Is a Parrot the Right Pet for You?

tags: National Pet Week 2008, companion pets, birds, parrots

Okay, as I promised yesterday, I am going to write a series of articles about parrots as pets. Even though I have lived with, bred, raised, trained and researched a variety of birds, I am focusing on parrots as pets because they are generally what people think of first when they talk about pet birds.

The first thing to consider before you ever add a parrot to your household is whether a parrot would make a good companion for you at all. Even though I have lived with parrots most of my life and I do adore them, I can easily understand that they could not possibly be a good pet for most people for a variety of reasons.

First of all, there's the noise. Some parrot species are fairly quiet, such as my female Eclectus parrot, Elektra. Others can be very loud, such as my male hawk-headed parrot, Orpheus. When considering the voice of a parrot, size plays a role in how loud a parrot can be (larger parrots tend to be louder than smaller species), although this is not universally true since Elektra, who is nearly twice the size of Orpheus, cannot hope to match Orpheus for the sheer volume of noise that he can produce.

Another important thing to consider is that some species tend to become "screamers." Some parrot "screamers" are created by their owners who initially reward such vocal misbehavior because they think it is "cute", only later realizing they've created a monster that their family, roommates and neighbors are complaining about. But other parrot species simply tend to be very vocal: they chatter incessantly at or near the top of their voices as a form of communication with the world at large. Bird species that are loud chatterers include some species of conures -- particularly the astonishingly beautiful sun conures -- and most species of cockatoos.

Bad behavior, such as screaming, can be trained out of a companion bird, but it usually requires a dramatic change in the bird's environment (relocation to a new home, usually) or tremendous patience, consistency and effort, which most people don't have after returning home from a long stressful day at work.

One thing that I rarely hear anyone even consider is that some people dislike particular parrot species' natural voices. It might surprise you to learn that parrot species do not sound alike: each species has its own distinct repertorie of sounds that it naturally produces as well as its own particular voice. For example, budgerigars have a soft warbling chatter that I find to be quite pleasant, while cockatiels produce a sharp whistling call that I personally find to be annoying. Many other people who live with cockatiels disagree with me and actually enjoy the sounds that a cockatiel makes.

But nevertheless, regardless of which parrot you are considering, it is important to remember that all parrots will make noise, that a quiet parrot is a seriously ill parrot, so a person who cannot tolerate a noisy pet should not consider living with a parrot.

The next thing to consider about living with a parrot is the mess. Yes, like all pets, kids and roommates, parrots are messy. Even though I don't think that parrots are any messier than cats or dogs, I've noticed that, for some reason, people always complain about their messy parrots. Perhaps it's because parrots typically live in a cage, so people expect that parrots' messes will remain confined to their cages, as if by magic. But these people are conveniently forgetting that parrots enjoy throwing food on the floor and walls, that parrots lose feathers when they moult twice per year, and that some species, especially the cockatoos and African grey parrots, produce a fine powder that they use to properly maintain their plumage -- a fine powder that will settle onto every flat surface in the room. But if a person cleans up after their pet parrot's messes as diligently as those messes made by their other pets or their kids, they will find that parrots are easy to keep clean.

Another little problem with parrots is that they bite. In fact, living with a parrot is like living with a four-year-old child with a pair of pliers mounted on its face. Every parrot owner has been bitten in the past, and will be bitten in the future. It's just a fact of living with a parrot. But one can lessen the frequency of bites by understanding why parrots bite.

Parrots bite under several circumstances; when they are afraid, angry, or when they are protecting something. The most common reason that a parrot bites is due to fear. As a result, parrots tend to bite more often when they first are introduced into a new home or to a new set of circumstances. Parrots will often bite strangers who try to handle them and parrots will even bite their owners if they do something that causes the parrot to be afraid, such as moving quickly or erratically, wearing odd clothing (baseball caps are often mentioned as being a fearsome object for parrots), shouting, throwing things or when arguing with other people.

The way to deal with parrot's fear is to introduce new objects, such as hats, over a period of time, so the bird has a chance to study the object and to become comfortable with it. With regards to human misbehaviors such as shouting or throwing objects when in the same room with a parrot, well, it is best to deal with disagreements in a civilized adult manner for the psychological comfort of your parrot pal as well as that of your human companion.

Like humans, parrots also bite when they are angry. My eclectus parrot, Elektra, frequently delivers a nasty bite when I return her to her cage before she is ready to go there. I deal with this by distracting her with a favored treat and I refrain from handling her altogether if I am in a bad mood.

Parrots, like most birds, are highly territorial. As they mature, they come to view their cage, toys, food bowls and other familiar objects as their special territory and will often wish to protect them from unwanted attention or removal. This is one reason that a person should never clean a bird's cage while it is occupied. Instead, cage (and toy) cleaning is often a good time to remove the bird for a bath of his or her own. Additionally, all parrot cages should have outside access to food and water bowls so the bird can be fed and watered without anyone losing any blood during the process.

This leads me to the dietary considerations necessary to keep a parrot healthy. Many people have never been educated as to proper parrot nutrition and, as a result, their birds can become ill or even die due to malnutrition even though they have a bowl full of food. But as every parrot owner soon discovers, there are as many opinions about how to properly feed a parrot as there are parrot breeders and owners. Despite this potential for confusion, it is useful to remember that wild parrots tend to eat a wide variety of food items, although each species has its own particular niche that it exploits. So putting a parrot into a cage with a bowl of sunflower seeds is not only unhealthy, but is often considered to be a form of abuse. But how does one find out how to feed a parrot properly? You ask other people whose parrots are in good health, and you read widely about parrot behavior and feeding habits.

I hope I am not adding to the general confusion, but after living with parrots for most of my life, it is my personal opinion that parrots should be fed a wide variety of foods, including fresh and frozen fruits, berries and vegetables, pesticide-free flowers, raw nuts, a high-quality pelleted parrot food, a good seed mix, and a variety of "people foods" such as cheese, eggs, lean meat, and bread. Some of these food items provide great joy to the birds when they see them. For example, my parrots scream in delight when they see a watermelon or grapes enter the apartment. Other people's parrots have become especially fond of pizza and spaghetti, and will demand to eat dinner with their human companions.

There are a few food items that, as responsible parrot owners, we should never feed to our birds. We should never feed a diet that is rich in processed foods, nor should we feed foods that are rich in iron, and we should avoid giving them coffee, tea, chocolate, and alcohol.

Another thing to consider before bringing a parrot into your home is the expense. Depending upon the species, a good quality cage that is spacious enough for your parrot often costs as much as, or more than, the parrot. Most people provide parrots with a free-standing playgym or perch for the bird to spend time on each day. These items are also very expensive. In addition to these large items, parrots are intelligent and destructive animals so they need wooden perches, toys and other objects that are safe for them to puzzle over, manipulate or to destroy at their whim. Some birds will destroy a perch or a toy every week, and replacing these items can become a burdensome expense.

Some people prefer a parrot of one sex or the other, erroneously thinking that male parrots prefer women while female parrots prefer men, or because they believe that male parrots make better talkers or that female parrots are more likely to suffer health problems associated with egg-laying.

I live with both sexes of parrots of a variety of species and have found that both my male and female parrots are delightful companions, and that both male and female parrots make good talkers. This is generally true for most parrot species, except for cockatiels, where females almost never talk, and for some cockatoo species, where males tend to talk more frequently than females and to have a bigger repertorie.

I have not encountered any increased health problems in my female parrots when compared to the males. It is true that a female parrot is more prone to experiencing health problems associated with egg-laying, but those health problems rarely occur when the parrot is being provided proper nutrition with an emphasis on adequate calcium, phosphorous and vitamin D3.

Some people cite a parrot's relatively long life as a reason not to keep one as a companion pet, but I disagree. It is true that, if properly fed, housed, and protected from accidents, parrots will live a long life. Depending on species, they will live between 10 years (budgerigars) and 65 years (African grey parrots, Amazon parrots, cockatoos). As a result, unless they are unnecessarily isolated form other people, parrots are more psychologically resilient than most people give them credit for. Some people claim that parrots will not accept a new human companion after their former companion has died or has had to give up the bird, but this is simply not true. Some parrots will experience a period of mourning the loss of their former human companion, but they are social animals and will respond to kindness by forming a bond with their new caretaker. So basically, parrots can and do live happily when moved from one home to another, provided that they are placed into a good home where they are respected and accepted as valued members of the family.

I think I have addressed the major aspects involved with making a decision about whether to get a companion parrot. Tomorrow, I will provide a brief overview of the personalities of most parrot groups and discuss how to decide which of the many different species of parrots available would make a good match for your personality.