The photo with the code is a great idea.
I have great moral ambivalence about parrots as pets. They are so intelligent, and require such emotional support, and they live so long. I think, what kind of person gets a parrot? One, a young person who is captivated by the beauty and wonder, has the time and energy to devote to the bird, but whose life is just beginning. There are so many factors - the arrival of children, human partners who aren't compatible, job changes and moves. Many of these parrots will be rehomed. Two, an older person who has the time, the money, and the temperament to be a stable long term home for a parrot, but who may well not outlive them. Those birds will be rehomed when the owners go where the bird cannot follow. People who are in the midst of life, who already have kids and families and busy lives might either correctly judge the needs of the bird and the available resources, or might underestimate the needs, maybe not have enough time to devote to research, and will either not get a bird, get a bird and realize it was a mistake in which case rehomed, or things might be good. There are so many ways in which human lives become incompatible with the parrots' needs, and so few cases of perfect lifelong harmony.
There are so many unwanted parrots. There are so many parrots in "refuges" and rescue situations. There are so many parrots in basements and closets because they scream too much to have in the TV room but are too valuable to give away. There are so many starved, neglected, abused, suffering parrots in the world. It is as wrong to keep them as pets as it was wrong to keep humans as slaves. I know the argument that the captive trade keeps the gene pool going to let the species survive if it becomes extinct in the wild, but the species is going extinct in the wild because the parrots are worth so much money to poachers. If the birds had no resale value as pets, they would not be worth poaching, so wild parrots won't be trapped, have their feet glued to sticks as bait birds to attract others with cries of distress, have their nest trees cut down and half the babies die during the process, not be jammed neck first into plastic water bottles with the bottoms cut out or taped up or drugged and stuffed into tires or any of the myriad torments imposed by smugglers who only care that enough birds survive to make a profit.
It is a terrible, horrific business, the business of poaching live parrots for sale into the pet trade. I see no ethical solution: if parrots are expensive and can be kept as pets, the poaching will continue. Parrots will never be cheap, because they can't be produced in vast quantities. It isn't possible to stop poaching because the space to police is so vast. Even parrots bred in captivity by good people and placed into carefully vetted homes will live unnatural lives, lives without the love and companionship of their own mate, without a sky to fly in, without a flock of their own kind, and eventually, most almost certainly, die in captivity or be shuffled from home to home.
All of which is leading up to the suggestion that the best way to get a parrot, if you must have a parrot, is to adopt one from a rescue, or from someone needing to rehome one, and not support the pet trade by buying babies. Go find an older bird, one who needs love, maybe they pluck feathers or don't talk or they bite or they are hormonal...things that humans did to them that make them unattractive to humans. But that isn't going to happen...and the pet trade isn't going to stop, so respectable, ethical breeders are the next best hope. To buy a bird long distance, buy from one of these responsible, humane, ethical breeders or else go to the website of a respected parrot rescue. Petfinder is a great source for all kinds of animals, including birds, who need loving homes. Going through a verified channel like this protects you from scams, cuts down on the number of birds stolen and resold, and helps the rescue free up a spot for another bird.
When I go buy tires, the dealer charges me a disposal fee. It's required in some places, and helps prevent dealers dumping tires illegally. I wish every parrot sale came with a mandatory Rescue Support fee, that went to feed and house unwanted or unadoptable parrots in decent, safe environments. Our poor Gus - he's 14 years old, on his third home, doesn't talk, has behavior issues, has special medical needs, and will likely outlive us. We put him in the will and theoretically he will be taken care of, but it's really out of our hands whether people do right by him or not.
any suggestions?
