Parrots imitate others just so they know who they’re talking to

Alasdair Wilkins

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As humans, we can start a conversation with someone else and be pretty confident they will know we’re talking to them. This is one of those things that’s so basic we forget to even take it for granted. But this is much, much trickier for parrots — and it might explain their gift for mimicry.

After all, even if we find ourselves in a crowded room, we can always single out a particular person for conversation by walking over to them, saying their name, or — and this is really the “if all else fails option”, but I’ve found it to be effective — shouting and gesturing like a lunatic until the other person finally gets the hint and comes over. But parrots and their relatives — including the the orange-fronted conures, a kind of parakeet found throughout much of Central America — have to get a little more creative if they want to start a conversation with a specific bird in the flock.

Parakeets live in what’s known as a “network environment,” which means lots of different flocks constantly meshing together. While some parrot species seem to have developed “names” for other individuals, in which they use very specific bird calls to indicate they’re talking to one parrot in particular, that isn’t an option for the orange-fronted conures, who interact with hundreds of birds each week.

If you’re a parrot — in which case, congratulations on being able to read and operate the internet — then the smart thing to do in this situation would be to come up with one particular call for yourself, rather than hundreds of different address calls for every other parrot in your flock. That’s exactly what the orange-fronted conures do, and this is where the parrot’s preternatural gift for imitation comes into play.

In order to start a conversation with a specific bird, a parrot simply mimics that bird’s own personal contact call. According to Danish researchers, orange-fronted conures responded significantly quicker in both lab and wild environments when addressed with an imitation of their own call. It’s a rather remarkable idea that each parrot has to mimic someone else if they want to talk to them, particularly if you translated the notion to humans.

As amusing as it is to imagine humans constantly doing bad impressions of each other — and let’s be honest, this is humans we’re talking about, the impressions will be bad — that actually might not be the best comparison. After all, the alternative, in which each bird comes up with hundreds of address calls, is more like the human equivalent of start conversations with other people with descriptive addresses like “You there with the baseball cap and the blue eyes and the bad acne!”, whereas the conures’ contact calls might be more like each person giving themselves a nickname, then expecting to be addressed by that nickname.

The point, I think, is that we should model human interaction on parrots, because it would be hilarious, and possibly lead to fistfights. For another, slightly more scientific takeaway, let’s go to researcher Dr. Thorsten Balsby of the University of Aarhus:

“Many species of parrots live part of the year in flocks. Living in flocks may be challenging and require a flexible vocalization system. The vocal imitation of orange-fronted conures is probably tightly linked to the fission-fusion flock dynamics that results in frequent encounters and interactions with many different individuals. In natural interactions, orange-fronted conures continue to imitate each other after they have established contact. The function of these prolonged imitative interactions is not known yet but may be related to some kind of negotiation regarding the decision to make a flock fuse with another flock.”

PLoS ONE via BBC News. Image by PolkoChan on Flickr.

A Look Back • Potty-mouthed parrot shocks visitors to St. Louis Zoo in 1930

ST. LOUIS • The St. Louis Zoo opened its new $225,000 bird house on Oct. 5, 1930. It was the last word on avian habitat for urban zoos, allowing visitors to see and hear their exotic feathered friends up close.

The zoo boasted a rare collection of rare birds. Brewer August Busch Sr. had donated a King parakeet, one of only three in the United States.

Another St. Louisan gave the zoo his parrot, which had a flaw that went unnoticed until the crowds arrived.

The red-headed bird cursed a blue streak. The Post-Dispatch reported that its mildest phrase was “Go to hell.” Other oral flourishes couldn’t make print.

Embarrassed zookeepers quickly banished the parrot from public earshot, calling its vocabulary unsuitable for children. Director George Vierheller said the zoo would restrict it to the quarantine room until an indulgent owner was found. He wouldn’t identify the parrot’s former owner, frustrating reporters who wanted to expose the bird’s education.

Newspapers across the country ran headlines about St. Louis’ “profane” or “potty-mouth” parrot. On Nov. 11, 1930, the Post-Dispatch followed up with a photo of the notorious bird and word that the zoo had received more than 500 letters, telephone calls and telegrams from people offering to give it a new home.

Motivations varied. Several offered to reform the bird. A woman in Virginia promised to teach it to pray. A man in St. Petersburg, Fla., suggested letting it live on a 17,000-acre tract where it “can use any language he chooses.”

Members of Pi Kappa Alpha at the Missouri School of Mines in Rolla (now Missouri University of Science and Technology) wrote, “There are 88 boys in this fraternity who would be more than pleased to have a pet that is both entertaining and instructive.”

The wife of a St. Louis police officer said the parrot could give her husband’s salty tongue some competition. And from Ottawa Lake, Mich., came this plaintive plea: “I am a lone widow, 65 years old. My husband died two years ago and I am awful lonesome.”

The zoo’s own monthly newsletter joined in the fun, describing the development as a “great scandal” and saying the bird’s language “would make even a hardened sea captain blush.” Encouraged by the fuss, Vierheller announced he would sell the parrot to the highest bidder.

The oddest bid was to trade it for two baby alligators, but in the end, the parrot went to a man in New York for $150, a whopping sum given that new 1930 Ford sport coupes were advertised for $525.

The zoo still uses the Spanish-style bird house. It has 18 parrots there and in the Children’s Zoo. None of them is known to use foul language.

{rule}Read more sto{em}ries from Tim O’Neil’s Look Back series.

{/bodytagline}

More animals, birds in zoo

Old visitors are making a beeline to the zoological park at the news of new arrivals as it was the only avenue for entertainment-starved Coimbatoreans, said officials

The Corporation’s Mini Zoo at VOC Park has four new arrivals i.e., Moustached Parakeets, African Grey Parrot, Assame Goats and Nanday Conure which are attracting more visitors.

According to official sources, two pairs i.e. four African Grey Parrots (Psittacus erithacus) said to be costing Rs. 1 lakh per pair have joined the 435 avian species belonging to 25 species at the zoo.

In addition, nine moustached parakeets sold at Rs. 30,000 per pair have also been donated to the zoo. The other avian species, a new arrival, is five numbers of Nanday Conure, a parakeet said to be South American species numbering five. Two Assam Goats said to be costing Rs. 50,000 each have also joined the animals at the zoo.

The zoo in a 4.61 acre of land has more than 435 bird species, 109 species of mammals belonging to nine species and 32 reptiles belonging to seven species.

In fact, the news about new arrivals has triggered interest in people who have already visited the zoo. Old visitors are making a beeline to the zoological park as it was the only avenue for entertainment-starved Coimbatoreans, officials said.

After a face lift given recently, the officials are trying to put up labels at the zoo giving the name and features of the species in each enclosure. In fact, the conditions had proved so good that the Corporation’s Mini Zoo has proved an ideal habitat with more animals breeding in captivity and their numbers increasing.

Officials said that on average 50 schools are visiting the zoo every month on an educational tour. The number of students from each school has been upward of 50, officials said, going by the entry ticket sale.

Why do parrots parrot?

WILL OREMUS

WHO’S A PRETTY GIRL THEN: A Bolivian girl and parrot play.

A lost parakeet in Japan was returned safely to its owner recently after it told police its home address. Why do captive birds mimic human speech, and how do they decide what to say?

They’re trying to fit in with the flock, and they’ll say whatever it takes.

Parrots are among a handful of animal families that possess an aptitude for vocal learning, meaning that they can form new sounds based on experience.

Most types of birds, and many other animals, are hard-wired to make a few specific calls, perhaps with slight variations. A mourning dove, for example, pretty much always sings like a mourning dove. But parrots and mockingbirds, among others, can tailor their utterances to their audience.

In the wild, flocks of parrots don’t talk like people, but they do seem to develop distinct local dialects, and mated pairs may even sing unique duets.

It’s unclear exactly why they evolved this capability, but research suggests they use it to tell members of their group apart from members of rival groups.

Birds seem more likely to respond to calls that are familiar to their own, and they ostracise individuals that don’t speak their language, so to speak. This may allow them to keep untrustworthy newcomers from joining their clan. But if the dialects do serve as a form of immigration control, learning the language seems to be a path to citizenship.

In one experiment, a group of parrots from one Costa Rican flock was transplanted to a more northerly flock that showed different vocalisation patterns.

About half flew right back home, but the rest stayed and formed a sort of immigrant enclave with its own dialect. One even learned the northern tongue and ingratiated itself with locals.

According to this theory, birds that are raised in captivity might mimic their human owners as a way of gaining acceptance as a member of the family. If they hear ”pretty bird” a lot, they’ll interpret that as a call distinct to their flock, and try making it themselves.

If the parrot gets no response when she squawks, but gets lots of attention or treats when she makes human-like noises, she has an extra incentive to practice forming words and phrases.

Whether parrots can ever understand what they’re saying is a matter of debate.

Researcher Irene Pepperberg trained an African Grey Parrot named Alex to speak with a vocabulary of some 100 human words. Over time, he learned numbers and phrases as well, and when shown a toy, he could correctly identify its name, colour, and shape.

Skeptics have suggested that Alex’s abilities might have been a product of the ”Clever Hans” effect, in which an animal gives correct responses based on its trainers body language, as opposed to genuinely understanding the question. Others wonder whether Alex happened to possess a unique language capacity.

Slate.com

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Was living in Jakarta and took my visiting Mun on a tour to Bali. At one location (handicraft centre) we saw a parrot, to which she said something like “Pretty Polly”. The abrupt reply came “F*** Off”.

Bird crime parrots US case

STOP thief!

“Stop thief.”

Who said that?

“Who said that?”

Really, why would you steal a parrot?

It is the one pet that might be able to tell police your name if you get caught.

That didn’t prevent a heinous act of parakeet piracy in Urraween this week.

A Hervey Bay police spokesman said the bird was stolen when an unknown offender snatched the whole birdcage, complete with parrot inside, from a home on Jensen Dr on Tuesday.

The spokesman said the bird was a “red-rumped parrot” and was predominantly yellow in colour, with some red around the wings.

It is believed the red-rumped breed is extremely rare for this area, being more commonly found in the southern parts of Australia from New South Wales through to South Australia.

The dangers of stealing something which could potentially talk was highlighted in the US state of South Carolina, where a legal uproar occurred over whether a parrot’s mimicry could be submitted as evidence in a case of abuse and neglect of a vulnerable adult in 2010.

A 60-year-old woman was charged with neglecting her 98-year-old mother, who was found on the verge of death suffering from severe bedsores.

“The parrot was mimicking, ‘Help me. Help me.’ Then he would laugh,” St. George Police Lt. Eric Bonnette told the Charleston Post and Courier. “We think he was mimicking the mother when he said, ‘Help me. Help me,’ and mimicking the daughter when he laughed.”

It is unknown at this time if the Urraween stolen parrot could similarly give evidence against its kidnappers.

Anyone with any information is encouraged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Mystery bird: burrowing parakeet, Cyanoliseus patagonus

Burrowing parakeet, Cyanoliseus patagonus patagonus (protonym, Psittacus patagonus), Vieillot, 1818, also known as the burrowing conure (KONyer) or burrowing parrot, Patagonian burrowing parrot or as the Patagonian conure/parrot, photographed at Puerto Madryn, Chubut province, Argentina (South America).

Image: Nick Athanas/Tropical Birding, 21 November 2011 (with permission, for GrrlScientist/Guardian use only) [velociraptorise].
Canon EOS 7D

Question: This distinctive Argentine mystery bird is named for one of its many surprising behaviours, although it has several surprising habits. Can you tell me a little about this species’ life history and what makes it special amongst its relatives? Can you identify this mystery bird’s taxonomic family and species?

Response: This is a couple burrowing parakeets, Cyanoliseus patagonus, a medium-sized, long-tailed parrot species that is found in southern Argentina and parts of Chile. This species is migratory, and has been known to also show up in Uruguay during winter and even to the Falkland Islands.

Burrowing parrot are the only species placed into the genus, Cyanoliseus. However, there are several recognisable subspecies — the pictured mystery birds are the nominate subspecies, Cy. p. patagonus.

Burrowing parrots are habitat specialists, strongly preferring open arid bushy steppes known as Monte. This video gives you a brief glimpse of these birds in their habitat (filmed south of San Luis, Argentina):

[video link].

Unfortunately, land developers and farmers also like to utilise this sort of habitat, and they destroy it by either constructing resorts and hotels or by planting crops, which the displaced and hungry birds then snack on. This has led to widespread persecution. According to some reports, burrowing parrots are also captured for the pet trade, although this species has been established in captivity for some time in the United States, and may also be in other countries as well.

As their common name implies, burrowing parrots dig nest burrows in cliffs instead of nesting in tree cavities. They are extremely choosy about their nests: They only tunnel into vertical limestone or sandstone cliffs to make their nests, and they have specific height requirements. This video provides a brief glimpse of a pair of burrowing parakeets looking out of their nest burrow, whilst one indulges in geophagy (eating soil), a common behaviour amongst seed-eating parrots and other animals:

[video link].

There are several features of their reproductive biology that I think are interesting. Even though these birds are quite gregarious and form the largest breeding colonies of all parrot species in the wild (one colony in El Cóndor, Argentina has 35,000 breeding pairs), they are rare amongst vertebrates because they are truly monogamous — genetic testing has shown that these birds are almost always faithful to their social partners. Further, even though their nests are constructed very closely to their neighbors’ nests in the sides of vertical cliff faces, neither nest parasitism nor egg dumping has been found to occur.

Burrowing parakeets are larger than parakeets and smaller than macaws. They are large slender-bodied parrots with olive-brown upperparts, yellow underparts and long, slender and pointed tails. The neck is olive-brown, there is white on the bend of the wings, a red or orange central belly patch and red or orange leg feathers (these markings vary in intensity amongst subspecies). The long tail has an olive-green with a dark blue wash on the upper side whilst the under tail ids brown or grey. There is a distinctive bare white ring around the eyes, and the eyes are pale yellow. The bill is dark grey and the feet are pink. Bot sexes are alike whilst juveniles are duller than the adult, have a shorter tail, pale grey eyes and the upper mandible is horn-coloured.

.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..

You are invited to review all of the daily mystery birds by going to their dedicated graphic index page.

If you have bird images, video or audio files that you’d like to share with a large and (mostly) appreciative international audience here at The Guardian, feel free to contact me to learn more.

.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..

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Parrot rescuers trying to improve birds’ long lives

LOS ANGELES — With lots of smarts and long lives, parrots were once favored by Baby Boomers.

But more of the former pets are now wild, passed from owner to owner or ignored altogether in cramped cages without the feathered mates they crave, rescuers said.

Karen Windsor, executive director of Foster Parrots, which runs a sanctuary in Hope Valley, R.I., hears just about every excuse for giving up a parrot: divorce, marriage, babies, kids leaving home, kids moving back, “the bird hates me,” age, disease.

So has Mira Tweti, executive director of the national Parrot Care Project based in Los Angeles.

“The lucky ones end up in rescues. Others are released to fend for themselves. But the vast majority are neglected to death or passed around from home to home and then neglected, sometimes relegated to garages where no one hears them screaming for attention,” Tweti said.

The sanctuary Windsor runs with her husband, Marc Johnson, is full, like hundreds of other parrot rescues and sanctuaries around the country.

Part of the problem is the larger varieties of parrots can live from 25 to 100 years or longer (the bigger the bird, the longer its life). And they can be demanding, aggressive, loud and need a lot of space.

No one has exact numbers, but millions of parrots were bought between the 1960s and 1995, when the pet bird boom subsided, said Tweti, who owns one herself and wrote a book, “Of Parrots and People,” in 2008.

There are about 370 known species of parrots. The most common is the parakeet, but Macaws and African greys are also popular, Tweti said.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said medium and large parrots like macaws, cockatoos, Amazons and African greys are smart (parrots have the intelligence of a 5-year-old child) and social animals that need a place to fly, climb and exercise. They need mental stimulation and at least one companion. They are extremely loyal to their mates, though both males and females might have trysts.

To improve their lot in captivity, Tweti’s group will launch a five-year campaign March 25 at a bird shop, Omar’s Exotic Birds in Santa Monica, that will exchange too-small parrot cages for larger ones. She said experts also will spend time in 50 cities around the country offering free and low-cost cage swaps and to show owners how to make over their own cages.

There will be avian nutrition experts, bird behaviorists, rescuers to promote adoptions and builders to conduct workshops on making simple and inexpensive aviaries, Tweti said.

“A lot of people say no cage is big enough,” said Windsor, whose group runs the New England Exotic Wildlife Sanctuary. “But baby steps are important. It’s not easy to take care of a bird. A $15 cage and a bowl of seed is not enough. The right size cage is a rain forest, but what Mira is pushing is doable.”

There are at least 1,500 parrot rescues in the country, and most run at maximum capacity, Tweti said.

Windsor, who got her first parrot at a garage sale in San Diego, said she gets at least a call a day from someone trying to find a home for their bird. And that doesn’t count calls for help with raids and seizures. Last year, Windsor’s group helped with 800 parrots taken from a Texas parrot mill, 165 seized at a Tennessee mill and 130 taken from an Ohio hoarder, Windsor said.

“We are all completely overwhelmed, overfilled and underfunded,” she said.

Some people, unable to find homes for their birds, will let them loose. It’s illegal to release nonnative birds, but there are hundreds of thousands of feral birds in self-sustaining, noisy flocks in cities across the country. They are thriving and breeding, Tweti said.

Despite the increasing wild numbers, some people are buying, so parrot mills pump them out and smugglers sneak them in from other countries.

Foster Parents’ mascot is Lola, a green-winged macaw who lived in a dog crate in a basement for several years, Windsor said. He arrived in 2001 with one eye, a brain injury, a seizure disorder and broken bones in his wing and feet.

The vet said put him down, but they chose medical treatment instead.

“Today, he is a vital, wonderful, happy bird. He is a symbol for all the birds that live in dark and forgotten places and need their place in the sun,” Windsor said.

Parrot rescuers trying to improve their long lives

LOS ANGELES (AP) — With lots of smarts and long lives, parrots were once favored by Baby Boomers, but more of the former pets are now wild, passed from owner to owner or ignored altogether in cramped cages without the feathered mates they crave, rescuers said.

Karen Windsor, executive director of Foster Parrots, which runs a sanctuary in Hope Valley, R.I., hears just about every excuse for giving up a parrot: divorce, marriage, babies, kids leaving home, kids moving back, “the bird hates me,” age, disease.

So has Mira Tweti, executive director of the national Parrot Care Project based in Los Angeles.

“The lucky ones end up in rescues. Others are released to fend for themselves, But the vast majority are neglected to death or passed around from home to home and then neglected, sometimes relegated to garages where no one hears them screaming for attention,” Tweti said.

The sanctuary Windsor runs with her husband, Marc Johnson, is full, like hundreds of other parrot rescues and sanctuaries around the country.

Part of the problem is the larger varieties of parrots can live from 25 to 100 years or longer (the bigger the bird, the longer its life). And they can be demanding, aggressive, loud and in need of a lot of space.

No one has exact numbers, but millions of parrots were bought between the 1960s and 1995, when the pet bird boom subsided, said Tweti, who owns one herself and wrote a book, “Of Parrots and People,” in 2008.

There are about 370 known species of parrots. The most common is the parakeet, but Macaws and African greys are also popular, Tweti said.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said medium and large parrots like macaws, cockatoos, Amazons and African greys are smart (parrots have the intelligence of a 5-year-old child) and social animals that need a place to fly, climb and exercise. They need mental stimulation and at least one companion. They are extremely loyal to their mates, though both males and females might have trysts.

To improve their lot in captivity, Tweti’s group will launch a five-year campaign March 25 at a bird shop, Omar’s Exotic Birds, in Santa Monica offering to exchange too-small parrot cages for larger ones. She said experts will also spend time in 50 cities around the country offering free and low-cost cage swaps and to show owners how to make over their own cages.

There will be avian nutrition experts, bird behaviorists, rescuers to promote adoptions and builders to conduct workshops on making simple and inexpensive aviaries, Tweti said.

“A lot of people say no cage is big enough,” said Windsor, whose group runs the New England Exotic Wildlife Sanctuary. “But baby steps are important. It’s not easy to take care of a bird. A $15 dollar cage and a bowl of seed is not enough. The right size cage is a rainforest, but what Mira is pushing is doable.”

There are at least 1,500 parrot rescues in the country, and most run at maximum capacity, Tweti said.

Windsor, who got her first parrot at a garage sale in San Diego, said she gets at least a call a day from someone trying to find a home for their bird. And that doesn’t count calls for help with raids and seizures. Last year, Windsor’s group helped with 800 parrots taken from a Texas parrot mill, 165 seized at a Tennessee mill and 130 taken from an Ohio hoarder, Windsor said.

“We are all completely overwhelmed, overfilled and underfunded,” she said.

Some people, unable to find homes for their birds, will let them loose. It’s illegal to release non-native birds, but there are hundreds of thousands of feral birds in self-sustaining, noisy flocks in cities across the country. They are thriving and breeding, Tweti said.

Despite the increasing wild numbers, some people are buying, so parrot mills pump them out and smugglers sneak them in from other countries.

Foster Parents’ mascot is Lola, a green-winged macaw who lived in a dog crate in a basement for several years, Windsor said. He arrived in 2001 with one eye, a brain injury, a seizure disorder and broken bones in his wing and feet.

The vet said put him down, but they chose medicine instead. “Today, he is a vital, wonderful, happy bird. He is a symbol for all the birds that live in dark and forgotten places and need their place in the sun,” Windsor said.

Parrot rescuers trying to improve brids’ long lives

Click photo to enlarge

LOS ANGELES — With lots of smarts and long lives, parrots were once favored by Baby Boomers, but more of the former pets are now wild, passed from owner to owner or ignored altogether in cramped cages without the feathered mates they crave, rescuers said.

Karen Windsor, executive director of Foster Parrots, which runs a sanctuary in Hope Valley, R.I., hears just about every excuse for giving up a parrot: divorce, marriage, babies, kids leaving home, kids moving back, “the bird hates me,” age, disease.

So has Mira Tweti, executive director of the national Parrot Care Project based in Los Angeles.

“The lucky ones end up in rescues. Others are released to fend for themselves, But the vast majority are neglected to death or passed around from home to home and then neglected, sometimes relegated to garages where no one hears them screaming for attention,” Tweti said.

The sanctuary Windsor runs with her husband, Marc Johnson, is full, like hundreds of other parrot rescues and sanctuaries around the country.

Part of the problem is the larger varieties of parrots can live from 25 to 100 years or longer (the bigger the bird, the longer its life). And they can be demanding, aggressive, loud and in need of a lot of space.

No one has exact numbers, but millions of parrots were bought between the 1960s and 1995, when the pet bird boom subsided, said Tweti, who owns one herself and wrote a book, “Of Parrots and People,” in 2008.

There are about 370 known species of parrots. The most common is the parakeet, but Macaws and African greys are also popular, Tweti said.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said medium and large parrots like macaws, cockatoos, Amazons and African greys are smart (parrots have the intelligence of a 5-year-old child) and social animals that need a place to fly, climb and exercise. They need mental stimulation and at least one companion. They are extremely loyal to their mates, though both males and females might have trysts.

To improve their lot in captivity, Tweti’s group will launch a five-year campaign March 25 at a bird shop, Omar’s Exotic Birds, in Santa Monica offering to exchange too-small parrot cages for larger ones. She said experts will also spend time in 50 cities around the country offering free and low-cost cage swaps and to show owners how to make over their own cages.

There will be avian nutrition experts, bird behaviorists, rescuers to promote adoptions and builders to conduct workshops on making simple and inexpensive aviaries, Tweti said.

“A lot of people say no cage is big enough,” said Windsor, whose group runs the New England Exotic Wildlife Sanctuary. “But baby steps are important. It’s not easy to take care of a bird. A $15 dollar cage and a bowl of seed is not enough. The right size cage is a rainforest, but what Mira is pushing is doable.”

There are at least 1,500 parrot rescues in the country, and most run at maximum capacity, Tweti said.

Windsor, who got her first parrot at a garage sale in San Diego, said she gets at least a call a day from someone trying to find a home for their bird. And that doesn’t count calls for help with raids and seizures. Last year, Windsor’s group helped with 800 parrots taken from a Texas parrot mill, 165 seized at a Tennessee mill and 130 taken from an Ohio hoarder, Windsor said.

“We are all completely overwhelmed, overfilled and underfunded,” she said.

Some people, unable to find homes for their birds, will let them loose. It’s illegal to release non-native birds, but there are hundreds of thousands of feral birds in self-sustaining, noisy flocks in cities across the country. They are thriving and breeding, Tweti said.

Despite the increasing wild numbers, some people are buying, so parrot mills pump them out and smugglers sneak them in from other countries.

Foster Parents’ mascot is Lola, a green-winged macaw who lived in a dog crate in a basement for several years, Windsor said. He arrived in 2001 with one eye, a brain injury, a seizure disorder and broken bones in his wing and feet.

The vet said put him down, but they chose medicine instead. “Today, he is a vital, wonderful, happy bird. He is a symbol for all the birds that live in dark and forgotten places and need their place in the sun,” Windsor said.

Parrot rescuers trying to improve their long lives

LOS ANGELES (AP) — With lots of smarts and long lives, parrots were once favored by Baby Boomers, but more of the former pets are now wild, passed from owner to owner or ignored altogether in cramped cages without the feathered mates they crave, rescuers said.

Karen Windsor, executive director of Foster Parrots, which runs a sanctuary in Hope Valley, R.I., hears just about every excuse for giving up a parrot: divorce, marriage, babies, kids leaving home, kids moving back, “the bird hates me,” age, disease.

So has Mira Tweti, executive director of the national Parrot Care Project based in Los Angeles.

“The lucky ones end up in rescues. Others are released to fend for themselves, But the vast majority are neglected to death or passed around from home to home and then neglected, sometimes relegated to garages where no one hears them screaming for attention,” Tweti said.

The sanctuary Windsor runs with her husband, Marc Johnson, is full, like hundreds of other parrot rescues and sanctuaries around the country.

Part of the problem is the larger varieties of parrots can live from 25 to 100 years or longer (the bigger the bird, the longer its life). And they can be demanding, aggressive, loud and in need of a lot of space.

No one has exact numbers, but millions of parrots were bought between the 1960s and 1995, when the pet bird boom subsided, said Tweti, who owns one herself and wrote a book, “Of Parrots and People,” in 2008.

There are about 370 known species of parrots. The most common is the parakeet, but Macaws and African greys are also popular, Tweti said.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said medium and large parrots like macaws, cockatoos, Amazons and African greys are smart (parrots have the intelligence of a 5-year-old child) and social animals that need a place to fly, climb and exercise. They need mental stimulation and at least one companion. They are extremely loyal to their mates, though both males and females might have trysts.

To improve their lot in captivity, Tweti’s group will launch a five-year campaign March 25 at a bird shop, Omar’s Exotic Birds, in Santa Monica offering to exchange too-small parrot cages for larger ones. She said experts will also spend time in 50 cities around the country offering free and low-cost cage swaps and to show owners how to make over their own cages.

There will be avian nutrition experts, bird behaviorists, rescuers to promote adoptions and builders to conduct workshops on making simple and inexpensive aviaries, Tweti said.

“A lot of people say no cage is big enough,” said Windsor, whose group runs the New England Exotic Wildlife Sanctuary. “But baby steps are important. It’s not easy to take care of a bird. A $15 dollar cage and a bowl of seed is not enough. The right size cage is a rainforest, but what Mira is pushing is doable.”

There are at least 1,500 parrot rescues in the country, and most run at maximum capacity, Tweti said.

Windsor, who got her first parrot at a garage sale in San Diego, said she gets at least a call a day from someone trying to find a home for their bird. And that doesn’t count calls for help with raids and seizures. Last year, Windsor’s group helped with 800 parrots taken from a Texas parrot mill, 165 seized at a Tennessee mill and 130 taken from an Ohio hoarder, Windsor said.

“We are all completely overwhelmed, overfilled and underfunded,” she said.

Some people, unable to find homes for their birds, will let them loose. It’s illegal to release non-native birds, but there are hundreds of thousands of feral birds in self-sustaining, noisy flocks in cities across the country. They are thriving and breeding, Tweti said.

Despite the increasing wild numbers, some people are buying, so parrot mills pump them out and smugglers sneak them in from other countries.

Foster Parents’ mascot is Lola, a green-winged macaw who lived in a dog crate in a basement for several years, Windsor said. He arrived in 2001 with one eye, a brain injury, a seizure disorder and broken bones in his wing and feet.

The vet said put him down, but they chose medicine instead. “Today, he is a vital, wonderful, happy bird. He is a symbol for all the birds that live in dark and forgotten places and need their place in the sun,” Windsor said.