Animal Teachings Part 2: Life with Parrots
Trust, respect, and humility are the three most important things I learned from my animals. Let me clarify; in my case, the animals are ones who would normally not want to have anything to do with humans. When faced with a “fight or flight” situation, they will quite literally choose flight! The three parrots I share my home with have taught me those lessons well.
An African Grey named Coco, an Indian Ringneck Parakeet named Squeaker, and a Senegal parrot named Pablo, have lived with me for the past 15 years and have anywhere from another 15 to 50 years left to keep teaching me those lessons!
To befriend a bird is its own reward. They haven’t been genetically tampered with for millenia like dogs or cats have. They have no pre-programmed desire to want to be around us or be a part of our household. They are still very much wild animals. To earn their trust and unconditional love takes a lifetime of patience, self-discipline and personal reflection. We have to be the ones who are humble enough to change ourselves to suit their needs, not the other way around.
Respect their instincts and intelligence. Learn their behaviors and needs to become a companion they can trust without question, and you’ll earn a friend for life!
I was no “expert” when I first started to live around birds. I poked my fingers in places where they didn’t belong and muttered things under my breath that I could have sworn were repeated back to me over the years! I was a “dog person” and as such, I expected birds to behave the same way as a dog. I quickly discovered that they weren’t that fond of me staring at them, putting my face next to them, or putting my fingers against their cages and pointing at them.
Multiple ear-piercing screeches, wing flaps, and bloodied fingertips later, I started to adjust the way I approached the birds. Counter-intuitive to my pet-keeping habits, I ignored them. I gave them space, let them sit back and watch, and let them become curious about me, instead of me getting up in their faces all the time. Slowly but surely they started to appreciate the freedom they realized they had, not always being harassed by this bald, gangly, two legged, front-eyed creature in the room, when I was taking care of them.
At some point a switch flipped in their minds and they each started to come to me on their terms. First Coco, who was more than happy to have a best friend he could hang out with. Then next came Pablo, who enjoyed a free shoulder-ride around the house in the morings. After that, Squeaker finally came to tolerate my existence since his best friend, Pablo, seemed to want to hang out with me (Even if he just treats me as a means to an end, I’ll take it!).
I can no longer approach any animal now with the outgoing, extroverted enthusiasm I had in the past when I was only familiar with dogs and cats. My relationship with these birds has made me a much calmer and patient person overall.
Brian Meade wrote a book about his experiences with parrots, available here: https://www.amazon.com/Tale-Feathers-Brian-Meade-ebook/dp/B08P3ZL4V2/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0