Birds of a Feather: Parrot Segment from CBS Sunday Morning 6/21/2009

Parrots are beautiful, they can talk, and they do tricks. So it's perhaps no surprise that parrots are now one of the most popular pets in the U.S.

With an estimated 40 million in American households, they're not far behind cats and dogs in popularity. But owners soon learn that Polly wants more than just a cracker - Polly wants hand-prepared food, plus all your time and attention and patience.

Parrots can live to 80, they love to chew, and they have beaks as strong as can openers. Like a toddler, if they don't get the care they need, they bite and scream. Or even worse, if isolated in a cage, these flock animals go stir crazy, mutilating themselves and plucking out feathers.

It's all too much for many owners. The result: Flocks of parrots, set loose by frustrated owners, are multiplying from coast to coast, with 30,000 flying around cities from California to Brooklyn, even as their numbers decline in their natural habitats. Parrot rescue centers, now found in every state, are also growing fast. It's such a big problem that the Humane Society recommends unwanted birds be euthanized. Many owners say they love their parrots but, experts say, prospective parrot owners should be prepared for a pet that demands a lot of time, attention and patience.

For more info:
Bird Rescue, Adoption & Sanctuary Organizations
http://www.maars.org/resources/links/linksadoption.php

Author and Advocate Mira Tweti
http://www.parrotpress.net/

Garuda Aviary
http://www.garudaaviary.org/

Santa Barbara Bird Sanctuary
http://www.sbbird.org/

Parrots First (Rescue Organization)
http://www.parrotsfirst.org/

Brooklyn Parrots
http://www.brooklynparrots.com/

Mira Tweti is a journalist who writes about animal welfare and environmental issues with a particular interest in parrots. Mira also produced and directed two documentaries and is currently in production on a third. Mira's most recent book "Of Parrots and People: the Sometimes Funny, Always Fascinating, and Often Catastrophic Collision of Two Intelligent Species" is now available on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B001QXC4BI/ref=ord_cart_shr?%5F...

Please remember...'DON'T BUY, DON'T BREED, ADOPT A PARROT IN NEED!'

Video: © CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved No Copyright infringement is intended

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

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• maars
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• Santa
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• parrots

[fairyoracle75]

@birdlady423 I don't think stopping breeding is the answer but that more bredders should educate like mine made sure I was before I got my cockatoo. Going on 8 wonderful years for me.

[tomatodango]

these ppl make me angry. why fucking take the bird in the first place. poor birds...

[lcoote]

This parrot is soooooooooooo cute!!!!!!!

[plasticin3]

Really sad to see the poor birds who don't have an owner to love them. If that was the cockatoo's cage (that small white one) maybe that is why he was so unhappy. So small of a cage with very little toys. Birds are naturally curious and in the wild would spend most of their day foraging and looking for food - so no wonder a bird would become bored, restless, and self-destructive when kept in a cage all day with no stimulation.

[mkzen777]

The creep who owns the birds feels he can breed them as sick as they are,you can find alot of info. on twitter, facebook about the Ohio Troy Parrots of miami county., along with the disgusting graphic photos ..Thank you all again for your time. Voices are the only thing that has ever made a difference in getting change to take place,I only hope in time some how to save the remaining birds.the shelter they were living in was condemned, the owner couldn't live there, just kept the birds there.

[mkzen777]

please anyone caring about these beautiful animals, contact the miami county humane society of TROY OHIO , tmlynn@woh.rr.com( Tereasa Lynn) PH, 937-335-9955 the trustee of this h/society allowed the parrots to be returned today to the very hands that tortured them,let them live in squalor for 10 years.& too much other info. to list here.birds are starved,have lesions,tumors, rotting carcasses found,& no laws to save them, just other animals..PLease research, please make a call ,, THANK_YOU!!

[annvolleys]

SUPPORT PET ADOPTION.

Vote Up if you support.

[Mstooey66]

You keep saying that breeders need to educate......To hell with the breeders there should not be breeders. The problem is with the breeders not just bird breeders, but dog and cat breeders. Animals are not objects for us to purchase then grow tired of and discard. They sould not be mass produced so that humans can line their pockets with cash. This the problem there are more then enough birds out there in these sanctuarys for people to adopt. Breeding should be outlawed.

[pencilpush]

very sad but necessary look at owning parrots. PLEASE people, before you buy, check into adoption.....

[gazmagi]

You need to educate people about parrots and leaving with them.They need attention and I can see that people in US end up with too many birds in their houses so they end up being left for adoption.This creatures are like kids so you need to give them time like you will do with your human kids!

[animaloverforever]

thats why you get 2 so they can talk to each other and when you get home you can play with them and they will show you what to words they have learnt or a new trick they have discovored