Some possibly weird questions regarding "birdatoption"...

[Animallover_84]

Hello!

Is it ok to change/can you change the name of an “adoptive” parrot (a parrot that´s been rehomed)?

Considering their intelligence could this be harmful, stressful, confusing etc. for them?

Have you changed the name of any parrot that you´ve adopted/bought?

It wouldn’t feel to good having to call the bird something that you either don´t like, or that you feel doesn’t fit them, for maybe 20, 30, 40+ years…but of course the parrot is the most important…hence such a weird couple of questions

/Animallover_84

[Michael]

If it means a lot to you then go ahead and change it. They are so intelligent they’ll pick up on it anyway. Even the fact you say their name in a different voice already requires adjustment.

[Navre]

We generally advise not changing a name. The bird is going to have to adjust to a lot anyhow, like Michael said. A bird's name is important to him.

That being said, people sometimes do change the name after adoption, or after finding out the gender. It's not the end of the world.

[Pajarita]

I never change their name unless I can tell the bird doesn't really recognize this sound as its name or it's completely wrong for it, in which case, I try to find a suitable name that sounds very similar to the one they had. Javi Caique's name was Cheeks but he would not even look at you if you called him by this name and he kept on referring himself as Javi -which is his previous owner's name- so he became Javi. And he answers to it. Same thing with Keku Quaker, her name was Gryphon but she kept on calling herself Keku so that's the name she now has. Then you have birds that were named with the wrong gender: Naida Zon used to be Nathan, Elly Gray used to be Elliot, etc. Or birds that were renamed just because the new owner liked a name better: Zeus Zon had been renamed Oscar by his second owner but I went back to his original name of Zeus and he knows it as his name. Or birds that were given mean names... I had a mini-macaw pair that came to me with the names Hell and Chaos - now what kind of an idiot would do such a mean thing?! So they became Hellen and Cato. Davy Redbelly must have been either a bird that was stolen or found by somebody and then sold to me. They claimed his name was Baby but that was only because he says: "Hey, baby" and 'Hi, baby". Most likely he had another name but I decided to call him Davy because it sounds a lot like baby. Then there is Sweetpea Senegal which came to me with the name Sabu [a name he did not recognize or even repeat despite the fact that he had lived 11 years with it and is the most intelligent bird I have] while he would ask: "What's your name?" and reply himself: "Sweetpea!"

The thing is that parrots understand and use the concept of proper names in the wild. The parents name the babies in the nest and these babies continue to refer to themselves by this name [or a very similar sound, kind of like a nickname, one would say] all their lives so, although they are intelligent enough to learn to recognize a new name, it's kind of disrespectful, no? It's like going to somebody you just met and saying: "I don't like your name so I am going to call you something different". Not very respectful, is it?

In conclusion, I would say that, if the name is OK -even if you don't like it a whole lot- I would keep it because, as Navre said, it's hard enough for them to go to a new home with strange humans and keeping the name is comforting to them. But, if the name is completely wrong or the bird calls itself something else [my cockatoo calls himself Hi, Linus ], change it to the name the bird calls itself. or a name that is very similar to the one they had before and recognize as its own.

[Animallover_84]

Thank you all for replying!

The main reason for my question is that the that I´m hopefully going to get soon, has got the same name as a close family member’s cat did. But, I was also looking ahead… thinking about the next parrot…and what if that parrot has a horrible name or something, hehe… I plan on getting the first bird a friend you see, so I started thinking about names on parrots in general and I just had to ask .

About the "cat-reason": This cat unfortunately suddenly got very ill, and after a traumatic time with emergency vet care (including oxygen etc.), the cat sadly passed away (very young). This whole thing happened very quickly (I mean from the first symptoms to the cat´s death) and the whole family was in shock. To make matters worse there are young children in this family and it was their favorite cat that passed away; I wouldn´t want to make it any harder on them, by having a bird with the same name.

Having said this…that does unfortunately not make it easier for me to decide on a new name, because I´ve already kind of gotten used to it…but I´m sure I´ll think of something (perhaps if/when the bird arrives).

/Animallover_84

[liz]

Use his name and the new name at the same time for about a week. Then you can drop the old name and he will still know you mean him.

They are so smart he will probably pick up on it without the method. It is just a little easier to do it the above way.

Most of my cockatiels came without names. Even in a flock I was able to teach each one the name I gave him by looking straight at him and saying the name before talking to him. They each know their names and will tweet a response when I talk to them.
They also know each others name and will look at the one I am talking to.

[seagoatdeb]

Use his name and the new name at the same time for about a week. Then you can drop the old name and he will still know you mean him.

They are so smart he will probably pick up on it without the method. It is just a little easier to do it the above way.

Most of my cockatiels came without names. Even in a flock I was able to teach each one the name I gave him by looking straight at him and saying the name before talking to him. They each know their names and will tweet a response when I talk to them.
They also know each others name and will look at the one I am talking to.

lol Liz they are really smart with names. I keep calling my two different names and Gaugan will be called and know its her by calling her Gaugan, Gaugie Bird, Baby Girl, Birdie Girl, and Sunny knows he is Sunny, Sunny Bird, or Baby boy....neither reacts to the others names.

[liz]

Mine, like my dogs, respond to their nick names too.