After cats and dogs, birds are the most common type of pet people have. Exotic birds like parrots, for instance, are especially appealing to animal lovers. After all, why wouldn’t you want to have a pet that can talk and sing beautifully? However, owning an exotic bird is a very delicate matter. Parrots are often out of their natural habitat and climate, making them more susceptible to illnesses and stress.
Therefore, if you ever suspect something is wrong with your feathery friend, it’s better to rely on mobile vets and have them come over for a checkup than take your bird to the nearest clinic. The main reason is that birds are compassionate creatures and exposing them to outside elements for too long may worsen their condition. This is why being a bird pet owner isn’t as simple as it may sound.
With all that being said, let’s go over some of the things you need to know if you ever plan on becoming a bird pet owner, shall we?
Stressful birds
As mentioned before, birds, especially exotic ones, are prone to stress much more than any other animal. Birds need space to stretch their wings, so a roomy cage is an absolute must if you don’t plan on having your pet fly around your home. If you don’t give your friends enough space, they will get depressed.
They will pluck their feathers, which may look like a severe disease to those unaware of what these symptoms mean. In other words, your bird isn’t sick or throwing a tantrum. It’s just stressed and sad that its needs aren’t being adequately met. Aside from that, your bird may become more aggressive and even change their vocalization to let you know they are unhappy.
Loud birds
Birds communicate through what we call singing, which can be very loud. Sometimes they may seem to make random noises, but that’s all part of their communication process. Macaws, for example, are very loud birds and can reach up to 105 decibels when in full swing of their “singing” range. That’s as loud as a snowmobile or even as loud as quite a rowdy football game.
So yeah, you may get used to it but chances are you neighbors won’t so expect from them to be agitated at best. Macaw screams are part of who they are and how they act out in the wild. If you’re not ready for a lot of noise from your bird, perhaps a different breed may suit your needs. Macaws will scream at the top of their lungs to call out to you and guide you to where they are.
Talking birds
Birds can learn how to talk. Parrots do this quite quickly but other species like ravens, crows and even magpies can also learn to “talk”. By talking, birds can mimic sounds, and the mos familiar sounds they come across as pets are human voices. Your bird fired may be a pet but they consider you part of their flock. Therefore, they will want to communicate with you more efficiently, which often comes out as talking.
This is all charming and amusing until your bird starts talking to your voice assistant, like Alexa, while you’re away for work or school. So if you ever get a bunch of random stuff from Amazon that you didn’t order, you know who the culprit is.
All jokes aside, birds are brilliant and will use the new ways of communication to interact with you differently. The Congo Gray parrot, for example, can perfectly learn to understand human language and even perform tasks based on your instructions. In other words, don’t take a bird’s ability to “talk” for granted.
Closing Words
Birds are excellent pets and companions. Some birds can even live for a very long time, making them your life-long friends. However, birds are sensitive and need special care so make sure you’re prepared to become a bird pet owner.