Complete Psittacine by EB Cravens
Herein is the final instalment of this long-running article series in Parrots magazine. I hope readers have enjoyed the rather atypical glimpse into some less familiar and sometimes overlooked pet parrot species that still may be available to the interested prospective companion bird buyer.

It is not easy to write about the personalities of hookbill pets, as individuals can be so different in makeup, while the home environments they inhabit may bring out varying characteristics in each single species. I am sure there are those who disagree with some of my long-term findings, so would encourage you to contact Parrots magazine and add your own evidence to the sum of this expertise!

I anticipate there are readers who question the keeping of rare psittacine species as pets at all. I have never felt this way for many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that an endangered Great-Green Macaw, for example, having been hand-fed and raised to fledging and weaning by humans, has a singular attachment to humans, which cannot be broken quickly without adverse ‘emotional’ consequences. To force pair a rare parrot shortly after weaning and shuffle it out into a breeding situation, with one other living companion not of its own choice, neglects the fact that it has years to go before sexual impulses kick in. Those years in my estimate, are quite easily filled in the proper pet situation, provided keepers pay attention to the bird’s natural rhythms and needs, and never stops training it with the future in mind.

There is another prime reason I chose to compose this sleeper pet series for mass publication. During the past 20 years, or basically from the turn of the millennium, I have seen immense changes in the domestic psittacine marketplace. So many numerous species of delightful parrots that aviculture was privileged to ‘own’ and reproduce in captivity, have disappeared, or nearly disappeared, from the private scene. Others, not unlikely on this lesser known list, are in the process of vanishing even as I write this. This is a downright shame, and it is a supreme failure of commercial and hobby aviculture altogether.

Buy Now!