Elucidating Parrot Problems Posted in Aug 2017
How can I make a constantly loud parrot permanently silent (or at least quieter)? from Quora
With between 300 and 400 species of parrots across the planet to say they are ALL noisy is patently untrue.
Editor’s note: this post was written almost 4 years ago to the day. I’m using it in an answer on Quora regarding how to quiet birds.
There was no way to have predicted at the writing of this article that we would become companion to a Senegal (poicephalus) parrot. The universe is too complicated to be arbitrary.
Thank you to Ann K. one of our Facebook fans. She’s planning on getting a Cape Parrot soon and was unable to find a lot of information on this particular species.
The question “How are African Grey Parrots to keep as pets?” came from Quora
“Come on, fess up!
You’ve done the unthinkable. You’ve actually thought of getting an African Grey but the horror stories of screaming, biting and plucking keep you “centered” or “sane”.
What if you had a mentor?
That’s why you have me!
What are the pros and cons of having a pet bird? was asked on Quora. This answer motivated me to set the record straight.
Pros
If you do it right, you’re going to have a loving companion animal for the next 60 years.
Cons,
If you do it wrong, you’re going to have a very unhappy bird for the next 60 years.
They can live sixty years or more.
They’re loud (a cockatoo’s scream has been measured at over 100db, compared to 130db for a jet engine at 100 feet).
They throw food.
Sunshine, my Lutino (Yellow) Indian Ringneck Parrot was by far the best pet bird I have ever had of all the birds we had.
My then husband bought him as an unweaned baby and I completed the process. I found that Ringneck Parrot babies need to be hand fed and beg, but don’t open their mouths to accept the syringe, they require a bit of prying open with the opposite hand’s fingers in order to slip in the tip of the syringe or pipette. Then it was no trouble at all.
Please don’t get discouraged because of one anecdotal story of stupidity. (See other Quora answers below) People die in car crashes every day but most of us still drive.
Here’s a little back story for you. The ancient Greeks kept parakeets. Not necessarily budgies because the Alexandrian parakeet got its name from Alexander the Great. As the story goes Alexander was gifted one of those around 327 BC
File under more money than brains. We all know how crazy the Romans were but not many people know that they would assign a slave to take care of the family bird which was usually a parrot of some sort.
Hi, a year ago someone gave me a pair of parakeets. I gave them a big cage, and tried working with them, individually. They are almost 4 years old, and are happy to see me, but not interested in being held, or scratched, and that is ok.
I have an African grey parrot, who has lived with me for 26 years, she interacts with me and my family and is really pretty funny and wicked smart.
Recently Science magazine ran an article entitled “Parrots, songbirds pack more neurons into their forebrains than most mammals”.
Now some scientists are saying that birds are way more intelligent than we ever thought because they somehow counted the total number of forebrain neurons – with soup (we’ll get to that in a bit)!
The study, published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that 28 bird species have more neurons in their pallial telencephalons, the brain region responsible for higher level learning, than mammals with similar-sized brains.
20% – 25% of parrots are sexually dimorphic meaning you can identify their sex by the color of the bird. Male eclectus are green – females are red.
How can you stop screaming–excessive (Question from Quora)
Screaming is never excessive for a bird – they are merely communicating, it’s what they do.
Before I can answer your question I need to know the species, age, sex, the diet and a picture of the cage set up if at all possible – thank you.
Hi Mitch,
Bubba is a 30 yr, old CAG (congo african grey). dna’d male on basically harrisons with nutriberries and healthy people food,.. I don’t know how to take a pix of his cage. 2x2x4 feet – 5 perches – all different materials. at least 5 toys I try to keep changed.
