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).
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.
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.
I met a very old parrot in a pet shop. I asked about it - "Estate sale" said the clerk. I just went back and stood companionably beside the cage for a while. When I had to leave, I said "Sorry, bro!" The parrot looked at me, then in a perfect imitation of a child's voice said "Polly want a cracker? Ha ha ha ha ha ha" in the most sarcastic tone possible.
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.
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.
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.
> 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.
Thanks for the recommendation: I just ordered the DVD.
When our bird was young my wife used to make food puzzles that he would play with to get treats. I need to start doing that again, hopefully the DVD will give me more ideas.
I have several Parrot books and one recommends always wearing eye protection so I always have my computer glasses on when the little green guy is out. These glasses have old fashioned large lenses. My bird will bite me hard once or twice a year. The beak is a formidable weapon.
I let the bird fly all over the house but I pay attention to him: if he is in a grumpy mood he might chew on something he shouldn't. If he does behave badly, he likes witnesses to his transgressions.
He does not fly that often because he does crash occasionally and doesn't like that, but when he is zooming through the house at high speed he is impressive. He often prefers to grip my hand with his feet and 'fly in place.'
I'm not the one you're asking, but I'll give you my experience. I haven't had any problem with my parrot on my shoulder; she snuggles up against the back of my neck and is pretty content there. One big warning about shoulder time, however: no earrings! You can imagine how that ends.
As for bird-proofing your house, unfortunately you really can't. Parrots chew through soft woods (e.g. pine trim) quickly. In my case, I only allow my bird free flight in certain parts of the house. I've put clear plastic bumpers--the kind of thing you can put on wall corners--which prevents her from destroying the trim on my door jambs. In other cases, e.g. the trim around my bathroom mirror, I've just given up.
Also, keep in mind that parrots are burrowing creatures, so if you give them other stuff to burrow into (aka chew/destroy), then they won't destroy your house as much. My parrot burrows into cardboard boxes that I give her. Think of it like providing a scratching post for a cat.
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.
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.
Whether you can leave a bird alone during the day does depend on the bird. My lovebird actually got upset when I worked from home; apparently, I interfered with his afternoon nap. He'd start squawking pointedly at me around 1 and wouldn't stop until I left the room, whereupon he would tuck his beak into his back and sleep for three or four hours. The conure I have now likes to have me around during the day, but is fine if I'm not, as long as she gets a few hours of company and attention.
Yeah, they definitely have their little bird routines that you have to figure out and accommodate. Mine both squawk their heads off around lunch, then they watch cartoons and take a nap. Sometimes they want to be out on the bird stands near me, other times they want to be in their bedroom alone. We have a routine down at this point, and they REALLY don't like when it's disrupted.
> But, for couples who work all day out of the house, having a Parrot would not be good.
True story. If you leave them in the cage, they get depressed and have mental health issues. If you leave them out of the cage, they trash your house, shred any piece of paper left lying around, and god help you if you leave a cupboard open...
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.
Growing up in Davis, CA, there were Magpies that would grab walnuts, drop them in the street, and wait for a car to pass and crush the nut's shell. When the coast was clear, the Magpie would fly over and grab the freshly-cracked nut.
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
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).