The Parrots And People Paradox

(CBS)  Mira Tweti and Zazu, her pet parrot, are inseparable.

Not because Tweti (pronounced Tweety, and yes, that's her real name) wants it that way, but because Zazu demands it, CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker reports.

Tweti explains, "With a parrot there's only one place for everything in your home ... and that's on the floor. He's a huge amount of work."

Parrots are beautiful. They can talk, and do tricks.

The average parrot has the intelligence of a 3- to 5-year-old child," Tweti says.

With an estimated 40 million parrots in U.S. households, they're not far behind cats and dogs in popularity.

But owners soon learn Polly wants a cracker: hand-prepared food, plus all your time, attention and patience.

Mira Tweti should know. She wrote a book on the difficult relations between parrots and people.

"They can live to [age] 80," she explains. "They're loud, they poop incessantly, they love to chew. What you've got is a 3-year-old running around with a can opener on its face."

And like a toddler, if they don't get the care and attention they need, they bite and scream.

Or even worse, isolated in a cage these flock animals go stir crazy, mutilating themselves and plucking out feathers. It's all too much for many people.

Says Tweti: "These are long-lived animals that are designed to live in flocks. The average person would like to have some alone time, the average parrot doesn't want it."

Declining in natural habitats, flocks of parrots are multiplying in some places, with 30,000 flying around cities from California to Brooklyn -- set loose by frustrated owners. Growing even faster are parrot rescue centers, now found in every state.

At the Garuda Aviary, part of a Buddhist monastery in Maryland, they're full to overflowing.

"So many people realize they've taken on too much. So we get a lot of requests, but sadly, we are not able to fulfill them," says Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo, the center's spiritual director.

It's such a big problem that the Humane Society now recommends unwanted birds be euthanized. Tweti promised to take care of Zazu when friends couldn't bear it any longer.

Every day at some point I think to myself, 'I can't take it another minute'," Tweti says.

And every few minutes, someone else is buying another parrot.

©2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved

[SissyCool]

For those who say the birds would be better off free in their native homes or whatever. My sweet SugarBear (Bare Eyed Cockatoo) would be most likely KILLED in his "natural" habitat. In Australia, they kill THOUSANDS if not MILLIONS of Bare Eyeds each year because they are considered pests by farmers. And as for many other species...their "natural" habitat is being destroyed! Where would they go? How would they survive?
SugarBear has never known that type of freedom...and maybe that's sad. But I truly believe he is happy here and loves me and his home, as do my DYH amazon and my 4 budgies. And he isn't hunted or considered a pest. He's loved and cared for to the very best of our ability.

[paso111]

I found this a little one sided and with a hint of HSUS and PETA in action.

What I think is important to understand is that there are parrot rescues but maybe one or two per state. In Comparison to dog and cats, you will find one or two in most towns.

Is there a potential for a problem? Yes but it is a dilemma at this point....no.

Many of the rescues have created their own issues in that they won't adopt parrots out, so no wonder they are busting at the seams!

[merlynn1]

This story was very one sided. It showed how one person let themselves be dictated to by their pet bird. This probably would have happened no matter what pet she had. While I agree that people get birds without taking into condsideration the amount of time and money that is needed to keep these great pets happy and healthy, they are the same people who would probably buy a rabbit for Easter, a puppy or kitten for Christmas and then end up regretting it later.Everyone should get all the facts before deciding on and getting any kind of a pet.

[BarbGoodBirdInc]

please note the questions marks were either quotation marks or periods. looks my cut and paste approach did not work so well.
Barbara

[BarbGoodBirdInc]

I appreciate the various comments in response to my post and these are important questions raised.

While I agree positive reinforcement training is relatively new to the parrot world, the good news is, it is happening : ) And the movement is growing faster than many may think. As someone who teaches seminars on this around the world, I am happy to share more and more people are helping positive reinforcement gain momentum with the parrot community.

Rather than disempowering people by suggesting it is too much work, or owners will not do it, I think we do better by parrots and people by modeling the ease at which it can be incorporated into animal care ?and fully support this movement. When we give a rationale that ?no one will do it? we are not empowering people, nor helping parrots.

In regard to the question of flight; having just lectured in Finland where parrots are not clipped, I can report it is possible to safely give a parrot the freedom to fly in our homes. Giving an animal control is still something a bit foreign here. It is something our culture is not accustomed to. Certainly we have popular TV shows that pretty much advocate controlling and dominating animas. This is opposite to the true positive reinforcement approach to training, and a mindset I and others are working hard to change.

I keep my own birds flighted. I manage them the same as my dog, using positive reinforcement. The dog and the birds eagerly come when called, stay in desired locations, drop items on cue, etc. While I realize it is still new here in the US, I just wanted to make it clear we do not need to take away flight to manage a bird in the home. And for some cultures it is the norm for birds to be flighted. Again openly embracing and supporting education on positive reinforcement training makes this possible.

The comparison to birds in the wilds vs. birds in the home is another argument that is often presented as a welfare issue. It is important to remember that ?wild? or ?natural? does not necessarily equal ?ideal? It would be an interesting study to try to measure how quality of life in the wild vs. life in a home compares. Needless to say a study that could be easily biased and would be difficult to test, but interesting none the less. My guess is it would be easy to find arguments for both situations offering benefits and disadvantages.

In response to innate behavior (i.e pooping frequently) something most do not know is that we modify innate behaviors all the time. (In fact animals modify innate behaviors in the wild?look at nest building activities that improve via learning) If pooping is viewed as a problem, one can easily teach parrots acceptable locations to poop, as I and many others have trained our birds to do. In my home I am cleaning up more dog hair than bird poop ; )

I share this information not to make an argument that parrots are the best pets for everyone, but as a suggestion that it does not have to be the difficult situation that has been presented. We can do well by birds and also experience the benefit of that relationship.

I too also support parrot conservation, am thrilled to pieces when I see parrots in the wild, and regularly donate money to causes that help parrots in the wild. I believe the situation is not as black and white as eradicating parrots as pets or condemning the pet industry. I have been fortunate to meet many people in the pet industry who genuinely care about responsible pet ownership. One way to make a difference is to support those folks and not lump them in with those whose only concern is the dollar sign.

I do believe we have a common goal of trying to do well by parrots and I hope my comments give some inspiration as to what is possible as opposed to viewing the situation as hopeless or only for select few. Perhaps I am idealistic : ) but I do believe to help parrots in all situations we need to empower people with the tools to teach them how to do it well. Add to that a cultural acceptance that we indeed CAN help via education on positive reinforcement??think of all the good we can do for those birds and their caregivers.

Thanks for the opportunity to respond.
Barbara Heidenreich
Good Bird Inc

PS I am writing this while I sit in a room full of parrot owners getting educated at a conference on parrot behavior, training and enrichment. One just said "I absolutely adore my amazon parrot" That connection is what it is all about to me.

[hypnotoad72]

Excellent comments from all.

I own three green Cheek Conures -- they ARE a commitment. Even when you can get them to play with toys, they still are bonded to humans due to their hand-fed nature. Playing games and spending good time with them, even an hour a day, is essential. Even at feeding time.

Also, buy foods made in the USA or other countries with actual regulations. These days, with horror stories of contaminated pet food coming from other countries, which coincidentally seem to lack regulations.

[oliscot]

Yes parrots can provide great enrichment to peoples lives when potential owners do their research and have the patientce and means to provide for the animals basic needs, but whats in it for the parrot?? They have to sacrifice their freedom, the abilty to fly unrestricted, often the joy of companionship of their own species (many parrots are kept singly), etc. To me its just not fair! Imagine if the shoe was on the other foot and humans were treated like this just to provide another species with entertainment/companionship - there would be an outcry then! Yes centain exotic pets can adqapt to have a reasonable life in captivity when theior basic needs are met - snakes, fish, and maybe certain small mammals come to mind, but parrots are not one of them. Unfortunately we cannot close pandoras box so to speak. All we can do now is hope that eventually people will see sense and the captive parrot trade will gradually phase out - a long shot but one can only hope.

[oliscot]

An excellent piece. True, it didnt fully cover all the joys of parrot ownership (there was a small bit at the beginning), but the pet industry/bird keeping press does enough of that - much to the cost of the health/wellbeing of many captive parrots and their current/potential owners!

What I got from this piece was the fact that parrots are demanding, highly inteligent/social creatures that suffer greatly if their complex physical and emotional needs are not met - a truth that anyone who truely knows parrots and makes a proper attempt to meet their avian friends needs cannot deny. It also points out the fact that far to many people rush out, buy a parrot without properly researching its requirements, only to find that they cannot cope with trying to provide for such a complex/wild being, and consequently resort to relinquishing it to one of the many but overflowing rescues in the country. At no stage did it say noone should own a parrrot, just that people really need to think very carefully before taking on such a demaning pet - very sensible advice.

Ulitmately, humans should never have tried to make a pet of such a wild/sentient/inteligent creature as a parrot, but unfortuately whats done is done and there is no turning back. What we can do now is avoid perpetuating the problem of unwanted parrots by not breeding any more, seriously considering whether we are capable of and willing to ajust our lifestyle and make the necessary sacrifices to meet the needs of such a complicated demanding creature as best as possible (nothing comes near to life in the wild) before taking one on, and adopt from one of the many rescues rather than buy from a breeder/petstiore (no matter how good/caring they seem).

[ParrotWriter]

PS: Correction to my post below: I have been a bird person since 1990 and It was actually longer ago than 5 years as stated below, that I was transformed by the facts about the plight of companion parrots in the US.

It was in 1995, still during the pet bird boom in this country, while I was working on my first documentary about parrots, Birds of a Feather. I began to uncover the dark side to the pet bird business and the problems of parrots in captivity.

That enlightenment was enhanced when I researched and wrote my (award-winning) expose' "Plenty to Squawk About" for the Los Angeles Times Magazine in 2003.

If anyone wants to know the foundation of both my book (Of Parrots and People: the Sometimes Funny, Always Fascinating, and Often Catastrophic Collision of Two Intelligent Species) and my passionate concern regarding parrots, read that article. I'm sure it's free for the Googling as it was reprinted on more than 35 sites at the time, and goodness knows how many now.

[ParrotWriter]

Hi Califconure, good posts. I couldn't have said it better. Plus, the issue not addressed in the post previous to yours just now, is even if you can have a fab relationship with a parrot, as I have with mine, no one is taking account of the cost to the bird to not live in the wild and fly free.

We like to believe that we and our homes are all they need because we co-opt them for our entertainment and we love them (what more could any being want?!) but it is far from the truth. After five years and more than 500 interviews (legal_eagle has been following my work apparently as she/he had all her facts right - thanks!) I was transformed from a parrot lover who thought everyone in the world who wanted one should have one, to someone who was aware of the crisis - the burgeoning crisis - in the US today regarding pet birds (70% of which are parrots) and around the world.

It'll be decades, if ever, that I see a penny more than my book advance from Viking (to write the book and it cost me much more than that to do it) so I am not trying to sell books to make money. I wrote it as a passion project because of my love for these remarkable feathered creatures and to raise awareness, much needed awareness apparently, for their plight.

I would encourage anyone confused about my stand to read my book and see how the information changed my mind. Now I don't think anyone who wants a parrot should have one, far from it. And while it would be fantastic if all those who have them would take good advice from bird behaviorists, few owners would pay for the information or invest the time and patience to reap the rewards. Most owners (according to AAV stats) never even take their birds to a vet for a check up in the bird's life, and a majority never take them out of their cage with any frequency. So it's a sad lot for most birds as it is and as it likely will be in future.

From all that I've heard from the hundreds of interviews w/parrot rescuers, most people when they found out what was involved in caring for a parrot, were sorry they bought it in the first place. And that's the most tragic aspect of all now that these birds are in short supply in the wild because of the pet trade and only more recently impacted by deforestation - there's just no winning if you're a parrot!

Mira Tweti
Los Angeles
[e-mail]

PS Califconure - pls email me your contact info. I'd like to add you to my email list.