Parrot 'Spitting' While Mom's Houseguest Brushes Their Teeth Is the Original 'Hawk Tuah'

Memes in this day and age are truly something else. I remember when I was younger, there were a lot of Gene Wilder Willy Wonka memes, and there was Harambe's untimely death that my generation managed to meme into oblivion. On behalf of all of us, I apologize.

On Wednesday, July 17th, one parrot's unusual party trick went viral for being reminiscent of a very recent meme. To be honest, the people are right: this is the one that should have gone crazy! Just take a look:

Cruz the African Grey should be getting way more attention than he is for this. He's just hilarious!

Related: Smart African Grey Parrot Insists That Every Object He Sees Is ‘Shrek’

Cruz is an African Grey parrot, and he's incredibly smart. He mimics almost every sound he hears, regardless of whether mom wants him to or not. For example, this trick: he must've seen his mom brushing her teeth, which involved spitting into the sink, so he decided to pick up the habit. Now every time anyone brushes their teeth, you can bet he's not far behind.

This news came about at about the same time as the "hawk tuah" meme, which also involves spitting in some capacity, so naturally, some commenters are connecting the two. Honestly, they've got a point - as a person who doesn't love vulgar memes, this version makes me laugh a lot more. He doesn't have any idea what he's done!

Do Parrots Spit?

He's making an eerily accurate spitting noise, but in this instance, he's not actually spitting. He's just having a good time.

Parrots do produce saliva, though they don't produce a lot of it, and certainly not enough to actually spit on anything. Their saliva serves mostly to break down food, though it's also the glue that holds their nesting material together. If you manage to feel the inside of a parrot's mouth, it will be wet, but mostly sticky.

While parrots don't spit, they do regurgitate their food sometimes. Most of the time, it's either to impress a potential mate or to feed their children. There are some cases where regurgitation can indicate a serious problem, though, such as when there's undigested food in it or your parrot is generally lethargic and regurgitating at the same time.

If you think you hear your parrot spitting, check their cage and their bodies for any sign of regurgitation. If there aren't any, there's a legitimate chance that they've learned to mimic the sound of you spitting. That is your fault. Suffer the consequences just like Cruz's mom did!