Many will say that the kitchen is not the place for a parrot. There are many dangers for people and parrots in the kitchen. Einstein is always well supervised while in the kitchen.

If your parrot is flighted, open pots of hot food and hot pans on the stove are a danger. As are sinks filled with hot water, and electrical cords.

If your parrot is not well behaved, you are not comfortable with your parrot in the kitchen, or do not have the time to supervise your parrot then keep your parrot in the family room and enjoy Einstein's antics here!

In the video below, Einstein is perched on top of the shower and is requesting a transfer to the kitchen! Einstein loves to be in the kitchen! He is allowed to be in the kitchen because he does not chew the wood cabinets, and we have made it bird proof. He even has his own drawer and cabinet that he loves to perch on and play in. More about that later! He has never liked chewing hard wood and preferres soft woods and plastic items. We don't have any electrical cords on the counters, and we keep items off the counters that are dangerous to him.

Occasionally I'll forget and leave a rubber spatula in the dish drainer, and he has been known to break a few bread and butter plates too! ANYTHING on the counter belongs to him and is fair game! He has trained us in that respect!

Einstein takes delight in destroying a brand-new OXO Good Grips silicone coated spatula in this video. I had left this in the dish drainer after washing it. He does look guilty when I ask him what he had done. However, I realize it was my fault and I have only myself to blame. He loves rubbery or plastic toys and thought is was there for his enjoyment. I pealed the rest of the silicone off, and I still use the spatula the way Einstein custom designed it for me.

He sometimes helps in preparation of food too! Here, he is talking about carrots and how good they are. Then, he says "Gotta Cool!" and does a pretend blow sound! He hops on the counter to help make a salad for dinner. Making salads is a good activity because it encourages him to try new vegetables.

I'm using the term, "help," loosely. He's only allowed in the kitchen for cold food preparation. He is not allowed to get around sharp knives, raw meat, and foods that are not parrot safe. When the kitchen is very busy and, I don't have the time to dedicate to watching him; he goes to his cage. It really is a safer place to be, kitchens can be dangerous for parrots and proper supervision is a necessity!

No, he doesn't "poop" in the salad or on the food! As I have stated, on the Flying and Pooping page, Einstein is very fastidious and I do take him to the perch to "Bombs Away" often. (Just to put our guests at ease, Einstein is always out of the kitchen when I'm preparing a meal for company.)

For more fun, watch this video of Einstein Helping in the Kitchen on YouTube.

All kitchen rugs get worn out. Such was the case with the one that lay at my kitchen sink. So I purchased a new one that was very pretty and went with the decor of my kitchen. It had a lovely design of grapes vines on it. As I picked the old rug up, Einstein began to growl ferociously! Einstein would have no part in having that rug moved. I put the new rug down and got the same reaction. So, as an experiment, I kept the both rugs out of the kitchen for a while. He perched on his drawer and growled at the bare floor where the rug once laid. Then, I put the old rug back down and he soon stopped growling.

I have no idea why he reacted that way. What do I do? I need a new rug that will please Einstein. So, I went and returned the new rug and bought three that resembled my old rug. What else was I to do? "Happy Parrot, Happy Life!"

An African Grey is known to growl like this when they are upset or unsure about something. It is a very satanic sounding growl. After that incident, whenever the rug lies flat, it doesn't bother him. However, lift it up or change it to a new rug and you would think an evil spirit was emerging from Einstein! Maybe he thinks some evil monster lives under the rug, and the only way to contain it is to KEEP IT COVERED UP!

Then, one morning about 4 years later, Einstein was down on the floor walking around and playing with his toys when all of a sudden he decided to get even with the rug! He walked over and started pulling it up and biting it. Growling and really letting the rug have it!

Sorry to say, he still some aversion for the rug and continues to growl when it is picked up or is out of place. It causes him no distress the rest of the time. When I pick it up to clean or vacuum, I always make sure he is in another room, out of site to prevent him from being upset.

You see, parrot training is a two way process. They can and will train you too! Also, if you ever find me shopping, you may find me wondering aimlessly in the rug department of some store looking for a future suitable rug replacement!

Einstein always enjoyed perching on this drawer and watch me in the kitchen. I would sometimes have a few toys for him to play with. One day, I stepped out of the kitchen for a few minutes, when I returned I couldn't find him. Then, the door to the base cabinet opened very slightly when I called his name. Then, I heard it close shut. He had somehow managed to get inside the cabinet! The only items I had in this cabinet were boxes of holiday dishes; so there wasn't anything in there that could harm him. Still, I cleared out the boxes and put a few toys in the cabinet for him to explore.

How was he getting in there, I wondered! I set up the video camera and after a few days I recorded this video.

The drawer, and the cabinet has become one of his favorite places. It is the scene for many of our videos and a fan favorite. We often get requests for more "drawer" videos! As you see in this video, the kitchen towels have been replaced with parrot toys, and he soon learned another way to enter the cabinet. This also gave him access to the adjacent drawer where I kept more towels and things like coffee filters and paper sacks. He has commandeered that drawer as well. There is enough head room under the countertop to allow him to perch and chew on his toys.

Allowing Einstein to have this space in the kitchen has been a personal choice. It may not be the choice for most parrot owners. We have a large kitchen, and I am willing to relinquish the space for him. Einstein is only allowed on the drawer when it is convenient for us. He is always supervised, and the area has been made parrot safe.

For more drawer fun, watch Einstein play Hide n’ Seek in the drawer with Jeff.

For more kitchen drawer fun, watch this video!