When
you first start to look at birds, and have decided that you want
one for a pet, the temptation is to go shopping and buy the first
one that grabs your heart. This is the reason why pet shops
have always been so successful. You fall in love with the
looks, personality, and cuteness of a baby animal, you feel a
personal bond with it, and you can't think of leaving without
it! Many people have bought a bird this way, and found
out later that it is noisy, aggressive, not handleable, or doesn't
get along with their children. However, the most common
reason people end up selling their bird is that the time and
commitment involved in caring for a bird exceeds their ability
or interest. Then they feel guilty about the bird being
stuck in the cage all the time, and they decide it would be happier
in another home, or they end up buying another bird to keep it
company.
Do you
have room in your life for a bird? They are relatively
easy to care for, needing feeding and fresh water daily, and
the cage will need cleaned once or twice a week. There
will be an increase in dust in the room where the bird is kept.
There will be some pieces of food and feathers on the floor around
the cage on a daily basis. But beyond this, there's a good
deal of time involved with owning a parrot family member.
They are very social, and when someone is home, the bird will
want to be out of its cage to play and be near you while you
go about your activities. Can you picture yourself doing
a lot of things with your bird? Do you see yourself taking
the bird out of the cage as soon as you get home from work, to
join in with the household activities? If not, then the
bird will likely become resentful of being forced to stay in
his cage while you are busy, and he can develop some bad behaviours
as a result, making you feel guilty, and causing you to question
the decision to get him in the first place.
At first
you may be overwhelmed by all the different types of birds available,
but as time goes on you'll begin to decide on a group of birds
that most closely fits your idea of a good pet. I believe
there is a suitable bird for almost any lifestyle or family situation.
The problem occurs when the potential pet owner is too eager
to buy before learning about the responsibilities of bird ownership,
or the type of bird they are buying, and when there is a retailer
all too eager to take your money without taking the time to really
talk to you about the bird you're considering.
If there's
one piece of advice that I could give you, it would be to take
your time in your search for the right bird. Please
don't rush out and buy a bird because it's cute, or climbed across
its cage to be near you. There's so much to learn, and
all of us are learning still, and I hope that the following will
help you make a great choice, for the bird's sake as well as
your own!
Now that
I have (hopefully) persuaded you to take your time to look at
various birds and discover their attributes, where do you go?
Pet shops are convenient; they pay big bucks for their location
just around the corner. Some of them have state-of-the-art
bird rooms and equipment, and knowlegeable staff. Breeders
are sometimes difficult to find because they may live out of
town, or don't have a lot of money to spend on advertising.
But there
are some definite advantages to seeking out the breeders.
First, you get to see the environment the babies are raised in,
and what the parent birds are like. After you have been
to several places, you will begin to get an idea of who is taking
good care of their birds, and who is the kind of person you'd
want to buy a baby from. Second, chances are that the breeder
will be knowlegeable about the types of birds they breed.
They will likely still be there for you year after year, and
be willing to support you with advice. Third, it is safer
to buy your bird from a facility that doesn't deal in birds from
lots of other facilities. When you bring various birds
together from different locations, and there is a high turnover,
there's a higher risk of disease. Finally, the breeders
only charge a fraction of what the pet stores do. They
don't have the expensive location, employees, and advertising
costs of the big stores, and that savings will get passed on
to you.
Before
the advent of the Internet, breeders were hard to find, because
advertising was expensive, and many breeders do this as a hobby,
rather than a business. Yellow page advertising is even
more expensive still. But the internet is basically free,
and searches there will turn up sites (like this one) with names
and locations of breeders in your area. You may have to
drive a bit, but visiting aviaries is definitely worth it if
you like birds. A good breeder will take the time to answer
your questions and help you decide on the right bird for you.
Also on the internet are e-mail lists or groups where people
can join to promote their birds for sale or wanted. One such
group is abird4sale, which is a Canadian list comprised of over
800 members who are mostly breeders. To join, first go to Yahoo
groups at www.groups.yahoo.com . You will
need to sign up with Yahoo (pick a name and password) if you
haven't already done so. Then type in abird4sale into the search
bar, and join the group. You can set your preferences to receive
individual e-mails from all members, a daily digest, or to view
all e-mails at the Yahoo site. There is also an archive of posts
you can browse through to see who has advertised certain types
of birds in the past.
Not too
many years ago, there were very few hand raised babies available.
You couldn't go into a store and find one; you could only get
one from a breeder. Now, they are everywhere. A hand
raised baby parrot is one that has been removed from the nest
and raised by humans, instead of the parent birds raising the
baby themselves. This results in a baby parrot that is
very tame and people oriented. A hand raised baby is a
pet the day you take it home. It will sit on your hand,
let you pet it and cuddle it, and should not try to bite.
Some
breeders let the parent birds raise the babies. Usually
this is done so that the offspring will not be too tame or people
oriented, and might make better breeders. There are also
breeders who don't hand raise their babies because it is too
time consuming, and these babies might show up in a store at
a bargain price. Usually it is not a bargain to pay less
and get a bird that may never become as tame as one that was
handfed.
When
you're looking at a potential pet bird, it's very important
that you ask to handle it. Sometimes, birds that are hand
raised can go wild or skittish again when they wean, if they
are not being handled very much. Most places will handle
a baby a lot while it is being handfed, but then it begins to
eat on its own, and often it gets put into a cage with other
birds and begins to become more bird oriented. These birds
will run when someone tries to take them out, and may bite if
handled. A bird like this should cost less than the same
kind of bird that is just weaned and still very handleable, because
it will take more work on your part to retrain it. Some
never become as tame again.
Also,
the younger you can get your new pet (as long as it is weaned,
see Weaning below), the
better. Just like buying a puppy, the older the animal
is, the harder it is for it to adapt, and the more likely there
will be problems that you don't have any control over.
A younger bird will adjust better to your home and family, your
other pets, and it has a much better chance of learning to talk
and do tricks.
We discourage
people from buying a baby before it is weaned and finishing the
handfeeding themselves, as the bird will be just as tame if weaned
at the breeders' aviary, and it is a bigger risk to the baby
to move him during the already stressful weaning period.
Veterinarians will tell you that babies that are moved just prior
to weaning are at higher risk of illness, and this risk is compounded
if you have other birds in your house, and you are introducing
the baby to these new birds. The stress of the move, in
combination with the invisible pathogens which your flock (however
small) may have in the carrier state, will increase the likelihood
of the baby becoming sick. His immune system is much stronger
after weaning.
When
babies are small, they have a higher risk of mortality.
At some point their immune system has to kick in, and if they
have a weak immune system, they will be more liable to get infections.
These infections can come from the food or the air, or the bedding
material in his container. A sick adult bird is hard enough
to recognize; in small babies, it's even harder. The main
sign of illness in an adult bird is that it sleeps more than
normal, and babies sleep almost all the time! As well,
it's harder to tell when they are not feeling well because there
is no normal routine of vocalizations, perching, preening, and
playing like there would be in an adult.
If you
are inexperienced, handfeeding is risky. It may be that
you know someone who did it, and everything was fine, but some
babies are harder to feed and are more susceptible to error than
others. For example, slightly overheated formula can cause
an irritation to the lining of the crop, and an infection can
set in. By the time the baby stops eating and his crop
stops moving food through, it's too late. It takes experience
to recognize when this is happening so that it can be treated
early.
Some
of the people who advocate getting your bird before it is weaned
are trying to save themselves a lot of trouble, and passing the
trouble on to you at the risk of the bird's well-being.
As well, if you hear that the baby will bond better, or love
you more, common sense will tell you that a baby is bonded to
his parents (be they bird parents or people parents) in a different
way than they will be bonded later on. If early bonding
was permanent, then baby birds would want to bond and then mate
with their parents or siblings in the wild. So, first they
go through an independent stage (like a teenager!), and then,
when they come to adulthood and breeding age, they form a permanent
adult bond to someone, most often the person they are around
the most. It may even be that in order for wild parrots
to be genetically diverse, they may select a mate who is most
unlike their parents and siblings in some important ways!
We see most of our babies (that we have lovingly raised)
shortly afer they go to their new homes, when their owners bring
them back to visit and get their wings, beaks, and nails trimmed.
I can tell you that they love their owners, not us!
It has
come to my attention that certain stores and breeders are promoting
the sale of unweaned babies to customers who are inexperienced
in handfeeding. These stores and breeders make the claim
that they will be better bonded to their owners. This claim
of better bonding is false, as explained above.
One particular
store notice states:
"Once
chicks arrive at ******** stores, associates are trained to continue
twice-daily hand feedings until the chicks are weaned or purchased
by a customer. Stores train inexperienced customers on
care, including how to hand-feed chicks."
"Inexperienced
customers" cannot learn how to properly hand feed a baby
in a just a few sessions. It takes breeders years
to learn, and in the beginning, even they make mistakes.
However, after the first few clutches of babies, breeders
at least have some experience. A policy of pushing
unweaned babies on first-time hand feeders would seem to me to
be greatly increasing the chance for something to go wrong.
"..........
and (potential buyers) must sign documents that commit them to
provide proper care. ******** believes this helps ensure that it sells birds only to
committed, responsible owners, and helps create a stronger bond
between owner and pet."
Read:
if the bird dies, it's not ********'s fault, and your money is
gone. The document is also an acknowledgement on your part
that if the bird dies, you do not get a refund.
For both the bird's sake and the new owner's
sake, I believe it is a terrible mistake to be promoting stronger
bonding as a reason to advocate selling a baby to a novice on
1 or 2 feedings a day, and then make the customer sign a waiver
that if anything goes wrong, the store isn't liable. You
don't have to sign a document for buying a fish, a gerbil, or
a weaned baby parrot. This leads me to believe that they
know the chance of something going wrong is greatly increased,
but they won't tell the customer of the risk because they want
to make a sale with less work involved, and make room for new
babies to sell.
Captive Bred vs. Wild Caught (also see Leg Bands, below)
There
are still a lot of birds in Canada that were caught in the wild,
quarantined first in Europe or the U.S. and then in Canada, and
shipped to stores, to become potential pets for people.
Not too many years ago, this was the usual way people bought
a parrot, because not very many were being bred in captivity.
Some of these birds still come up for sale, usually by owners
that can't keep them anymore for one reason or another.
Almost always, they are older birds that were brought into the
country during the years of massive importation, which ended
around 1992. Most of these birds that didn't tame satisfactorily
ended up in the hands of breeders, who then gave them mates and
set them up to hopefully breed. This is where most of the
breeding stock for captive-bred parrots in Canada originated.
Some
of the ones that did become tame are still kept in peoples' homes
as pets. When going to look at one of these
birds, the low price may entice you, but being an older bird,
it will be set in its ways. It may scream for attention,
pluck its feathers, or be aggressive towards certain members
of the family. You must be aware that it is unlikely, if
not impossible, that you will change the habits of an older bird,
and therefore you have to accept the bird "as is".
If there is something that you strongly object to about the bird's
personality, don't buy it! A good deal is no deal at all,
if both you and the bird are miserable. If you have an
opportunity to purchase one of these older birds, you might want
to ask the current owners some of these questions:
1.)
Is the bird bonded strongly to only one person in the house?
Certain
types of birds are known for becoming "one person"
birds. If the bird you are considering was previously owned
and really liked the woman in the house but not her husband,
and you are a man, then this bird will in all likelihood bond
to your wife, or the woman it sees the most of, and will dislike
you. These preferences, once shown, can last for the life
of the bird. (See How Parrots Bond, below)
2.)
Does the bird scream? Does it bite? Does it like
to sit on your head?
Sometimes
people make mistakes with birds, either by good intentions (spoiling)
or perhaps by accidentally reinforcing a bad behaviour.
These behaviours can be picked up very quickly by the bird when
he gets his way, but can be very hard to get rid of when
he knows they work. The bird may be alright for a while
in your home while he is adjusting, but as soon as he realizes
that he is in a place where the bad behaviours might work, he
will try them again. Then it will be up to you to not give
in and let him get his way. This can sometimes take a very
long time, especially if the behaviour was reinforced for a number
of months or years.
3.)
How old is it? Where did you buy it?
I usually
ask this question when I'm looking at a bird I'm interested in
acquiring for a potential breeder. Most of the time, if
the people bought the bird from a store, it was probably fairly
young and an original sale. This may give you a good approximate
idea of the bird's age. But if they bought it from another
person, it becomes more difficult to figure out. You might
try locating the previous owner or perhaps the current owners
were told how old they thought the bird was when they bought
it. I find that ages are usually understated by most people
to make the bird sound better, and depending on how many owners
the bird has had, the stated age and the correct age can be way
out of whack with each other.
4.)
Does it talk?
For some
people, whether a parrot talks or not doesn't matter. For
other people, talking is the "essence" of owning a
parrot. If you are one of the latter and you are considering
an older bird, you should know that the younger a bird is, the
easier it will be to teach it to talk. An older bird that
isn't talking already has a much lower probability of ever learning.
This doesn't mean that an older bird can never learn to
talk, just that it is more unlikely.
5.)
Can I get a health guarantee in writing?
If you
are new to buying birds, you may not recognize a health problem
if one exists. For example, lots of people think that a
bird that is plucking out its feathers looks like a baby, whereas
a vet or a person experienced with birds would recognize this
condition. Also, there are some very serious diseases which
can affect the plumage of the bird. I hate to say it, but
there are people who will sell a bird because they have learned
it isn't healthy. Maybe they just bought it from someone
else and discovered something wrong, and they are trying to unload
it (to you) to recover some of their money. These things
do happen. It is very important to get a professional to
look at the bird and check its health before you are totally
committed to buying it. Possibly you can give the owner
a post-dated cheque for the next day, or get them to give you
a written guarantee, allowing you enough time to have the bird
examined. Then you can make an informed decision
about whether or not to buy it. (See Health Guarantee, below)
These
are the two types of parrots that are captive bred. Imported
young birds still come in from other countries, and are mostly
sold to breeders as parent stock for their breeding efforts.
These birds are not hand raised or tame, and vary in age between
a year to two years old. Some may end up in the retail
market to be sold for pets, but their age and wildness make them
less than desirable. Purchasing a bird that is young, but
not very tame, is risky, because the bird will probably never
become as tame as a hand raised domestically bred one.
Domestic
baby parrots, bred and raised by a local breeder, are younger
when they're sold, usually fed a proper diet, and have not been
through the stresses of shipping and relocating numerous times.
Breeders in Canada do not mass produce them to be shipped to
another country. If your baby is properly banded, you don't
have to worry about whether or not it was legally imported.
In most cases, you can visit and get to know the person who bred
your bird, see whether the aviary conditions are good, if the
bird was raised on a good diet and introduced to a variety of
foods, and play with your baby while it is being raised.
Banding
is the most commonly used method of identifying birds, and from
a band, you may be able to determine the origin of your bird.
If the bird that you are considering purchasing doesn't have
a band, then you have no way to know for certain if the bird
was captive bred or wild caught, or whether it was legally imported
or smuggled. You also would have no way to tell for sure how
old it is.
However,
if the bird does have a band, then you'll need to know the different
kinds you might see, so that you can figure out what kind of
band you're looking at, and what the information on it means.
There are two main types of bands: open bands and the closed
(seamless) breeder bands.
OPEN
BANDS
An open
band is one that is clamped onto the bird's leg, and can be put
on a bird when it is an adult. I have seen two types of
open bands used. The first is a European import band, which
is an aluminum band that is flat and rectangular in cross-section,
with a pin at the split to hold it together. When you see
one of these, it either means that the bird was bred in Europe
and banded for export, or it was wild caught, imported into Europe,
and then banded for export. This really doesn't give the
purchaser very much information as to the age or origin of the
bird. (See Photos Below)
The second
type of open band is circular in cross-section, and I believe
is steel. These bands were mainly used for two purposes:
as import bands issued by the USDA for quarantining in the U.S.,
and as sexing bands used by veterinarians to indicate the sex
of a bird when surgically sexed.
The USDA
quarantine
bands
had 3-letter codes followed by 3 numbers, as in FTR 034, where
the first letter signifies the state into which the birds were
imported. Originally, F was Florida, C was California,
and H was Hawaii, but when they ran out of numbers, they went
to alternate codes. These bands were applied to a large
shipment of birds, where the banders had to make sure all of
the bands would fit every bird (of that type) in that shipment,
so they made them somewhat larger than they should have been.
Many times the bands were not closed at the seam, or were way
too big for the bird's leg. (See Photo Below)
IMPROPERLY
CLOSED IMPORT BAND
In the
past, veterinarians and groomers used to routinely remove import
bands because of the hazard they presented to the bird.
The open split could get caught on things (such as toy parts,
links from chains, cage bars or the threads from a cage cover
or cotton rope), causing the bird to thrash and potentially break
its leg. Also, once legally imported into
a country, the quarantine band was not necessary.
However,
as laws are changing and some States in the U.S. are requiring
some form of banding to transport parrots across State lines,
it has become advisable not to remove a band unless it is absolutely
necessary for the safety of the bird.
The sexing band, also an open
band, is affixed to the right leg for a male and the left leg
for a female. When the veterinarians began using these
bands, they had to use either a 2-letter or 4-letter code with
three numbers, so as to distinguish their bands from the USDA
import bands. Usually the letter code refers to the vet's
name, or the name of his clinic. Sexing bands, because
they are carefully put on by a professional, and sized according
to the individual bird's leg size, usually fit nicely and are
completely closed at the split. (See Photo Below)
If you see a sexing band that looks way too big for the bird's
leg, or that is not closed properly, the band could be suspect
as to its validity. Some people will take a band from another
bird, and reapply it to a smaller bird, to make it appear
to have been surgically sexed.
PROPERLY
CLOSED SEXING BAND
CLOSED
(SEAMLESS) BREEDER BANDS
Your
best assurance that you are buying a captive-bred domestic baby
is to look for a closed, seamless band on the baby's leg.
These bands are flat and rectangular in cross-section (see photo
below). In order for a closed band to fit well, it has
to be put on the baby's leg, by sliding it over the foot, when
it is very little (about the time its eyes open). For the
average parrot family member this would be only about 10 to 14
days old, and because of this, it would be virtually impossible
to smuggle baby parrots into this country in time to get them
properly banded.
On the
breeder band, there is usually this information: a letter and
number code, the year, and sometimes even the country or province
where the baby was hatched. Bands can be different colours
to help the breeder distinguish between the different ages of
their birds at a glance.
Some
breeders belong to a club, and order their bands through their
club, in which case, they might say "32 AAC PPN 99",
where 32 is the individual bird's number, AAC (written sideways)
stands for Avicultural Advancement Council", PPN is the
breeder's code for their aviary, and 99 is the year. In
the year 2000, the AAC put a maple leaf logo in place of the
AAC on the band. These bands can be traced back to the
breeder by contacting your local bird breeding club and asking
the ring secretary to help you.
Other
breeders might order their bands through a band company.
These bands are somewhat harder to trace, but more personalized.
For example, one of my own 2000 bands would read "PF ONT
00 123", with the "ONT" and "00" being
written sideways across the band. "PF" is the
abbreviation for my aviary (Parrot Farm), ONT is for Ontario,
00 is the year (2000), and 123 would be the 123rd band in my
order for that year. (See Photo)
PARROT FARM
BREEDER BAND
The only
suspicious bands of this type that I've seen have been bands
that were so large that they could be squeezed on over the foot
of an adult bird. Some of these bands also have suspicious
codes such as "67", with no other information at all.
I suspect that the person who crammed these bands onto the legs
of adult birds did not want to identify himself or his aviary,
for obvious reasons. This sort of thing would be done to
make an older, wild caught bird appear to be captive bred, or
to disguise a smuggled bird. I have also seen breeder bands
with the numbers ground off and then reused.
There
are a number of totally legal baby parrots hatched in Canada
that do not get banded. Some people are new to breeding,
and aren't even aware of banding and its advantages. Some
of these newcomers don't know how to get bands. Sometimes
breeders (who regularly band their birds) might miss the critical
2 or 3-day period when the baby has to be banded, and then the
foot is too large for a proper band to fit on. This, sorry
to say, has happened to me. And then there are the people
who don't believe in banding, although there's no evidence that
it's harmful in any way. I know of a couple of breeders
who openly spoke of their disapproval of banding, because they
were selling other people's babies and telling everyone that
they had bred them all. They didn't want to band their
own babies because everyone would know that some of the birds
they sold were not born in their aviary. They were also
cutting the bands off of the babies that came from other breeders.
It was an ego thing.
Buy a baby with a breeder band if at all possible, and if for
some reason a baby is not banded, ask why, and would you be allowed
to see if the rest of the clutch is banded. If a breeder
has 3 babies from one nest, all about the same age, and one isn't
banded, it's pretty certain that the third baby is exactly what
it appears to be. But if all 3 are not banded, or there
is only one unbanded baby there to look at, then perhaps the
baby didn't come from this person, or it is not a baby at all,
or perhaps it was smuggled.
If
you need to identify a breeder band, you should try both of the
following:
Try to
decide ahead of time what your priorities are in owning a pet
bird. Everyone wants a bird that is perfect for all qualities,
but as usual, there are trade offs. Some birds that are
excellent talkers have more aggressive personalities. Parrots
that are affectionate and sucky can be demanding and take a lot
of time. Huge birds look impressive, but they are harder
to carry around, and usually are more destructive and noisy.
Having
your priorities in mind will make it easier for breeders to help
you make the right choice. Here are some things to consider:
Do you
want a good pet to interact with on a regular basis, or just
a nice bird in a cage? (See One Bird or Two, below)
How
much time do you have to spend with the bird? (See Personality, below)
Do you
live in an apartment? Are you a shift worker? Do
you share your house with others? (See Noise Level, below)
In this section I will
use examples of how parrots behave in the wild, and then relate
that to what we see in captivity. That's the easiest way
to predict and explain how parrots behave as pets in our homes,
because they think of us as their flock mates!
The vast majority of
birds in the parrot family pair bond with their mates in the
wild. This means that as they mature, they bond to one
other bird, they are monogamous, and they stay with that mate
year after year. Some will aggressively defend their mate
and their territory.
In captivity, most parrots
will try to bond to one person. Parrots make good pets
for us because, in the absence of a mate, they will bond to humans.
They begin to think of us as their mate when they sexually mature.
This bonding can range from simply liking one person a bit more
than others, to the opposite end of the spectrum, where the bird
can only be handled by one person and attacks everyone else!
I have heard it said
that male birds pick women to bond with, and female birds pick
men. I don't find this to be true. But because women, on
average, spend more time in the home than men, and there are
more male parrots than females in many species, a male parrot
bonding with a woman is somewhat more common than other combinations.
This may lead to a false conclusion that there is a connection
in some way other than who the bird happens to be around the
most when it reaches sexual maturity.
Once a naturally aggressive type of parrot picks a favourite
human for a mate, it will then pick someone else in the family
to dislike and defend their chosen mate from. Usually it's the
opposite-sex adult that is at home the most. I like to say that
the parrot now thinks of it as his "job" to protect
his chosen person. So, if the bird bonds with the
wife, it will usually choose the husband to defend her against,
and vice-versa. This behaviour, in the eyes of the "victim",
is totally uncalled for, and can cause resentment, and even marital
strife. Many times, I've heard a spouse say, "I never did
anything wrong, but the bird acts like I abuse him". I've
also heard lots of people say that a particular bird hates men
(or women) so much it must have been abused by them at some time
in it's life. This is usually not true, but instead it is our
interpretation of the reason why a bird might go after one person
so aggressively.
When you see baby parrots
in the store, they are all cute and cuddly, but it is hard
to tell what they will be like when they grow up. Aggressiveness,
breeding behaviours, and the one-person tendencies usually start
to show up in adolescence, which in parrot family members can
range from 6 months to a year, or up to two or three years of
age, depending on what age that particular species comes to full
breeding maturity. Larger birds generally mature later.
Different types of birds
are known for their differences in the degree to which they bond.
If, in the wild, they are loosely bonded to their mates, are
gregarious and social, and do not become aggressive and territorial
in the presence of other flock mates during the breeding season,
then this should be the kind of bird that is not as one-person
oriented or aggressive in captivity. On the other hand,
if the pair moves away from the flock during breeding season,
and sets up a territory to defend, then this bird would seasonally,
at least, become strongly bonded to one person and aggressive
to other members of the household. (See the different types of birds for a description
of their bonding characteristics.)
It is certainly more
impressive to have a large parrot, but what are the true advantages
and disadvantages? There are many types of small to medium-size
parrots that make wonderful pets. The advantages of having
a small bird are: they are easier to hold and carry, they don't
need a huge cage, they are less destructive, generally quieter,
easier to discipline effectively, and droppings are smaller.
The advantages of having a larger bird are: they generally live
longer, when they talk the voice is louder (more like a human's
voice), and they are sturdier.
Bigger birds usually
cost more than smaller ones, except in the case of a rare bird
which may be small but very expensive.
Some
people want an active, clownish, outgoing, cheeky bird bubbling
with personality, others want a quieter, calm, mellow, sweet
bird. Some want something in between. There
are birds of all these descriptions, but it is important to understand
that certain traits go together.
For example,
talking ability and aggressiveness usually go hand-in-hand.
It would be hard to find a bird that was a superb, outgoing talker
and performer that was also very gentle and sweet. A partial
exception to this is the African Grey Parrot, which is an excellent
talker but fairly non-aggressive. But African Greys are
not noted for performing; they are not show-offs. So the
shy nature of the Grey manifests itself in the reserved way that
they talk. Amazon Parrots are great talkers and performers,
but have a reputation for being the epitome of a one-person bird
who will not hesitate to attack someone they don't like.
Don't get me wrong, not all Amazons are aggressive one-person
birds, just a higher percentage of them.
Another
example would be noise and talking ability. A good talker
is not likely to be a quiet bird. He will probably be rowdy,
with lots of screams and noise, because he loves attention!
Active birds are more fun, but they take more effort to keep
them out of trouble; some of them are quite a going concern when
they are out of the cage.
Very
affectionate birds that like to be touched, petted and cuddled
need a lot of attention when you're home. They usually
suffer if everyone in the house is gone for long periods most
days, or if you are home but too busy to spend time with the
bird.
We have
a pet Blue-headed Pionus that is wonderful for being a non-demanding
bird. He spends most of the day happily sitting on his
cage or play-stand, watching the goings-on in the household,
and doesn't want or need much attention at all. He is totally
reliable to put on strangers' hands; he has been petted by over
3000 people over the years at the shows we do at various places
like libraries. He doesn't chew on things when he's out,
he's "potty trained", and most of the time he's quiet.
He can be very affectionate, loves to go for car rides when the
weather is nice, and have a bath on the lawn with the spray from
a garden hose.
Before
you say, "Wait!!! Where can I get one?", I must
also tell you that he doesn't talk much (says 3 things), he doesn't
do any tricks, and he sits and does nothing a lot.
He would be too boring for some people who want their bird to
be active and playful. But for us right now, as busy
as we are, he is a great pet bird.
Parrots
are long-lived, as you may have heard. Some of the
reports are exaggerated, I'm sure. If someone asked you
"how long do people live?", you wouldn't say "120"
because you heard that some lady in Russia lived that long.
Realistically, people live on average about 75 years, but there
are lots of people who die in their 50's, just as there are people
who live to be in their 90's.
Parrots
can live a long time if they live a safe, healthy life, but the
statistics vary widely depending on the source. Some birds
have been very long-lived, but then others die before expected.
One big factor to a long life is getting prompt veterinary attention
if your bird gets sick. Don't "wait and see",
because these birds are small and have a high metabolism, and
it doesn't take long for something to drag them down. Other
important factors are diet and attention to safety issues.
To an
extent, larger birds have a longer expected lifespan. To
give you a general idea of how long a certain type of bird might
live, if it lives a long, safe, healthy life, see the list below:
Large
Parrots (Macaws, large Cockatoos, Amazons, African Greys).................40-50
year range
Mid-size
Parrots (small Cockatoos, Pionus) ...........................................................30-40
year range
Small
Parrots (Conures, Caiques, Poicephalus)........................................................20-30
year range
Parakeets
and Cockatiels.............................................................................................late
teens to early 20's
Budgies,
Lovebirds, Parrotlets...................................................................................early
to late teens
By the
time they're 6 months to a year old, a majority of parrots will
become basically unhandleable by children. This isn't
necessarily because the kids tease them or do anything wrong,
but because children usually aren't firm or consistent enough
to keep the bird from taking advantage of them. I
find that the best pets for children under, say, the mid-teenage
years, are the Cockatiel and Budgie. Anything bigger
than that, and the beak is powerful enough to intimidate children,
and the bird gets his way, which only reinforces the behaviour
of biting.
If you
are thinking of buying a bird for one of your children, please
consider how the child will feel if after a year or so, only
Mom or Dad can handle it and he or she can't. Also, teenagers
get to a point where they're not home as much and out more with
friends. If you get the kind of bird that bonds strongly
to just the child and no one else, then it will be miserable
if the child's interest wanes as he/she gets older and more independent.
Because these birds can live such a long time and get so attached
to us, you must also consider that when children go off to college,
or get an apartment of their own, they may not be able to take
the bird with them, and it will become your bird anyway. This
is the point at which a lot of people sadly give up their child's
pet because they can't handle it or don't have the time, and
"it just isn't fair for him to be locked up" in a cage
all the time.
It would
be far better to get a bird that makes a good family pet; one
that is unlikely to become a one-person bird, and then everyone
can enjoy it. For these reasons, I recommend the Cockatiel and
Budgie for families, and suggest that teenagers wait to get a
parrot until they are at least in their early to mid-twenties.
By then they will likely have a place of their own, and know
if they have the time to devote to such an intelligent and loving
pet.
Because
most people start out learning about birds with a Budgie or a
Cockatiel, they hear that "males make better talkers than
females". With Budgies and Cockatiels this is true,
along with several larger Parakeet family members. In Cockatiels,
males make better talkers because they are more vocal naturally.
The male Cockatiel whistles for its mate in the wild, and this
vocal nature tends to make them better mimics. However,
in the vast majority of other parrot family members, there is
no difference in talking ability between males and females.
Their vocal abilities are equal.
In some
types of parrots, males are more outgoing, independent, and aggressive;
they will be bolder and attempt to dominate the person they bond
to. The females of these particular types can be a bit
sweeter and more affectionate, but also are somewhat more demanding
for attention. Then there are the types where the females
are the bossy ones, and they are usually known for biting harder
and being more domineering. (See the Types
of Birds
page for a more detailed description.)
Most
Parrot family members naturally make a lot of noise. This
raucous nature is part of the reason they make good talkers.
If the type of bird you buy is one of the noisier types that
someone in the house can't tolerate, then the bird can become
a major source of resentment.
Consider
your living environment (an small apartment vs. a large house)
and the people in the family (if there is a baby, an elderly
person, or a shift worker living there). Also consider
your neighbors, especially if you live in a townhouse. Then make
sure you visit a place such as an aviary where you can observe
the noise level of an adult bird of the type you are interested
in.
Some
parrots are fairly quiet, but if you are interested in one of
the noisier ones, then there are things you can do to control
the noise level of your bird, to a point. (See Noise on
the New
Bird Owner
page)
The ability
to mimic the human voice is the characteristic that parrots are
best known for. It's probably the reason why most
people get interested in parrots in the first place. Those
of us who know parrots well sometimes get a bit annoyed when
someone wants a bird that can talk, and talking seems to be their
only criteria for buying a bird. We get frustrated because
we know that parrots are so much more than just mimics....we
know that they are intelligent, affectionate, playful, and chock
full of personality. Most breeders wish that potential
pet owners would place less emphasis on talking ability, but
we also know that it's a fact that it's very cool when the bird
talks.
Part
of the problem is that there is never any kind of guarantee that
the bird you buy will talk, even if it is one of the ones known
for exceptional talking ability. We hope that you will
love the bird anyway, even if it doesn't talk. And that's
the bottom line: buy a pet first, one that you like the personality
of, and if it talks, you have a bonus!
Here
are some notable talkers and a brief description of the talking
characteristics they display:
Budgies
For
your money, there is no better talker than a young male Budgie.
They are fairly reliable at learning to say at least some words
and phrases, and some of them say dozens! They are usually
not very loud and you have to be up close to them to hear and
understand what they are saying. They sometimes tend to
jabber and run their words and phrases together.
Peach-fronted
Conures, Blue-crowned Conures, Mitred Conures These three types
of Conures have a notable talking ability, in that they are fairly
reliable at learning a fair number of words and phrases, and
are fairly easy to get to perform their talents. Outgoing
and boisterous, these birds love attention and will talk to get
it. Voice is medium-loud and fairly clear.
Amazon
Parrots These
birds are known for their ability to talk and perform.
They are outgoing in nature, and love to get excited and try
to get attention. Their clarity and number of words is
excellent, and some will sing entire songs. They are very
good at talking for an audience.
African
Grey Parrot
Thought by many to be the best talker in terms of clarity, volume,
and having the most human-like voice. They are known for
showing their intelligence by saying appropriate things, and
showing an ability for word association and reasoning.
During their lives most learn an astounding number of words and
phrases. They are usually not good performers, preferring
to speak only when people they know well are around.
At first
it may seem that parrots are pretty expensive. But when
you stop to consider their long lifespan, the difficulties in
breeding them, the amount of work involved in caring for the
breeders year-round, and all the hours devoted to hand raising
the babies, it starts to sound more reasonable.
The stores
have a bigger selection than most breeders do, but if you take
the time to find a reputable breeder who has the type of bird
you are looking for, you will find that the cost of the bird
is only 1/2 to 3/4 of what you would pay for it in a store.
In general,
bigger birds cost more money, and they need bigger cages which
cost more, as well. Prices range from under $100
for Budgies, Cockatiels, and Lovebirds, to over $1000 for some
of the bigger, or rarer, birds. There are a large number
of birds in the $250-900 price range which make wonderful pets.
For a
list of our current prices of the types of parrots we breed,
see Current
Birds for Sale.
When
people go to look at birds, sometimes they see babies together
in a cage and think that they would be happier if they were kept
together. Parrots make good pets because of their propensity
toward bonding to people in the absence of others of their own
kind. If you put two tame birds together, at first they
might be jealous of each other and the attention the other gets
from people. There may be aggressiveness because of this
jealousy. But if you leave them together long enough, eventually
they will likely bond, and each will have less potential as a
pet (not as tame), had you only bought one. They would
certainly not have the same talking ability, because they will
talk "bird talk" to each other rather than mimicking
you. Also, if these two birds were from the same clutch
they would be related, and when they became mature, they may
have the desire to breed. If successful, then this would
be inbreeding, and not recommended for genetic reasons.
Some people have managed to keep two tame birds together, even
of different kinds, but it is because they spend a lot of time
with them. If you're thinking about getting a second bird
because you have enough time for two, then this might work. But
if you're considering it because of a feeling of guilt for lack
of time for the first bird, then it would be a mistake, because
if you don't have time for one, both would go wild and be unhandleable
before long.
"Forest"
and "Emerald"
(Senegal Parrot & Hahn's Macaw) "holding hands".
If you
think you don't have enough time to devote to a bird as a pet,
and you would rather just have a nice bird in a cage, then you
can and should go ahead and buy another one to keep it company.
Parrots are very social, and need contact (touch) as well as
verbal and visual interaction. If you purchase two birds
as breeders or buddies, then this is okay, provided that you
buy two unrelated birds of compatible species, give them a big
enough cage or separate cages, and you're prepared to accommodate
them with a nest box if they are an unrelated pair of the
same species and they want to breed.
It has
been said that there is no such thing as a cage too big for a
bird. I agree with this thinking, and I would like to add
some recommendations to help you choose a cage that you and your
bird can be happy with for a long time.
Round
cages look nice, but they are impractical for many reasons.
They ruin the feathers of the bird when they climb because the
cage wraps around the bird, and as they fan their tail or spread
their wings for balance, the bars interfere. There is not
much room to hang more than one toy. If there is room for
two perches, they cross over each other, and the bottom one gets
poop on it, which the bird steps in. Without the corners,
there is much less space for the bird to climb and stretch its
wings. The bottom has no bars (grill) to keep the bird
out of its mess. Most of them are designed with a solid
slippery top that the bird can't sit on when he's out.
The solid top also makes the interier of the cage dark. And
lastly, the bottom is round, so it's hard to fit paper into.
Hopefully I have just talked you out of a round cage.
That
leaves us with a square or rectangular cage to consider.
It is far more important for the cage to be wider or deeper,
than taller. Height does nothing to give a bird more room,
other than giving him more climbing room up and down. The
most benefit comes with horizontal increases, where he can have
more perches, more room to flap his wings, and more room for
toys to hang. The cage should be big enough for the bird to stretch
out both of his wings, at least in one direction.
Bar spacing
and thickness is important to consider, as well. The bars should
be narrow enough that the bird can't stick his head through,
because this will wreck his feathers, and he could potentially
get his head stuck. But they should be wide enough that
if he were to accidentally get his wing out through the bars,
he can easily pull it back in. For example, a Budgie cage
with 1/2 inch spacing between the bars is hazardous for a Cockatiel,
because the Cockatiel can get his wing caught. A Cockatiel
cage with 3/4 inch spacing is hazardous for the budgie, because
he could get his head stuck.
The wider
the bars are spaced, the thicker they are. Some mid-sized
parrots are okay in a large Cockatiel cage if they are not big
chewers. But other mid-sized birds might bend Cockatiel
bars if they have strong beaks. The following
is a general guide for bar spacing and thickness, using an approximate
size range of birds:
1/2
-inch bars: Suitable for Finches, Canaries, Budgies, Lovebirds
and Parrotlets.
3/4
-inch bars: Suitable for Cockatiels, small to large Parakeets,
Conures, Poicephalus, Caiques, Pionus, and Timneh
African Greys (these are borderline, and could go into a 1-inch
bar, also).
1 -inch bars:
Suitable for Cockatoos, Amazons, Eclectus, African Greys, basically
all large parrots, although Macaws can be in 1 1/2 to 2-inch
spacing, as well.
Styles
of cages are almost endless. Some of the newer finishes
are very durable, and won't tarnish the way the brass cages did.
Look for a cage with food and water cups than can be serviced
from the outside of the cage for convenience. If you can
get a cage with a grill on the bottom, then you have the option
of using it if your bird likes to go to the bottom and rip up
his paper. Other features may include a top that opens
up, wheels on the base, or a seed guard (flared metal around
the bottom). Look for a cage with a big enough door to
easily get your bird in and out.
Choose
a cage that you can afford, but go as large as you can.
After you have put a bird in it, it is considered "used",
even if it is only for a short time. A used cage only sells
for about 60% of what a new one would, and that is a lot of money
to lose if you should change your mind and want something more
roomy for your bird.
USED
CAGE
If you
decide to save some money and buy a used cage, you have to make
sure the cage is clean and disinfected before you put your new
bird into it. Even if the bird that was in the cage previously
was apparently healthy, I have to tell you that it might have
been carrying a disease to which it was immune, and the new bird
isn't. If you have a young bird, it is more susceptible
to diseases because its immune system is not as effective as
an adult's. Also, your bird will have just gone through
a stressful move to its new home.
Javex
(Clorox in the U.S.) bleach is the safest, most effective all-around
disinfectant you can buy. It kills a wide variety of organisms
very effectively. There are other more expensive disinfectants,
but they usually target a specific group of organisms, not a
broad range, and they can be dangerous to use because of toxicity.
Organic
materials neutralize bleach, so you can't disinfect wood, leather,
or cotton rope. Throw the old wooden perches away and get
new ones. (See "Safe Wood for Perches" on the
"For
the New Bird Owner" page.) If there are any toys
that came with the cage, they can be disinfected as long as they're
made entirely of metal and plastic. Throw away any mineral
blocks or cuttle bones that might be hanging in the cage.
First
you need to wash the cage with hot soapy water to remove any
dirt, dust, food particles, or fecal material and then rinse
it. Then, if the cage will fit in the bathtub, put about
2 inches of cold water in the tub, and add about a quarter of
a bottle of Javex. Let the first side of the cage soak
for 15 minutes, and then rotate the cage so that all sides and
the top get a 15-minute soak. While you're doing that,
if there is a base that can't be covered by water, sponge the
Javex water over it and keep it wet. Put the cups in there
too. Then rinse the cage and towel it dry, and if
you can let it sit in the sun for a few hours (rotating it occasionally),
this would be ideal.
If the
cage won't fit in the tub, then you will need to repeatedly sponge
it, keeping it wet for 15 minutes at least. Out on your
driveway is a good place to do this, so the bleach won't kill
your grass.
Another
important thing to consider, when deciding where to buy your
bird, is whether the seller has an adequate health guarantee.
It is reasonable to expect that if the bird is not well when
you buy it, that you should be able to return the bird for a
full refund. I know of one place that gives no health
guarantee whatsoever, and if you don't ask, you won't find out
until it's too late. I'm sure there are many more places like
this.
It has
been explained to me that most laws protect the seller, and it's
"buyer beware"! Unfortunately, according to the
law, it's up to you - the purchaser - to prove that the seller
knew that the bird was sick when he sold it to you.
If it ever went to court, proving this might well be impossible
for you to do.
Some
sellers, such as myself, give a guarantee that covers you for
this lack of protection in the written laws, as long as you have
the bird checked by a vet within a reasonable length of time
after you take the bird home. My own guarantee states
that you must have the bird vet checked within two working days
of purchase. If the veterinarian determines that the bird
has a previously unknown problem, then you can return the bird
for a refund or replacement. This also applies to lab tests
that might be done at the time, but may take a week or more for
the results to come back. Find out whether the retailer
will only refund your purchase cost in merchandise. Some
places will not hand you cash back when you return the bird due
to illness!
Occasionally
someone will ask me, "what happens if the bird dies a short
time after I buy it?" Years ago, I thought about this
and came up with a solution that seems fair to all. Remember
that the retailer has to be protected as well, because sometimes
people who buy a bird are neglectful. All breeders have
heard stories, like the one where the people buy a bird and on
the way home stop to buy a cage, leaving their bird in a car
in the baking sun. Then they call up the seller and say
that the bird must have been sick when they bought it, because
it is dead. Or they take the bird in to their local pet
store or a friend's house (who also has birds) to show it off, and
it catches a contagious disease and becomes sick.
This
is my own policy: If within 6 months of purchase your bird
dies, you must get an autopsy to determine the cause. If
it is shown that the bird had a condition that likely originated
before it was sold, even if no one knew about it, then we pay
for the autopsy and you get a full refund. If the autopsy
comes to no definite conclusion (and to be truthful, this does
happen in some post mortems), then we pay for half of the autopsy
and offer a replacement at half price. If it is determined
that the illness occurred after the bird was sold, then there
is no compensation. This guarantee helps the purchaser
out, and covers him where the law doesn't.
When
baby birds are very young, it's difficult for an inexperienced
person to tell if they're sick. Babies normally sleep a
lot, and huddle with their nest mates, and can't do very much
yet, like walk around or perch. But as they near weaning
age, when they are almost ready to go to a new home, you should
look carefully at their behaviour and appearance to determine
if they are robust and healthy. Here are a few warning
signs that the bird might not be healthy, that you should be
on the lookout for:
1.)
Is the baby in good feather? Some inexperienced potential bird
owners think that a baby parrot should be small and fluffy.
Actually, by the time a baby is weaned, it is perching, basically
full grown, and has all of its feathers. If the plumage
of the bird is a bit dishevelled, that is normal, because babies
are kind of hard on their feathers. But if the baby has
patches of down poking through the coloured feathers, then it
may have been picked on by its parents or it may have started
plucking itself. Other causes may be that it's too young to be
weaned, or worse still, have a disease. There are at least
two very serious illnesses which can affect the feathers this
way.
2.)
Is the baby active and playful? If the baby is off in a corner sleeping,
and hesitates to wake up for your visit, it may be sick.
Healthy babies do sleep somewhat more than an adult bird, but
they usually wake up when there is something interesting going
on. You might want to visit the baby another time to see
if it is more active.
3.)
Are its eyes large and clear, and are the nostrils clean?
Sometimes infections show up as conjunctivitis (eye infection)
or sinusitis (nostrils plugged or with discharge). These
infections can be minor and clear up quickly with the proper
medicine, or they can be a sign that there is something more
serious going on.
4.)
Is the baby fully weaned? The baby should be eating totally
on its own, without any supplemental hand feedings, before it
is sold. Some babies take longer to wean than others, but
delayed weaning can be a sign of a problem, and it is definitely
best to wait until the baby has been eating on its own for at
least a week. Ask how long it has been since the baby had
to be hand fed.
5.)
Is the weight good?
Ask the seller to show you how to check the baby's weight.
Down the belly of the bird, from the chest to just above the
legs, there is a bone called the keel bone. On a turkey
(if you'll pardon the example), it is the sharp bone that runs
down the center of the breast. If you check for this bone
with your thumb and index finger, you should be able to feel
it. On an adult bird of normal weight, this bone should
be even with the flesh, not sticking out. Babies will usually
have a keel bone that is slightly protruding, because they have
just weaned and gone through the slimming down phase, and also
they are very active, so they're not likely to be overweight.
If you feel the bone sticking out more than an eighth (in a small
bird) to a quarter of an inch or so (in a big bird), you
might want to hold off taking the baby home until it has picked
up a bit more weight.
