Neglected african grey frustrations

Hi alo. I live in the uk and whilst delivering my parcels i saw a grey through a window of a local pub. Upon looking closer noticed he has plucked all round his neck and belly. The next day had to attempt redelivery this time the cleaner was there waiting for me. I asked if i could see the grey and she said yes. She stated the bird doesnt usually let anyone handle him. I tried anyway as his behaviour toward me was similar to my old grey and could tell he wasn't aggressive toward me. So i put my hand in and he stepped up right away! He started regurgitating food and trying to put it in my hand. I instantly felt a bond. The lady explained that the owners had already been reported to the rspca who decided he was ok but would recommend taking him away from the customers etc but they refuse to. Why? He is an intelligent bird. He wants love and attention. Clearly in his current location isn't happy. He wouldn't come off my shoulder when i had to leave. I really want to help him but dont know how.

Do you think it you went to the owners directly yourself, you might be able to talk to them? Perhaps if you appear as a customer in their pub and tell them you used to have a grey and have been missing him so much and that their bird just tugs on your heart, if they let you handle him and see how he interacts with you they might just let you adopt (or buy) him.

May I ask, but what makes you say this grey is neglected?

The lady who cleans the pub said numerous people have asked if they could rehome him and the owners refuse. I can only assume he is neglected as he has plucked his feathers completely from his belly and some of his neck and he is sat next to a single glazed window shivering on his own all day until the pub opens in the eve. The rspca suggested moving him upstairs out of the pub to see if that would help with the plucking but the owners have ignored that. Now if it was me i would want to do what ever it took to help stop him from plucking as clearly depression/depression is a main reason which makes them do it. What african grey do you know would like to be left in a pub on his own all day and be bombarded with strangers when the pub opens and be left shivering by a window bay? I just feel sorry for him.

Have a word with the local RSPCA centre, see what you can find out about him/her from them. Interesting that there has been suggestions made but apparently not followed up.

Poor guy. If you have the freedom to do it, try offering a somewhat large "adoption fee" for him, they may have a change of mind if you wave the money in their faces.

Joepaulkellner said:

The lady explained that the owners had already been reported to the rspca who decided he was ok but would recommend taking him away from the customers etc but they refuse to. Why? He is an intelligent bird. He wants love and attention. Clearly in his current location isn't happy. He wouldn't come off my shoulder when i had to leave. I really want to help him but dont know how.

Click to expand...

Not sure any of us can answer this one...

And CAGS sometimes pluck even if they are happy... so that doesn't necessarily mean the bird is being mistreated.

I shudder at the thought of my CAG being in a pub all alone all day, and then having to deal with drunks all night. He would be a nervous wreck.

From my experience birds kept in these sorts of environments are not there for their good but to bring in punters. They are lucky if they have very much in the way of enrichment in their cages and are usually poorly kept. The only godsend over here now is that there is a smoking ban in public places so the poor thing doesnt have to contend with that too.

Terry57 said:

I shudder at the thought of my CAG being in a pub all alone all day, and then having to deal with drunks all night. He would be a nervous wreck.

Click to expand...

If he grew up in that sort of environment though, it could fall within his definition of "normal."

It's certainly not ideal...

As mentioned, even happy birds pluck, so plucking in and of itself is not a sign of neglect. I see a toy and from what little I can see, the cage appears to be large enough. Bird probably has food and water. Therefore, nothing that says the bird is indeed being neglected.

Now, I'm not saying this bird isn't neglected at all! If people smoke in the pub, this isn't healthy. Who knows what kind of diet the bird is getting or what people may be giving the bird to eat! Living there could indeed be stressful!


All you can really do is try talking to the owners when they are there, see if you can interact with the bird again, and see if you can get history on the bird. It may not help, but you could even offer to get food or items for the grey, saying "I used to have a grey and he liked this ____. Is it alright to see if your grey would like it, too?".


In short, try to be friendly. It may help, or it may not.