Michael wrote:There are tons and tons of cases where the owner loves the bird and the bird wants nothing with them. Love alone isn't enough. I never said that I don't believe parrots love. I just said there isn't any definitive evidence that this is the case. It's usually based on peoples' feelings and anthropomorphism and not on anything solid from the parrot. It seems to me that my parrots love me but it does not prove that they do.
For one thing, I don't think that all parrot owners love their parrots. I also think that the owners who 'love' their parrot and the parrot wants nothing to do with them is because, in reality, the owners do not love them [I am not talking about parent-raised birds here but exclusively handfed]. I do agree with you that love is not enough - this is something that I have said over and over and over. Love is nothing without good care. As to proof that parrots love us... no, there isn't one. But then, there isn't any scientific proof that humans love one another, either - no blood test, no Xray, no right answer to a question, etc. All we can go by is behaviors and parrots behaviors tell us that if you love them, they love you.