Captive Parrot Longevity - Chart

[Spiritbird]

This was in the newsletter from the World Parrot Trust. Very interesting.

Survival on the ark: life-history trends in captive parrots - Young - 2011 - Animal Conservation - Wiley Online Library

 

[henpecked]

That's pretty sad. median age on most species of large birds is less than 10 yrs. It's a hard read and confusing to the laymen (like me).I don't know how realistic their numbers are but i have lots of amazons well over 30 and 40 yrs of age. Don't see Panamas on there but i have a Pan older than their max life span for Yellow crown.My OWAs are older than their max life span but can't prove it.

 

[KBEquine]

I was shocked to see the max age for a White Capped Pionus was 7.6 years. Beaker was estimated as 8 years old when he arrived in my home a year ago. Likewise, my Linnies are in the 'mature' category, even IF they are as young as I was told they are.

While I'm arranging for care for the birds when I am gone (as in permanently gone), it really looks like I should be able to outlive all but possibly the Grey.

 

[Spiritbird]

They are rating the GCC at just over 8 years. That is much shorter than what I read about.

 

[IcyWolf]

Yes and the max age listed for the black capped conure is only 6 years! Everything I've read suggested more like 20 years. I hope so because our billie is almost 5 now and we've only had him a few months.

 

[lene1949]

That's pretty sad. median age on most species of large birds is less than 10 yrs. It's a hard read and confusing to the laymen (like me).I don't know how realistic their numbers are but i have lots of amazons well over 30 and 40 yrs of age. Don't see Panamas on there but i have a Pan older than their max life span for Yellow crown.My OWAs are older than their max life span but can't prove it.

The median age is always low:

A median age is the point midway between the lowest and highest stated ages. If an advertiser is looking at the "18 to 34 year old" market, the median age of that group is 26.

Read more: What is a median age ​

I found it interesting that the max age of conures differs so much...
​

 

[roxynoodle]

When I looked up lifespan for the Yellow Crown zon I read 50 years. He is 28 now. Also for the Nanday I've seen everything from 15-30 years and she is 12 now.

These ages seem much too low compared to what I've read about bird lifespans.

 

[KBEquine]

I was shocked to see the max age for a White Capped Pionus was 7.6 years. Beaker was estimated as 8 years old when he arrived in my home a year ago. Likewise, my Linnies are in the 'mature' category, even IF they are as young as I was told they are.

While I'm arranging for care for the birds when I am gone (as in permanently gone), it really looks like I should be able to outlive all but possibly the Grey.

Upon closer look, if n stands for the number in the study, then there is only 1 White Capped Pionus in the study & he was 7.6 years when the study was done, so that number was used for both the maximum lifespan & the median. I'm feeling a little better about how much longer I'll have with him now. And there were only 3 LInnies, so their 6.03 mean is not likely to be representative of the entire population, either.

Spiritbird & IcyWolf: If my above interpretation is correct, there were only 3 GCCs in the study & just 6 black capped conures, so it isn't exactly a representative sample on those species. Some of the amazons & Greys have more than 400 in the study.

Also, it looks like the information is provided by zoos & not by owners of companion birds & probably not by private breeders. I've no clue whether that would make a difference nor what difference it would make. I'm just mentioning, for what it is worth.

 

[lene1949]

Median age:

After you order the n individual ages from youngest to oldest you can find the location of the median with the formula M=(n+1)/2.

For example, if you have an odd number of ages such as 7, 23, 35, 53, 99 then the median will be the (n+1)/2=(5+1)/2=3rd observation of the ordered set. Hence the median age is 35 years. Exactly half the ages are less than 35 and exactly half the ages are more than 35.

If, on the other hand, you have an even number of ages such as 7, 23, 35, 53, 75, 99 then the location of the median will be at position (n+1)/2=(6+1)/2=3.5 of the ordered set. Since there is no "three and halfth" observation you need to take the average of the 3rd and 4th observation. Hence the median age is (35+53)/2=44 years.

easy way out middle age is the median age

Read more: What is the formula for median age​

 

[henpecked]

I understand median age, but as i said at the beginning ,i was surprised to see the median age for large birds at <10 yrs. (too many birds dying young). I haven't check the median age of my flock but i would guess it's over 20 yrs, double that of their study, and i'm holding back many young and immature breeders.

 

[KBEquine]

I understand median age, but as i said at the beginning ,i was surprised to see the median age for large birds at <10 yrs. (too many birds dying young). I haven't check the median age of my flock but i would guess it's over 20 yrs, double that of their study, and i'm holding back many young and immature breeders.

I think the study was mostly of birds in collections in zoos, from what I could tell. And I wondered if the median & maximum age would have risen, had it included private breeders & owners of companion birds.

 

[lene1949]

I understand median age, but as i said at the beginning ,i was surprised to see the median age for large birds at <10 yrs. (too many birds dying young). I haven't check the median age of my flock but i would guess it's over 20 yrs, double that of their study, and i'm holding back many young and immature breeders.

I think the study was mostly of birds in collections in zoos, from what I could tell. And I wondered if the median & maximum age would have risen, had it included private breeders & owners of companion birds.

I'm sure it would have.