
Parrots Are a Lot More Than ‘Pretty Bird’ - dnetesn
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/22/science/parrots-are-a-lot-more-than-pretty-bird.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=mini-moth&region=top-stories-below&WT.nav=top-stories-below
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justsaysmthng
I've lived with parrots on and off since I was a child. Each of them has been
influential in my life, especially the last one, who was living on my shoulder
and having sex with my Microsoft Keyboard :).

During the heat period, she began communicating with a parrot from a nearby
building block (with high pitched screams which penetrate concrete).... One
day we accidentally left the window open and she flew right out to find her
love.

We never saw her again, but at least I know that she followed her heart ...
But she took the love away from our home. Six months later me and my wife of 8
years were divorced. I'm not saying we did it because of the parrot, but
somehow I feel like it had something to do with it. There was also a puppy
involved, which I found a month after the bird flew away, but I won't go into
that now.

Pets are more than just cute animals living in our house. The whole dynamic of
the relationship, the definition of "home" changes when we get a new pet or
when a pet leaves or dies.

Have you noticed that dogs resemble their owners ? Well, I think it goes both
ways - the owners pick up some traits from their pets too.

I don't think psychology or sociology even considers pets, yet a large part of
the population lives with various companions which strongly affect their lives
(hence society in general).

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mark_l_watson
I agree with you that they are a powerful dynamic in a household. A local
Parrot specialist picks up my bird the day before my wife and I travel. Once
she picks up my Parrot our house has an empty feeling which I don't care for.

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foltz
Amazing creatures. Before you consider one as a pet realize that the
combination of their long lifespan and their intense desire to bond means you
need to make a serious commitment that people often break.

Watch Nature's 'Parrot Confidential' to get an idea of the consequences of
breaking this commitment. Parrot Confidential is an excellent, though
heartbreaking, documentary that highlights the plight of these intelligent
creatures in captivity.

[https://youtu.be/ZQjm18JapGc](https://youtu.be/ZQjm18JapGc)

~~~
jdcarter
Came here to say much the same. I've had a Meyer's Parrot for 14 years--she
was a 2 year-old rescue when I got her--and it's nearly impossible to keep a
parrot entertained and socialized. These animals really need to be in the
wild, among their kind and with daily foraging/nesting tasks to keep them
busy.

Second, if you really _really_ don't want to take my advice, at least consider
buying a second-hand bird. Birds can form new bonds; you don't need to buy a
chick to have it bond with you. Mine bonded to me almost instantly.

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mark_l_watson
I have had my Meyer's Parrot for 12 years. If I may ask, what do you do to
keep your bird entertained? I let mine fly around the house when my wife is
out of the house, and he generally likes to be handled, rolled around in my
hands, head scratching, etc.

You are right about birds being able adapt to new owners. We got our bird as a
baby and he was my wife's pet. After a few years she decided that she could
not deal with his occasional biting. When she announced she was going to get
rid of him, I wanted him, even though I rarely handled him before. My wife now
has no physical contact except scratching his head through his cage bars, and
I am the one who plays with him. I work with him on my shoulder.

~~~
jdcarter
I'm mostly able to work from home, so I have a medium-size cage in the room
where I work. I attach a cardboard box inside her cage and she burrows into
it. She'll destroy a small-ish (say 4x6x12") box in a day.

Then, upstairs our master bathroom is basically the parrot's room. I built a
large stand from tree branches and hang some toys and a rope ring from it. She
loves playing in front of the bathroom mirror.

Having a flighted bird can be annoying at times--mine loves to play "chase me
around the house" at times--but I think it's essential to the bird's state of
mind. Caged birds that never fly can literally go insane. My vet (author of
the book "Holistic Care for Birds") is a strong supporter of letting your bird
fly, despite the possible hazards that entails.

Honestly, my bird would like more social attention than she gets, but there's
only so much of me to go around. My wife and daughter don't handle her for
fear of getting bitten.

One recommendation: there's a DVD called "Captive Foraging" which has a lot of
ideas for giving parrots foraging-type problems to solve. Even buying shelled
nuts (unsalted of course) gives them something interesting to do.

~~~
gozur88
> Honestly, my bird would like more social attention than she gets, but
> there's only so much of me to go around. My wife and daughter don't handle
> her for fear of getting bitten.

I don't blame them. Getting bitten by a parrot hurts like a MF'er.

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mark_l_watson
I have had my Meyers Parrot for about 12 years. I always try to talk people
out of getting a Parrot if they express a lot of interest in mine. I work a
light schedule (for the last 20 years I average perhaps 25 hours a week) so I
have lots of time to devote to him. He takes up a lot of time but is a lot of
fun. I have a bird specialist who takes care of him when my wife and I travel
and she and her Dad have agreed to take my Parrot if anything happens to me.

Edit: also, you really can't leave a Parrot alone. I work from home at least
90% of the time and my wife is retired and is at home a lot so we basically
have the little green guy covered as far as company goes. But, for couples who
work all day out of the house, having a Parrot would not be good.

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sehutson
Totally agree. My little green cheek conure is turning 13 tomorrow, and I've
had her and a sun conure since they were babies. Cats and dogs are pets, but a
parrot is a lifestyle. I can't imagine being able to keep them happy and
healthy if I didn't work from home.

The other thing a lot of people don't understand is the fact that you have to
get rid of anything that might cause problems for their delicate respiratory
systems - most cleaning products, candles, air fresheners, teflon cookware,
most heaters and hair dryers and straighteners, etc (or go to great lengths to
make sure they're never anywhere near those fumes).

Depending on the breed, it can also be really tough to find an apartment where
you won't get yelled at all the time for their noise.

There are very, very few people for whom I would recommend parrothood.

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sosuke
If you want to see some more here is a good documentary about parrots in
Australia
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3qUvdy1Dh8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3qUvdy1Dh8)

I think of the hundreds and thousands of parrots in the flocks compared to the
singles or pairs from pet stores.

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man213
Thank you very much for the link. That documentary is awesome!

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ceratopisan
I've had a Senegal Parrot for about 5 years. He has his own 'names' for each
person in the family, and sounds to indicate if he wants some of your food, or
to be picked up, or to go take a nap, etc. Some of them are English words,
some of them are the sound he decided to use. He's as loyal as a dog and wants
nothing more than to be carried and petted and fed peanut butter all day. (He
will lick the peanut butter off a piece of toast, "accidentally" throw it on
the ground, and make his "give me some of that please" noise for as long as
you have some and he has none.)

He will bite when startled, craps on everything sooner or later, and screams
for fun. Someone described it as having a toddler with a can-opener on its
face, and that's not far from accurate.

It's not an easy pet to have, and not for everyone. But - if a bird works for
you, it works fantastically.

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jerryhuang100
not just parrots, crows also have extraordinary ability to use tools or solve
problems:

[https://youtu.be/AVaITA7eBZE](https://youtu.be/AVaITA7eBZE)

~~~
agumonkey
One day we'll have to make it official, men are lame are judging nature
wonders, which is amazing most of the time.

~~~
tudorw
Yes, we only ever seem to discover that there is more than we realised, it's
rare I hear, oh, we looked even closer and it was just as we expected...

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lrvick
My wife and I have a Timneh African Grey parrot.

She flighted, very social, very co-dependent. Prefers being on a shoulder or
on top of a head most of the time. The flighted part has been difficult at
times. She flew away and we lost her for 4 days once. But I still stand by her
being flighted being a good choice. She flew to a stranger that saw one of our
thousands of fliers and turned her in. She goes where she wants when she wants
when we are home and always has energy to burn flying around.

We have staggered schedules so the bird is only alone in her cage 7 hours a
day 4 days a week. She actually loves this time as we set up a tablet full of
hundreds of videos on random of other birds singing and talking to pass that
time she must be in her cage during the day. She -loves- it. Whenever it comes
on she will stop what she is doing to go gets all excited and runs over to
watch it and start singing and mimicking the things she is seeing.

This may not work out for all birds, but it has certainly worked out for ours.
She has her own educational TV :D

