Meet Jasper

Meet Jasper - an African Grey, commonly thought by avian experts to be the most intelligent bird in the world. Jasper came into our lives three days ago. He was found by a mutual friend in downtown Nairobi looking very lost and confused. He was obviously somebody's former pet because of his tame, eager-to-please nature. This friend of ours wasn't sure how she'd be able to care for such a bird and thus put him up for adoption. My boyfriend then surprised me by bringing him into my life as a gift this past Friday.

GOD, what an awe-inspiring bird. I've had birds my whole life, but only the small variety. I've always admired folks who got to live with parrots, but never thought I'd actually have the opportunity to care for one myself...but now, here Jasper is. He's sitting on my lap now looking spaced out, lost in thought and content. My boyfriend and I already have several little birds - two cockatiels and a bunch of parakeets (though we agreed to put two up for adoption since our house is getting a bit too feathery these days :p) so we've become accustomed to bird song filling our the air of our small apartment. Jasper is literally 10 times larger than our parakeets (see above pic) so my initial fear was that he may prove to be loud and occasionally obnoxious (cockatiels, for instance, can be so noisy when they're grumpy), but the big guy barely lets out a peep! He's obviously wise. We are constantly finding him deep in thought, slowly studying his surroundings. He seems to know a bunch of English words and looks at you thoughtfully when you try teaching him new words (as if he's committing the new words to memory). And, God is he amorous! His favorite thing to do is to snuggle up against your warmth and to get his neck rubbed. He makes this purring sound that makes your heart melt! Anyway, I am beyond excited about this new addition to our household. If only I could take him with me on my upcoming holiday to New York and Japan...!