Do you think your birds are empathetic to you when you're upset? The other day I was upset by something and started to cry and the moment I started actually crying my bird flew over and snuggled right against my neck. She's not usually a velcro bird either, her cuddles always have to be when she wants them. It melted my heart and I wanna know if others have experienced something similar.
They definitely have and there’s actually a decent bit of science to suggest that they are empathetic creatures!
There’s a few studies that have demonstrated their capacity to show compassion towards other birds even if they get nothing in return. In some cases one bird would have no access to snacks and the other bird did, the one with snacks would willingly pop snacks through the gaps in the enclosure to share them with its neighbour without ever being shown or taught how to do that.
Even with things like allopreening it’s suggested that they may do it purely to help eachother out and build stronger relationships. Not for the need to copulate or seek self preservation.
Parrots themselves do have a limbic system which means they experience true emotions, and to couple with that they’ve been shown to grieve the loss of a flock member. Many parrots have been spotted selflessly comforting one another through preening and cuddling behaviours for the theorized reasons of making the other bird feel better.
While more research is needed to confirm current theories it does seem pretty strongly suggestive that parrots are capable of recognizing stress and discomfort in eachother (potentially people!) and show empathy by offering comfort or help through hardships.
