Coffee drinking Cockatoo on the news

[RavensGryf]

I was just watching the local news, and they had a clip about a lady who regularly brings her U2 into her local Starbucks...

She said the bird gets a small cup and they showed it holding it in its beak and tipping it back to drink. She said it drinks it any way you give it... Hot, cold, with sugar, without...

She even said her vet told her that it was okay in small amounts. I really would be surprised if the amounts are truly small ENOUGH, and if they do it regularly, it's not infrequently enough IMO! Of course most of us wouldn't do even a minuscule amount period.

It obviously doesn't kill the bird, so is that supposed to make it okay? Perhaps they shouldn't be making light of something that really isn't so cute after all. Even if a small amount isn't acutely toxic, it's almost like how you hear of people giving parrots a small bit of alcohol. Small enough won't kill it, but the point is, it's certainly not healthy, and people do it for THEIR OWN ENTERTAINMENT. Even the news reporter joked in closing "I bet he stays up all night chirping". It's disgusting!

Hm, I wonder how many times it pooped on the floor in there?

 

[thekarens]

You have got to wonder about people. A small amount of alcohol or coffee wouldn't hurt a toddler either, but common sense would tell you it's not good for them and you shouldn't do it.

 

[Terry57]

And think about the outcry if someone regularly brought their baby in there and gave it coffee. It would not have been treated the same way at all, and to me there is no difference

 

[TessieB]

You think that is bad I've seen a person who takes his cockatoo with him while riding his motorcycle-down the interstate! What are these people thinking?

 

[Sterling1113]

Ugh
You'd think they'd put a disclaimer type warning stating that it is dangerous, sort of like a 'don't try this at home' thing.
Now there's gonna be other people doing it saying 'it's okay I saw it on the news.. Only a small coffee in the mornings!!"
How frustrating.

 

[kq_fan]

That's dumb! What the heck! What's wrong with her?????I freak out when Lilo sneaks a tiny bit! And she is giving him a cup full???? What?

 

[GW.Joe]

WOW.... Why? what purpose does it serve?

Anyway, maybe medicinal? I'll PM you what I found LOL

 

[RavensGryf]

You think that is bad I've seen a person who takes his cockatoo with him while riding his motorcycle-down the interstate! What are these people thinking?

ridiculous!

 

[RavensGryf]

Basically what I was pointing out is how bad it is that people LOVE to exploit animals for human entertainment! .....oh wait. I do like the circus! :52:


Terry, like you said, if it were a human baby people would REALLY freak, but it's "only a bird" to most people.

kq_fan, it wasn't a whole cup !

 

[Kiwibird]

Ugh. I *was* having a good night, just put my sweet Kiwi to bed, and then I read this:headwall:. A shining example of the type of person who shouldn't own a bird. Just because you CAN doesn't mean you SHOULD. I'm sure Kiwi would eat nothing but junk food if we allowed it, but as the *more intelligent* being with an *obligation of care* means he get fruits and vegetables instead whether he 'prefers' them or not. And what do you want to bet the vet meant it in a "o your back was turned and your bird stuck it's head in the cup and drank a few drops and that won't hurt the bird" kind of way and this lady took it to mean "get the bird hooked on caffeine and become a little local 'celebrity' because MY *cool* bird drinks Starbucks" kind of way. And thanks to the ever ignorant media, people who are inexperienced or may own a bird in the future might find giving a parrot coffee acceptable now, and this whole unfortunate situation for the bird has been turned into a joke. The "I bet it stays up all night chirping" comment made me want to vomit.

Makes you wonder what other care needs are being neglected or improperly handled. And give it a while when this bird begins to act out (due to being hopped up on caffeine with an ignorant owner) and this bird will be being surrendered or put down

 

[veimar]

Oh, there are so many crazy people around - I'm not surprised about anything! Next time we'll see someone's parrot in the bar drinking beer with their stupid owner.

 

[MonicaMc]

There are feral parrots in California eating avocadoes.

Many people even feed their parrots chocolate.


Actually, just read about someone who took in an african grey. Greys diet? It included 3 M&M's a day (at least) along with Walmart seeds, milk, soda and Skittles - and whatever else they ate. The person who had the grey was pretty adamant that the new owner have M&M's and Skittles on hand for this grey. For being 16 years old and mistreated, plus a poor diet, this grey appears to be in amazingly great shape! No plucking or other feather destructive behaviors.

Greys new diet? DOES NOT INCLUDE CANDY!!!!! It does include pellets, eggs, bird "cookies", fresh vegetables, flowers, etc!

 

[MomtoPercy]

Things like this worry me because not everyone burns a hole in google like us, before accepting that something is safe for our babies. Ignorant parronts will think nothing of doing this because "if it's on tv, it must be true and fine, right?"

 

[Kiwibird]

There are feral parrots in California eating avocadoes.

Many people even feed their parrots chocolate.


Actually, just read about someone who took in an african grey. Greys diet? It included 3 M&M's a day (at least) along with Walmart seeds, milk, soda and Skittles - and whatever else they ate. The person who had the grey was pretty adamant that the new owner have M&M's and Skittles on hand for this grey. For being 16 years old and mistreated, plus a poor diet, this grey appears to be in amazingly great shape! No plucking or other feather destructive behaviors.

Greys new diet? DOES NOT INCLUDE CANDY!!!!! It does include pellets, eggs, bird "cookies", fresh vegetables, flowers, etc!

A few years ago on Christmas, Kiwi got hold of a starburst (candy) and I decided to just let him have it and keep an eye that he didn't eat too much of it. Well he merrily ripped the wrapper off his 'prize' took one chomp of the candy and got most offended (i.e. flung the candy and spat out what was in his beak). I think he thought because it smelled sweet it was going to be a chunk of fruit in a wrapper. But even in a pretty much 'one time only' context (we don't really eat candy and don't typically have it around, just someone had stuck some in a gift basket), I still wouldn't have let him eat more than a couple nibbles and CERTAINLY wouldn't make it a habit.

I am a bit more liberal than a lot of owners with Kiwi (once or twice a year he may get a little white cake or a couple licks of ice cream in the summer or something like that), but on a DAILY BASIS, he is eating nutritional, natural and if all possible, organic foods. And I honestly don't feel being allowed a thumbnail portion of ice cream or a tiny chunk of cake a couple times a year is going to affect his long term health (because it is truly only a couple times a YEAR), but people take these kind of RARE treats to such an extreme and make them daily occurrences it becomes extremely bad or even toxic because parrots do not naturally eat these food items. Its just such a shame people cannot use COMMON SENSE.

 

[MonicaMc]

I've known people to feed their parrots ice cream up to once or twice a weak.



IMO, if you want to give your birds a frozen treat, then just make a fruit puree and freeze it!

 

[Kiwibird]

I've known people to feed their parrots ice cream up to once or twice a weak.

IMO, if you want to give your birds a frozen treat, then just make a fruit puree and freeze it!

I give Kiwi few licks of plain yogurt a few times a week and occasionally a SMALL bite of cheese because he goes nuts for it, so those are his 'guilty pleasures'. But I don't view a small amount of dairy in the diet as inherently unhealthy, as it does have calcium and probiotics. I don't overdo the dairy, though he gets that more than he gets sweets with refined sugars.

WE actually don't typically eat ice cream or cake/cookie/pie type sweets, so it's a treat for everyone We just aren't really ultra-sugary 'dessert' people. I do a lot of baking, and substitute home-made juices as sweeteners in lieu of sugar in most of my recipes. Not to mention the once or twice a week I make dessert, it's like a sweet bread (sweetened with juice) or applesauce or spice cake with no frosting, and those are along the lines of treats people make their birds specifically anyways. And I use pretty much all organic ingredients. We also eat a lot of fresh fruit, so thats definitely a good dessert for Kiwi I will say- it is really adorable when Kiwi gets ice-cream. He doesn't know what to make of the cold and his eyes go all crazy. He ends up flinging more of it than he eats because its cold, but you can tell he likes it but is totally confused by it.

 

[goalerjones]

I have a friend who lives out of her car now and has an African Grey. When I found out she was feeding him fries and anything else but healthy food (for her or Chester) I began giving her Hahnzels leftover pellets and nut mixes. I don't lecture her though but I just encourage her to keep feeding him what I bring.
As for Hahnzel, Greek yogurt is an occasional treat, never chocolate or coffees though.

 

[RavensGryf]

I have a friend who lives out of her car now and has an African Grey. When I found out she was feeding him fries and anything else but healthy food (for her or Chester) I began giving her Hahnzels leftover pellets and nut mixes. I don't lecture her though but I just encourage her to keep feeding him what I bring.
As for Hahnzel, Greek yogurt is an occasional treat, never chocolate or coffees though.

That's so sad about your friend... even harder to keep a bird under those conditions. Unfortunately we see that too COMMONLY the way things are in SoCal So nice of you to help.

 

[maryyy361]

My GCC went crazy for coffee, I would limit her to one or two sips and she didn't drink it every day so it was a treat. She was a healthy lil thing too. Moderation is key, for people and animals but a whole cup is a bit outrageous.

 

[Brodie]

This just reminds me of the guy I had come into work the other day.
At first he was fine asking me how to change his Indian ring necks diet from just seed. As I'm explaining this, he turns around and laughs and said "sometimes I share beer with him, you know not a lot, but he enjoys it so whatever"
I was like... well.. I didn't say anything for a few seconds, I was shocked. I couldn't believe this guy just told me that. I couldn't say what I wanted to say, I don't want to loose my job haha. So I nicely told him isn't at all good for him. I don't think he cared.