do they understand 'sad'?

[Melon]

hi everybody,
just wanna ask a weird question.
do parrots feel sad when u re-home them?do they able to miss u n hope u gonna take them back to home?do they understand u are not around anymore?
n how about memory??if u go for many years n come back do they still know u?
i adopt new parrot n she seems not in mood now.somehow the eye tells me that she is sad.some people said to me she might think where is her owner n why the owner dsnt take her back home.
is it true?

[pennyandrocky]

yes they do have very long memories. i took my bluefront amazon to my aunts house to see if he liked penny before i would bring a new bird home for him, my other aunt was there who had put him ina closet 10 yrs before. she came up to him and said hello he turned his back to her and did not accnowledge her presence all night. while he went with my cousin he'd never met and allowed evryone else to hold him and scratch his head.

[liz]

They have all the emotions. They can be sad and they can be happy.

Rambo came from a good home but liked it here so much that when his owner came to visit me - he hid. He was quiet which was unusual for Rambo. When I notice it was quiet I looked for him. He was in a cardboard box in the corner of the sunroom. When he saw me instead of coming out he went farther into the box. It was 3 visits before he realized that she would not take him home. Then he would greet her at the door but not walk her to the door.

Myrtle came from a bad owner. She had an awful life. It took her a while but now she is the happiest critter in the house.

Lemone's mate recently died. He stayed in the corner that she was last in. I had to put my flock back in a big cage because of it. Lemone' has adopted the baby tiels and sings again.

What home did it come from? Are you active around it? They like excitement and enrichment.

Bring up YouTube.com and key in the species of your bird singing. Myrtle is happy and sings with the BF Amazons But will watch the others. Thanks to Dante she can now watch Greys.

[Michael]

hi everybody,
just wanna ask a weird question.
do parrots feel sad when u re-home them?do they able to miss u n hope u gonna take them back to home?do they understand u are not around anymore?
n how about memory??if u go for many years n come back do they still know u?
i adopt new parrot n she seems not in mood now.somehow the eye tells me that she is sad.some people said to me she might think where is her owner n why the owner dsnt take her back home.
is it true?

Honestly, there is no way of knowing for sure. A lot of people will tell you how they think or would like the parrot to feel but they really can't speak for the parrot. It is possible but not provable that parrots can be sad or have any emotion. What is more likely is that you are projecting this concept of emotion on the parrot and then looking for signs of it to convince yourself that this is the case. I don't recommend doing that because it will not lead to solutions or good training. Instead focus on a behavioral approach using positive reinforcement. Don't worry about emotions or how you think the parrot feels and instead focus on building a good relationship and environment.

[Melon]

hi everybody,thanks for the answer.
she is not doing well,she keep plucking n chewing her fur.she dsnt sleep,when i turn off the light she getting crazy.i heard her whining n make small noise,i call the owner n he said just ignored her,because he dsnt want her anymore.i try to put speaker when i call the owner n she remember his voice,she keep moving her crest n get excited.i dont hv much choice,i need to put her colar today
she comes from big family,they are parrot trainer.the man job is taming parrot n sell them.so i guess my bird used to have big flock n many birds around.but the owner's father get sick,n they dont have much money to cover it so they sell all the birds one by one.the owner said the cockatoo really close with one of their macaw,maybe she missed the macaw.he offer me to buy the macaw too(completely trained n tamed) from him,but i can not.my husband dsnt allow me because we wont be able to keep 2 huge bird inside our house.even before, i keep asking my husband to keep this bird n he give up,finally he allow me to keep her.
i put her in spare bedroom which im active inside it,i play computer there,eat there,n take a nap there.until now i just can touch her when she wants it-i dont force her or chase her.i let her free explore all my house,n chew my cabinet.its ok,slowly i will teach her to stop doing it(i will give all my cabinet to her if it can make her stop hurting herself).n about foraging-she dsnt interest at all.
any idea?

[lwis]

I am so sorry to hear that your bird is having a hard time adjusting.
Of course parrots have feelings! Feelings motivate behaviour. If nothing was felt or thought, what cause would there be for any behaviour? It is just a matter of what types of feelings they may have. Birds' feelings may not be quite the same as ours, but it seems that, judging by certain behaviours to certain situations, at least some of their feelings are similar to ours. Who knows, they may even be more complex. It is hard to say, but it seems unlikely that they would have no feelings or a decent capacity for memory.
The saying, 'time heals all' might be appropriate for your situation. If your bird is "heart broken", it will take time for her to get back to being herself. But it is probably important to discourage any self destructive behaviours that have any potential of becoming habitual. Positive reinforcement would be good for this.
If it were me in your situation, I would try my best to be patient, compassionate, and understanding. At the beginning stages I would try to ignore most of the 'bad behaviours' and reward everything else. Even the little things. If there is any moment where she looks like she is happy or showing comfortable behaviour, I would make a big deal to reward her, whether that be giving her a favourite treat or praising her in a way that she may like. Then just go slow form there.
Good luck with her.

[pennyandrocky]

hi melon, when i was told about mya i read everything i could find about cockatoos that pluck. most everything said once they start they never stop i had to decide if this was somthing i could live with when i heard her speak over the phone i couldn't wait to see her. it takes a long time it's only been a few days give her time to adjust to you and her new home. we've had mya since june and she still has a bald neck and a line going down one side of her chest and belly. getting the other bird would be a bad idea she needs all the attention you can spare. try youtube videos of other birds my greencheek begs for them anytime he sees a laptop he sits on my shoulder and screams baby in my ear.

[Melon]

hi everybody,thx for the reply,this is really owesome forum .
i went to vet again today,n the vet told me its mental problem n its very difficult to stop it.for reduce it maybe,but for stop it 100% is impossible.
i will work slowly to her,my brother in law visited us today n she fastly climb down her cage n walk to the front door to check who is it.quite funny,maybe my brother in law voice almost like the ex owner.i hope time will change everything.she is safe here,in her forever home.i will never return her back to the ex-owner even if he ask me n regret.he makes her really bald,no matter what the reason is.
thanks again for all ur reply,its really give me big hope!!

[Shelby]

i let her free explore all my house,n chew my cabinet.its ok,slowly i will teach her to stop doing it(i will give all my cabinet to her if it can make her stop hurting herself).n about foraging-she dsnt interest at all. any idea?

First of all, I want to mention that most cabinets have been made with wood that has been treated with chemicals and is unsafe for your bird to chew on. You can buy wooden bird-safe chew toys from online bird stores, as well as shreddable bird toys. This will give your bird something safe, other than your nice cabinets or her own feathers, to chew on and will keep her busy. If you let her chew your cabinets now, it will be hard to get her to stop later because chewing a cabinet is something she enjoys. It's better if you never give your bird an opportunity to develop a bad habit in the first place.

This article might help you pinpoint ways to help your parrot stop plucking: Your First Looks at Fixing a Plucking Parrot

Most captive birds need to be taught how to forage. In the wild, their flock members teach them, so in captivity we have to teach them. Here are a few articles/videos I've found that talk about teaching your bird to forage if it doesn't know how. It's pretty entertaining to watch them!

• Foraging vs. Feeding
• Beginner Foraging Tips
• Getting Started with Foraging: Beginning Tips and How-to
• Foraging for Parrots 101

[liz]

hi everybody,thanks for the answer.
she is not doing well,she keep plucking n chewing her fur.she dsnt sleep,when i turn off the light she getting crazy.i heard her whining n make small noise,i call the owner n he said just ignored her,because he dsnt want her anymore.i try to put speaker when i call the owner n she remember his voice,she keep moving her crest n get excited.i dont hv much choice,i need to put her colar today
she comes from big family,they are parrot trainer.the man job is taming parrot n sell them.so i guess my bird used to have big flock n many birds around.but the owner's father get sick,n they dont have much money to cover it so they sell all the birds one by one.the owner said the cockatoo really close with one of their macaw,maybe she missed the macaw.he offer me to buy the macaw too(completely trained n tamed) from him,but i can not.my husband dsnt allow me because we wont be able to keep 2 huge bird inside our house.even before, i keep asking my husband to keep this bird n he give up,finally he allow me to keep her.
i put her in spare bedroom which im active inside it,i play computer there,eat there,n take a nap there.until now i just can touch her when she wants it-i dont force her or chase her.i let her free explore all my house,n chew my cabinet.its ok,slowly i will teach her to stop doing it(i will give all my cabinet to her if it can make her stop hurting herself).n about foraging-she dsnt interest at all.
any idea?

If she comes from noise and your house is quiet - turn on some music and sing with it. Maybe even dance and sing to your bird. Make noise and activity for it to watch. Myrtle likes YouTube for singing birds.