Lyn F wrote:Thank you Wolf. Can you give me a good source of information (other than this forum of course
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This is a very good question and should be an easy one to answer but it is not. There is no single definitive source of information regarding parrots. Sometimes I look up the various parrot or bird magazines and then after reading an article I go to the reference material that is usually at the end of the article which many times leads me to even more references. It may take some time but this usually leads me to specific research papers that were published in scientific journals which are very often connected to a specific university. I look in scientific journals, medical journals especially those that are connected to schools or universities of veterinary sciences. Sometimes I even find things in news stories, but have to be sure to check out the references as most news stories seem to be bent more on sensationalism than on actually giving facts.
Forums can go either way as far as the information that they present, some are more fluff than anything else and some are more interested in giving good information regardless of weather it is what we like to hear. That is one of the main reasons that I particularly like this forum, it does not cater to what I want to hear about how to properly care for my birds. I can go to any section of the forum and especially in some of the longer threads find several different references to various studies that have been done concerning just about anything that I want to learn more about.
If you study enough about parrots in general you will come to realize that parrots do not make the best of pets and that it would have been better for the parrots to have never been considered as a pet, No matter how much time and resources we have not one of us can actually give a parrot the type of life that it deserves to have. By the same token parrots as pets are not going to go away and since these captive parrots are mostly raised in captivity they do not have the skills to be returned to the wild and this means that we have to do the best that we can to give them the best life that we can. Unfortunately it is not really that great for the parrots so we all fall short in caring for them properly.
It hurts to realise that we can't really give them the life that they deserve and it hurts to tell someone that truly loves and care about these birds that no matter how hard they or we try that we are unable to give them an adequate quality of life. It also hurts to know that there are so many of these wonderous creatures in rescues and such or condemned to a life of being moved from owner to owner and place to place because of our lack of understanding them and their nature. While it is true that none of us should have parrots as pets, it is also true that they are in our homes and this is not going to change. Sharing with new owners about this unhappy state of affairs does make it seem that we are trying to keep them from having parrots, but it is shared more as a means of letting them know that these birds are not easy keepers and that they do require more time and personal one on one attention than they were usually given to believe, The hope is that those who really want and care about these birds, will keep this information in mind and do their best to understand and give the birds as good of a life as possible and that often means a constant search for better answers and is something that most of us either do ourselves or we ask questions on the forums so that those who have or are researching about that can share new information with us.
I like to do my own research, but there is so much of it to do that I don't always have the time to do it and when that happens to me I come here and start asking questions, sometimes the response is close to what I thought it would be and other times I leave this forum fuming because the information does not fit in with my thoughts at the time, but then I am usually given a link or two to the research supporting what was shared with me and if that is not there then I often ask for it so that I can check it out for myself.
The second reason for me liking this forum is that the people who stay with it are those who are here for the birds benefit and not mine, they will always share with me what they have learned and not tell me what I think I want to here.
I know that this reply does not fit with what you asked for very well but it does not fit with what I thought I would be able to give either, when I started but it is the best that I have at this time.