Should you have a clever and strong-willed large parrot as a pet at home?

When we talk about domestic pets like parrots, we immediately imagine luxurious birds with bright feathers and a bold character. While budgerigars are more common due to their small size and low maintenance, larger parrots are less frequently seen as pets. This is entirely unfair. In this article, we will tell you more about these big birds, and you can decide whether such a pet is suitable for you.

Types of large parrots:

• Macaw – height: up to 100 cm, weight: up to 1.5 kg, wingspan: up to 80 cm. Macaws have the strongest beak in the world. They are big, beautiful parrots with colorful feathers. The most common are Macaws with red, blue-yellow, and green plumage. Hyacinth Macaws (deep blue color) are also rare and expensive.
• Cockatoo – differs from other parrots in behavior and appearance. Height: 30 to 70 cm, weight: 300 g to 1.2 kg, wingspan: 60-70 cm. They have monotonous light or dark plumage: grey, white, or pink, with yellow, pink, or red patches. Cockatoos also have a strong beak with a curved shape. The popular choices as pets are Rose-breasted, Yellow-crested, or Umbrella Cockatoos.
• African Grey Parrot (Jacoo) – a bird without bright plumage. They have grey feathers with a pearly sheen and a black, curved beak. Wingspan: 65 cm, height: 33-37 cm, weight: 400-600 g.
• Amazon Parrot – height: about 40 cm, weight: approximately 600 g, wingspan: 65 cm. Their plumage is mostly green.

Characteristics of keeping large parrots (pros and cons)

Macaw

Pros:

• Quick learning ability. High intellectual capabilities. Macaws are easily trainable and are among the three smartest parrots.
• Always ready to interact with you. Very sociable pets. You will always have someone to chat with.
• Beautiful and colorful bird that will delight you with its appearance.
• Long lifespan. This pet can spend half or even the entire life with you.
• Strong attachment to the owner. Devoted and loyal friend.
• Playful, cheerful, and clever parrot.

Cons:

• This type of parrot requires a lot of attention; otherwise, it may become depressed.
• It needs plenty of space. It’s essential to have enough room for its living area. Ideally, dedicate a whole room for its flight and provide a spacious aviary.
• Large birds tend to make a lot of noise and can have a loud voice, which may not be pleasant for everyone.
• They may have difficulty pronouncing words.
• Their bites can be painful. Contact with small children is not advisable unless the parrot is tamed.
• Picky eaters. It’s not easy to find the right balanced diet for them from the first try.

A talkative pet should sometimes be allowed out of the cage to stretch its wings, as constant confinement can be depressing for a Macaw. These parrots love toys, but make sure they do not have small parts that the bird might swallow. Being rough with them is not acceptable, as they can become aggressive towards humans. However, they are responsive to kindness and can be tamed easily.

Cockatoo

Pros:

• Enjoys music, dancing, and playing.
• Shows artistic abilities and performs tricks “for the audience.”
• Beautiful appearance with a magnificent crest.
• Sociable, loves mimicking human speech.
• Rose-breasted cockatoos are more calm and friendly, suitable for large families.
• Among the top three parrots with outstanding mimicking abilities.

Cons:

• May bite if not tamed.
• Not suitable for unsociable owners as it requires attention and interaction.
• Requires a significant amount of your time.
• Needs ample space for its living area.
• May make noise and scream if displeased.
• Its brain needs constant engagement, otherwise, it may lead to problems as cockatoos tend to pluck their feathers.

The parrot loves water and bathing, so you will need to provide it with a bird bath and indulge it with water procedures more often. Cockatoos also need to be allowed to fly. However, you will need to ensure that furniture and other interior objects are not damaged by its strong beak, and also protect the bird from small items it might swallow.

Grey Parrot (also known as African Grey Parrot)

Pros:

• Highly intelligent parrot, ranking among the top three smartest large parrots along with macaws and cockatoos. Comparable in intellectual development to a 4-year-old child.
• Exceptional mimicry of human speech, even imitating intonation. Extensive vocabulary (can learn up to 150 words). Capable of forming phrases, associating words with the objects they represent, distinguishing colors, numbers, and shapes. Often attempts to replicate not only human speech but also other sounds, such as the singing of wild birds outside the window or the sound of working electrical devices, etc.
• Affectionate, friendly, and amiable parrot.
• Bonds with its owner to the extent of mirroring their behaviors and moods, imitating concern, joy, etc.

Cons:

• Requires attention, constant mental stimulation, and interaction. Without these, it may engage in self-destructive behavior, such as feather plucking or damaging.
• Not every African Grey will talk to you readily. Patience, a strong bond with the bird, and consistent encouragement to develop speech skills are necessary for this purpose.
• Needs ample space.
• Can produce sharp and unpleasant noises from time to time.
• Has a tendency to chew and “test” everything with its beak.

Before getting a Grey Parrot, think carefully: what if the bird never learns to talk? Will you still be happy with it? If you are ready to love the parrot under any circumstances, go ahead and welcome such a lovely pet into your home.

Amazon Parrot

Pros:

• Extremely friendly towards humans and highly attached to its owner. The most polite and docile among all large parrots.
• Tends to get along well with children, making it a suitable pet even for large families.
• Can perform various tricks, and Amazon parrots are often seen showcasing their skills in circuses.
• Easily trainable.
• Excellent at mimicking sounds and enjoys talking.
• Relatively more affordable compared to other types of large parrots.

Cons:

• Requires ample space.
• Demands attention.
• Can be one-person birds. Some individuals may bond strongly with only one person and may not allow other family members to get close, so early socialization with other people is essential.
• Prone to obesity if not fed properly in domestic settings.
• Possess a loud voice.

Long-Lived Bird

This is the very aspect that we would like to highlight in this article. By choosing a large parrot, you gain a loyal friend for life. Large parrots are known for their longevity. For instance, colorful macaws can live from 50 to 80 years. Cockatoos, with proper care, can live up to 90 years. Grey parrots have a lifespan of up to 50 years. Green amazons can live up to 80 years. In captivity, parrots under good care can live a decade longer than in the wild, as they no longer need to protect themselves from various dangers.

To ensure that your feathered friend’s health is promptly restored if shaken, you need to be prepared in advance and find a veterinarian specialized in treating large parrot species. Such a specialist can provide the right diet for macaws facing difficulties in this regard, prescribe veterinary medications, vitamins, and, of course, heal your ailing feathered companion.

Parrots – True Intellectuals

Macaws cannot live without regular brainstorms. They need “mental workouts.” For these parrots, you need to come up with various entertainments, puzzles, provide them with new toys, and engaging games.

Cockatoos love to show off. They are birds with a creative approach to everything, true artists who enjoy the attention of a grateful audience. Cockatoos are ready to demonstrate new tricks and talents to you. The bird loves to groom itself and always looks clean and neat.

For grey parrots, perhaps the most important thing is human attention. They get bored among other birds because they are too intelligent for the company of their kind. But a human and everything they do, say, and how they behave become a true source of inspiration for the bird. Sounds like human speech, laughter, a suddenly ringing phone, the television being turned on, the sound of flowing water – it absorbs all of these like a sponge, trying to reproduce them later.

Green amazons need both physical and intellectual challenges just like other parrot species.

Whether to get a large parrot is up to you. However, we can say that a loyal friend who will be with you throughout your life is a great rarity.