Have You Ever Thought About Owning a Bird? Maybe You, like Me, Didn't Think it Through First

A bird can be the best pet you could ever own. But it can also be a nightmare.

I own a black capped caique. He is only eleven inches from head to tip of tail. And he is gorgeous. He is brilliant green and orange and yellow and white, and a black cap covers his head. I love him so much. He is the best. But...

It wasn't always that way. When I first got him he was such a clown and so smart, very playful. It was great and I was in love. I got him when he was 6 months old. It was wonderful, truly. I carried him around on my shoulder. He would flip over onto his back and kick his little feet. He loved me to scritch his little tummy. Scritch is a bird lovers term for ruffling their feathers.

I did everything wrong.

He turned two years old. Actually he was 1 year and 9 months. He started biting me. I don't mean a little love nip. No I mean his intention was to take me out. He was angry! He wanted to hurt me. He bit me on my fingers to the point of bleeding. He bit my face, He bit my ear clean through.

WOW! What was wrong?

Well I found out I had done the number one thing you should never ever do. I had bought a bird on impulse. He was so cute and sweet, I couldn't resist him.

I did not do my homework. I knew nothing about birds. Oh sure I had owned a parakeet before, even a canary, but not a Parrot. I knew nothing!!

Parrots go through the terrible twos just like a child. But they cannot say to you "cut that out it really bothers me" They cannot say to you, "that thing you do is irritating", or "I really just want to be by myself"

You see a parrot is a wild animal. It can not be completely tamed and it will behave like a wild bird. The great thing about parrots is that if you will take the time to do your homework there is a lot of things you can learn about them to make this so much easier and a lot less bloody.

They don't like to be handled all the time and they don't realize they are not human. They live in packs and they want to be leader of the pack. They also want what they want when they want it. Unfortunately they don't ever mature much past 3-5 years old in human behavior. So they are spoiled and demanding.

And parrots live 35-75 years old. Are you ready for that kind of a commitment?

Now after I have learned as much as possible about parrots, and have learned many tricks to maintain a happy lifestyle, I am thrilled with my little guy. It was a rough road for quite awhile but we made it through.

I tell him it's lucky for him that I figured him out. And it is lucky for him that I am the one that loves him. Someone else with less commitment and scruples may have just turned him out. I could never do that.

So remember, think this through. Is a pet Bird really what you want to commit to? Do you have the time to love and learn about them? They are very special but very demanding little balls of love.