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The Wild

Off topic discussions that are unrelated to parrots and other parrot discussions that don't fit anywhere else.

Re: The Wild

Postby Wolf » Sat Sep 03, 2016 9:42 pm

I have often thought about this question since the time that Kiki first showed up here. I have had birds that were wild as friends before. They were a blue jay at one time and a crow at another time. Neither of them ever lived in my home but were cared for outside until they were able to fully care or themselves and both of them remained with me for several years until they left of their own accord.

I truly believe that a bird should live free and if I thought for one instant that my parrots could live on their own outside, I would open their cages and take them outside and free them without any hesitation.

If I have not been lying to myself about whether or not my birds loved me and wanted to be with me, then the birds would remain with me outside for as long as they wanted to. They would be free to come and go at will. As I said earlier the wild ones that were my friends stayed with me for several years before they left. If the parrots could live and were free to do as they chose to do, they too would remain as long as they chose to do so. How long they remained would probably have more to do with their finding a suitable mate than with any other thing so if they left to go with a mate, I doubt that they would give me a second thought. If they found a suitable mate, but did not want to leave me then they would not leave and I would then get to meet and be a part of their family.
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Re: The Wild

Postby Bird woman » Sat Sep 03, 2016 10:19 pm

I too have many wild birds that lived outside that were my friends, you have a kind heart and I'm sure would have the whole family of birds hanging out with you on your property. Wouldn't that be a wonderful world for them and us.! BW
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Re: The Wild

Postby Bird woman » Sat Sep 03, 2016 10:21 pm

ParrotsForLife wrote:
Bird woman wrote:If I had one wish it would be for all my birds to be living free. But we all know that's impossible and just that a dream!!! If a miracle happened ,I would let them go and deal with a crushed soul and broken heart if I knew they were healthy and happy and free. :flapping: BW

But you also have to think from their side they might not wanna leave and also be heart broken

And then I would scoop them up and they would stay , it would be there decision. BW
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Re: The Wild

Postby Wolf » Sun Sep 04, 2016 8:28 am

If they could survive on their own, it would still be nice to have something like a covered area, like over a picnic table, but with perches for them if they wanted to use it to get out of the weather and for putting a few treats. I know that it would encourage them to be a little dependent as well as to stay around, but some of us already do that for the wild birds. The thing about it is that they would be free and the choice to remain or go would be theirs to make and not ours. It was always great to visit and play with the wild birds that I have had as friends and was always a feel good thing for those wild ones to see that I was outside and have them come to visit me of their own free will.
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Re: The Wild

Postby ParrotsForLife » Sun Sep 04, 2016 11:32 am

Thats a great story Wolf
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Re: The Wild

Postby seagoatdeb » Sun Sep 04, 2016 7:47 pm

The thing is these parrots are from different parts of the world and dont have a good resistance to the bacterias the wild birds carry near where we live, or if they do,, they can over multiply and then be hunted as crop pests. Mine could not live here outside because of the cold winter either. Parrots may not be as domesticated as dogs and cats but they have bonded to us and they would suffer without us in a world that is foreign to their bonded habitat. After 18 years with me, i dont think Gaugan could adjust to life in Africa either. Its too big a leap.

My parrots are small medium and they are not rehomed or abandoned near as much as the large parrots so they are also a different kettle of fish. The big problem is the large parrots taken out of the wild or bred when there are Sanctuarys filled with them and they live so long that they outlive their owner. The life expectancy for my Pois is only 25-40 years. Where i live in Canada, its hard to find any Pois for adoption at all. The closest Sanctuary is filled with Macaws, Amazons and Cockatoos that have next to no life in little cages and if I could I would like to take them back to their native habitats. Their quality of life is just terrible.
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Re: The Wild

Postby Wolf » Mon Sep 05, 2016 7:27 am

In so many ways the question that was asked is a loaded question and no one answer can do it justice. As I said, I would not hesitate if they could survive on their own, right here where we live. My birds are from both the New World and the Old world and they are all bonded to either myself or my Lady, so I could not free them any place other than here or they would not have the choice of remaining or not. They have all grown up here and would not have an immune system set to deal with the diseases that they would encounter in their native areas, their immune systems are set for here. But in any case not one of they birds that I have could survive the winters here so in most ways, for me it is a moot point.

As part of my thoughts about this question, I think that we should also look at the lives of those parrots that escape from their caregivers. These are all birds that are effectively returned to the wild, wherever they are living at, at the time. Many of them are recovered and many are not and if they are not recovered either dead or alive, we don't really know what happens to them. Some of them will be rescued by individual and never returned to the party they escaped from, some are turned in to rescues or vet offices or even pet stores and still we don't know what has happened to them as there is often no real attempt to find the owners of these birds. I hope that this is what happens with most of them, but I suspect that many of them are killed or die from exposure, or other things such as starvation or dehydration.

I often wonder, since the arrival of Kiki, Senegal and also from the time that Kookooloo took a couple of sightseeing tours around the holler that I live in, why our birds fly and then are not recovered. One of the things that come to mind concerns the nature of the bird in the uses of their flock calls.

When Kookooloo took her fly about, she circled back to very close to the house and the first flight I climbed the tree and she rode my shoulder down to the ground, at least until my first foot hit the ground and then took off again. She still circled back to the house but landed in a tree that I could not climb, I had to knock her off of that branch using another tree about 30 feet long and small enough for me to lift, very difficult, but I did get her back. One of the things that struck me was that she did call for me using the whistle that we used in the house fro between rooms, but not the loud flock call of which she is capable. I wonder if this was her answer to staying quiet in unfamiliar territory where she was scared, and still trying to let me know where she was at since she could easily see me from where she landed. I will never know.

Many of the birds that fly due to human error are scared and do not call out. I understand that they are scared and that being alone and calling out is dangerous, but what would happen if we recorded their flock calls and played it back amplified to the levels that they use them in the wild, would they respond and return to us or what? Or would we have to use the calls that we normally use to respond to them in our homes, amplified to the same degree? Are they waiting to hear that one call that tells them that it is us that is calling so that they can either respond or come back on their own? Again I doubt that I will ever know.
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Re: The Wild

Postby Navre » Mon Sep 05, 2016 8:52 am

We have had a few escapees come in to the rescue.

One was a big male eclectus. He seemed to have been surviving okay. He had been on his own for a while, as there had been multiple sightings of him. He seems fine; is definitely a tame, human centered bird. We still have him. He's a great bird, although eclectus seem like they're from another planet. They're super hard to read.

Buddy was a goffins found flying around Prividence. I don't know how long he had been out, but he was pretty torn up. He had about 4 feathers left in tact. Two on each wing. That allowed him to fly very well. He looked to me as if he had been attacked by something. He didn't have the look of a plucker, even though his feathers were destroyed. We never found his owner either. He was a smart bird who did know "come back here." If I said it and tapped my shoulder, he would fly right back.

There was a yellow nape who was living in a pear tree in the area. We made multiple attempts to catch that bird last summer, but we were never successful. As far as I know, he hasn't been spotted this year. He either succumbed to the winter, or the cold drove him to find shelter and someone scooped him up.
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Re: The Wild

Postby seagoatdeb » Sat Sep 24, 2016 7:10 pm

[quote="Wolf"]

When Kookooloo took her fly about, she circled back to very close to the house and the first flight I climbed the tree and she rode my shoulder down to the ground, at least until my first foot hit the ground and then took off again. She still circled back to the house but landed in a tree that I could not climb, I had to knock her off of that branch using another tree about 30 feet long and small enough for me to lift, very difficult, but I did get her back. One of the things that struck me was that she did call for me using the whistle that we used in the house fro between rooms, but not the loud flock call of which she is capable. I wonder if this was her answer to staying quiet in unfamiliar territory where she was scared, and still trying to let me know where she was at since she could easily see me from where she landed. I will never know.

I am pretty sure that it was her answer to staying quiet in unfamiliar terrritory.
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