>I have a 5 year old African Grey who has started doing somehting a little
>unusual for him.
>He is very vocal ( sings opera) talks a lot and is a very intelligent bird. 
He
>comes out of his cage and sits on top for long periods and while he is out 
f
>his cage (and only then) lifts his right leg ( and only his right leg) and
>almost appears to be waving it. A bit like waving 'hello', I guess. I can 
ee
>nothing visibly wrong with his toes- I could toss this off as another bit of
>'intelligentsia' but am concerned there is something wrong with that one leg
>that I am not aware of.
When you see him doing this, try to touch that foot and massage the toes
if possible. See if he's having foot cramps or if the toes are stiffer
than usual. Years back, my jenday hen, Rio, used to pull at her toes. I
felt her foot one time when she did this, and found the toes rigid. A
vet visit turned up pre-gout symptoms (high uric acid levels). A month
of medication and a new diet cured it, thankfully. If your bird's toes
seem hard to bend, a vet visit might be in order.
However, the OTHER thing he might be doing is talking to his foot. I
used to own a cockatiel, Gandalf, who would sit with one foot uplifted
next to his head and sing to it. It was hilarious--he looked like a
ventriliquist with a puppet, or like a lounge singer holding a
microphone (we always wanted to get him a teeny mike of his own, but
never found one).
If your bird's toes are OK, why not try to teach him to wave on command?
If he's already DOING it, it'd be easy to give a command, praise and
reward--just link the action to a verbal command.
--Kathy
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