Bonding With Two Or More Parrots

If You Love Them Parrots, They’ll Love You Even If They Are Two

Parrots are curious and they like to be with, nibble on and explore people – at least, that’s been my experience. The number one ingredient to create a bond with your parrot or parrots is time. You have to spend a fair amount of time with your birds on a daily bases.

Two Parrots Are Better Than One

Parrots are highly social animals. In the wild parrots live in flocks which can be as ‘small’ as 20 birds or as large as a thousand. Yes, they are accustomed to being with their tribe all of the time. They tend to help each other, preen one another and feed their mate. They are intimate with one-another and they find bonding, connection, survival, well-being and safety and security in their flock and their mate.

Yes, you can play the role of mate if you want a close bond with your parrot, but you’ll never fulfill the same zygodactyl feet (that’s what their feet are called because they are the only class of birds who have two toes pointing forward and back)! You may love your parrot and take great care of your parrot, but I don’t imagine you will regurgitate for him or her nor that you’ll preen his or her feathers with your mouth!

And, why would you? You don’t have to be a parrot to fill those toes! Just have two parrots. When you have two parrots, depending on the species, you’ll find that they play together, cuddle and engage with one another almost all of the time – and then they often sleep or nap cuddled up together.

Humans Are More Interesting Than Parrots

I always recommend getting two parrots because there are only benefits to doing so:

If you like spending a lot of time with your parrots, then having two means twice the fun
Your two parrots will be curious about and interested in you. If one likes you more than another then that one will engage with you, showing the other that you’re fun! The second will likely follow and decide you are fun too.
If you have someone else at home, two parrots means that you each get to spend time with a parrot; you each get ‘your own,’ which can be special for the parrot and human which each get to have a special bond.
If you don’t have a lot of time to bond with your parrot, you should have two. They will keep each other company and, while they may not be friendly with you — which would have happened anyway if you don’t have time to dedicate to your parrot– at least your parrot won’t be sad or lonely. Yes, this can lead to health problems like feather plucking (depending on the species, some are more prone to plucking than others) or it can lead to your parrot losing his or her well-being. The need to be social and have a flock or mate is a need. Unfulfilled, it can cause emotional and then physical issues. When people are incarcerated and put into solitary confinement, their ‘flock’ is also removed — and it is considered a harsh punishment.
Sometimes parrots are moody or busy playing or sleeping. Having two parrots means that, if you are in the mood to play or spend time with your parrot, you are likely to have at least one parrot available!

Yes, if you engage with your parrots, they will want to bond with you. I have found that two is a magic number – and it doesn’t matter whether they are male and female or two of the same gender. When you have three or more parrots together, they tend to retain or go back to more of their ‘parrotness,’ and are more likely to lose interest in you. Of course, if you spend a lot of time with three or more, it may not matter, but most people aren’t able to dedicate several hours a day, or more, to their parrots.

What Kind Of Time Is Parrot Time?

Is there a formula for how much time you should spend with your parrot? No, there isn’t. We can generalize and say that smaller parrots require less time than larger parrots. This means that the largest of parrots, like Macaws, need more time and engaging time spent with them. My Macaws want to be held, be played with, spoken to… Whereas our Parrotlets want to be with us, but just being with and around us seems to make them happy.

I think of the time you can spend with parrots as two kinds of time: engaging time and co-existing time.

Engaging Time

Parrots like to be on you, they like doing and learning tricks with you – going for a walk (or ride, they are usually on my shoulder), or being spoken to, petted. When you engage with them, you are relating with them as if they were another person or a young child. At night you could practically read them a bed-time story! This time is the kind of time “mates” would spend together – it creates a more intimate connection.

Depending on your parrot’s personality and their species, most parrots need at least 15 minutes twice a day of good, engaged time spent with them.

Co-existing Time

I also think it is important to spend time with your parrot in the same room just doing what you do. Your parrot likely has a perch or play area with toys or something they do so that you are both doing your own thing and you are near each other. This is more of a ‘flock’ behavior in the sense that the flock is together, but tending to different things.

The Most Important Time Aspect: Love

I have several parrots and I don’t have enough time in a day to give each parrot ten minutes of engaged time! However, most of my parrots like to engage with me. They want to step up, touch me with their beak (they experience life though their beak since they don’t have hands) and see what I’m doing, see if I have something interesting they can destroy (like my nice pens – ah!) or if I have something that they might want to eat.

I attribute this to their having parrots around them and, most all of them, having a cage mate. Our Catalina Macaw, Kailani, was about 10 months old when I started to see that she was bonding too much to me. Although I love her and (having hand-fed her) I’m comfortable with her (and her large beak) and I love cuddling with her, I felt that she needed a Macaw of her own! So we got a second Macaw! Sure enough, they seek each other out — and enjoy each other almost as much as they seek us out and enjoy being with us.

So, my parrots have their needs fulfilled. They have clean cages, clean water and food (including pellets and fresh vegetables) every day. They are allowed to be birds, which means sometimes they squawk loudly, bite or get territorial about a perch or a person, and we are understanding — though not tolerant of anyone being injured. We do everything we can to make sure they have good lives and they seem to know this and appreciate it. Maybe they even think we’re great flock members for it!

Have a questions about parrots?
As the author of “The Parrot Bliss Bond,” I love and welcome questions about having a parrot and creating one of the best experiences of your life!

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Where to Purchase A Companion Parrot

The three places you can get a parrot are:
1) An exotic bird store
2) A breeder
3) Someone re-homing/ a rescue

Today I went in search of a new parrot store that showed up on Google. I checked out the website – where the prices seemed too inexpensive to be real. I tried using their chat and calling with no response, but someone called back. Said that they were remodeling, but would open again tomorrow. He also said that they did have Hahns macaws and I’m considering getting Emerald a mate.

We drove 20 minutes to the address that maps took us to from their website. No go. It was a house. I tried calling to check the address, thinking that maybe it was a private residence that bred and sold parrots, since this area has big lots with lots of room for aviaries and breeders. Of course, no one answered the phone.

Then my husband looked at their address on Google Places – the address given was a couple of miles away, so we went. Again, the residence clearly had no parrots, no aviaries –

My husband then looked at the reviews on Places – one person in Denmark said that they had ordered a parrot, but it never came. No doubt, the prices were unreal because the parrots were too.

Watch out for scams. Be willing to travel – I would not purchase or put money down for a parrot unless I was already familiar with the seller or new that it was coming from a reputable store. Ask around, look online and check to see that they a seller/breeder or rescue has social media and a following. Nothing will provide a 100% guarantee, but at least you are far more likely to get the parrot companion of your dreams if you look for some key indicators. You can also look for an online group that is all about parrots or specific parrots. There are forums for Indian Ringnecks and Facebook pages for conures, amazons and more – people here have parrots and may be able to refer you to a real parrot seller!

I do the same on my FB page, sometimes I post parrots that are for sale by a breeder or exotic bird store that I know and trust- I like helping parrots and people find each other.

Parrots are expensive and they are expensive to keep! Be willing to travel to meet your parrot to make sure that he or she is the right bird for you and to make sure that you are paying for a real, healthy and sweet companion.

How Much Time Should Your Parrot Spend Out of Cage?

As a parrot owner, you’ve probably heard it said that birds are supposed to spend time outside their cage every day for their own happiness and well-being. I tend to be pragmatic and I like to have happy birds, so I don’t just go by the clock to determine how much play time they need.

A lot of experts say that the larger the bird, like an African Grey or a cockatoo, the more they should spend several hours out of their cage daily; smaller birds, like a budgie or a green cheeck conure, require less, but “less” still means a significant amount of time out.

Huge Time Out

I’m sure that YouTubers represent the bird keepers who love their birds and love taking care of them, so they may not be representative of most bird owners. Nevertheless I get inspired and amazed at times when I see the elaborate play rooms or jungle gyms that people build for their birds. They look like fun… for their birds- or for me! No doubt, these birds have a great time when they are out of their cage – and it looks like their homes are aimed at giving the birds a lot of jungle gym time.

It is wonderful to be able to give our birds the biggest cage, the coolest perch or play area and the best life possible, no doubt. If you are fortunate enough to be able to build your bird a playground, then you probably don’t even think about the time out they require. That is awesome and I’m jealous! For the rest of us, how much time is right?

Engage In Or Out Of The Cage

When you come home tired from work or school, how much time out does your fid need to stretch, fly or explore? Because you probably don’t have any (time or energy).

In my opinion, one of the coolest things about our ‘modern times’ is that people have more awareness about many things, including keeping pet parrots. In this video the Parrot Wizard talks about the fact that it’s not the time out that is key, but rather the quality of time. He makes a great point in saying that if your bird is out of his cage, but she is bored, then it doesn’t make a difference whether she’s in or out of the cage. Quality and engagement are more important that counting hours.

Feather Size Matters

A second factor to use in determining how much time you should give your bird out of it’s cage depends on their feather size. Yes, size matters because larger birds need more space to spread their wings and they need rooms or aviaries, not just large cages, to get a fair amount of exercise. Feather movement should be another factor: some birds, even within the same species, are more active than others. Younger birds, like human children, display more energy, curiosity and a greater desire to play. Adult birds tend to make less noise – in my experience – move around less and are easier to have out of their cage. An active bird needs more space.

Are You Saying Old Is Better?

I have found a bird’s age to make for an interesting factor- an older bird, maybe a re-homed bird- means you get to skip the terrible twos. At home we have re-homed birds and birds that we got as babies. The re-homed, older birds tend to be more mellow.

As nature would have it, some of the smallest birds are the quickest and the zip around the most. When they are out of their cage they can be very difficult to catch. The larger birds are on the other end of the spectrum. The larger (and older) the bird, the easier they are to spot (they can’t hide the way a budgie can) and the easier they are to catch.

Sure, that’s a generalization, but some of this makes perfect sense. In nature budgies out-fly stalking hawks because budgies can turn and dive with agility. Larger birds have a harder time keeping up with these movements. This means that by natural design, the smaller and younger the birds, the more active they are.

But Personality Should Determine it All

The bottom line is that birds should spend as much time either outside of their cages and engaged with you or have a companion; they should be in aviaries that provide sunshine, fresh air and room to fly around.

If you can’t live that ideal – maybe one day for me! – then you have to find what works best for you and your bird. Birds are amazing, intelligent creatures. I am a firm believer that having a parrot (or another kind of pet) provides companionship, love and a deep bond with uplifting physiological benefits. A happy, healthy bird means an inviting, loving home (for you both).

Spinx Macaws Are Extinct But Some Are Trying To Breed

Did you know that the Spinx macaw (the one in the cartoon movie, RIO) is now extinct in the wild?

Huge bummer – sad

But, here is a center where they are trying to breed a few pairs to keep the species going. This kind of thing warms my heart because I believe we need birds – and all of nature. It’s good to see people doing wonderful things for these magical birds!

Parrot Preferences: Rescue or Raise

Philosophy or Heart?

I am a spiritual person and have been a teacher of spirituality for many years. This means that I do my best to practice no judgement. In turn, that means that I don’t judge whether people (or I) rescue or raise a parrot.

What’s the Difference? Why Rescue?

Parrots aren’t always kept the way you and I would want to live to be breeders. They are sometimes in small cages with nothing inside. Nothing to do, nowhere to go, no ability to spread their wings and no ability to socialize with other birds except their mate.

I’m surprised they breed under these circumstances because their emotional health affects their lives. I don’t know, maybe under those circumstances they breed because they have nothing else to do or maybe they know that they won’t be kept if they don’t breed.

Yuck. That will make you sad, maybe angry too.

I don’t believe anyone or any animal should be raised that way. I don’t believe it promotes health or happiness – and psittaciformes (parrots) are extremely social. They also burn a lot of calories flying, so being kept in a small cage with no real flock and nothing to do sounds cruel.

And that is why some people believe that birds should be rescued and not bred. Why encourage such breeding practices when there are birds that need a new home?

What’s the Difference? Why Raise?

On the flip side, not everyone breeds birds in such austere circumstances. A lot of breeders I’ve seen offer their birds large spaces to move in; some allow the birds to return to their flock in an aviary during the off season so that when they are not breeding, they are with their social circle.

We have re-homed several birds. Some are amazing and fantastic, one Green Cheek Conure (just 3.5 ounces) we fear! Will he ever stop his schizophrenic personality that is sweetly sits on your shoulder one minute and then draws blood the next? Fear the beak!

On the other hand, the babies we’ve raised are all loving and I completely trust them. They have only known love and caring, so they are only loving and caring back. We are bonded!

Had my first experience with a bird been our blood-drawing Green Cheek Conure, I would probably think that I really didn’t’ like birds.

Keep The Species Going

There’s another side to giving a home to a bird, rescued or raised: there are several species going extinct in the wild because they are running out of habitats. Birds like the Red-fronted Macaw, the Golden Conure, the Spix Macaw, Sun conures – are going extinct in the wild. I feel good about people returning a home by sharing their home.

After all, what’s the solution? Aren’t people and nature in competition for land and resources? Not an argument I really want to have – the point is, I feel good about people keeping the species going by keeping them. So, I aim to help offer information as to how to keep them healthy and happy so that you have a great experience with your bird.

The Heart Will Do

In the end, birds are a difficult pet. They make a mess, poop everywhere, can bite, demand a lot of time and require a lot of care-taking. They need to be fed fresh fruits and veggies daily in addition to their pellets, and their cages need fresh water and cleaning regularly (two to three times a day is not uncommon). And you have to buy them toys on a regular basis since they destroy them, as they are meant to.

If you are going to give your time, money and attention to a parrot, you are going to have a companion – probably for life. Most parrots live 20 to 80 years when kept happy and healthy. It’s a large life-commitment. It’s taking on a Parrot Life. If you are willing, excited and enthusiastic about it, then you should have the right parrot, rescued or raised!