Queen of Cups

March 8, 2016 10:54 AM

Harley is an umbrella cockatoo. She loves cups. No, wait, maybe she hates cups? Anyway, Harley has a ton of cups. (mlYT)
posted by overeducated_alligator (27 comments total)

I like Harley but I would not want him for a neighbor.
posted by Bee'sWing at 11:01 AM on March 8, 2016 [2 favorites]

Now I wish I had played the cup game when I had an African Grey. :(
posted by grumpybear69 at 11:12 AM on March 8, 2016

When Harley gets the cup spinning at this point in the "loves" video—I make this same exact facial expression every time I hit the sweet spot inside my ear with a Q-tip.
posted by Atom Eyes at 11:15 AM on March 8, 2016 [5 favorites]

Incidentally, Harley sucks at Jenga.
posted by lock sock and barrel at 11:18 AM on March 8, 2016 [5 favorites]

Very timely headline, well done.
posted by JauntyFedora at 11:18 AM on March 8, 2016

It's nice to see a parrot kept as a pet who's not lacking for stimulation. I love how she uses the drawer pulls as a ladder.
posted by mudpuppie at 11:21 AM on March 8, 2016 [4 favorites]

The way Harley sticks her head inside the cups and makes birdnoises reminds me of being a kid and making sounds in front of a fan in the summer to hear what I sounded like as a robot from space. I'm kind of terrified by how intelligent this makes Harley seem. If Parrots and Crows got together...
posted by dis_integration at 11:21 AM on March 8, 2016 [9 favorites]

I loved the body language on the "hates" video, running up first to the small stack and knocking it over, intentionally leaving the bigger stack, eyeing it, tapping one of the fallen cups, getting ready.
posted by bonobothegreat at 11:21 AM on March 8, 2016 [6 favorites]

bonobothegreat, that tapping in the cup while eying the tower is maybe my favorite thing today.
posted by GenjiandProust at 11:24 AM on March 8, 2016 [2 favorites]

Their claw dexterity is really quite impressive.
posted by lock sock and barrel at 11:25 AM on March 8, 2016

If Parrots and Crows got together

[Yeah, thanks. Now my mind is producing random nonsense about Parrots, Crows, Harley and Davidson]
posted by Namlit at 11:26 AM on March 8, 2016 [1 favorite]

It appears as if she's grinning in giddy delight in the "cups" video as she watches the tower fall.
posted by lock sock and barrel at 11:34 AM on March 8, 2016

How could I have never seen Harley? Subscribed and thanks for this!
posted by Splunge at 11:35 AM on March 8, 2016

If Parrots and Crows got together

[thick brogue] "It's tha end of tha world!"
posted by Atom Eyes at 11:35 AM on March 8, 2016

That is a very expressive crest.
posted by Johnny Assay at 12:04 PM on March 8, 2016 [3 favorites]

As I watched these my own parrot threw a sympathy tantrum. He's smaller and quieter, though.
posted by Capybara at 1:04 PM on March 8, 2016

I'll say it every time. Deep in their little bird brains, they remember being velociraptors.
posted by strixus at 1:05 PM on March 8, 2016 [9 favorites]

If Parrots and Crows got together...

I lived in the old town section of Orange, Calif, for five years and had a large 100 year old elm tree in the backyard. The local cage free parrots and local crows would stage wars at least twice a day for dominance of the canopy of the elm tree. It was not pretty on the ground nor was it quiet.
posted by msjen at 1:40 PM on March 8, 2016 [1 favorite]

I'll say it every time. Deep in their little bird brains, they remember being velociraptors.

Anyone who doubts this should watch our Eclectus when someone is too close to (read: anywhere near the same perching area as) her food.
posted by tobascodagama at 1:50 PM on March 8, 2016

This bird has the facial expressions of a Minion.
posted by maryr at 2:30 PM on March 8, 2016 [2 favorites]

What an adorable little godzilla!
posted by lumpenprole at 3:33 PM on March 8, 2016 [1 favorite]

I loved those, especially the one where Harley tap-tap-taps his claw on the tower before knocking it over, as if to savor his power over the coming destruction.

(Our amazon parrot is not so distinguished with cups, but she does somehow manage to turn on the radio in the morning when the house is not waking up soon enough to suit her. We haven't yet figured out how she does it, but it happens often enough that it can't be an accident. "Hello!" she says when we come out bleary-eyed to find her standing next to the radio. This is often accompanied by a raised claw that's opening and closing, her version of waving.)
posted by Short Attention Sp at 4:46 PM on March 8, 2016 [6 favorites]

How do you even make a 240p video in vulgaris aerae 2015.
posted by Sternmeyer at 5:59 PM on March 8, 2016

Let me tell you of cockatoos. When the crown is displayed like that, it can mean many things. A cockatoo uses its crown feathers like a dog uses its tail. It can mean excitement, anger, curiosity or sexual excitement. In the case of Harley I'd call it excitement and curiosity. Obviously her owner has Harley out of sight when the cups are built. By this time, Harley, knows that something interesting will be there when she is let out. The owner is a great person. Because he/she knows that a cockatoo must have something interesting to do all the time. Otherwise they get bored. And you do not want a bored cockie. A bored cockie might decide to pluck. Plucking is where a bored or upset birdie pulls its own feathers out. And then maybe bites until it draws blood. Or worse.

A cockatoo is one of the smartest birds. I have a lock on Beaker's food door. It's a combination lock. The one lock that he can't open. I used to have a d-ring on it. He got it open. I had a chain that I tied in knots. He got it open. He would climb out through his food door and scream for me to see him. I'd find him on the top of his cage, brilliant yellow crest up. Laughing at me.

They really are that smart. And that kind of intelligence needs to be fed. They need to be given puzzles or challenges. A bird with no input is a depressed bird. Think of yourself, in a cage with nothing to do. No books, no nothing. Just a dish of food and a dish of water. That's it. For years. What would you do?

That's not hyperbole. The average cockie lives for 45 to 60 years. Do you think that they have the intelligence of a parakeet? Hell no. They have the intelligence of a primate. And a primate's need for new things.

Sorry for going off.
posted by Splunge at 9:18 PM on March 8, 2016 [7 favorites]

I am a cat and dog person, but now I want nothing new in life but a white bird that runs down a hallway like a toddler wearing too-big slippers.
posted by NorthernLite at 10:14 PM on March 8, 2016

You think you do. But imagine every piece of wooden furniture and all of your windowsills and floorboards in your house with chunks missing.

(I love cockatoos, but they are... a lot.)
posted by tobascodagama at 5:18 AM on March 9, 2016

My primary school in Singapore had two cockatoos and a scarlet macaw in a giant aviary and those birds were a far worse influence on the children than should be possible. I can still do a parrot screech that makes my mother twitch.

I really, really want a parrot (ideally a Senegal parrot) but they are eternal children and I would hate to have it get bored or sad.
I love this African Grey that sings 'I see you baby...shaking that ass' with a great lecherous voice. Parrots! So the best.
posted by litereally at 6:18 AM on March 9, 2016