About Kibibi
(the Congo African Grey Parrot)
Let's start with the name Kibibi! It is pronounced "kû-bee-bee". So where did that come from? It's actually a Swahili word meaning at least 12 things but my favorite 3 are:
- female parrot (which seemed appropriate)
- princess (of course she's a princess!)
- foot that has fallen asleep (hmmm? interesting)
Now for some of the details. Kibibi was hatched on January 12, 1999 at the Magic Egg Aviary in Tucson AZ. She is a Congo African Grey (CAG) parrot. She was hand raised at the Magic Egg and Avalon Aviary in Loveland CO. Her mother was a wild caught female parrot named Red Feather. Her father was a domestic male parrot named Percival. Check out some pictures of Kibibi and listen to some of her talking audio files. All of the sound in all of the sound files is Kibibi. And yes I mean ALL of the sounds including the phones, dogs, beeps, talking, singing, and the bodily functions.
She wasn't exactly trained or taught to talk. It is more like she hears things and starts to say them. She usually says things and makes noises that are interesting to her which doesn't always sound interesting to humans. I've never attempted to play one of those looping audio tapes to try to teach her to say something. That just doesn't seem like teaching (or training) so much as it seems like torture. How would you like to be forced to listen to the theme song from Andy Griffith show over an over? She has been clicker trained to do some tricks like waving, high-five, etc. I will be adding some movie files to this page. Click around, explore, enjoy, and check back often for updates.