WHY DOES MY PARROT HAVE ODD HABITS?



Compulsive habits are likely to be made worse by an inadequate diet. Most parrots are flock creatures who are highly social. In the wild they fly great distances, feed on a wide variety of foods, interact with other birds almost all the time and nest high up in huge trees. We keep them in tiny cages, with nothing much to do, with no chance of flying, and on their own. We mutilate their wings and we complain if they make their natural screaming noises. We feed them a dull and inadequate diet. It is difficult to think of anything which could be more stressful and unpleasant for them.
Parrots kept in small cages who bob up and down are probably either trying to escape or, like lions pacing round small cages or horses weaving out of boredom, they are locked into a repetitive movement as a response to the stress of an unsuitable cage. In severe cases they mutilate themselves by feather plucking.