Caged, Sad, and Lonely

I love birds, they are my favorite animals and I like to call them feathered friends. Do I own any birds? No, and I’ll why; I no longer believe in owning other living things. At one time I used to have aviaries full of various species and I used to bred and sell them. It can be very profitable for humans, but at what cost to the birds? There are many people who take excellent care of their feathered friends, but there are just as many if not more that abuse and neglect them. Most of this is not even intentional on the humans part, they do not know what caring for a bird entails. Pet stores are not much help in this area. Most people do not understand how intelligent birds are and how when locked away in cages and left alone for hours without companionship is devastating to them. I’ve heard many people ask and wonder why their parrot is plucking his own feathers out and why she is becoming so aggressive and/or possessive of toys. This is why; your bird is bored, lonely and he’s trying to express himself, act out his feelings.

Birds are highly social creatures and their survival depends on being part of a flock. In the Wild, most of their live is spent flying together, playing, searching for food, preening each other, nesting…they are never alone. But in captivity, all too often birds spend their entire lives unable to stretch or use their wings (which are often cut), confined to cages too small for them, and deprived of the companionship of other birds which they need. People often assume birds will be content to sit on a perch and sing or talk; nothing can be further from the truth. Parrots, especially, want to go and manipulate objects with their beaks and feet. They are like apes, they need to play with things and use them like tools.

I love birds and of all the pets I’ve had, they were my favorite. However I do not recommend getting them as pets, particularly from pet shops. If you are familiar with what a puppy mill is, you should know there are also the equivalent for birds (complete with poor breeding). This is where the majority of pet shops get their baby birds from. The babies are taken away from their parents when they are hatchlings, sometimes even before they hatch. The idea is that hand feeding the birds makes them more tame. This is not true, I know for personal experience having raised birds. Continued contact with humans makes them tame, not taking them away from their parents. All that one needs to do is spend time handling and holding each fledgling when you clean their nest boxes. You can supplement their feeding with formula, but nothing can replace the feeding their can get from their parents. It is important for birds to socialize with other birds. The birds in these bird factories are often kept in deplorable conditions, in small filthy cages in poorly lit environments. Disease is wide spread and death is common. Picture a concentration camp for parrots.

If you do want to take care of birds, I highly suggest adopted one or more from a bird sanctuary. Many pet birds end up there because people get tried of taking care of them and do not release that parrots have about the same life span of a human being. Often they are really sweet birds. Don’t support pet shops and the bird pet trade.