How can we give a domesticated parrot a perfect life with us humans?
Today we share with you what your pet parrot needs to be comfortable, and how they respond if they do not get what they need:
- You promise to not get a partner or child or other pet into the house.
"The bird will become jealous and want to rip these new people’s faces off, no joke." - You agree that this bird could live to be one hundred years old, and you will look after it for its entire lifetime.
"The reality is, most of the parrots will outlive their humans, making it furthermore not a noble intention to accept a parrot if you are unable to look after it for a lifetime." - You undertake not to change your hairstyle or don new clothes (in dazzling colours).
"He does not recognise that humans change our clothes often." - Relocating to a new home will make the bird extremely confused.
"Relocation will cause unrelenting stress for the bird, shrieking out loud for a really long time, until he is comfortable again - if ever, and or he will start to rip his feathers out." - Going on holiday without taking him with you, will result in him developing abandonment issues.
"You will return to a bird that rejects you, who has probably begun to rip his feathers out or chose his carer as his new bonded partner." - You promise to give him an outside aviary big enough to fly in and have his own partner, and not in a small cage inside your house.
"They are designed to fly far and fiercely protect their own territory. Taking this privilege away from them will make them aggressive and difficult to control."
VIDEO ON PARROT POACHING PET TRADE - WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT not for sensitive viewers.
Life happens and it changes so often and unexpectedly, how do we explain these imminent shifts of life to our precious pet parrots?
Why does one want a Parrot?
Unless you are an established ornithologist fighting on preserving the species from extinction, there is no need to keep a parrot in a cage in your home. Any bird rescuer will tell us there is nothing good or beneficial about buying a pet parrot, other than a selfish need to own a bird.
See below some of the realities of a bird rescuer, and we hope this will change your mind if you are considering getting a bird (incarcerated to a life of hell for them - into a small cage and having to clip their wings so that they never fly again).
Why do birds talk?
In nature, the reason why birds imitate other bird species is so that they can increase their territory.
They do this so that when a new bird (species) comes into their territory, they will start to imitate their sounds. This the new visitor bird will immediately understand that the area has already been taken and will instinctively fly away - to find an area which they can indeed safely live in.
The truth is, this is a way of defending a feeding and breeding area, and the sound that these birds are making is merely imitating ‘the enemy’ - keeping their food abundance safe.
What people do not understand is that birds - especially parrots - are incredibly aggressive in the wild, and they also have vast territories which they fiercely protect from intruders.
Now if we had to translate ‘bird talk’ into ‘human talk’ the truth is, the communication is in their language not charming at all, but a method to endeavour to get rid of the one whom they are imitating.
The birds are trying to tell the humans (or whoever they are imitating) to in fact leave the taken territory. They are naturally doing what they would do in the wild when the invasion is about to take place. These understandings should be kept in mind when you next experience an aggressive pet parrot.
A parrot will imitate humans - most often the ones whom they do not want around. Some parrots tolerate more than one family member, but there are more parrots in this world who are forced into a domestic life - who are extremely unhappy, than those who are content with their new domesticated life.
The most frequent question new bird owners will ask is: Why does our parrot pluck his feathers?
Parrots are looking for a way to end emotional pain, by hurting themselves it brings their anxiety and stress down to a controllable level.
Before we go into any further details, let us share with you what Brainy Birds Parrot Rescue and Rehabilitation sanctuary have to say about having a parrot as a pet.
Brainy Birds Parrot Rescue have over 250-plus birds and counting.
“Every request for adoption or to buy a bird wants:
- a perfect looking,
- cuddly Cockatoo,
- not biting,
- talking,
- one that will love my whole family; and
- is a gift for my 4/5/6-year-old, but
- he must not bite!
We can write a book on these requests, especially the cockatoo’s stories.” says Dee from Brainy Birds.
| What kind of bird would most people like to buy? I want a pretty bird that will learn to talk to me. He must not be noisy, and he must not bite - ideally a bird that will sit on my shoulder or even like to cuddle. I will prefer if he can get along with the other animals in the house too. |
“I was fourteen when I rescued my first parrot - a little cockatiel. Today, I am over sixty years old, and I have seen, studied and rescued thousands of parrots over these last forty years. This is not just a few parrots and a few people I have known or come across who own or want parrots - but thousands.”
Where do most pet birds live in the home?
We have been to thousand’s of homes with birds who sit on a smooth dowl stick perch and two food dishes with nothing else to do.
We do not know (or want to acknowledge!) the harm we do to them. Did you enjoy isolation during the Pandemic for barely three months - was it a nice feeling?
What does the average parrot look like these days?
Parrots of today have plucked themselves naked. They are overbred and oversold in pet shops and by uncaring breeders who say they love them. Most people do not have a clue regarding keeping a parrot as a pet. Sadly, even when people do know about these issues and say that they have done extensive research - they nevertheless want these birds or go and buy baby birds from affordable breeders.
"Are you prepared to take on a sixty-year commitment? People still think that they will cope and be able to have these birds forever in their lives. You are making a huge mistake." says Dee as she continues to share their story.
Who does a sexually mature parrot desire?
Parrots become sexually mature between the ages of two and six years of age, depending on the species. These incredibly intelligent animals are strictly monogamous and mate for life.
“Once they have grown up and become sexually mature, they choose whom they want to bond with.” Brainy Birds rescuer goes on to say: “People tell me all the time that they want a baby parrot because he will bond with me forever”. When a parrot has become attracted to their human, they will rarely bond with another bird - ever again. In captivity, we become his forever partner and his flock - and they do not take lightly to any change either, be that another parrot or human.
They might change partners during their lifetime because of a death or inability to mate, other than this, they stay together with a partner for life. These birds who live to be a hundred years old, like us humans do, need lifetime partners and depriving them of this prerogative is unnatural.
Which birds succumb to captivity the most?
African Grey, Cockatoos, Amazons and Macaw species, suffer the most, but they are to name a few and continues to be the most popular parrots for people to want in captivity. Why we ask, why?
My parrot has started to bite me, why is this happening?
As time moves on, our lives evolve. We change jobs or need to relocate. We find a human partner, and there comes a time when people get tired of the bird because it has started to bite them. The next reasonable thing is to relocate the bird to a cage. Safely tucked away from all the people in our home. These parrots do not understand our changes in life, just as many parrot owners do not understand why they likewise develop aggression towards them.
| “He has changed. We don’t have time for him anymore, he is attacking my new baby / partner / my granny that’s now moved in, he screams all day when I walk out the room.” |
Why do parrots make so much noise?
Think about this for a moment: Birds are never out of their flock or bonded partners' sight. When they are out of sight of their partner, they make a loud noise to communicate their location. In turn, they expect their (human) partner to be doing the same.
Every single time a bird gets rehomed, he develops more problems, wouldn’t we feel the same too? Moreover, often sold to the first best taker or buyer who will not be told about these mentioned issues he has already gained over time. Furthermore, eventually, a rescue sanctuary will soon have to sort the years of abuse out, "yes we sincerely call it abuse". Why when we already know all these things about the birds, that we still wish to have them confined a domesticated life into our homes?
| Their inherent wild nature will never go away, even if the seller maintains it will because "the parrot was born in captivity". |
Will these beautiful animals stolen from the wild ever be domesticated?
No, they are not children, they will never be domesticated, we cannot change them. Birds will never be happy perching in a cage when they have been blessed with wings to fly. Talking birds - stagnated on a single pole, with no enrichment or healthy food (just rubbish seeds) to consume, is the fate of most of the pet parrots today. "Us humans mess them up because we want a talking, cuddly non-biting bird. We ask again: TO DO WHAT WITH for the next sixty-plus years?"
Think twice before you contemplate accepting a pet bird into your life, particularly a parrot. If you already have one, please let this knowledge empower you to thoroughly understand your baby, and hopefully, if you ever desire to get another bird, please rescue one instead of buying a baby from a breeder.
Thank you, Dee, at Brainy Birds for this informative outcry of genuine love and despair, we agree with your pain and hope to educate and transform the fate of birds confined to a lifetime of incarceration.
Information Sourced from Brainy Bird Pet Rescue
Call 0794265572
email dee@brainybirds.co.za
Free Listings: List your South African Pet Service. Click here
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