Birds aren't allowed in my kitchen. There are several reasons for this. To keep them out I have a tension rod at the top of the doorway with a curtain hanging from it. The curtain comes to about 6" of the floor which allows for air circulation (with a small fan) when I'm working in there. Over the last couple of years, since my birds have been flighted and I've not wanted them in that room and the rooms beyond it, Chloe has seen me come and go through that curtain probably hundreds of times. And I knew that the day would come...and sure enough, yesterday I disappeared through the curtain and Chloe very deliberately flew to the floor, walked under the curtain, and flew up to my shoulder. Out of all of these smart birds, she's the one who has been working out the problem, and she's the one who has watched and considered and contemplated and worked it all out in her own mind, so that when the time came to put her plan into action, she was able to do so with the confidence that it would, indeed, work.
Obviously I now have to find another way to keep birds (read: Chloe) out of the kitchen and rooms/doorways beyond, but I'm thrilled to death that my girl finally figured it out. My daughter was sitting just outside the kitchen and thought it was one of the funniest things she'd ever seen, how serious Miss Chloe did what no other bird has ever been able to figure out, even my highly intelligent grey who, for 2 years, has simply circled the dining room endlessly until I re-emerge...
Well, I had to share that because Chloe just tickles me to death, her little serious but ever-so-superior nature and such a little thinker!