Gracie is an African Grey owned by Anguel Iordanov of Parrot Essentials and has hit the headlines on more than one occasion.

Despite her now many attributes, she was once a weak fledging on whom it was touch and go as to whether or not she would survive after eventually leaving the breeder’s nest box. Fast forward 14 years and she has become a little star in her own right. Her then Minder, who lived in a flat in Soho, got her from a breeder in Wales and was determined to ensure Gracie’s survival. As she went from strength to strength, so did her learning capacity as well as her zest for life. She became part of the Soho scene as she was always out and about in Soho in her harness and on her Minder’s shoulder! She was even once accredited on the Jonathan Ross show, as he had seen her in the Post Office in Soho and he commented on this!

As Gracie’s fame grew, she was then once cast for the Extraordinary Animals documentary talking about parrots and their ability to understand. This was filmed in 2008 by both the BBC and Animal Planet and featured inter alia, Gracie and Artha and Casper the famous African Grey parrots of Dot Schwarz, as well as the renowned Alex and Griffin of Irene Pepperberg. In 2012 we answered an advert in the London Evening Standard from a film Gracie, a rising star! company casting for an African Grey parrot to be featured in a new film. After meeting Gracie, the film editor decided that she would be perfect for the role. She was then casted for the film Common People, the opening scenes of which were shot at our house, which was then shown in cinemas and won seven awards. A short trailer can be viewed at www.commonpeoplethemovie.com/trailer.

In August this year, Gracie made her debut into the fashion scene. We were approached by a fashion photographer Tory Smith through our website www. ParrotEssentials.co.uk who wanted to feature a parrot together with her models in the actual fashion shoot, and the shoot took place in a studio in West London. Gracie behaved admirably during the three hour shoot. Her patience, while outfits were changed and hair and make-up were touched up between the shoots, was remarkable. She readily sat on the model’s shoulder and hand as and when required for the camera – and only flying off on cue! Her stardom rises!

More pictures of Gracie you can find here.

Credits: ParrotMag & Tory Smith Photography 

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