What is your opinion on people who say birds shouldn't be pets?
If we’re talking parrots specifically, I’m one of those people.
Parrots just do not thrive in the standard captive environment, really the most we can hope to do is provide as much enrichment as we can to mimic their wild environments and natural behaviours to prevent countless stress behaviours. Parrots pluck, toe tap, break their beaks trying to chew cage bars, are frequently nutrient deficient, and often have weaker hearts, lungs and immune systems from being in captivity without the right environments to thrive.
Parrots aren’t a domesticated species and they simply do not thrive in our homes. We can not provide enough room for flight, enough birds for socialization with enough space for them to feel safe doing so, we can not provide the lifestyle these birds really need to be as healthy as they should be. We can do our best but at the end of the day when we’re breeding a species that more often than not suffers in our environments it doesn’t make sense to keep breeding them. If the closest we can get to optimum care is just trying to reduce constant stress then that animal isn’t thriving with us.
There’s plenty of birds that do thrive in our homes, pigeons, chickens, even finches and canaries are all extremely loving, trainable, and interactive birds that aren’t all that different than parrots. They can all be taught parlour tricks, can enjoy human interaction, many can sing sweet songs.
Keeping parrots as pets that are already stuck in the trade? Of course, they can’t be released, they need someone who will at least give their all to lead a good life. But consistently bringing more parrots in to a world that isn’t suitable for them? It’s more selfish than anything really.
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