The parrot-like bird knows it is a bird and accepts this relationship with the human. The human knows he/she is human and seeks a personal relationship with a parrot-like bird. So, the inference is that the relationship is essentially a mutual one. Rather it is to achieve a cultural education.ĭo readers see the difference? For a human to achieve a good relationship with a parrot-like bird is a matter of mutual education, not just modifying the bird’s instincts by ‘imprinting’ at an impressionable age. I infer that the function of hand-rearing is not to achieve a kind of brainwashing (along the lines of Niko Tinbergen’s geese) in which the animal sees the human as a member of its own species. human AND bird), and the empathy and insight of the human.Ī point relevant here is that, as D & Q point out, even a hand-reared individual does not usually ‘believe that it is human’. However, this seems to depend on the personality of the two individuals (i.e. It is sometimes possible to tame a wild-caught psittaciform individual to the point of having a close personal relationship with it, which is remarkable and can be extremely rewarding. Most successful relationships between psittaciform bird and human are the result of rearing in captivity. One cannot force a parrot to do anything, as it were.ĭ & Q state: “Parrots cannot be treated ‘generically,’ any more than can people.Parrots are more than intelligent enough to understand that they are not human”, emphasising that socialising a parrot is, nevertheless, very like rearing a child.Īlthough not analysing the question of ‘wild-caught’ or ‘hand-reared’ as directly as I would have liked, D & Q discuss this enough for me to read between the lines. This technique of instruction/training just does not work, given their psychology. Note that D & Q, like Pepperberg, stop short of stating what this seems to mean, in plain English: that parrot-like birds can speak English.ĭ & Q emphasise that psittaciform birds do not learn from harsh punishment. They use language (either natural vocalisation or learned speech) to communicate.” On page 91, the authors put it almost as plainly as I would: “Why do parrots talk?Ĭould the answer be: for the same reasons people do. ![]() corellas and their closest relatives, while ‘reading between the lines’ as insightfully as I can. I shall cite this book, particularly w.r.t. ![]() It has additional credibility because it was written in direct consultation with expert Irene Pepperberg. ![]() The book ‘My Parrot, My Friend’ by Doane and Qualkinbush (1994, and ) is based on psychological case-studies, and is intended to help the human keepers of psittaciform birds to understand the nature of the relationship. Further insights into the behaviour of corellas and other cockatoos
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