Effect of mirror on parrot

[hazukilynch]

Hi.. i own green IRN i brought like 3 weeks ago and he/she is about 5-6 months old. Its freeflighted (no cage ) ... he eats from my hand and stands on my shoulder but doesnt feel too calm most of times so accidently i was holding him and standws infront of my room mirror he right away settled and calmed and from then on everytime i bring infront of mirror he let me pet him and all and started wanting to go to the mirror but he cant alone so he would easily come on my hand i feel him looking twards and puting his head forward mirror direction so i know he wanted it.. so im thinking to put his own mirror in his place but im afraid of doing it as i dont know whats the effect of mirror on his tameness?does he think its another bird?im afraid he will forget about me completely and bond with mirror.. or is it important to have ur parrot have a mirror?as i saw aome ppl give mirror to their birds ... so please help me with this. Is mirror good idea or bad idea?

[liz]

This happened with Myrtle. What she saw was me and a bird on my shoulder who she was able to identify herself. If that was me then the bird must be her.

We had a large mirror on the wall behind the couch. I saw her land there and say "hello there Myrtle". She had accepted that the bird was really her.

[Wolf]

Some birds do OK with a mirror, but for most of us providing mirror is probably the worst thing that we could do. Some birds will bond with the bird in the mirror and even try to mate with it. If your bird is obsessed with the mirror it is best to remove it. I do not give any of my birds mirrors.

[hazukilynch]

This happened with Myrtle. What she saw was me and a bird on my shoulder who she was able to identify herself. If that was me then the bird must be her.

We had a large mirror on the wall behind the couch. I saw her land there and say "hello there Myrtle". She had accepted that the bird was really her.

So as long as i sppear with him in the mirror is ok?so iam gonna remove the small mirror and use big mirror instead only when im with him.. would that be good ^^ and thank you so much for the great help

[hazukilynch]

Some birds do OK with a mirror, but for most of us providing mirror is probably the worst thing that we could do. Some birds will bond with the bird in the mirror and even try to mate with it. If your bird is obsessed with the mirror it is best to remove it. I do not give any of my birds mirrors.

I see.. ill remove mirror and try to control the times with it and see hiw it goes thank you a lot for your help ^^

[Pajarita]

Parrots do not recognize themselves on a mirror, they think it's another bird in there and your showing your bird this other bird, even if it's only occasionally, is not going to help your bird at all because IRN's are more aviary than companion (meaning, they like birds much better than they will ever like a human) so he will just pine for it.

[liz]

I do not want to disagree with Pajarita. She has been so much help to me and I am sure she has more knowledge that I will need in the future.

I guess I should say "do not try this at home". It may be that my parrots are weird and follow a different path. Since I knew nothing about parrots before I got Rambo the only thing I could do was treat them like kids and hope they turn out okay.

[Pajarita]

My dear Liz, that's the same thing we all do with them: we do our best and, like our own children, hope they come out OK in the end but, if they don't, we still love them

[galeriagila]

Annnnnd, in related news...

My darling (the) Rickeybird cares nothing about a mirror... it seems to be just another wall/surface to him.

I guess ya never know until ya find out!

is that common?

[Pajarita]

Some birds don't really recognize other birds as been part of their family and all they want is humans...