Fellow birders, I just talked to someone who has an African Gray Parrot. When he puts the large cage out on his porch, THE PARROT ACTUALLY CALLS IN WILD BIRDS by mimicking their calls and by saying "here birdie, birdie". He's in Florida now and calls in Mockingbirds, Cardinals, and other birds that the owner can't identify. When he is in Ohio, he calls in sparrows. HE THEN HANDS THEM FOOD. If his cage is open, as it sometimes is, they come into the cage with him to get the food. When the birds leave, he says "Bye Birdie, Careful" He has apparently learned several bird songs and uses them to call in the various birds. While this is clearly not a sighting, I thought the birders on this list would enjoy hearing this story, *which I did not make up*. I'm not sure whether using your parrot to call in birds violates any birding ethics, but it probably does offend some birders, just as this post no doubt does. Most of you, I suspect, enjoyed it. Joe in the woods Somerset, Ohio Perry County ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]