
Intelligent, devoted, alien – parrots are unlike any other pet - rbanffy
https://aeon.co/essays/why-does-keeping-a-bird-in-a-cage-make-people-happy
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eljimmy
I had a parrot growing up. Well, my family did, I suppose. My dad bought a
Senegal when I was about 15. It passed away when I was in my early 30ies.

They are indeed highly intelligent and social animals. It bonded with my dad
the most. I was his second favorite. It didn't like anyone else.

As awesome of a species as they are, I can't help but feel guilty for keeping
a bird caged and indoors their whole life. He definitely was neglected during
the last few years of his life as it was almost like caring for a young child
who never grows up. 20 years of that and you're going to be drained,
especially as an older person with responsibilities.

Anyone thinking of getting a parrot as a pet, I strongly suggest you ask
yourself. Are you willing to care for a bird who is as demanding as a young
child, constantly, for decades?

The positive side is they do bring you closer to nature and enrich your life
in ways you couldn't imagine.

~~~
RachelF
I love parrots, they make fantastic pets. However, your comparison to a small
child is very good - they have the nature and intelligence of a human 3 year
old.

Parrots are wild birds, they have not been domesticated for ten thousand years
like dogs, and it is probably not humane to keep them in a cage. If you want a
happier parrot, then get a breeding pair. They won't be as affectionate their
owner though, as they have a mate.

~~~
dmix
What are some of the things it does to be annoying or demanding, similar to a
child?

~~~
DyslexicAtheist
my wife at the time convinced me to get a cockatiel since she grew up with
birds. Her tolerance to noise as a Japanese is very different to mine as a
European. (Japanese can sleep anywhere, I sure can't) The bird we had is very
small in comparison to the parrots discussed in the article but the noise they
make is not to be underestimated. And you can't turn it off. Yes you can throw
a cover over the cage but you can't cover it for longer than what they need
sleep.

It was very hard for me to endure the constant noise (never ending screeching)
which felt like Chinese water torture. That bird drove me absolutely insane
over time. To me it felt like the bird was so loud exactly because it was
incredibly intelligent but it used that intelligence to be jealous and
protective and the intelligence was probably the cause of its unhappiness
(since it knew it was in a cage).

My wife loved that bird to bits but to me it felt like I was taking care of a
disabled child that is not mine (bonded with my wife only) and which would
never grow up. It became more nasty and mean to anyone except my wife even it
was hand-fed as a chick. Knowing nothing about birds when we got it I thought
I'd be able to manage it (after all I grew up around cats, dogs, and farm
animals so how hard could it be looking after another animal?). But it just
got worse and worse and still is horrific today. I am no longer with my ex and
that bird was at least 20% reason of why I could no longer live under the same
roof.

Seriously don't get a bird unless you have lived with it for a couple of
months. Once you have done that think of what it would be if you live with it
in a more stressful period of your life ... Could manage that animal at a time
when you are looking after your new born children? When you are up to your
elbows in baby diapers and chronically sleep deprived?

After seeing this animal in captivity for so long I have grown somewhat
disgusted with the idea of birds as pets. I guess it takes a very special
breed of people to keep birds and be OK with it: The type of people who see a
bird and go: _" You see those beautiful creatures that are able to fly. Yeah,
I'm going to make them stop do that."_

~~~
andai
After reading your post I'm amazed that the bird was only 20% of your reason
for leaving.

~~~
ndnxhs
The noise is incredible. Super loud, high pitch screaching non stop.

~~~
ASalazarMX
I like parrots, but some just make that beer-tab-scraped-on-the-floor
constantly, and then I'm glad they're not mine.

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udp
I’ve kept budgies (parakeets) all my life, and occasionally I’ll post a
picture on social media and get the inevitable “keeping birds in cages is
cruel” backlash. It invariably comes from people who do not keep birds.

Budgies _love_ their cages. They clean them, they rearrange them, they make
them into a perfect environment in any way they can. Introduce something they
don’t like and it’ll end up on the floor. Introduce something they do like and
they’ll probably move it because they weren’t happy with the placement.

With the pair I have currently, the whole front of their cage opens up and I
open it every day. Usually the male has a five minute fly around the room,
lands on the cage, then climbs back in. The female usually doesn’t even bother
because she’s far too occupied with housekeeping and making angry noises
because he’s not with her.

I can’t speak for the larger parrots having never looked after any, but
budgies love their cages.

~~~
wanderr
I had several small-to-medium sized parrots until I became allergic to them.
(Cockateil, Senegal Parrot, Sun Conure, Monk Parakeet) None of them really
liked their cages but would tolerate being put in them at night. What they
really loved was hanging out in the garden window in the kitchen, they could
see most everything going on in the house and our backyard. Great as long as
they didn't see a hawk out there, then they'd be freaked out for the rest of
the day.

~~~
antoniotamer
My cousin and uncle bought a parrot together a few years ago. They absolutely
loved it. My uncle would go out to get the mail with the thing on his
shoulders every day. Then, about 2 years ago, my cousin passed away
unexpectedly, and my uncle was heartbroken for the loss of his 26 year old
son. Fast forward a couple of weeks, my uncle still is in mourning, but gets
the courage to get the mail and return to a normal life. The bird was on his
shoulders as usual. Out of nowhere, a hawk lunges at him and snatches him up
from his shoulders. It all happened within an instant. The entire neighborhood
must have heard his wailing. I shudder just to think about this unfolding.

For anyone with such pets, please don't drop your guard down, especially if
you love your pet like a member of the family. Predators such as hawks and the
occasional coyote or bobcat do roam cities and are closer to us than we're
aware.

~~~
andyidsinga
> down't drop your guard down

True that. I had a cat who was very good with dogs - it became an outdoor cat
over time. Then one early morning, in the driveway right outside our bedroom
window we heard a terrible fight which turned out to be a coyote trying to
kill/eat our cat. I got out there in time to run the coyote off, but the cat
died in mine and my wife's hands minutes later.

That morning I taught my daughter how to bury a pet which was incredibly
tough, heart wrenching experience - but that's how closure works I guess.

We've had another great, sweetheart of a cat for years now - and she's also
amazing with dogs. I still find myself waking up in the night to check that
she's in the house.

PS. I don't blame the coyotes.

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lrvick
To counter some of the negative points here:

My wife and I have an Timneh African Gray parrot and she is basically our
child and who we miss most on vacation.

Unlike the typical Congo African grays on the market, Timnehs are smaller, and
tend to enjoy spending time with just about anyone but trust/recognize their
regular keepers the most. They tend to make better family pets. (Congos can
also be worked with to trust more than one person but it is typically much
harder)

She is not clipped and has free reign of the apartment when we are home with
perches (and poop trays) everywhere she knows to fly to (usually). We also do
flight training and often take her with us on walks. She is a very capable
flier as she demonstrated in her 3 day adventure outdoors looking for my wife
(who was out of town).

She is slightly evil and plots ways to get attention. She gets very jealous of
anything we give too much attention to other than her and has thus destroyed 2
laptops. We named her GlaDOS.

Grays are known to do contextual communication and not just random mimmicry.
Ours is no exception. When we come home she yells "Hello?!?!" until we take
her out. When she wants to cuddle (which is often) she makes a stomach
grumbling noise and demands to be let under the covers where she learned said
noise.

We have had guests feed her treats since she was a baby so she readily flies
to the shoulder of most people.

Sometimes she will randomly look at you and say "What do you do?!".

They are not for everyone but if you have want a small highly intelligent
animal you can form a strong bond with and are prepared to look after for 40+
years then parrots make amazing family members.

~~~
gt2
Sounds amazing, thanks for sharing a slice out of your life!

Did you teach the words?

~~~
lrvick
We have never specifically taught her any communication. She just picks things
up, often after hearing it only once.

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nathell
RMS on parrots:

DON'T buy a parrot figuring that it will be a fun surprise for me. To acquire
a parrot is a major decision: it is likely to outlive you. If you don't know
how to treat the parrot, it could be emotionally scarred and spend many
decades feeling frightened and unhappy. If you buy a captured wild parrot, you
will promote a cruel and devastating practice, and the parrot will be
emotionally scarred before you get it. Meeting that sad animal is not an
agreeable surprise.

~~~
ndnxhs
It will only outlive you if you are a trained expert. They die quite easily
when owned by regular people.

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newprint
My parents have African Grey parrot. I urge everyone who is thinking about
having a bird. 1\. DO NOT BUY A BIRD. In few years, you will realize that
birds need to fly and not sit in the cage most of the day. They are wild
animals. 2\. If you still want to have a bird, have them in pairs, so they
would not be that lonely all the time.

~~~
maxxxxx
In general I think we should not keep such animals as pets ever. Unless you
have the time and commitment their lifes will just be miserable. Same for dogs
like border collies. They have a need to be busy and stimulated and most
people can't provide that making the dog bored and neurotic. I hope one day we
will realize that pets are not just toys you can buy whenever you feel like
it.

~~~
udp
_> In general I think we should not keep such animals as pets ever. Unless you
have the time and commitment their lifes will just be miserable._

Starting with an ultimatum and then immediately undermining it with an
“unless” seems counterproductive. I wish people would realise that not every
comment has to begin or end with a sensational assertion.

~~~
seba_dos1
"Their life will not be miserable due to your lack of time and commitment" is
not enough to undermine the first part of that comment.

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GreeniFi
My grandfather, an owner of an African Grey Parrot, died in his early 80s. His
final years were marked by lung disease and a hacking cough.

After he died, it was always a bit weird to visit my grandmother as, for the
remainder of his life, the parrot (whose name I cannot recall) would hack away
in precise imitation of the cough which killed our old grandpa.

Parrots truly are unlike any other pet.

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bayesian_horse
Parrots are highly problematical pets. They have demanding requirements, which
aren't met by "traditional" parrot keeping. The cage needs to be big, much
rather they need a room to themselves. They need conspecific companionship,
even if they don't want it, they can't satisfy their social needs with only
Humans or different species.

Imprinting on Humans should be avoided at all cost, even at the expense of
diminished tameness.

Behavioral problems in parrots seem to be the norm rather than the exception.
Add to that the destructive nature of the parrot pet trade, and you get one
nightmare of a pet.

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FooHentai
We have a re-homed king parrot, and it's very hard to decide what's best for
her long-term welfare. Getting a second bird to give her proper companionship
seems like the best option but then you have to decide whether to make it the
same breed (temperament/compatibility match but would become very insular and
likely outright hostile to us as keepers), opposite sex (then you end up with
a breeding pair which has it's own problems but does make them happiest _if_
they successfully bond... big _if_ and risky).

I'm already planning a gigantic indoor aviary build to give her more freedom
during the day when we're both working, but companionship is it's own huge
problem for such intelligent (and more importantly I think, emotional)
creatures.

If only we could converse with them.

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anotherevan
“If you have a parrot and you don’t teach it to say, ‘Help, they’ve turned me
into a parrot’, you are wasting everybody’s time.”

— Julia Segal (@juliasegal)

[https://twitter.com/juliasegal/statuses/25763973055](https://twitter.com/juliasegal/statuses/25763973055)

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paulie_a
I've had a parrot since I was 8. They are basically perpetual two year olds.
He has a sense of humor though. He would call the dog to the cage, throw food
at him and laugh.. sometimes with a British accent. Not sure where that came
from.

Fun fact about parrots, they can teach another parrot to talk, but that parrot
can't teach another.

Also don't consider getting a parrot unless you understand it is a 30-50 year
commitment that takes active daily social interaction. They are great but they
are a big commitment.

Side note, it tooke twenty years to actually witness him sleeping.

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lake99
I have no personal experience in this matter, but through watching videos of
bird training experts (in my case [1]) I learnt that parrots can be trained to
be friendly with the entire family. Parrots might still prefer one family
member, but it can be trained to get along with everyone else too. Of course
matters get more complicated if the bird has been previously owned and has
developed a bad personality.

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/user/BirdTricks](https://www.youtube.com/user/BirdTricks)

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Mikeb85
Had 2 pet cockatiels (a pair) while growing up, not sure I would again. We
allowed ours nearly free access to fly wherever they wanted in the house (and
it was a decent sized house with several lofted ceiling areas) and we also had
a small dog they interacted with (we were also a family of 4). While they
seemed happy, were incredibly funny, friendly and made great pets, they were
also incredibly demanding. While it was fantastic that they'd sit on the couch
with the family while we watched TV, or with one of us while doing homework,
it was less awesome when they'd perch outside our bedrooms to wake us up to
play with them. Thankfully they can't see for shit at night, so they went into
the cage on their own when it got dark.

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vbuwivbiu
Imagine seeing a creature with the freedown to fly and thinking to yourself
"I'm going to capture that creature and keep it in a cage for my own
amusement"

~~~
vbuwivbiu
*freedom

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megamindbrian2
That's nice, but birds are not monogamous. Everyone thinks they develop to
like one person (their owner) and that's not true.

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keeler
Title needs a "(2013)" tag.

~~~
RobotCaleb
Why? Why don't we say the same for posts about stickers from this year?

~~~
grzm
It’s generally understood that submissions without such tags are from this
year.

~~~
kwhitefoot
What if you are reading it next year?

