Okay and what do you base your conclusions on ? are you an animal behaviorist and if so how long have you studied birds and what degrees do you hold ? I do however believe that birds are very happy with human company as well as feathered company . What would you suggest we do ? free them and let them roam free to be ultimately killed by predator birds ? I dont feel a bit bad because my birds are 100 % spoiled rotten and they dont seem to have a problem with it . Oh and yes what school did you go to ? to learn this ? I am sorry if I seem blunt but I think you are rather blunt with ppl owning birds .
Yes, indeed I am blunt. No degrees (btw, there is no such a thing as an 'Avian Behaviorist' degree, it's most often a self-given title), and I base my opinions on research about their physiological and emotional needs, loving and taking care of birds my entire life, and the experience of over 17 years in bird rescue caring for many different species from canaries to macaws.
And I am glad to hear that your birds are 100% spoiled rotten and that they seem to be happy but there are over 40 million captive birds in USA alone (this is an estimate as nobody really knows how many), their life expectancy is usually one third of what it should be (most captive birds die before they even reach sexual maturity) and, even though more and more rescues and sanctuaries are opening up all the time, they are all full within a few months of their inauguration. It's a fact that parrots are in overpopulation in USA and that the problem is getting worse by the day to the point that we are now beginning to euthanize birds as young as two years old.
Parrots are just too difficult to keep healthy and happy to make good pets. We are talking about an animal that needs to fly miles every day to keep a healthy respiratory system (something that cannot be done in a human home), that requires a very specific diet which is not commercially available (so the guardian needs to cook and prepare food every day -not practical!), that is wired to live in large social groups (how many owners do you know who allow their birds to live in a flock?), who needs to be kept at a strict natural daylight schedule so they are not in breeding condition all year round (nobody who works full time can do this unless they have a birdroom and only keep canaries, finches or any other species that is not human imprinted) and who does not share our comfort levels of temperature or humidity (and guess who gets to live at the wrong levels? Not the human, that's for sure!). Aside from that, they are very demanding in their affections (which everybody thinks it's great when they first get them but of which 99.99% of people tire after a number of years) and they live too long. Very few people have such stable lives that allow them to keep a complex, difficult and demanding pet for 20, 30, 40 and 50 years. Life is too uncertain, marriage, children, divorce, moving, disease, death, loss of job... so many things happen in a mere ten years of our lives that would prevent us from keeping them. And we just don't live that long ourselves.
As to what to do with the ones we already have, take care of them, of course!, which is just what I have dedicated my life to do.
I guess this argument comes from what each of us considers a good pet. In my opinion, an animal is not a good pet merely because we happen to like the species for whatever reason (beauty, intelligence, sociabillity, etc) and derive pleasure from their company/ownership. I think an animal makes a good pet when both parties (humans and animal) profit from the relationship without one of them having to make huge and unreasonable adjustments to their natural lifestyle in detriment to their health and happiness. And, when it comes to parrots, except for very rare cases, they all get the short end of the stick when kept as humans' pets. Mind you, this is not a reflection on you as a bird owner, guardian, keeper, parront or whatever you want to call yourself. None of us can. It's simply impossible for people to give them what nature meant for them to have even when we love them to pieces. And this is not my personal opinion, it's a fact.
I have to disagree. I know many people with birds well into their 50s and I even knew of a lady that got her mothers DYH passed down to her daughter and that bird was 125yrs old so how do they not live longer in captivity? Their diet has come a long ways from when parrots were first being imported into the US. I am one that has done extensive research on the proper foods and what vitamins parrots need to thrive in our world. I had a cockatiel that lived to be 24 yrs old. Many parrots do not survive in the wild due to many parrot illness out there and or preditors kill them.
You cannot judge everyone as a bad parront owner if you have not seen or witnessed how they care for their pet birds. As a matter of fact I have never clipped my Cags wings and I never will and he gets free flight in the house and wears a harness outside where he can fly and exercise to his hearts content. I would imagine from your post that you do not currently own any parrots so if that is the case then tell us how long it has been since you owned birds because these days in 2008 things are a bit different than they use to be with raising parrots and what I see is they are thriving more and not to mention the breeders out there that are keeping certain speices from becomming extinct.
Also it is your opinion because you stated it was. My bird is as much if not more a part of my family as much as my dogs are so with that said do you have dogs and also believe we cannot care for them properly? My 18yr old 1.5lb yorkie would show and tell you different.
__________________ Mom to the most wonderful Cag "ROSCOE"
Could someone change my user name to Cagal08...pwease
LOL - Yes, I do have parrots. I run a small bird rescue called Bea and Birds in the Poconos and currently have about 50 (I don't go over a certain number so as not to overcrowd the birdroom and, as I don't rehome them except in very rare occasions, it's fairly easy to do). Every single one of them is cage-free and fully flighted except for the handicapped and the canaries which are too delicate and have lost most of their survival skills because of domestication so they are kept in cages. They live in the best room of the house, especially built for them, with double windows on three sides, oriented from East to West and South for full exposure to the sunrise and the sunset, with good quality full spectrum lights that get changed every three months to maintain the quality, with plexiglas on the walls and metal edges on the windows so they cannot chew them and especially made screens so they cannot make holes in them and fly out, with tree branches as perches and alfalfa covering the floor to imitate nature as much as possible and toys, ladders, swings, boings, etc hanging from the ceiling for their entertainment. The little ones (budgies, tiels, lovies) live in flocks and I always try to have, at least, two of each species so they can bond and even mate if they want to (I don't allow breeding but I do allow them to go through all the motions of courtship, nesting, mating, laying, etc). They eat fresh organic produce and gloop I cook myself for them every day for breakfast along with leafy greens, and a measured portion of seed mix for dinner. They get excellent medical care, love from me if they want it, and the companionship of other birds. But it's still not good enough.
And yes, I do have dogs. I also belong to a dog and cat rescue group and currently have 13 dogs in my house (I never keep more than 15) and 12 cats (but we will go 15 in the near future because of three feral kittens I've been feeding to tame). I do shelter duty three times a week, foster, groom and train, transport, handle adoptions, etc.
As to people been good parrot owners, yes, there are lots of people who try very hard (as you seem to do and kudos to you for that) but, unfortunately none of us can actually provide them with the kind of life that nature intended for them to have. And even these good parrot owners bring them to me when they downsize, divorce, get sick, etc. And I don't judge anybody, I am just stating a fact. If this was not so, there would be no need for rescues or sanctuaries.
And, when it comes to parrots diets, yes, we have learned a bit more than we knew 15 years ago when people were feeding their birds monkey biscuits and table food but I am sure that your research has brought to light the fact that we still have no idea of what the nutritional needs of the species we keep as companion birds are so we can do a lot of research but the info is simply not there. And the bird industry is still selling seed mixes to feed birds that are not natural seed eaters (all psittacines!) and making pellets out of soy beans, sunflower seeds and peanuts. Not very good for a bird that is supposed to consume more than 75% of their diet in fresh vegetal material.
No we cannot provide them with their natural environment in our homes but hey ...guess what?? They are domesticated and not wild anymore so they depend on us to guide them through life and help them live longer lives and keep them safe ( well a good parront will keep them safe!)
I cannot imagine why people bring them to you unless to just dump them when you seem to not know the difference between a parakeet and a pionus or know a lutino lovebird when you see one.
Funny how you claim to have 50 parrots but yet you feel parrots are better off left in the wild so why say one thing and do another? Pot meet kettle!
__________________ Mom to the most wonderful Cag "ROSCOE"
Could someone change my user name to Cagal08...pwease
Quote
No we cannot provide them with their natural environment in our homes but hey ...guess what?? They are domesticated and not wild anymore so they depend on us to guide them through life and help them live longer lives and keep them safe ( well a good parront will keep them safe!)
I cannot imagine why people bring them to you unless to just dump them when you seem to not know the difference between a parakeet and a pionus or know a lutino lovebird when you see one.
Funny how you claim to have 50 parrots but yet you feel parrots are better off left in the wild so why say one thing and do another? Pot meet kettle!
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I am sorry but you are misinformed. Parrots are not domesticated. Not in the scientific meaning of the word. They are tame because we trick them by making them imprint to humans but none of them, except for the English Budgie, is a domesticated species, they are genetically identical to the ones still living in the wild and have exactly the same physiological needs. This is not a matter of my or your opinion but a scientific fact.
And, no, I do admit to not been able to identify all of the over 350 species of psittacines from a picture but I am happy to find out that this website has somebody who does. Congratulations!
And why would you assume that I lie about having over 50 birds? Is that something you encounter on a regular basis? And why would I? I can direct you to my website where you can see pictures of my birdroom and my birds but I am not sure this is allowed here (most websites don't like the competition) but, if it is, let me know and I will gladly point you in the right direction and you will be able to see for yourself that I don't have the need to lie about this.
As to why people bring me their birds... well, they have told me that it's because they know their birds will be well taken care of. I hope that is the case and not to 'just dump them' but, even if that was the case, I would still take them if I have the room... which I hardly ever do, there is people actually waiting for a place for their birds to open up in my birdroom (there aren't that many rescues that keep them fully flighted, cage-free, with companions of their own species, eating organic food, etc.)
And yes, I do believe that parrots are better off in their own natural habitat, I will go further and state that I believe that every single undomesticated species is, not only birds. There are undomesticated species kept by humans that are easy to take care of (like fish) but parrots are not one of them (you could keep budgies and tiels under certain conditions -if you don't expect any interaction and keep them in their own birdroom- but you would still not be able to allow them to breed so that doesn't count). Their physiological needs are too different from ours and their psychological ones are too demanding for us to fulfill throughout all their lives. Most people get them on a whim and without doing any research about them thinking they are 'low maintenance' but they are not. Not if you do it right. And telling people that they make good pets (meaning easy to care for) does not help the overpopulation/neglect/abuse situation we have with psittacines in USA at this point in time. Any rescuer would tell you this, I am not alone in this belief.
They live in the best room of the house, especially built for them, with double windows on three sides, oriented from East to West and South for full exposure to the sunrise and the sunset, with good quality full spectrum lights that get changed every three months to maintain the quality, with plexiglas on the walls and metal edges on the windows so they cannot chew them and especially made screens so they cannot make holes in them and fly out, with tree branches as perches and alfalfa covering the floor to imitate nature as much as possible and toys, ladders, swings, boings, etc hanging from the ceiling for their entertainment. The little ones (budgies, tiels, lovies) live in flocks and I always try to have, at least, two of each species so they can bond and even mate if they want to (I don't allow breeding but I do allow them to go through all the motions of courtship, nesting, mating, laying, etc).
------------------- Hemp clothing
Re: Do Parrots Make Good Pets? 
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