Macaws:
Red Shouldered (Hahn's) Macaw
Severe Macaw
Blue And Gold Macaw
Blue Throated Macaw
Military Macaw
Red Fronted Macaw
Scarlet Macaw
Green Winged Macaw
Hyacinth Macaw
Nearly a year ago I took a trip through West Africa and got to visit the native habitats of Senegal Parrots, Rose Ringed Parakeets, and Brown Necked Cape Parrots. I've already posted footage of the limited sightings I've made of wild parrots during the trip. Unfortunately most of my contact with parrots during the trip was not with them in the wild.
The only Senegal Parrots I saw in Senegal were a pair of wild caughts for sale at the side of a road in the capital city of Dakar. As we were driving through heavy traffic, the seller of these parrots walked up to the car sticking the cage up to the window offering both of them with cage for 20 euros (approximately $30 USD).
Before reading/looking further I must warn you that images, videos, and descriptions are very graphic and you may well not want to see/read this. If seeing images of animals suffering is unbearable to you, stop here. You won't regret missing what I experienced.
People have been asking me why I did not buy them to keep or release. First of all, I was traveling on vacation with no interest in actually buying a parrot. Taking them out of the country may be problematic but bringing them into the US would be absolutely illegal. Buying the parrots to free them would first off encourage capture of more parrots for sale. Since the parrots were likely caged as such for a long time with no ability to exercise, they were most likely malnourished with atrophied muscles. They would not be able to evade predators or humans if freed and most likely eaten or captured for sale again.
As I explain in parrot training, it is important not to positively reinforce unwanted behavior. And in this case paying for the capture of wild parrots would simply encourage them to do more of this. For all of these reasons I did not do any of this and (besides recording) simply ignored the seller by not offering to pay. Those two parrots are doomed no matter what. They are doomed if they get sold, doomed if they aren't sold, and just as much if they are released. The best thing I can do is not to be a participant in this industry.
The seller was bargaining insistently trying to get us to buy them so to ward him off we asked to see the documents for the parrots which immediately changed his desire to try to push us to buy.
During the trip I spotted wild caught Senegal Parrots and Rose Ringed Parakeets held captive on several further occasions including in a small aviary in a hotel garden. Some of the wildlife reserves had cages with confiscated wild caught parrots that they were rehabilitating for release back into the wild.
I visited the forests of Sierra Leone to which Cape Parrots (Poicephalus Robustus Fuscicollis) are endemic but did not have the chance to see any. The local people have different names for the parrots so it was difficult to explain. But when I showed a picture of Truman, rather than saying where to see them in the wild, they said you can find those for sale on the market from time to time. The Cape Parrots are definitely far less common than the Senegal Parrots. On the other hand, the Rose Ringed Parakeets seem quite plentiful.
During the last segment of my trip in Bomako Mali, I was taken to see the local parrot market. Scattered on the side of the street under cover of trees were about a dozen vendors and many cages. At least as many other kinds of local birds were offered as parrots. Parrots came in two varieties: Rose Ringed Parakeets (Psittacula krameri) and Senegal Parrots (Poicephalus Senegalus).
Atop a garbage pail was a small round cage housing nearly 20 parrots and parakeets. The condition of the cage was so crammed that some of the parrots had to cling to the cage bars or stand on top of other birds. The poor condition of the parrots was evident through plucked feathers, missing eyes, missing limbs, and weak stance. Tossed on the bottom of the cage amidst feces was chicken feed mainly consisting of corn. Despite their tragic lives, the Senegal Parrots still gave off that typical parrot curiosity and watched me as I approached.
Rose Ringed Parakeets were available in abundance and very cheap. The seller offered a pair of them for $15 including the cage. The Senegal Parrots were just a bit more expensive at $10 each. Most of the parrots were not captured in Bomako but brought in from Segou, Mali. How shocked the sellers would be to know that the parrots they are selling for $5-$10 a piece often carry a price tag of as much as $600 in the US. Of course there's no comparison; the American ones are carefully domestically bred and raised while those were snatched from the wild.
The market parrots were mostly being sold to local people (often as decorations for offices and hotels) but some to smugglers to be taken abroad. To show a parrot to perspective customers, the vendor opens a small door on the cage and reaches his arm in. The parrots immediately go into a frenzy and start jumping over each other to try to evade the approaching hand. Meanwhile he starts grabbing and pulling by their wings until they can no longer hold on and fall into his reach.
I alone cannot do anything about the situation. Buying, releasing, arguing, or anything else would not have solved anything. However, I feel that by sharing this with everyone, people may develop a differing view. Whether you travel to Africa or some other place with native parrots for sale, do not under any circumstances buy them (whether to keep or release). Discourage others from buying wlid caught parrots as well. Adopt parrots from rescues, other owners, or buy parrots from domestic breeders. Unfortunately there is little that can be done about the capture of wild caught parrots for sale to locals. However, as long as foreign trafficking of wild caught parrots ceases, the populations in most cases should be sustainable. It is not an easy problem to solve but it's easy not to be a part of it. And finally, just remember to take good care of your own birds and help out birds at rescues so that our descendants of those wild caught parrots can have a better life.
I get often asked about leaving parrots home while going on vacation. Well this article is about how going away on vacation ends up being a vacation for the parrots as well! There are many reasons we can't bring our feathered friends with us whether its safety, accommodations, going abroad, or just needing to get away from the squawking and cleaning for a little bit. So this article is about making your absence tolerable for your parrots.
The first and definitely most important thing for preparing your parrots for your absence is getting them used to being without you beforehand. When we hear of stories of an owner leaving a parrot home a week to come back and find it plucked naked, often this is a result of the parrot being completely spoiled with attention and then suddenly deserted. But just like taming, independence also takes some getting used to for our feathered pals. Even if you don't see yourself going on vacation any time soon, it is still important to maintain a controlled relationship. What if someone in your family becomes ill and needs care? What if you get sent some place for work? There are many unexpected scenarios besides just taking a vacation that may require our parrots to cope without our presence. The only way to prepare them for this is by letting them experience this beforehand.
Your parrot needs to be just as capable of spending time alone as with you. Surely many of us are more concerned with taming and getting them to behave with us, but we must not take this too far and make them entirely dependent on us either. This is why (both for training and vacation purposes) I recommend limited out of cage and interaction time daily. There are minimums and they are much discussed, but I also believe there should be maximums. It's impossible to put exact numbers on it but the point is that your parrot needs to spend enough time in its cage on its own every day that it won't entirely freak out when suddenly you aren't around a day.
It is important to provide good cage enrichment and activities. Of course this is much discussed elsewhere and is a good practice all the time. While maintaining routine is convenient and reassuring, it's important to be spontaneous from time to time. Yes, I try to be home to see my parrots on time, feed them at the normal time, etc. But once in a while if I need to be out late or decide to put them to sleep late than usual, it just prepares them for dealing with out of the ordinary scenarios. If I actually end up going a very long time without a natural break in the routine, I may opt to not take them out a certain day despite being home just to simulate this. But normally there are real reasons for this to happen so I generally save it for these occasions.
Don't be scared to leave the parrots home for an entire day or weekend (preferably with someone to keep an eye on them). If you've never done it before, be sure to see how they do a weekend without your presence prior to leaving them for an entire week or more. Try progressively longer durations. If you are leaving the birds alone for 12-48 hours without anyone to check up on them, consider leaving multiple sources of food and water in case any are spoiled or contaminated. A water bottle is preferable. Never leave parrots completely unattended for more than 2 days at a time though because if anything does happen to their food/water supply, they won't be able to make it much longer than this without intervention.
A question that frequently comes up is if it is better to leave parrots at home and have someone come to take care or to bring them along with their cages to someone else's home. Unless it cannot be arranged, I think it is much better and safer for the parrots to stay home. Not only are they familiar at home but they will also feel safer. To take both their favorite person away and the familiarity of their surroundings is more stressful. People worry that they'll get bored without people around, but I think if you make the above mentioned preparations they will be equipped to deal with it. Another thing is that the parrots are significantly safer remaining in your own home. As a parrot owner, you've probably spent years making your home bird safe. It is easy to begin to take this for granted and forget dangers they could face in someone else's home such as teflon fumes, other pets, children, ceiling fans, windows, etc. For all these reasons, it is best to have a sitter come briefly to your home to care for the parrots each day rather than take the birds to their own home.
When having someone birdsit for you, one of the most important considerations is whether or not they will handle the parrots. In most cases, unless the person is both familiar with parrots and specifically familiar with handling yours, it is safer not to have them let the parrots out. As much as it sucks to stay in the cage for two weeks straight, it is safer than being let loose in your home by someone who can't put them back away. Still, discuss a contingency plan with the birdsitter about what to do if they get out and cannot be returned to their cage. The sitter should leave the cage doors open and cage loaded with food so that the parrot can eventually go back inside to feed.
When I am away, I like to leave my parrots more toys than usual to keep them busy. I put in several new toys to provide with more activity and material for the parrots to play with. However, I also like to leave a few old favorite toys for familiarity as well. I make sure not to rearrange the perches just before leaving instead favoring a tried and true cage layout. This is not the time to experiment with new kinds of toys though, so any new toys that are provided should be similar to safe/successful toys in the past.
I usually end up writing a basic manual covering all things that need to be taken care of and possible contingencies for my bird sitter. So not only do I tell about the basic things that need to be done but also what to do in case there are problems and I cannot be reached. This includes biting, escape, illness, vet care, etc. At the same time, I try to reduce unnecessary activities by as much as possible not to burden the sitter too much.
The birds are fed exclusively pellets while I'm gone. Why? This is safest, simplest, and most nutritious. This is the least burden but also least responsibility for the care taker. The parrots are guaranteed to get all the nutrition they require, the food won't spoil, and it's very easy to guarantee that they don't run out of food in any way. Although I normally follow strict food management, I have my birds overfed while I'm gone. A normal pellet meal won't even line the entire bottom of their food bowls but when I'm gone I have the bowls nearly topped off. I make sure the birds are left with enough food to last several days despite the sitter coming daily. This is to ensure that if for any reason the sitter skips a day, the birds have enough food and water to get by. While we are concerned about long term diet and variety in their meals, a 100% unlimited pellet diet for a few weeks won't do any harm for a parrot that is accustomed to eating pellets.
Aritos, Latin American Onion Ring Parrot Chips (Ara + Fritos = Aritos?)
Finally, the reason I called this parrot vacation is because if done right, this can be as much of a relaxing vacation for your parrots as it is for you. Recently I spent a week traveling in Central America while my brother came once a day to take care of Kili and Truman. He is fully qualified to handle them so he would let them out for as much as an hour every day to fly around. They couldn't be more thrilled! I came back to find they had assumed full control of the situation! My computer mouse was destroyed, poop all over the carpets, and the birds helping themselves to places I would never allow them to go. Not only this, but they stuffed their crops to the brink for every day nonstop. No discipline, no food management, no responsibility. It truly was a vacation for them as well. But this is ok. Let them have it easy while you're gone and then work the taming, training, and order back in once you return.
So with all the preparations that were made over time, it was no trouble at all to leave the parrots home for a week. I got to take a vacation and do some traveling. Meanwhile Kili & Truman also got to take a vacation from training and just enjoy being wild for a little bit.
No, I didn't misplace Truman for a Turkey! I just had to fatten him up a little and Kili could use some stuffing. I laid out the biggest variety of yummy foods the parrots ever got in a single meal. They both went straight for the nuts the moment I placed them on the table. No doubt that is their number one most favorite food. Then Kili sampled the mixed veggies and snuck away pieces of Truman's Brazilian nut cause she couldn't crack her almond. The parrots played with bits of pasta while trying a bit of everything.
While Kili devoured a big piece of banana, Truman nibbled some pellets. Kili did not touch a single pellet though. She's more of a vegetarian where she'll go for fresh veggies and fruits any day. Truman on the other hand is more of a nut and pellet kinda guy. He skipped most of the greens and went straight to his pellets. Before long, both their crops were visibly bulging out of their necks.
The parrot duo engaged in the tradition of sharing by putting aside their differences and enjoying their meal side by side. Neither attacked the other or caused any trouble. But you can see in the video that they were still a little cautious around each other. As long as there's plenty of food to go around, it's every bird for himself! Happy Thanksgiving.
Check out the video of Kili and Truman's Thanksgiving Day meal and then leave a comment about what your parrots got for Thanksgiving.
Happy Thanksgiving! I want to extend a thanks to all me readers, subscribers, participants, and followers. Your support is much appreciated and what keeps me going with all the free articles and videos. But also I'd like to say thanks to everyone that I have learned from, to the professional breeders that keep the community going, the rescues that take in parrots in difficult circumstances, the avian veterinarians, and most of all my own two parrots. I have learned more about parrot keeping from them than all the books, videos, and internet knowledge combined. I want to thank Kili and Truman for putting up with all my trick training and patiently working with me on the stuff we do.
Enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday meals and don't eat too much turkey. But if you will, don't let your birds know!
During a recent trip to Chicago, I visited the Field Museum. This natural history museum boasts an outstanding collection of bird specimens even finer than the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
I was astonished to be looking at a real life (dead actually) Carolina Parakeet well knowing that they had been extinct for a century. The Conuropsis carolinensis was a mid-sized parakeet with the approximate dimensions of a Sun Parakeet, green body, and colorful head. The last confirmed wild specimen was caught in 1904 and they went extinct in captivity by 1918. Besides capture for the pet industry, deforestation and hunting were the main causes of their extinction. Farmers were cutting down trees and shooting the Carolina Parakeets because they were considered an agricultural pest. One unusual trait of the Carolina Parakeet certainly contributed to its demise: they appeared to show a remorse for their dead and visit the location as a flock. Farmers took advantage of this by shooting some and waiting for the rest to come.
Carolina Parakeet at the Field Museum in Chicago
The label reads, "Carolina Paroquet. Conuropsis c. carolinensis Linnacus. This species and its close relative, the extinct Louisiana Paroquet, were the only parrots native to the United States. The demand for caged birds was an important cause of their decline. The last birds of which there is record were captured in southern Florida for that purpose. Southeastern United States. Last authentic record: 1904."
Carolina Parakeet, extinct as of 1904
The Carolina Parakeet was not the only rare parrot I got to see at the museum. Also were featured a Hyacinth Macaw, Palm Cockatoo, Galah, Grey Parrot, Kea, Budgerigar, and some others. Most interesting, however, were the Night Parrot and Kakapo! The Night Parrot is a critically endangered Australian ground parrot once believed to be extinct. The Kakapo is a nearly extinct flightless parrot of New Zealand and the largest of the parrot family. Surprisingly the Kakapo did not appear to be so large though I recognized it immediately. In fact most of the birds I saw in the collection appeared surprisingly small or disproportioned to what I would expect. I think shrinkage of the preserved specimens could play a part but also it seems that they are not scaled to the population. In other words they would display what they had rather than the largest or most average sized birds of the species. A fascinating part of the exhibit was that erect skeletons of species were placed alongside some of the feathered specimens to give you a view both inside and out.
Collection of Parrots including Hyacinth Macaw, Kea, Palm Cockatoo, Grey Parrot, and Galah
Critically endangered Night Parrot
Kakapo, the largest parrot
No Poicephalus parrots were represented. I had to settle for just a Grey Parrot and a Lovebird for the African Parrots. On a side note, I have never seen a Poicephalus parrot in a zoo or museum. Once in a while a Grey parrot but never any Poicephalus or Vasa. I wonder if it's because they are too common is pets, unrepresentative, or just uninteresting to the public.
The Field Museum is well known for its dinosaur exhibit and the largest mounted skeleton of a T. rex welcomes visitors in the main hall. Named after Sue Hendrickson who had found the colossal fossil, Sue is mounted according to the more modern theory about tyrannosaurus posture. Although the skull on the mount is a cast, the original is on display on the second floor above. This $8 million dollar display is considered the pride and major highlight of the museum.
Sue the largest found Tyrannosaurus rex
It is quite possible that Sue descended from the same common ancestor to modern birds and even lived beneath their flying ancestors. Speaking of dinosaurs and ancestors, the museum featured a cast of the Archaeopteryx fossil but more interestingly a 3d model of what the dino-bird may have looked like. Archaeopteryx is believed to be the missing fossil link between birds and their dinosaurial ancestry. Archaeopteryx is much like a bird but manages to maintain some dinosaur features such as teeth, claws on wings, and bony tail. Feather impressions in the fossils prove that Archaeopteryx was capable of flight like modern birds.
Archaeopteryx model based on cast of fossil
So overall it was a valuable visit to the Field Museum with a good focus on avian and paleontological exhibits. So next time you're in Chicago I highly recommend you stop by to say hello to Sue and the rest of the collection.
Trained Parrot is a blog about how to train tricks to all parrots and parakeets. Read about how I teach tricks to Truman the Brown Necked Cape Parrot including flight recall, shake, wave, nod, turn around, fetch, wings, and play dead. Learn how you can train tricks to your Parrot, Parrotlet, Parakeet, Lovebird, Cockatiel, Conure, African Grey, Amazon, Cockatoo or Macaw. This blog is better than books or DVDs because the information is real, live, and completely free of charge. If you want to know how to teach your parrot tricks then you will enjoy this free parrot training tutorial.
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Aritos, Latin American Onion Ring Parrot Chips (Ara + Fritos = Aritos?)
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