Laughter

I’ve to admit that his laughter sounds abit fake and rather low in pitch. I’m very certain that Kermit already did his very best. Furthermore, Senegal Parrots are not known for their mimic abilities.

On my previous post, I shared about Kermit uttered the word “Peek-a-Boo”. Till now Kermit has been trying very hard to learn new words, and he has been constantly mumbling.

Yesterday when I was giving Kermit some nice head rub and massage, he mimics some funny sound. Below is the sound clip that I captured:

Kermit’s Baby-Like Mimicry

He does sound like a human baby uttering some noise. At one part of the sound clip, my mum thought it was a human baby giggling away! Well done Kermit!

Related Posts:
Kermit’s Addiction to Peek-a-Boo
Kermit’s Mimicry: Peek-a-Boo

Earlier on I allowed Kermit to shred and play with his paper box, but soon he stopped the activity when he saw me taking out my gadget. Kermit gets really excited when he saw me taking out my Nokia N95 capturing this video. He’s just so happy and excited, roaming around, making all the funny mumbling noise and whistle, surprisingly he did the “Peek-a-Boo” again at video time 0:40.

To us a phone is just another daily necessity item, but to parrots it’s seem like a new toy. Perhaps it’s the recording red LED light emitted that drew Kermit’s attention. Just like kids, CURIOSITY, all they want is to investigate and try playing with it!

The frequency of Kermit saying “Peek-a-Boo” has gradually increased a lot. Every morning, he will say “Peek-a-Boo” with his low volume cute little voice, expecting me to remove the cage cover.

Although the increasing frequency of hearing Kermit’s “Peek-a-Boo”, but he still hesitate to perform the amusing mimicry in front of other family audience. He’s indeed a shy performer.

Below is the video clip taken in the morning. Kermit appears to say “Peak-a-Boo” at video time 0:08, 1:05 and 1:14 respectively.

Kermit is so motivated into saying “Peek-a-Boo” this days. The increased frequency of these words might be the results of a game that I play with Kermit everyday. Like what Kermit says, “Peek-a-Boo” is the name of game.

How to play the “Peek-a-Boo” Game?
I will cover Kermit’s head with a small handkerchief and gently removing it, surprising him with my version of “Peek-a-Boo”. Sometimes, I do surprise him with my “Peek-a-Boo” when he’s quiet and behaving well in his cage. That’s my way to let him understand that whenever he’s quiet, he can expect to play a game of “Peek-a-Boo” with me.

Whenever I start playing “Peek-a-Boo”, Kermit’s pupils will dilate, pining in and out, that’s a sign of an excited parrot. He definitely enjoys and looking forward for this game and stimulated him in saying “Peek-a-Boo”.

I noticed from the day I introduced the “Peek-a-Boo” game, the problems of notorious screaming and contact calls from Kermit seem to improve.

Related Post:
Kermit’s Mimicry: Peek-a-Boo

During lunch, I was lucky to capture a sound clip of Kermit saying “Peek-a-Boo”. It’s so fun hearing Kermit repeating “Peek-a-Boo” and his voice is indeed cute. Although there are some limitation in clarity of Kermit’s mimicry.

Sound Clip of Kermit saying “Peek-a-Boo

Kermit started to utter “Peek-a-Boo” just weeks ago. He’s still mumbling and imitating funny noises like the telephone ringing. I’m very sure that his vocabularies will continue to grow!