Dont know what to say?

[Khaiqha]

So whenever people find out I have a bird, they end up telling me about the birds they had years back. These are some of the things I'm hearing.

"We had a bunch of parakeets. They were crazy, so we never played with them and they ended up killing each other."
"We kept the Quaker clipped because it was getting bold and trying to fly out of its cage."
"The Quaker ended up ripping its feathers out, tearing a hole in its chest and dying. It was weird."
"Had a cockatoo in college. Didn't like it, so I gave it to the kid down the hall, dunno what happened to it."

It goes on and on. I never know what to say. Honestly, berating them for something in the past won't change anything, but part of me wants to smack them too. Have you guys had socially awkward situations like these?

[rebeccaturpeinen]

No luckily I havent cos it would be hard not to smack them... but my familly and friends really dont understand birds and why I spend time on and with Jo... when I say she loves to play they think that is just in my head. in their minds a bird is suppose to sit on a stick in its cage and be quiet but ofcourse talk on command. People have called me crasy for keeping Jo after I found her. Their solution would have been to leave it outside to die or kill it.

BUT two years ago I also didnt know birds played and the thought of letting a bird fly in a living room seemed crasy... I NEVER had the reaction of killing a bird though. The difference between me and those people? When I found a bird that desperatly needed a home I gave it one and loved it and learned everything I could about it... spend a lot of my free time with her and making her toys. I knew before I took her in she could live a long time and I am very prepared for it.

I guess I dont mind peoples ignorance, like my familly, as long as they dont go out and get a bird. They can call me crasy all they like, I still love my bird. If people think a bird should still in its cage and be quiet fine, then those people should just never get a bird.

(and now I am bird crasy and want another one )

[liz]

It makes me sick and I want to smack them. They get them for amusement of status symbol then lock them away. You can't imagine how many stories I have heard of birds being closed into rooms by themselves because they are too noisy or messy or non social.

If it was in the passed I tell them it was a shame to treat a little being that way. If it is present I try to teach even if they don't want to learn. If they have a bird that they treat lke that - I ask for it. Often they just give it to me since they don't want to care for it anymore.

I still regret treating my 2 budgies the way I did 40 years ago. I never let them out or touched them. I did feed them wel and kept them clean and in the living room.

[Michael]

It goes on and on. I never know what to say. Honestly, berating them for something in the past won't change anything, but part of me wants to smack them too. Have you guys had socially awkward situations like these?

Oh yeah, all the time. I don't get in arguments over the past but when these people say how now they want to get a bird again, then I make an effort to talk them out of it.

"The Quaker ended up ripping its feathers out, tearing a hole in its chest and dying. It was weird."

This actually sounds like a case of a rat climbing into the cage and chewing food right out of the bird's crop unless it's an insane case of feather plucking.

[dohcsvt]

I have not heard stories like this from others, thank goodness, because I do not know how I would react?

[felix11]

The last story I heard like that was this:

A friend's grandpa had a cockatoo and it used to hang out in the garden with him. He wasn't worried about it flying off because it really liked him. One day a flock of other cockatoos landed in the garden and were foraging. When they all flew off, grandpa's cockatoo flew with them.

This is sad for so many reasons. The untrained pet cockatoo wouldn't have had any control over its 'flock take off' response, so it couldn't resist the pull taking off with the other birds. It couldn't have had the muscle or endurance to keep up with the wild cockatoos as they flew. It didn't know how to look for food or water. I just hope that somehow it did keep up with the cockatoo's and learnt from them how to forage in the wild. But the story didn't stop there:

The granddaughter of the man now has her own cockatoo, but she can't keep it. She is trying to get someone to take it, but if no one wants it then she is going to find a wild cockatoo flock and leave it with them, to fend for itself.

[Khaiqha]

Yeah, at my apartment complex a girl saw my bird and asked if she could have a duck. The office said yes and she is going to get one. She said she's had ducks before and I was like, OK, this should be cool. Then I found out she raises them as chicks, and when they can fly she just lets them join the wild....

[liz]

The last story I heard like that was this:

A friend's grandpa had a cockatoo and it used to hang out in the garden with him. He wasn't worried about it flying off because it really liked him. One day a flock of other cockatoos landed in the garden and were foraging. When they all flew off, grandpa's cockatoo flew with them.

This is sad for so many reasons. The untrained pet cockatoo wouldn't have had any control over its 'flock take off' response, so it couldn't resist the pull taking off with the other birds. It couldn't have had the muscle or endurance to keep up with the wild cockatoos as they flew. It didn't know how to look for food or water. I just hope that somehow it did keep up with the cockatoo's and learnt from them how to forage in the wild. But the story didn't stop there:

The granddaughter of the man now has her own cockatoo, but she can't keep it. She is trying to get someone to take it, but if no one wants it then she is going to find a wild cockatoo flock and leave it with them, to fend for itself.

I would not fear for a bird joining a flock o it's kind. If it was well fed and healthy when it flew with them they will teach it what it needs to know. They accepted it and it would stay in the center of the flock for protection. Yes the grandfather misses it and it may think of him but it is now a wild bird in it's own environment.

I have raised wild babies of all kinds. When they are old enough and stron enough I find their own kind to release them. They will learn. The starling I raised was accepted by starlings but not ready to leave me. I opened the window everyday for him to go out and play with them. Finally when the flock went home at night he went too. He came back with them to my feeder for a few days bu when the flock moved on he went too.

[felix11]

Birds in captivity that don't get practice flying long distances and battling winds, rain, etc, don't have the muscle or skill to keep up with wild flocks. This is most significant for bigger birds, as it's easier for smaller birds get more exercise. It doesn't really matter how benevolent the flock is towards the bird - if it is a far-flying flock, like cockatoos, the bird will tire out and eventually lose the rest.

I think it's lovely that you let your starling out for play dates - this way the bird could slowly acclimatize to outdoor flight without being subject to all outdoor pressures at once - but cockatoos are much longer lived and learn everything about life from their parents as babies. I really think a middle aged cockatoo (rides on shoulders, wouldn't know what foraging was if it hit him in the face, and probably with pretty serious muscle atrophy from not flying) wouldn't even survive long enough to learn from the flock how to find food or water.

I wouldn't even rate my birds as having a very high chance of survival in the wild, and they fly and forage outside every day. They just aren't as good at it as parrots born in the wild, and don't have as good an eye for raptors, either.

[liz]

Shanlung says I have "rose colored glasses". If I take them off I could go insane with the pain in the world. I must hope and dream for the best.