In the wild if something should in any way frighten a gray, they fly. A half mile later they will look back to see what frightened them. Unfortunately in captivity they can not do that. So they deal with it in the only way they can, feather plucking or chewing.

Stress can be caused from a wide variety of reasons. The one that concerns us the most is the hand feeding and weaning by the bird owner. Given what we know now, we would not have acquired Buzz until he was weaned. In the wild the mother bird provides for and nurtures the babies. When they are ready they are basically kicked out of the nest to fend for themselves. Hand feeding and weaning by the bird owner does not allow the simulation of this behavior of wild birds. We even do this with our own children. As a result the gray can be so dependent on it's pseudo parent that the absence of that parent is cause for stress alone.

Probably the most common cause of stress is sheer boredom, a result of the significant intelligence of a gray. The need for stimulation is basic. Could you as a person sit in a cage hour after hour day after day with no stimulation at all? It is for this reason toys are so important. Grays should have three types of toys, destructive, thinking, and climbing. Toys should be rotated often perhaps once a week.

Another common cause of stress is as simple as the placement of the bird's cage. A cage placed near a corner where a person can suddenly appear will commonly stress the bird. The cage should be placed where they can see you coming.