Choosing a parrot species using rescue stats

[k9shrink]

Hi guys, I'm a positive animal trainer who had a performing African Grey for 5 years, but currently have no birds. For my future bird, I've been trying to find the most docile and quiet species of hookbill possible to train as a performing bird. Finding much conflicting info online, I decided to investigate which species are most likely to be given up to a bird rescue or shelter. After controlling for popularity of each species, I'd hopefully pin down which species was easiest to live with.

Stats vary about the number of cage birds in the U.S., from 10-17.3 million (http://www.parrots.com/parrot-ownership.htm). I believe Mira Tweti claims in "Of Parrots and People" that there are 1 million birds in rescues in the U.S., meaning about 6-10% of all birds. This sounds believable to me.

I tallied up every species individually on Petfinder, the free listing service used by nearly every rescue in America, but there were only 1,964 cage birds listed, of all species combined. This is a loooooong way from the 1 million birds supposedly (and probably) in rescue. I'm very curious to know where the other 998,0936 birds are, and why they aren't listed for adoption. The numbers don't add up.

Anyway, I took the birds on PetFinder and controlled for popularity of each species (from http://www.parrots.com/parrot-ownership-page3.htm) to find which species were most likely to be in rescue. I had to guesstimate some of the less common species, distributing the 8% comprising uncategorized "parrots" among them.

The result is a graph showing the relatively likelihood that a parrot species is currently in rescue, controlling for its popularity. (Sorry about the tiny type, but it's the maximum sized image allowed on this forum). Does this chart match people's expectations? Just curious!

[k9shrink]

I was surprised by some of the findings. For example, I've heard caiques on YouTube, and they are capable of some truly ear-splitting screams. They're one of my top picks as a performing bird, but OUCH--my ears! Yet, even controlling for their relative rarity, Caiques are very unlikely to end up in rescue, according to my calculations. Is this because they have so many good points that owners overlook the screaming? Or because they're so unusual that people really have to be dedicated to find and buy/adopt one?

I'm starting to think that many of the "easy" and "friendly" birds end up in rescue solely because of owner boredom, rather than behavioral issues (i.e., "parrots being parrots"). For instance, I found it surprising that people are more likely to give up doves than Caiques, per capita. Really, how much work could a dove be?

Another surprise was that lovebirds and budgies are almost exactly as likely to end up in rescue, per capita. Yet you always hear about budgies being easy keepers and lovebirds being both nippy and loud. I've met lots of people who had budgies for years, but nobody (in real life) who has put up with a lovebird for more than about a month. Yet the same percentage of each ends up in rescue. Maybe this is another case of the "easy" bird being "boring" to its owner, and thus more easily surrendered.

[Harpmaker]

VERY interesting statistics, k9shrink! I have also wondered about which birds are surrendered most, and your numbers are a good start on the data.

Some parrot rescues may not advertise on PetFinder to avoid impulse adopters, and/or to avoid being associated with breeders, but I would never have guessed there were enough to keep 998,000 birds! So where ARE they going? Released into the wild? That is unkind for pet-raised birds, a death sentence in many climates, and illegal in a lot of places. Craigslist?

I also suspect you will get a lot of parronts telling you that THEIR subspecies of parrot is different from the norm in the classification, but if you split the classification too much you end up with statistical insignificance. At least this is hard data, as opposed to polling parrot-themed websites and rescue workers, who will likely have more subtle biases.

Best of luck with your data interpretation.

[Pajarita]

Well, for one thing, the largest rescues in USA (with hundreds and hundreds of birds each) are all sanctuaries and they do not adopt out so you would not find them in Petfinder and, for another, there are lots and lots of people like me who rescue birds and would, on occasion, adopt them out once they are rehabilitated but would never advertise.

Personally, I think that cockatoos are the most given-up bird with budgies been the second.

[Michael]

First off, what's a positive trainer?

I think it's really cool that you are looking more into this. I suppose it raises more questions than it gives answers but it's a great start. From what I've been told, budgies and cockatiels are the most frequently given up birds... but you're not gonna find them on petfinder or probably even craigslist for that matter. The bigger birds get "sold" whereas the budgies/cockatiels get given away to anyone who will take them. When people expect $0-$10 for the bird, they are not gonna bother listing it. When people are at wits end giving up a bird (let's say parents of a collegebound student that dumped his cockatiel on them...) they're gonna take the easiest option. In the case of a budgie/cockatiel it's either giving it to a naive friend or tossing it out. When it's a giant macaw, it's actually probably harder to find someone even willing to take it so that's where the internet plays a bigger role. Plus people wanna recoup some kind of money for it.

Rescues in themselves don't necessarily show an accurate picture. It's not that the more exotic species don't get rehomed. It's just that when they do, there is usually a high demand and they get sold quickly. Ask Natacha. She was trying to find a rescue Cape Parrot for years but ultimately went to a breeder.

Anyway, I'm trying to figure out your purpose of researching these stats? Is it that you're trying to find the least give up parrot for yourself with the assumption it will make a better pet? Are you trying to check which ones are more readily available? Not sure where you're going with this but it's definitely interesting so share all you find.

[k9shrink]

Harpmaker, thanks for your reply--some good points.

Pajarita, the sanctuary idea does account for many birds, though I see that Phoenix Landing--for one--lists their birds on PetFinder. And it's true that many birds are privately adopted or sold on Craigslist.

But I'm still wondering why there are so few birds on PetFinder. I hadn't realized earlier, but PetFinder lists animals in both the U.S. and Canada, so now the <2,000 number is waaaaay too low.

Since you have to put in your zipcode (I live in Wisconsin), I thought maybe it was only showing the subset of birds closest to me. However, in many species, by about the 6th or 7th listing, I'm looking at rescue birds in Florida.

For example, I find it hard to believe that there are only five adoptable Poicephalus, of all species combined, between Wisconsin and Virginia. Within that same distance, there are over 1,000 adoptable Cocker Spaniels listed on PetFinder. I think the parrot people must be behind the dog people in using the Internet to list adoptable pets...

[k9shrink]

Michael,

I don't understand your question about "what's a positive trainer?" I'm a clicker trainer, though I often use a verbal bridge instead of an actual clicker. Here's a video of my clicker-trained ex- : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QLHZg_xk0M.

Yes, my idea of compiling rescue stats was to see if some particular species stood out as being "most likely to not end up in rescue." IMO, this would mean that they were easy to get along with from both a noise and aggression perspective.

I'm probably more tolerant of parrot noise than the general public, but far less tolerant than 95% of people on this forum. While my future bird will be out of the cage all day, I work from home in a field where I need to concentrate a lot. Even a constantly-chattering budgie would drive me NUTS. I'm hoping to find a bird that is moderately loud for a few minutes, several times a day, then is quiet for hours in between. And particularly, a bird that doesn't scream and throw tantrums each time I leave the room, forcing me to hide in my kitchen for hours to avoid coming back and reinforcing the tantrum.

I'm also more concerned about aggression than the typical parrot owner, because one of my main reasons for having a parrot is to do public performances.

I'm an experienced animal trainer who is well-read and has taken courses with Barb Heidenreich and Dr. Susan Friedman, but found that training only goes so far when it comes to parrot noise and aggression. So I thought my rescue "survey" would tell me which birds were most likely to be both docile and quiet.

It's definitely making me take another look at Brotogeris, a species I had never even considered before...

Sharon

[Michael]

Still have no idea what a positive trainer is but whatever.

While I think your research is very interesting, I don't think it is very helpful for you. Not all greys pluck, not all cockatoos scream, etc, etc. Sounds like you have specific requirements and you have to have them. Well I know a wayyyy easier and more effective way to achieve that then what you're trying to do. Go to a rescue and find the bird that matches your criteria as an individual rather than a species. You may find the one quiet cockatoo or the social grey, or whatever you're looking for. The more time you spend with the rescue bird, the better your chance of learning how it really is. It's an adult so most of the qualities should stick (as long as you don't mess it up but you understand training so you probably won't).

I got my rescue Green Winged Macawon that basis. She was a quiet bird at the rescue, a little aggressive, but showing tremendous promise. All of this has held true two+ weeks since adoption so it looks very promising long term. You may be able to arrange to borrow or foster a bird to test it in your lifestyle. Can't do that with a baby, wait 5 years for it to mature, and then change your mind. Well many people do and that's why there are plenty of rescue birds to choose from...

[k9shrink]

Michael,

Maybe "positive trainer" is more used in the dog community. It denotes somebody who uses positive reinforcement and occasional negative punishment (withholding reward) rather than negative reinforcement and positive punishment. In birds, a positive trainer might use a bridge, luring or shaping, and food treats to teach something. A non-positive bird trainer would use swatting, forced "laddering," toweling, and physically man-handling the bird to get results.

Congrats on your new macaw. And your bird room is spectacular! I made a secure aviary in Istanbul for Clover, using the enclosed balcony of our high-rise. But yours is REALLY nice.

About rescue, I'm already on it. In the fall, I applied at the two moderately-large rescues in my area, both about 70-90 minutes away. I listed the personality and size of bird I was interested in, and said I was open to species, and willing to wait for the right bird. I also offered to foster ANY type/personality of parrot for a few months if they needed foster homes. My only reply was from one of the rescues, saying they offer 30-day "foster to adopt," but otherwise do not use foster homes. Since then, I've never heard anything. I regularly check their listings on PetFinder, but most of their birds are described as unhandleable, blind / permanently plucked (I have a cat and need a flighted bird), extremely loud, or have to be adopted as a bonded pair.

The few exceptions are either middle-aged budgies (who have an average lifespan of only 7 years--too short to justify training) or things like large macaws and cockatoos, which I can't afford to adopt/house/feed/etc.

I decided to expand my search to out-of-state rescues, though I don't actually know if any will adopt to non-residents. At that point, I thought it might be a good idea to narrow down the species and not have to scroll through dozens of birds that were unlikely to be a good fit. So that's how I came up with my "rescue stats" idea. Not foolproof, but I thought it might narrow them down a bit--and then I could judge on individual personality.

[Michael]

Where are you located, what size are you looking for, and what's your approximate yearly budget if you don't mind me asking?