Pet Birds Gone Wild - and Teaching English
You’re walking down the street in sunny Sydney, when the distinct pink flutter of a wild galah, a rosy-colored bird endemic to Australia, flutters past and exclaims, “Hello, Cocky!”
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| Are you talkin' to me? Wild galahs and other parrots are speaking up all over Australia. Photo: Fred Coles. |
Don’t be put off by the rude bird. Apparently, this avian-running-of-the-mouth is a pretty common occurrence.
It turns out, wild parrots—including galahs, cockatoos, and corellas—have picked up the lingo from former pets that have flown the coop, according to the Herald Sun. The offending phrase above, likely taught to a cockatoo, is one of the more common, though a few unprintable ones have caught on, too. Understandably, the birds tend to surprise pedestrians strolling through the
Martyn Robinson, a naturalist at
The theory is that people have trained their pets to speak, then pets escape and join wild flocks. Eventually, younger males in the flock learn talking tricks from the chatterboxes, likely in the hopes of adding a new wooing technique to their repertoires.
Robinson acknowledges that being confident which of these birds are former pets and which are wild birds isn’t easy. “The chances of one or two talking birds in a flock being pets is pretty high—but up to a third or so talking birds in a flock is more likely to be some of the birds learning from others,” he says.
Robinson also reminds us that parrots aren’t the only birds parlaying. Myna birds, lyrebirds, ravens, magpies and currawongs are all avian gabbers as well.
The parrot pet trade is one
The parrot pet trade is one of the worst evils ever initiated by humans. Exotic animals should NOT be pets. Please only adopt rescued birds, not birds bred to endure a life of captivity and, in many cases, abuse and neglect. People who make money by breeding exotic UNDOMESTICATED animals for the pet trade are just immoral.
Have you ever owned a
Have you ever owned a parrot? Because if you. Haven't you are sure a false speaker! Or have you you ever hand raised a baby parrot? Because if you haven't you are also a false speaker. You hav no idea. Try it and then criticize what so many ppl enjoy most in life. And it is not harming the birds that are already in captivity nor the wild birds. I agree that the act and condition that the birds were kept in back when they were bringing Them in were wrong but It's no more cruel than many other things I'm Sure you do in you own everyday life.
There is a demand because as
There is a demand because as people we are severely uneducated. We are taught to think that it is natural for us to own a parrot and keep it in a small cage and try to treat it like a small child. Then we dispose of them when they become demanding and complicated. The Answer: Educate people that though parrots are amazing creatures they are best examined close up at a rehabilitation center and viewed in the wild. Take the same money you would spend on a pet parrot and invest it in a trip of a lifetime to visit parrots living wild and free. Education is a powerful tool. There will always be a demand from people who are ego-centric and selfish which can include many. People can learn differently if given truth about what they are getting into when they purchase a parrot. They belong in the wild. Simple as that.
I tried to watch the video
I tried to watch the video that you recommend, but youtube took it down. Anyway, I wouldn't be offended if this bird would be "rude" with me, I'd actually find it cute :)
I am so glad to see the
I am so glad to see the comments warning people of the pet trade and the injustice of captive birds. Jane Goodall writes, "For me, the sight of a Parrot living alone, living in a cage, deprived of flight and miserably bored, breaks my heart. And the Parrot's too perhaps". Also, the world's Audubon organizations should be using their voice to warn of the potential devastation that escaped parrots or other birds can cause through the transmission of disease to native populations and the potential for a non native species to become invasive and thus threaten native species all over the world. There are already cases of serious disease issues (from Australian parrots) now being found in seriously endangered populations of Cape Parrots in South Africa.... this disease did not find its way to South Africa on the wind....
PS... Hello Cockie is not a
PS... Hello Cockie is not a rude comment in Australia, the word Cockie is slang for cockatoo.....
To Angry Birds Online,
To Angry Birds Online, Thanks for catching that! You can watch another lyrebird clip on youtube from the wonderful David Attenborough's "The Life of Birds."
To Marc, thanks for the translation!
...and to everyone who has mentioned the parrot trade, I am glad to see this in the discussion. While this post mentions former pets who survive and successfully join wild flocks, it's certainly true that many (if not most) of the escaped birds are not nearly so lucky. Their lack of experience in the wild makes them easy prey to predators and other dangers.
Adopt, Don't Breed. Take
Adopt, Don't Breed. Take care of those we have living with us now, If you love them preserve habitat and let them live freely.
Miami has a flock of 36
Miami has a flock of 36 feral blue and yellow macaws for over 30 years. Nine to eleven of them visit my backyard feeder and my pet macaws everyday now for close to 12 years. My 5 pet macaws are sometimes free flighted and choose to stay in my backyard. The wild flock interacts with my pets but it is the wild macaws that have chosen to become friendly. They seem to enjoy getting close to my pets and myself- taking walnuts from my hand, sitting with my birds, etc. Our local tropical Audubon is very supportive of the wild macaws and hundred of other feral populations in Fl (amazons, conures, etc.) Our birders know that the parrots do not compete with our native birds as their diet consists of introduced landscape plant/trees especially palms. Our tropical Audubon even has an annual Exotic Field trip . Last year 40 birders saw 10 species of parrrots in an hour. We had birders from Europe and 7 states as word of this amazing field trip spreads. You can also go to wwwcityparrots.org. Roelant Junker from the University of Leiden did a world parrot count last year. 69,000 parrots were reported living in cities all over the world.
The Galah is one of the most
The Galah is one of the most widespread of Australia's parrots, being found in all states. It is only absent from the most arid country and from the tip of Cape York. It prefers open grasslands and woodland, is a common species in the cities and towns, and has adapted well to farmed land. The species is gregarious, often forming flocks of several hundreds, although when foraging for food these large flocks will often split into small groups, coming together again at the evening roost site.