Can Parrots be bred like dogs-breeding traits and eliminating others

[Soloist]

So I am curious if anyone knows, if parrots can be breed for traits similar to how dog breeders, breed through selective breeding? I know parrot breeders use selective breeding with regards to colour mutation but I am curious of parrots can be bred through selective breeding regarding their behaviour traits.
Or are parrot traits, behaviours are just inherited and cannot be bred in a selective manner.

The reason why I am curious about this topic is how different parrot species have specific traits, almost a sigma placed on them. Such as Amazon parrots becoming known to be aggressive during mating season or boisterous and loud compared to other parrots. ....thoughts????

 

[chris-md]

Short answer, no. Parrots aren’t domesticated like dogs. Breeding is nowhere near close to touching behavior and temperament. Not yet.

 

[SailBoat]

The term in the World of Birds is Species.

Commonly such would occur in mid to larger Parrots, but it takes years to first get a proven pairs and switching partners rarely works well, if at all.

Tons of money and time with no assured success.

 

[Noahs_Birds]

There are some behavioral traits that can be passed from generation to generation, but generally nothing like the traits in regards to domestic dogs.

Aggression levels, egg breakers and/or eaters, hen killers (as bad as it sounds) are some of the traits that can be inherited, but on the other hand it is really all over the place and sometimes won't be passed on generation to generation.

Typical behavioral traits I always think of when it comes to inheritance is Cuban Amazons, usually offspring males that come from hen killing fathers, most of the time will end up like their fathers and will be hen killers.

 

[itzjbean]

A lot of great info so far. I also want to mention -- a lot of parrots who are raised with humans, hand fed by humans, have great personalities, end up making horrible breeders. They don't know what to do and end up neglecting chicks, so breeders usually use non-tame or handled birds to make al their chicks who are then pulled from the nest and reared by humans after that. Parrots also attach very closely to their partners, and so if one pairing doesn't go well, it can be very difficult to separate the already mated pair and try to get them to switch partners. It is especially difficult with the bigger the bird -- for example, macaws take years to mature, find an adequate partner, and won't tolerate anyone near their partner during breeding season, so imagine the confusion when the breeder suddenly wants new colored babies and wants to pair it with another bird....who ends up killing the other macaw. It can be so dangerous to breed parrots, dog are much easier to breed.

 

[Inger]

This is interesting information. It fills my love of knowing stuff.


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[noodles123]

No-- excluding some exceptions for appearances (which are not perfect, due to inbreeding, randomness etc)
Certain species are biologically predisposed to do what they do to survive (they are all still wild, even if "tame"--unlike dogs and cats)
Also, human interference can definitely mess up their biological clocks etc.