The Importance of
Co-Parenting of Parrots and People
by Chris Shank, Cockatoo Downs

This article is reprinted from Issue #33 of the Pet Bird Report and may not be reprinted without the written permission of the author, Sally Blanchard or the PBIC, Inc. Contact us for permission.

Happy To Be Alive Singing

It’s six o’clock in the evening. The house is alive with singing. Strong voices fill the air which cause my blood to rush and my face to smile. But an opera or Barbra Streisand, this singing is not. No, this concert is from four young, carefree umbrella cockatoos, one bare-eye, and an especially talented yellow collar macaw. Every evening I look forward to this serenade which is normally instigated by Amy, a mature umbrella, and Tyke, a mature bare-eye cockatoo. Their revelry is followed enthusiastically by the bappies. Although this singing is a joyful occasion for all, it is also an important and integral part in the socialization of the bappies.

But wait! I’m teaching my bappies how to scream? Well, no, actually, my bappies are learning how to be cockatoos. They are learning from the pros themselves — adult cockatoos. Bappies at Cockatoo Downs learn how to be birds first and "people" second. In my view, avian socialization of bappies destined to be companion birds is extremely important.

The Importance Of Socialization

Readers faithful to the PBR certainly recognize its basic philosophy: a properly socialized parrot is one that is not in control of its own life. We, the caretakers, are responsible for guiding and shaping what we consider proper behavior for a parrot in a home environment. With this I could not agree more. As a breeder of companion cockatoos, I and other concerned aviculturists have been hand raising parrots with this thought in mind. We have been raising bappies with only human handling, interaction and guidance. The results have been the sweet, lovable parrots that companion bird owners so desired.

So is this bad? Well, in itself probably not. But step back and look at the whole picture. Let’s be perfectly frank. Not all of us when purchasing a young parrot as a companion will keep that bird for the rest of its life, no matter how committed we may be. The parrot adoption and rescue operations springing up all over the country are some proof of that. Many of these companion birds are now ending up in breeding situations. But guess what? Many of these hand raised parrots have not a clue how to behave with another parrot — let alone with one of its own species. Consequently, they may be doomed to years of confusion, stress and nonproduction in a breeding environment. Of course, there are exceptions, but many hand raised, human-only socialized parrots do not function well in a strictly avian setting.

Misguided Moluccans

A glaring and disturbing example of this is the Moluccan cockatoo. The Moluccan cockatoo is a highly endangered species. It is also a very popular companion bird. Many, many breeders are hand raising Moluccans from a very early age without benefit of the chicks’ parents or adult Moluccan socialization. They are producing what the public wants: a tame companion bird. However, much to the dismay of aviculturists, we are finding that these now mature hand raised Moluccans (particularly males) prove to be very poor breeders if, in fact, they ever breed. I believe this is due to their extreme identification with people and lack of knowledge of what it means to be a Moluccan cockatoo. Consequently, the prospect of having a growing population of domestically raised Moluccans is very threatened.

So is the answer for aviculturists to only parent-raise their bappies within a social structure of parrots without human interaction and sell these bappies to strictly breeders to further the species? Maybe in some species, yes. However, that may be a drastic solution for most species at the moment. I believe, though, we can have the best of the avian world and human world in our companion parrots.

The common belief is that a parrot must be hand raised from a very early age and preferably kept in a human-only environment in order for that bird to be tame and lovable. In reality, that belief is untrue. Early socialization is essential for a parrot to develop a healthy sense of self but that socialization can come from people and/or parrots. Well-socialized parrots will become social with or bonded to anyone who gives them respect, a consistency in handling and the guidelines in how to behave in a home environment. It does not matter at what age this interaction with the young parrot begins. At Cockatoo Downs we now leave the bappies in the nest whenever possible for up to eight weeks of age. By this age, the chick knows what its parents are all about and is developing and responding as a chick is meant to do. As an added benefit, the parents have the satisfaction of fulfilling their role. They are not merely egg producers. They are far too intelligent and valuable as teachers to their chicks to be relegated to that position alone. When the chicks are pulled, we find it is only a short time before they acclimate to their new environment and have accepted us as their caretakers.

Exposure To Adult Cockatoos

As these chicks mature, they are exposed to gentle adult cockatoos. Amy, a five year old female umbrella and Tigerlily, a four year old red-vent cockatoo, are just two of the "nannies" we use. They are gentle with the bappies and interact with them as they grow. Leroy, a six year old female yellow collar macaw also plays a role in raising the bappies. She is the boss of the whole outfit and tolerates no nonsense from the bappies as they mature. She is the rule setter and the bappies learn from her what it means to have an avian social standing.

As the bappies fledge, they are released in to a large flight aviary with the nannies during the day. Here they continue their education about what it means to be a parrot. The bappies learn eating, preening, social and survival skills from a bird’s point of view. One of their more important lessons is to learn how to fly. This is so very important for fledglings. Their coordination, physical health and overall confidence levels rise to great heights as they learn this avian skill. I believe many of the now mature hand raised parrots today lack a vital aspect of knowing what it is to be a bird because they were clipped before learning to fly.

In the evening at Cockatoo Downs, the bappies are brought in and socialized with people in a home environment. Here their education on the "ups" and "downs" in the people world forms. They learn verbal commands, they learn to play with toys and stay in a cage. The result of this method of raising bappies is a cockatoo which is sweet and loving to people and also well versed in what it means to be a cockatoo. Hopefully, with this dual education (avian and human) the chances of fitting into a breeding situation, if needed, are greatly increased.

Other Possibilities

Of course, this is not the only way to raise a bappy that knows it is a bird. Nancy Boudreau wrote an excellent article, "One Big (eventually) Happy Family," PBR #29, about how her adult pair of umbrellas raised their young in her house and everyone in the family (both human and avian) helped in bringing up bappy. This seems to be a superior way to raise bappies although it may be a bit chaotic and impractical if more than one pair of parrots is involved.

Another method that has proved successful in raising tame bappies was tried at the Psittacine Research Project Center at UC Davis "Orange-wing Amazon Breeding Project," J. R. Millam, Ph.D., Proceedings of the Second Parrot Biology Symposium for Aviculturists, 1995.) To summarize their method, young orange-wing Amazon chicks were left in the nest box with the parents. The chicks were handled gently daily for fifteen to thirty minutes from both the ages of twelve days and thirty-five days. These handling sessions continued until fledging and bi-weekly thereafter. The results were that the handled chicks adopted as pets behaved essentially as hand reared chicks. Presto! A parrot completely comfortable with people but still knows where its roots are.

As is apparent, there are different ways of raising a bappy with the outcome that it is familiar with both the avian world and people world. It is important to educate not only the aviculturist but also the companion bird consumer of the importance of this early dual exposure. It is also important for the consumer to know that a bappy can be tame and loving through these various methods, not just as a strictly handfed, solitary bird. Finally, it is extraordinarily crucial that in this age of avian species extinction, aviculturists take the creative and imaginative steps necessary to produce bappies which are comfortable being parrots as well as pets.

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