O any given day, sounds of the jungle can be heard from a number of places in Los Angeles--a large ficus near the Westside Pavilion, or among the trees in Mar Vista, Venice and West Hollywood's Plummer Park. Many residents are aware of their boisterous avian neighbors: wild flocks of little yellow-chevroned parakeets, large scarlet macaws from South America, cockatoos from Indonesia and Australia, lilac-crowned parrots from Mexico, red-masked parakeets and others--all members of the parrot family. Flying low in the sky, their mega-decibel squawks are unmistakable.
California is now home to at least 10 breeding species of parrots, according to ornithologists Bill Pranty of the Archbold Biological Station in Florida and Kimball Garrett of the Los Angeles Natural History Museum. Based on extensive research, they estimate that nearly 7,000 parrots are living wild from San Francisco to San Diego, and 20,000 are flying around cities throughout the country. Florida, in fact, may now boast the most diverse group of exotic parrots in the world.
It's quite a sight to witness these colorful flocks in flight or roosting in a tree, but there's a troubling fact behind this phenomenon--all of those wild birds were once pets. Exotic birds were America's fastest-growing pet choice in the 1990s. Their numbers have grown--according to pet industry research--from an estimated 11.6 million at the decade's outset to 40 million today, compared with 77.6 million cats and 65 million dogs. The exponential growth might have something to do with the nation's two largest pet store chains, Petco Animal Supplies Inc. and PetsMart Inc., which started selling birds during the '90s.
But once the birds are brought home, owners quickly discover that parrots--though smart and affectionate--make terrible pets. Consequently, they are being set loose at alarming rates, despite the illegality of releasing nonnative birds in the U.S. Parrots now appear to be the fastest-growing group of unwanted pets, as evidenced by the wild flocks and the number of avian rescuers that are cropping up.
Some action is clearly needed. Wild parrots are among the most endangered group of birds on the planet. Now, parrots bred for the pet industry in the U.S.--unable to be repatriated in the wild because their survival skills aren't developed--could be euthanized in captivity to reduce the number of unwanted birds.
Polly doesn't need a cracker. Polly needs protection.
Prrot people will tell you there is nothing like them. The birds are loving, caring and can engage in conversation. Parrot caretakers gladly cut up vegetables and fruit, boil beans and pamper their birds with expensive toys. Women who own parrots have been known to break up with longtime boyfriends rather than give up their jealous bird.
But while parrots make great companions, they can be notoriously difficult. The Humane Society of the United States considers parrots wild animals and advocates not keeping them as pets. Breeders say that pet store employees are able to socialize the birds, but few stores encourage workers to play with animals when they could be stocking shelves or helping customers. If constant and consistent socialization is not reinforced, no matter how young birds are taken from their parents, they will revert to wild behavior, some of which never subsides. For example, the majority of parrots will bite the hand that feeds them for their entire lives. It's not something that can be trained out of them completely.
While parrots have the intelligence of a 5-year-old child, their maturity lags behind. "It wants your attention, is demanding and immature like a 2-year-old for 50 years," says one bird lover who decided not to get a parrot.
James Serpell, director of the Center for the Interaction of Animals and Society at the University of Pennsylvania, did his PhD dissertation on lorikeet parrots and lived with them in the wild in Australia and Indonesia. "Parrots are the primates of the bird world," Serpell says. "They aren't content to sit on a perch and sing. They actively want to go and manipulate objects all the time."
Great athletes, parrots quickly become frustrated "perch potatoes" in captivity. They do nothing all day but eat, sleep and wait for their human flock to return. Many end up obese and with serious behavioral problems such as screaming, biting and self-mutilation by plucking out their feathers. Some even carve gashes in their chest when their feathers are gone.
Charles Munn, a leading avian conservationist, is considered the foremost authority on macaw parrots. Munn, who has worked extensively in South America, says being alone is the worst thing imaginable for a parrot, like solitary confinement for a person. In fact, veterinarians regularly prescribe Prozac and other drugs to stop abnormal behaviors that develop in parrots as a result of confinement.
