I love my parrot. Nothing else matters to me.

[BreannPearlLang]

this whole conversation has been so cute..thank you everyone

 

[Lovelyloribeth]

I love my chichi beyond words. Even having him for such a short time. He and I have grown a bond that no animal can replace....however...

I am a full time mom and am married to a military man. My 3 boys are always first. They are my life. And if I had to choose for whatever reason. Chichi would be gone. No thought needed.

Don't get me wrong it would be so hard but if it was best for my boys, I'd do it.

chichi has become such a great therapeutic asset to my 3 year old autistic son. He talks to chichi and he interacts with him, far more than with us at times. So they do more than we think they do. Even if they aren't doing anything at all.

 

[leomacaw]

I agree.

Without birds, without life.

 

[DebsFlock]

I can't really imagine my life without these guys anymore, either. I love them a great deal. They are important to me, and I worry about them more than I like to admit.

However, I honestly think it may lead to problems down the line if one really buys into the notion that they are just like human children. I think it makes it way too easy to get confused or upset when the bird starts to exhibit sexual behaviors, or develops aggression, or otherwise starts acting like a bird, not a person. It's hard not to anthropomorphize them because they do have so many human-like characteristics, but I try to always remember that they are not human. In fact they are not even truly domesticated, and therefore I need to understand them as wild creatures with needs and behaviors that are different from mine. They are my "babies" but I don't really think of them as babies. Or at least, I try not to...

 

[Customcasket]

I absolutely adore any and all pets I've ever had over the course of my life. With that said, if it came down to my family or the birds (or cats), I would do everything in my power to make sure the pets went to an amazing home. My family will always come before my pets (they're family too), but in my opinion my human family is just slightly more important. I hope it never, ever comes to me choosing human family over animal family. You never know what the future holds.

Buuuuuuuuut, having said all that I am a crazy cat lady. The birds are a recent addition to my life, I've had cats my entire 23 years.

 

[taylor_]

my boyfriend gets mad at me because i talk to crowley more than i talk to him hahaha. he's always calling me a crazy bird lady and i don't even care!

POWER TO THE CRAZY BIRD PEOPLE!

 

[mtdoramike]

I think you need to get out more.

I was meant as a joke

 

[thermodynamic]

I think you need to get out more.

That's a fair opinion, but not everybody goes out and I can think of a number of reasons - which are unfortunate reasons.

Some people are freely independent, others are shunned or belittled as children, or are abused or betrayed and in return a mindset of distrust is cultivated... I could go on for some time, but - while it's fair to suggest a person goes out more, the why should be addressed as well.

I've been told to get out more, but when I tell them 'Sure, when are we going out?' they run out of things to recommend. Maybe that's why I personally don't get out much anymore... I misread social cues...

 

[WharfRat]

I thought Mike was actually making a joke

then again, my sense of humor leans toward the dark side :54:

 

[MaraWentz]

I can't really imagine my life without these guys anymore, either. I love them a great deal. They are important to me, and I worry about them more than I like to admit.

However, I honestly think it may lead to problems down the line if one really buys into the notion that they are just like human children. I think it makes it way too easy to get confused or upset when the bird starts to exhibit sexual behaviors, or develops aggression, or otherwise starts acting like a bird, not a person. It's hard not to anthropomorphize them because they do have so many human-like characteristics, but I try to always remember that they are not human. In fact they are not even truly domesticated, and therefore I need to understand them as wild creatures with needs and behaviors that are different from mine. They are my "babies" but I don't really think of them as babies. Or at least, I try not to...

They are JUST like children, especially for those who can't have children or just don't. There's nothing wrong with loving them like a child nor treating them as such. Unless you're truelly crazy and can't notice the difference between a parrot and human there should be no "problems" down the road, when they act like parrots though aggression, dominance, or sexual tendencies. I think you misunderstand. We understand that these are parrots and not human beings, but we treat them and love them as children, but aren't shocked when it takes flight, eats bird foods, squawks, bites, or tries to rub on us. They are parrots after all. But we treat them as children, not human children, not parrot children, just children in general. They're our babies.

 

[BoomBoom]

I
They are my "babies" but I don't really think of them as babies. Or at least, I try not to...

What resonates with me in Deb’s post is, no matter how much we love our parrots as our babies, our buddies, our sidekicks… we must not do them a disservice by trying to anthromorphize their behavior. Putting human reasoning to their parrot ways may cause confusion in us and in them. What may seem innocent to our parrots, we may take personally as a result and vice versa.

I’m guilty of this too, but I try to remind myself to understand why my parrot does what he does, not in human terms but in parrot terms. It’s much harder, that’s for sure!

 

[WharfRat]

I guess after being a parent for 23 years my brain works differently, I love the flock but they aren't "my flesh and blood" so to speak. For those that have never had kids yet, you won't understand that until you do, not an insult, just fact, plain and simple. I changed my life the day after I became a parent. (I was a little on the wild side still @ 29 yrs.old :54 Then when I became a single parent I really changed my ways.

 

[dishgal1]

For us older people whose kids are grown.....well..... we have babies again. Believe me that is what it feels like. LOL Everything sort of revolves around the fids just like it did with our kids.

 

[WharfRat]

Here Dish..... lemme scare ya a little bit My oldest just turned 23, my youngest just turned 11......here's the scary part, the oldest was born 7/31...the youngest 7/29

I am the only son of an only son for 5 generations now I think, I "broke the chain" so to speak.

As for the age thing.... I ain't exactly young, the wife is 10 years younger than me as well, so the birds are set for a while yet and we already told the youngest he better get used to the birds being around LOL.

Here's Con the day we picked up ReaRea, he was tired after that 4 hour drive

 

[dishgal1]

Uhhhh ........let me scare you. My son is about to be 47 and my daughter is 41..........I am 67........don't feel like it and really can't believe it but there it is. I feel much younger and that is a good thing otherwise I wouldn't be able to keep up with these 2 fids they are like 2 babies in diapers especially Forrest. LOL

 

[WharfRat]

Where 'bouts are you, I'll swing by and drop off the Green Wings for the weekend

LOL

 

[dishgal1]

Sorry, I don't do daycare. LOL

 

[MaraWentz]

There are things that parrots do, like humans. Plain and simple- they learn, they grow, they seek attention, they make mistakes, they love, etc. It's a fact that no one can deny, so to relate the childlike things they do to being like a child is not wrong. It's also a fact that they aren't humans but parrots too. That is why we "anthromorphize" their behavior instead of calling them humans.

 

[WannaBeAParrot]

Ditto to what so many have posted in this thread. I'm kookoo for my birdie. Last week I finally got my closest friend to watch the Telegraph Hill film on Netflix (my Pritti is a Cherry-Head like the ones in the film). She was amazed. She knows Pritti but had a hard time understanding the relationship I have with him. She is a dog person and couldn't understand how a person can have a similar human-dog bond and fun and communication with "just a bird". After the movie, she said she has a whole different understanding now and it undid everything she thought before. So get your family and friends to watch it if they could benefit from some insight.

Signed,
Another Crazy Bird Lady

 

[Mudkips]

Parrot or not, I wanted a companion. Not just a pet.

IMO too many poor decisions and wrong impressions are quickly made over someone's choice of words, tone of voice or facial expression. I myself am guilty of it, and so is almost everyone around me.
I needed something in my life to completely counter this - something I didn't understand that I could take my sweet time trying to learn and experience without imparting my own bias judgement.

This was one of the deciding factors in getting a bird.
The lack of a common language or even being able to read each others expressions (at least at the beginning) helped force a relationship between us beyond words.
A true, bonding experience.

Even now, many months after forming that initial bond, it still remains strong. I can go about my business with Birdy happily keeping me company at all times without ether of us having to say a word or explain ourselves in any way. We just know.

Birdy is everything I had hoped for, and then a little bit more!