It could just have been a cheap parlor trick, with the parrot saying "Polly want a cracker," but for Lynn Reed and her family, Booger Bear is no side show; he's the main event.

A yellow nape Amazon, Booger Bear can meow, whistle and sing Popeye the Sailor Man; Row, Row, Row Your Boat and his own ode to himself, Booger Bear.

Now nearly 10 years old, Booger Bear belonged to Mrs. Reed's daughter, who helped him hatch out of his egg when she was a teenager. Mrs. Reed said her daughter, now 26, felt it would be too traumatic to take him out of the only home he has known - a home he has filled with song and the unexpected.

With more than 100 words in his vocabulary, Booger Bear never falls short of being simply dazzling, Mrs. Reed said.

Once, they heard him making a swishing sound that none of them had taught him, yet it seemed vaguely familiar.

"We heard it and we were like, 'What is he doing?'" she said.

It turns out he was mimicking the sound of a toothbrush in action.

"My daughter used to take him in the bathroom with her while she brushed her teeth, and he just picked it up," Mrs. Reed said with a chuckle.

"You never know what they pick up."

For parrots and other mimicking birds like Booger Bear, there is no telling just how far they can go with copying the sounds they hear around them.

"Some things you just can't explain about birds. They do things - they communicate in amazing ways," Mrs. Reed said, "especially for the size of their brains."

The Reeds' other parrot, Gloria, an Eclectus, can sound just like the telephone ringing. She chirps the mechanical sound in a way that's spot on.

In the case of Booger Bear, whose brilliant green, red, purple and yellow feathers make him as beautiful to look at as he is intriguing to listen to, the hear-and-say is a constant source of delight.

He seems to know it, too.

"Booger Bear is happy-go-lucky," Mrs. Reed said. "He's a big green ham. He loves to perform. He's silly."

He has gone to schools and camps where he's an instant hit.

"Children just absolutely love him. They are fascinated that they can do all this and are so cuddly.

"He's just amazing,. People come over here all the time just to see him. I say, if he knew how to open the door, then I wouldn't need to be here."

She is there, though, and Booger Bear keeps the family entertained.

"He's a total joy," Mrs. Reed said.

"He's so much fun. I'll never have an empty nest because the birds are here."