Companion parrot
A pet cockatoo kept as a companion parrot in a domestic kitchen. |
A companion parrot is a parrot kept as a pet that interacts abundantly with its human keeper. Parrots are among the most popular companion birds worldwide, but most species are not domesticated and retain the complex behavioural and environmental needs of wild parrots, including flocking, social interaction, varied foraging and regular flight. Reviews of parrot welfare report that many companion parrots develop problems such as stereotypic behaviour, feather damaging and chronic stress when these needs are not met, and that their suitability as pets is often limited by these welfare concerns.
Species of parrots that are kept as companions include large parrots, such as amazons, greys, cockatoos, eclectuses, hawk-headed parrots, and macaws (including hybrids like the Catalina macaw); mid-sized birds, such as caiques, conures, Quaker parrots, cockatiels, Pionus, Poicephalus, rose-ringed parakeets, and rosellas; and many of the smaller types, including budgies, Brotogeris, parakeets, lovebirds, parrotlets and lineolated parakeets.
Some species of lories and lorikeets are kept as pets but are quite messy, and often more popular as aviary birds. Hanging parrots and fig parrots are normally kept as aviary birds and not as pets. Some species of parrots such as pygmy parrots, kākāpōs, night parrots, and about half of the species of parrotlets, are not considered companion parrots due to difficult dietary requirements or lack of availability.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) lists most parrot species in its appendices and restricts international trade in wild-caught birds. Commercial trade in wild individuals of Appendix I species is prohibited, while Appendix II and III species may be traded only under permit systems intended to ensure that exports are not detrimental to wild populations. In some range countries, abundant species such as the monk parakeet are also subject to lethal control programmes because they are treated as agricultural pests.