Video 6
Diane Sawyer: Millions of people have parrots. That’s a family name that
includes all kinds of birds from parakeets to macaws to amazons. But many
owners don’t understand bird behavior. As we showed you once before, these
creatures can be entertaining and talkative, but they can also be, well, flighty and
temperamental. What does their behavior mean? Perri Peltz has some insights
into the mind of your bird.
Perri Peltz: They can’t dance.
Pet bird in the shower. Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream.
Perri Peltz:. . . but some of them can really sing...
Pet bird in the shower: We wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
Perri PeItz:. . . and talk.
1st pet bird: Hi.
2nd pet bird: Are you OK?
1st pet bird: Such a good bird!
Perri Peltz: It is this amazing ability to communicate with us in our own
language along with spectacular beauty that make parrots so extraordinary.
2nd pet bird: Good girl. Good girl
1st pet bird: God bless you.
Fern Peftz: Some say their keen intelligence and ability to bond to humans are
the reasons Americans keep more than 15 million parrots as pets. And, according
to experts, parrots can be just as smart as your two- to three-year-old child.
3rd pet bird: I’m a smart bird!
Perri Peltz: But just as your toddler goes through the terrible twos, so can
parrots.
Lisa Mee: No bite.
2nd pet bird: No, no. Don’t!
4th pet bird: I’m a bad bird!
Perri Peltz: In fact, parrot behavior can be a constant source of frustration for
many parrot owners. Layne Dicker is a popular lecturer on the bird seminar
circuit. He is staff avian behaviorist at Wilshire Animal Hospital in Santa
Monica.
Layne Dicker: You have to be willing to learn what you need to know about
parrots because they’re not like goldfish. They’re not like dogs. They’re not like
cats. They’re wonderful. They ain’t easy.
Perri Peltz: I don’t want to put your job down, but what’s the big deal, Layne?
They sound like really easy animals to have. They don’t bark, you don’t have to
take them out for a walk. I mean, what’s the big deal? You throw a little bit of
seed at them.
Layne Dicker: They don’t bark, but they scream. They don’t really need to be
taken out for a walk, but they need full spectrum light for at least four hours a
day. You don’t throw them a handful of seed. They need fresh vegetables every
day. Fresh water every time it gets soiled.
Perri Peltz: Why is owning a parrot so different than having a pet dog or cat?
You see, dogs and cats have been bred for thousands of years to be companion
animals. Most parrots have been bred for less than 100 years, so that means
parrots bring their own natural instincts into your home. Parrots in the wild live
in flocks, so your pet parrot considers you his flock member. He expects to eat
with you and interact with you most of the day. When you don’t give him the
attention he expects, he may start demanding it by acting out or screaming. Birds
can also be destructive. Parrots, especially macaws, will chew anything in their
path. What about biting? Parrots don’t bite each other in the wild, hut as pets,
parrots can bite when they feel threatened, or when they don’t want your fingers
in their cage. Or even when they want your undivided attention.
Lisa Mee: Au, ah, ah. No, let go. Let go.
Perri Peltz: With all the behavior problems, why not just punish a bird?
Layne Dicker: If I can tell any parrot owner something about their parrot, it
would be make them feel safe and secure. I hear about hitting, squirting with
water, screaming at. Anything that makes a parrot feel insecure will break down
the level of trust he has with you. And unless a parrot trusts you, all the negative
behaviOrs are just going to get worse. You have to do everything with a parrot in
a loving, supportive way. Yes, you’re so good. Yes.
Perri Peltz: For the past twenty years, Ruth Hanessian has been a bird breeder
and pet store owner in Rockvffle, Maryland. She’s now written a book called
Birds on. the Couch: The Bird Shrink’s Guide to Keeping Potty from Going
Crackers and You Out of the Cuckoo’s Nest. If you could put a little red warning
label on each parrot cage, what would it say?
Ruth Hanessian: I am a bird. I have my own thoughts. I have my own way of
expressing myself. I’m verbal. I will make noise. I will see what’s going on in
your household and have an opinion about it.
1st pet bird: Tarzan. Stop it. You behave yourself.
Ruth Hanessian: I will be in charge of your life if you let me be.
Perri Peltz: You write, ‘WiJ1 you freak out if Polly screams during dinner
parties? What if she learns to mimic your lovemaking cries and repeats them
when your mother-in-law comes for a visit?” Can’t be.
Ruth Hanessian: Oh, can be. If you decide to get a bird, you have to watch what
you say around it, because they will pick up the things that you really don’t want
them to say.
1st pet bird: Oh, stop!
Perri Peltz: Now, Ruth, you’re pushing it on the next one. Birds can be
co-dependents? What are we talking about here?
Ruth Hanessian: They get very involved with you, and they get very upset when
you’re not there. It’s like having a two-year-old child for the rest of your life.
Perri Peltz: And by the way, the rest of their lives can be a very long time. If
taken care of properly, the bigger birds can live up to 100 years. And that’s just
fine with Connie Pavlinac. She and her husband, Gary, are the proud parents of
three birds. And Connie makes sure all of her birds’ needs are taken care of.
First, their meals. Connie spends at least an hour and a half each day chopping
fruits and vegetables for the older birds. Then mixing formula for the baby,
making sure it’s not too hot, and hand-feeding him. Then another hour and a
half sweeping floors and scrubbing and cleaning cages. And twice a week, there
are the showers, followed by a fluff dry. And they have emotional needs.
5th pet bird: Hi.
Connie Pavlinac: Hi. They need to be talked to. They need to be held. They need
to be stimulated, so if we talk to them, we entertain them with toys.
Perri Peltz: Bonnie Kenk runs the Parrot Education and Adoption Center in San
Diego. In the last two years, she has taken in more than 100 unwanted birds,
including this conure, whose owner couldn’t tolerate her constant screaming and
kept her in a covered cage in a (lark room for six years. You see, birds become
quiet in the dark. With nothing to do and nothing to see, little Audrey turned on
herself and started plucking out her own feathers.
Bonnie Kenic It’s really very, very sad that people just don’t. . . they don’t
understand what they’re getting into when they get when they get a bird.
Conures are relatively noisy birds.
Perri Peltz: How often, Bonnie, do you see a problem result because of an
impulse purchase?
Bonnie Kenk: Daily. That’s how we end up with most of our birds.
Layne Dicker: Parrots are the worst impulse purchase in the world, and they’re
so frequently purchased on impulse because they’re so beautiful and they’re so
endearing in pet stores. You need to do your homework before buying a parrot.
They are very, very, very smart.
6th pet bird: Hello.
Layne Dicker: They have very, very long memories.
1st pet bird: OK, thank you, bye-bye.
Layne Dicker: They’re amazing animals. Good night.
7th pet bird: Good night.
Layiie Dicker: Good night, birds.
7th pet bird: Good night.
Layne Dicker: Good night.