Abstract
Displacement Behavior
Most parrots can he devoted human companions because they are capable of forming such a strong bond with people. However, occasionally this very aspect which allows parrots to be good pets can create serious problems for hoth the owners and the parrot. Some parrots may become overly dependent or over bonded to their owners while others may develop such a strong protective sexual bond to one person they become aggressive to anyone else entering their perceived territory.
The parrot's potential to hond to people could be termed a displacement behavior. If an animal's natural behavior is blocked and that animal substitutes another behavior for what would be normal, it is called a displacement behavior. Certainly it is not natural for a parrot to bond to a human being. However, if another bird is not available and a care-giving human being is a constant in the parrot's life, the bird will most likely form a bond with that person. With nurturing guidance, proper care and adequate attention, a human bonded parrot can be content to be a lifelong companion.
Of course, it is a generalization to assume that all parrots form the same types of bonds within their groups or flocks. Some parrots naturally form stronger bonds with each other than others and their "style" of bonding may be reflected in the way certain species bond to their human friends. For example, Amazons and macaws, if allowed to, may form a strong ~xclusive bond with one person while an Alexandrine Parakeet or Eclectus may
be inclined to form a looser bond with several family members.
Some parrots who spend a great deal of time with other parrots may not form a strong bond with humans. Other parrots will still be tame with their owners even if they live with another parrot. It may depend on the amount of early and/or current interaction the parrot has with the people in its life. The species and gender of the parrots may also play an important part in maintaining an additional bond with its caregivers. There are always parrots who do not fit the stereotypical generalizations which seem to be so prevalent with companion parrots.
Knowing something about the basic concepts of bonding is important in understanding a parrot's relationship with its owner. One of the myths of parrot behavior is that a chick will not make a good human companion if it spends time with its natural parents, siblings, or other parrots, particularly after it opens its eyes. This is one of the justifications for raising babies in isolettes-totally isolated from other parrots. This concept is based on the erroneous belief that the first bond a parrot chick forms will be its lifelong bond. Parrots generally do not imprint in this manner but form social bonds which may change throughout their lives.
Imprinting And Social Bonding
Parrots are "altricial" which means they are hatched blind, naked, and totally dependent on their parents for their physical and "educational" needs until they have fledged, learned their social and survival skills, and become totally food independent. Ducks,
chickens, and quail are "precocial." They come out of the egg almost ready to go. Within a few hours, they are capable of a limited degree of self-care and are dependent on their parents for much less time than altricial birds. Some precocial birds imprint almost immediately on the first living creature they encounter- for these birds it is essential to their survival in the wild that they imprint on a parent or at least their own species.
While imprinting may be reversible in some cases, the lessons the young precocial chick first learns are most likely to influence his lifelong behavior. Imprinting usually occurs during a "window of time." In other words, if a young bird does not learn his important life lessons during a specific period, he may not be able to learn them at a later time.
While imprinting may play a significant part in some aspects of a young parrots life (i.e. food preferences), in most species their social bonding does
not appear to "engraved in stone." In other words, most parrots have a sense of their "parrotness" regardless of whether or not they were raised by people. A possible exception often mentioned may be cockatoos who have bonded strongly to people and may not accept a cockatoo mate if put in a breeding program. However, I do know of some former pet cockatoos who have later become successful parents.