The Making of a Parrot Companion

Pamela Clark, IAABC Certified, Parrot Behavior Consultant

One of the truest things ever said about parrots was, "Parrots are what you make of them." This is totally accurate. I can create a parrot that screams all day. I can create a parrot that bites and can't be removed from his cage. I can create a parrot that sits in one place all day and won't play with toys. I can create a parrot that is afraid to be anywhere except on my shoulder. Or, I can create a parrot that is independent and a joy to be around.

As parrot owners, we too often regard our parrots as static companions, passive and unchanging. I frequently hear statements such as "My parrot hates to be bathed." "He doesn't like vegetables and won't eat pellets." "He won't play with toys." "He doesn't like other people." "He's a very needy parrot." "He's an aggressive parrot." The truth, however, is that all of these characteristics can be changed in adult parrots. They can also be prevented. This article will take a close look at what goes into the creation of a truly rewarding parrot companion.

Parrots are complex, intelligent, long-lived social creatures, and a lot of work. Each of us is much more likely to keep and care for the more rewarding and entertaining avian companion. In my opinion, it is not the level of commitment that insures a permanent place in our hearts for a particular parrot, but our enjoyment of the relationship we have with that bird. It is the quality of the heart connection we have with the bird, which will be a direct reflection of our interactions with him. We, as humans, will fight for those relationships that give us the most.

The large numbers of parrots dumped into rescue and rehoming programs reflects the fact that we do not always undertake the rearing of a parrot companion in an effective or successful manner. Rearing a rewarding parrot companion is truly an art.

Pre-purchase Questions to Ask

It is appropriate to stop and question ourselves before we purchase a young parrot. Should we even have a parrot? Or, should I get another parrot? This is an exercise in developing realistic expectations. Parrots are delightful, but they take a lot of work. As Phoebe Linden said, "Cleaning cages is not nearly as much fun the second decade."

What do I know about myself? Am I a person capable of sustained consistency? Do I typically finish what I start? Do I have a deep sense of commitment to my pets? Do I like to do a lot of cleaning? Can I tolerate the mess a parrot creates? Do I like to stay at home a lot? Do I have the financial resources to have a parrot?

If you are reading this, there is a good chance that you have already answered these questions in the affirmative for yourselves. However, when a friend who doesn't have a parrot contemplates the acquisition of one, these are the considerations to share with her. Many people should not have parrots, and simply wanting one is not enough. The same thinking should apply when we contemplate the addition of another parrot. It is so easy to take in too many parrots and exceed our own capacity to care well for them.

We parrot lovers have a tendency to contemplate the acquisition of a new parrot with the same enthusiasm we might feel when anticipating a trip to Disneyland. However, Disneyland is a time limited experience, but a parrot is likely to be with us for 50 years. With the number of parrots in rescue programs, it is important to begin taking a more sober approach to the adoption of parrots.

Purchase Considerations - One or Two?

There are many important factors to consider when getting a parrot (such as species and gender), and a full discussion of these factors is not within the scope of this article. However, one bears special consideration. If we decide that we can, in fact, hold up under the demands of parrot ownership and that purchasing a young parrot is the best course of action, we should examine the option of getting two young birds, rather than one.

One common pitfall in parrot ownership occurs when an owner gets a young parrot and that bird grows up overly bonded to a human. Obtaining two young parrots at the same time, keeping them in separate cages, but allowing them social time together daily, provides parrots with the experience of having another important relationship … an psittacine one. It helps to keep some balance in the household and to allow that young parrot to realize that he is a bird, and not a human.

If you are contemplating the acquisition of two young birds at the same time, some guidelines should be considered. It is a good idea to speak to someone with experience in interspecies relationships. One option is to get two parrots of the same species - in this case, it is safest to get two birds of the same sex in order to avoid any potential problems related to the development of a mate bond later on. The second option is to get two young parrots of different species. Gender is a less significant factor if acquiring species of parrots that are not closely related. The sexual sounds and signals of an Amazon are not likely to be interpreted as such by a cockatoo. In my experience, greys and cockatoos get along fairly well, even when not raised together. I have also known many homes where greys and Eclectus lived happily next to each other. New World parrots enjoy other New World Parrots.

The Acquisition of a Young Parrot

Once you've decided to get a baby parrot, you must next decide on a source. Avian veterinarian Brian Speer once stated in lecture, "Aviculture is the only farming industry that produces family members." That statement in itself allows us to understand the importance of this decision. It is critical that we identify a source capable of truly producing a successful family member.

I am generally opposed to the purchase of young parrots from pet stores, unless it is a very exceptional store. Most pet stores are unable to provide the young parrot with the environment needed for optimal early development. Young parrots are "learning machines." When a young parrot lives for months in a pet store where he receives only limited interaction from the staff, a limited diet, and limited opportunities to play, he will leave there with a "limited" personality and repertoire of skills.

But again, there are exceptions to this reality. There are some excellent bird stores - about as many as there are excellent breeders. Both are hard to find, and it is important to seek them out and support their efforts. We all need to recognize the importance of "voting with our dollars."

In most cases, the best choice is to purchase a baby parrot directly from an excellent breeder. In choosing a good breeder, it may be necessary to be on a waiting list for a period of time, as well as to travel a distance to get the baby. When I was raising greys, I often had a waiting list of over a year. That waiting period was a blessing in many ways, as it allowed the family to give careful thought to preparations for that baby's homecoming.

I also asked prospective owners to travel to my home in California to hand carry a baby home. That too had several advantages. It allowed the young parrot to become acquainted with the new owner in physical circumstances where he felt safe, and to develop a beginning bond before traveling to his new home. It also allowed the new owner to see how the young parrot had been living and what he had been eating. In that way, greater continuity was provided for the young bird.

In short, the acquisition was arranged with as much care and preparation as the adoption of a human child. Given that many parrots live a very long time, this is entirely appropriate. The impulse buy of baby parrots from pet stores is based on nothing more than the emotions present at the time. This does nothing to set that owner or parrot up for long-term success. When interviewing any prospective breeder, questions should be asked. The most important ones concern weaning and fledging.

Weaning …or Food Independence

It is a serious concern when a parrot is weaned too young. Termed "force weaning," it most often occurs when the breeder or pet store tries to increase profits by decreasing the time and effort invested in the baby prior to sale. During this process, an arbitrary time frame is imposed on the course of weaning. The underlying premise is that withholding feedings, the baby will become hungry enough to feed himself.

For example, it is often determined with African greys that babies should be ready for sale by the age of 12-13 weeks. But in reality, baby parrots will become food independent on their own, if provided with the raw materials for doing so. They do so according to genetic timetables, not human ones, and these natural timetables are invariably longer than those dictated by force weaning.

For example, I did the following with my baby greys. At around six weeks of age, I began offering a wide variety of fresh foods daily, as well as a good quality pellet. At six weeks, all they did was tromp through the food and poop in it. However, they were curious, and soon began to pick up one piece and then another before dropping it. At this time, they were still receiving three hand feedings a day.

As they grew, they developed the physical coordination to be able to pick up a food item in a foot, take a bite, and swallow it. Gradually, they finally evolved a sufficient attention span to enable them to fill their crop. This developmental process took place over a period of several weeks. The baby greys became food independent at different times, depending upon their individual personalities. However, the general time frame was somewhere between 16-20 weeks. They weaned themselves without experiencing a moment of hunger or uncertainty about when the next meal would come. Breeder and behavior consultant Phoebe Linden did a lot of work around the appropriate weaning of baby parrots and coined the term, Abundance Weaningä. When a baby is weaned abundantly, he never knows the anxiety that hunger brings.

This developmental period in which babies became food independent, corresponded beautifully with the timetables dictated by nature. Baby greys do not fledge and leave the nest until about 10-11 weeks of age. While no observations from the wild yet confirm this, I imagine that they then spend a few weeks honing their flying skills and developing the stamina necessary to keep up with the flock. They could not possibly be completely food independent by 12 weeks, and yet breeders who use force-weaning techniques often enforce this arbitrary time period.

Early weaning of baby parrots is directly responsible for a multitude of behavioral problems, such as repetitive calling, over-dependence on the owner, and inappropriate levels of anxiety. And yet, this early weaning is a prevalent practice in aviculture today.

When seeking a good breeder, it is best to identify one who practices abundance weaning and who weans babies to a variety of healthful fresh foods, in addition to a good quality pellet. However, admittedly, our options are often limited. If you have to deal with a breeder who weans babies too early, and you are able to visit the baby before he comes home, there are ways to counteract this potential problem. Take jars of vitamin A rich baby food (like sweet potatoes or winter squash) with you when you visit, as well as some Scenic Diet Hand Weaningä pellets. Teach him to eat the warm baby food from a spoon, and the soaked pellets from your fingers. That way, you can continue to support him nutritionally as he develops his eating skills after coming home to you. Similarly, if he has been weaned to a diet lacking in variety and quality, begin to gradually convert him to a healthier diet as soon as possible.

Fledging

This later timetable for food independence also allows for a full fledging experience. Fledging is the process in which the baby develops flight skills, and with greys, this takes 2-4 or more weeks. The advantages of natural fledging are incredible. First, a baby who learns to fly well becomes a more coordinated bird, which leads to greater confidence. Baby parrots are not well coordinated. Like young humans, they have an innate clumsiness that causes them to fall at times, and like most animals, parrots have a fear of falling.

While the urge to fly is instinctive, the ability to fly and land correctly is learned. First flights are often clumsy, and many result in some sort of crash landing. With practice, young parrots learn to turn in mid-air, to hover, and to land skillfully. Their coordination improves exponentially during this process. They begin to feel safer in the world, which results in increased confidence.

In addition to increased confidence and coordination, fledging carries with it other advantages. Young parrots that have a full fledging experience learn the enjoyment that exercise brings. They learn to revel in the feeling of moving air with their flight feathers. They are more likely, even when clipped later, to flap for exercise.

They also learn that they can go places. This is a vitally important lesson for a parrot, because it impacts the way he learns to interact with his environment. I talk often about flight because I think it is a critical issue as it relates to companion parrots. When I discuss flight during a presentation, owners invariably want to teach their older parrots to fly. I rarely respond enthusiastically to this challenge. From my experience, a parrot that didn't fledge normally and who has had clipped wings for years, has learned a sedentary way of relating to his environment. Allowing flight feathers to regrow, will rarely produce the desire to go places. This is a potentially dangerous situation, in my opinion, and I usually recommend that the parrot remain clipped. Baby parrots that are allowed to fledge and develop flight skills also develop the desire to go places and act on their environment. This makes them more interesting companions, if at times more challenging.

A young parrot that enjoys a full fledging experience also learns critical thinking skills, although this is difficult to quantify. However, a parrot that is flying has a lot more to decide upon than a parrot sitting in one place. He must think about where he wants to go, how fast and far he must fly to get there, and where to land. In other words, he learns to anticipate what he must do, and gets to experience the results of his actions. As he experiences his own ability to act on the environment by flying, he develops ideas about where to go and what to do - and additional personality development takes place.

When I was rearing Greys, I also found that they babies' social development was enhanced by flight. They could interact at will with each other and humans in the household, which further increased their confidence. They learned more about themselves in doing so, and made even greater gains in confidence.

A last advantage to purchasing a baby that has fledged and learned to fly well is that the owner will have a choice later about keeping that bird flighted or clipped. Even after being clipped for a period of time, a parrot that fledged as a baby will usually regain flight ability if the flight feathers are allowed to grow back. However, a clipped parrot that was never fledged will likely not want to learn to fly, unless it is still very young.

When interviewing a breeder who fledges her babies, another important question concerns how their wing feathers are trimmed, if they are. (Clipping the flight feathers is a common practice, but not always a necessary one - but may be desirable depending upon the household to which it is entering.) Clipping should be done very gradually. There is no doubt that the loss of flight is a significant to a young parrot. However, when done gradually, with the simultaneous provision of other opportunities for learning and stimulation, young birds will adapt.

This fledging experience makes all the difference to the young bird because it allows him to fully develop his personality and athletic nature, resulting in greater coordination and confidence. A fledgling who is not clipped prematurely will be a far different bird from the one whose experience was less friendly. Normal fledging and abundance weaning contribute greatly to the development of a successful avian companion. I have been able to see the differences in greys raised in this manner from those I rehabilitated who had been raised differently. For several years, I did rescue and rehab in an informal manner, taking in many greys who had not been well raised. So I have had at times a mixed flock of greys comprised of second-hand birds and those that I raised myself.

As a group, the second-hand Greys tend to suffer periodically with eating problems, feather destruction, chronic anxiety and relatively dependent personalities, although they have not suffered extreme hardship. They all came from homes where they had been well loved. Their difficulties originated in how they were raised during their first two years.

While I love them all dearly, in all honesty, they are less enjoyable than the first group who were all abundantly weaned and well fledged. This is because the second-hand birds never learned to act with volition. They do not express themselves, except in the talking that they do. Although they are all now fully-flighted, they will sit in the same place all day if I do not encourage them to move. Each tends to fight new experiences and is relatively rigid in its behavior.

On the other hand, the group that was fledged and abundantly weaned is full of ideas about what to do next, and anxious to act on those. They are eating machines; anything I serve them is readily consumed. They are confident, and athletic. They also have a variety of relationships on many different levels with the other parrots and humans in the household. They do not display the behavioral isolation manifested by the individuals in the first group.

So there is no doubt - the parrot that is allowed to able to fledge and learn excellent flight skills, and wean at his own pace, will be a far different individual from the parrot who is not allowed to fledge normally, and weaned too early (or sold unweaned to novice owners).

While the issues of weaning and fledging are paramount to getting a well-rounded parrot, there are other questions to ask of breeders and pet stores as well. Asking questions, and plenty of them, will help you to identify a breeder or store you feel comfortable in dealing with. Other questions to ask include:

Can you provide me with at least three references from individuals who purchased babies from you two or three years ago?
What sort of health guarantee do you provide?
Can you describe the personalities and condition of the parent birds?
Are they vet checked every year?
How do you socialize the babies?
How much individual attention does each baby receive every day?

When seeking to adopt a young psittacine family member - be choosy!

Bringing Baby Home - Preparations

When looking at the long term goal of creating an interesting and enjoyable parrot companion, providing an ideal early environment is equally as important as choosing a baby from the right breeder or bird store. Doing so often costs as much as 2½ times the purchase price of the parrot.

A large enough cage is critical to success. This is not the place to scrimp: the bigger the better. The ability to make choices is critical to quality of life and good psychological health for captive parrots. A large cage will contain more perches of different textures, as well as more destroyable toys. More perches and toys offer more choices.

When I do consultations, I am often saddened at the lack of parrot spaces in the owner's home. Frequently, owners have only one cage and one play stand, and that's it. Instead, parrots need to have a spot in each of our rooms - a spot just for them that meets their needs for staying busy.

Brian Speer, DVM also said once "If you love your parrot, complicate his life." If we take that to heart, we will get a large cage, one or two free-standing playstands, a coiled rope perch or two to hang from the ceiling, and one or two table-top perches, a shower perch, in addition to a good variety of destroyable toys. One of the reasons for behavior problems in older parrots is boredom. It is important to provide them with an interesting and varied physical environment.

Another benefit of taking this approach from the very beginning is that the parrot learns to accept new things, a skill that parrots need to learn. The more we present a young parrot with new toys and new experiences, the more willing to accept new things he learns to be.

Bringing Baby Home - Behavioral Goals

In addition to your plans for your young parrot's new environment prior to bringing him home, it is also necessary to do some thoughtful planning about behavioral goals. Consider the manner in which you will interact with him and what you will teach him. If all goes well, your relationship will likely extend until the day you die. Like a marriage, such a long-lived relationship should not be undertaken without serious thought about what form you want that relationship to take.

It is important to contemplate the development of an appropriate relationship model. There are three primary relationship models that I see in parrot homes and unfortunately, the first two are the most common.

The competitor/peer model: The first we might describe as the competitor/peer model. In this type of relationship individuals seek to gain and keep what they want. This model is implicit in much of the parrot behavior literature, and is commonly considered to be "normal." The goal of competition is implicit in many of the interactions between humans and parrots in homes where this relationship model has developed. Think how common it is for a parrot begin to scream when someone tries to talk on the phone. Implicit in this dynamic is the element of competition. The owner sees the parrot as preventing her from getting what she wants, which is to talk on the telephone. The owner becomes frustrated and begins to see the parrot as a "problem." Another example is the "lover's triangle" - a phenomenon that occurs frequently in homes with large cockatoos. The baby cockatoo that is cuddled excessively and spends his days on the owner's shoulder, later develops a mate bond with her and begins to compete with her human spouse for her attentions. This often leads to the parrot losing his home.

While we can never be sure what our parrot is thinking or feeling (although it can be tempting to try), it is our thoughts and feelings regarding our parrots that become the problem. The relationships models discussed are the sole responsibility of the parrot owner. It is the way in which the parrot owner sees her parrot and the thoughts she thinks about that parrot that sow the seeds for these different relationships.

The parent/child model: The second relationship type often seen is that of the parent/child model. In the parental relationship model, insuring the survival of one's young is the goal, not competition. While this model is appropriate for parrot families in the wild, it is not appropriate for human/parrot relationships. When we adopt this approach, it results in the infantilizing of the parrot. We see the parrot as forever baby-ish and we focus our attentions on keeping the bird close by on our shoulder, cuddling the bird, being over-protective.

Too often, I hear statements like, "I can't shower him because he's afraid of water." "I can't take him for rides because he gets nervous in the car." When operating within this relationship model, we seek to protect the parrot from whatever we perceive might cause discomfort. This dynamic is especially destructive to the parrot's quality of life and ability to stay in the home for two reasons.

First, it fosters the development of a parrot with no living skills, such as the parrot who is triggered into phobic behavior simply because it is restrained at the vet's office. Second, it leads to the day when we become outraged at the parrot's behavior. Parrots are not infants. At some point, they will become powerful, forceful adults who, in the absence of any living skills, become difficult indeed. We then feel outraged and betrayed. Our unspoken one-sided bargain has been, "I'll take care of you because I need to nurture, and you'll stay a baby and continue to need me." Why do we think that Yorkshire Terriers are so popular? They are able to keep up their end of such a bargain. It is virtually impossible for a parrot. By adopting this model for a relationship, we are insuring their future failure in our homes.

The teacher/student model: The most successful model for a parrot/human relationship is the teacher/student model. However, it must be emphasized that the "teacher" in this model is essentially nothing more than a motivator and that this is a reciprocal relationship. The human learns as much from the parrot as the parrot learns from the human. When adopting this model, we accept the responsibility for steering the parrot's behavior into acceptable channels, for appropriately motivating the companion parrot into behavior that is enjoyable for the parrot and the human alike.

When we adopt this model, we strive to learn as much as we can about the fundamental principles of behavior and training, such as those taught by Dr. Susan Friedman in her course Living and Learning with Parrots, and apply them to any difficulties that arise. We use these same principles to communicate which behaviors are desirable. In this model, we see the parrot, not as a helpless infant, but as a resourceful, skillful, intelligent creature capable of learning all that we have to teach him, and able to teach us many important things in the process. Through our teaching efforts, we communicate, "I know you can handle this," rather than "I will take care of you" as the primary relationship ground.

When we adopt a teaching role with a young parrot, we set the bird up to succeed, then stand by and allow him to do so. Parrots have a natural drive toward behavioral health, and respond extremely well to this approach.

When choosing the role of teacher, it is easy to decide upon some early teaching goals. Goal #1 should be the formation of healthy social bonds with all members of the family. So often we hear people state that their parrot "doesn't like" their spouse, or their children. We do a parrot a disservice if we allow him to become bonded to one individual so that he will not go to anyone else. The definition of a well-bonded parrot should be, "A parrot who could like with anyone, but chooses to live with me." This takes work. It takes actively teaching the young bird to go to anyone and reinforcing him for doing so.

Goal #2 must be the fostering of independence. There has been much written about the problems of having a parrot on the shoulder. From my observations, young parrots are usually kept on the shoulder for one of two reasons. Either the owner feels this is necessary to reassure the young bird or the owner is meeting her own emotional needs by keep the baby close. However, a young parrot that stays on your shoulder for hours each day, is learning dependence, not independence. He is not learning to play with his toys, to forage, to keep busy by himself. Time on the shoulder for a young parrot should be limited to 10 to 15 minutes once or twice a day. The rest of the time, he should be playing independently near you, and he should be consistently reinforced for doing so.

Other early goals will include the development of several skills - stepping up reliably from inside and outside of the cage, showering, eating a varied healthful diet and others. However, as important as these individual skills are, they are not as important as these early social skills. A parrot is a social creature and without good social skills and relationships, his future in the home will be less secure.

Rearing the Adult Parrot - Keys to Success

As a breeder, I was able to observe the intensity, focus and enthusiasm that young parrots bring to learning about the environment. They are "learning machines!" Later, when working with second-hand parrots, I observed that what a parrot learns in its earliest years sticks with him and has a huge impact on his later behavior. Older parrots certainly learn, but not with the eagerness and openness of young parrots. I believe that what a parrot learns during its first two to seven years, before sexual maturity arrives, has a profound impact on the bird's later "pet quality." I shrink from using this term, but if we honestly look at the fact that so many parrots lose their homes, the issue of pet quality becomes important.

A parrot with good "pet quality" is a parrot with good living skills. The young parrot will acquire living skills if the owner provides appropriate early experiences and this learning is reinforced. Not surprisingly, it is these same living skills that will insure good quality of life for the companion parrot. Essentially, the owner of a young parrot is in the position of teaching the bird to do what it will like to do!

Factors needed for quality of life include: (1) a high quality, varied diet that is appropriate to the species and that insures optimal health, (2) the ability to forage for food, (3) the ability to be busy destroying things, (4) varied and frequent opportunities for social interaction and expression on multiple levels, (5) the ability to bathe, (6) the ability to exercise aerobically, (7) adequate rest, (8) physical and psychological safety, (9) frequent opportunities to experience fresh air and sunshine in a safe enclosure, (10) annual veterinary care, (11) regular opportunities to learn new things, and (12) frequent opportunities to make choices.

The young parrot won't come home with a full set of living skills that will allow him to enjoy these experiences that contribute to a good quality of life. The diet to which he was weaned may not be the diet of choice for him; he may not have been taught to enjoy bathing; his exposure to different toys may have been limited. Therefore, once the initial period of adjustment is over, it is up to us to step firmly into the role of motivator and actively work to introduce these experiences and teach the young bird to accept them. Doing so is a process of introducing all these experiences in a sensitive manner…often in baby steps… and reinforcing or rewarding his positive reactions to your efforts. If you don't know how to do this, then you need to get help from someone who has taught these things to young birds. This is just as important to the development of an enjoyable companion as those early experiences of weaning and fledging.

Recommitment

Any relationship that lasts over a span of years is going to require recommitment, because there are invariably some trying times. The period of recommitment with a parrot usually begins after sexual maturity has been reached. Often, having an adult parrot is less exciting than having a baby parrot and frequently more challenging. This is because a good deal of parrot behavior is generated from a base of instinct. Psittacine instincts have not been dulled by centuries of domestication, as have those of other companion animals. The best way to recommit to an older parrot is to continue translating the original emotional commitment into action. This can be done in two ways.

First, we remember how important it is to maintain behaviors, which requires continued reinforcement. For example, many young parrots learn to step up readily and consistently. Then, over time, problems develop. This is often because the stepping up has been "rewarded" with a negative consequence, like being placed back into the cage. We must remember always to keep reinforcing those behaviors that we most enjoy in our parrots.

Second, we can continue to teach new things. Learning is fun for all parrots. A parrot that is actively learning what you want him to do, is not learning the things by himself that you don't want him to do. There are many resources for owners who want to continue to teach, including Clicker Training Manual by Linda Morrow, available at www.avi-train.com/manual.html and Clicker Training for Birds by Melinda Johnson, available at www.amazon.com.

Summary

Rearing an enjoyable parrot companion takes a lot of work. Critical to that goal are several factors:

Purchasing a well-reared baby that has been fully fledged and abundantly weaned.
Creating a smooth transition into the new home by supporting independent eating skills.
The provision of an interesting, challenging, stimulating physical environment.
The provision of an excellent and appropriate diet.
Adoption of the teacher/student relationship model.
Teaching a full compliment of living skills before sexual maturity arrives.
Maintaining desirable behaviors by continuing to reinforce them.
Continuing to complicate the parrot's life and teach new things.

There is nothing more magical than a well-raised parrot companion. When my African grey Marko flies to me at night, flips upside down and gives me a smacking kiss, my heart responds and I know that I will never give her up. I will clean her cage for as many decades as I am privileged to care for her. And, that's what it's all about.