budgies to cockatiels to the flashiest of macaws, birds can be — how shall we say this politely? — demanding. You can’t just put them in a cage, change the papers, add food and water, and ignore them. They won’t let you.
Most of the birds people keep as pets are highly intelligent and very social. People often have denied them the company of their own kind and the stimulation of an appropriate environment. We ask them to be happy with us — and they can be, but not without effort on our part. And effort takes time. When you take one of these sentient beings into your life, you must take responsibility for her health, happiness, and welfare. If you’re not prepared to spend that time working with your bird, training your bird, providing healthy social interaction for your bird, and allowing your bird plenty of supervised out-of-cage time to enjoy, you’re going to have an unhappy bird. An unhealthy bird. A biter. A screamer. A feather-picker. And it doesn’t need to be that way.
Cared for properly, birds can be as time-consuming as dogs. Really. They need to be loved, handled, trained, fed, and cleaned up after — a lot! If you don’t have that kind of time and energy, reconsider choosing a bird as a companion unless you’re sure you’ll enjoy the pleasant sounds of a charm of finches (charm is the delightful term for a group of finches), who prefer the society of their own kind rather than interactions with humans.
Another aspect of time that you need to consider when it comes to birds: longevity, yours and theirs. Healthy pet parrots can live for decades, which requires a major commitment to such companionship. In general, the larger the parrot species, the longer the life expectancy. For example, the large macaws can live 70 to 100 years or more, while the little budgerigars rarely will live to be 20 years old.
Can you imagine spending most of your life with a pet? Are you able to plan for the pet who outlives you? These issues are very real for bird owners, and you need to factor them into your decision-making. Some pet trusts, which ensure that pets are cared for after an owner’s death, can be in effect for up to 150 years — a must if you have a long-lived pet such as a macaw, Amazon parrot, or tortoise.
PARAKEETIS TYRANNOSAURUS?
One of the more unusual aspects to consider when taking a bird into your life: This association is likely to be the closest you’ll ever get to sharing space with a dinosaur. Although scientists once figured that reptiles were next of kin to dinosaurs, they now believe birds are even closer. Birds are descended from a small meat-eating dinosaur that walked on two legs. The link between the two was made with the discovery of Archaeopteryx (meaning “ancient wing”), a Jurassic-period fossil of a creature that was part bird and part dinosaur.
If you have a hard time making the leap between birds and dinosaurs (the word dinosaur means “terrible lizard,” after all, not “terrible bird”), check out the foot of an ostrich sometime — but not closely. The claws alone may give you Jurassic Park jitters. Scientists have learned that many of the dinosaurs once considered to be reptiles actually had feathers. Based on fragmented DNA recovered from a T. rex fossil found in the United States, one published study found that the closest living relative to a T. rex is, yes, the chicken! We love that.
Photograph courtesy of D. Davidson Harpur
Shelling out the bucks
Birds are expensive to care for properly, much more so than most people anticipate. The price of acquiring a bird itself can run from the inexpensive for finches, canaries, and budgies to the monthly-salary figures some people are willing to shell out for large, flashy parrots. And that’s just the beginning.
Safe, roomy caging isn’t cheap, nor is a proper diet of pellets and fresh foods. Preventive veterinary care to keep your bird healthy is a pricey must, and if your bird gets really sick, be prepared to dig deep. All these aspects of care must be factored in, along with such necessities as toys, which a large parrot can go through with awesome efficiency. It all adds up.
Dealing with the noise and mess
To hear some people tell it, the best tools for anyone who wants to keep a bird are earplugs and a handheld cordless vacuum. And it’s true: Some birds can give a rowdy rock band a run for their money when it comes to decibel levels and the ability to trash a room.
Some of the problems are natural and normal, and some are caused by humans, but either way, the potential for noise and mess is an important consideration when you’re thinking about a bird.
But then again … these problems shouldn’t stop you, unless peace, quiet, and a clean house are the things that matter most to you in life.
A BIRB IS A BIRD IS A BIRB
Who doesn’t love birbs? No, we’re not misspelling that. Birbs is an affectionate term used on the Internet to refer to our feathered friends. What qualifies as a birb? According to Audubon (www.audubon.org/news/when-bird-birb-extremely-important-guide):
The
