The video provides the public with a very in-depth and interesting tour of a spectacular parrot rescue facility outside Denver, USA called the Gabriel Foundation Parrot Rescue. There are over 500 parrots in this enormous facility with a beautiful outside area where they can get some sunlight and behave, I hope, pretty well normally. I understand that parrots are territorial and they will defend what they’ve got and what they consider to be theirs. In the video you’ll see two parrots having a bit of a bust up. I wonder whether this is to do with territorial rights or ownership of a possession.
Parrots become attached to people and they don’t like any other parrot interfering with their relationship. In fact, they become deeply bonded with one person in the house. They see that person as their mate. They won’t let anybody else near them. This kind of territorial and possessive behaviour begins around the time the parrot attain sexual maturity. They also like to guard their toys and their stand. A parrot may bite a person who tries to take away their possessions. The bite from a territorial parrot can be painful.
This sort of possessive behaviour may be considered inappropriate in a pet parrot and therefore the owner should do what they can to minimise it by, for instance, introducing them to other people to avoid a deep attachment to one person. Also, taking a parrot out of their cage occasionally helps to avoid a deep attachment to it. I wonder whether this is one reason why the Gabriel Foundation Parrot Rescue Welfare and Sanctuary have 500 birds? I’m sure a lot of the problem is to do with misunderstanding parrots. They are intelligent, sentient beings that no doubt require quite a lot of specialist knowledge in order to ensure that they are content.
I’ve always thought that it is odd and unkind (to put it kindly) why parrots are kept in cages, sometimes small cages. This can’t be natural for a parrot. I suppose they have to be in cages because you can’t let them walk around or fly around the house but isn’t this a sign of a dysfunctional relationship?
