Macaws, like these seen at Rhode Island Parrot Rescue in West Warwick, can be loud and boisterous, making them a challenging pet. Proposed legislation in the Rhode Island House would clamp down on parrot sales in the state, potentially reducing the number of pet birds surrendered to sanctuaries every year. (Photo courtesy of Rhode Island Parrot Rescue)
Larger species of parrots can outlive their owner’s capacity to care for them — or even their owners. Domesticated scarlet macaws, for instance, can reach their seventies.
Parrots’ longevity, plus the intensive care needed to keep and maintain them as pets, are a few factors influencing the ever-increasing populations at bird sanctuaries, like the Rhode Island Parrot Rescue in West Warwick and Foster Parrots in Hope Valley.
“It’s really quite sad when a bird outlives its owner,” said Rep. Megan Cotter, an Exeter Democrat, in a phone interview Tuesday. “Then who takes care of the bird? That’s probably the saddest part of it all.”
On. Jan. 29, Cotter and seven other Democrats in the Rhode Island House of Representatives introduced a bill, H5214, that could benefit these sanctuaries. The proposed legislation would ban the sale of parrots from brokers and breeders to pet stores, although proprietors could still source birds from sanctuaries. Both Foster Parrots and the Parrot Rescue would serve in a temporary advisory capacity to the pet stores to comply with the changes.
Cotter’s bill was heard for the first time Tuesday night during the year’s first meeting of the House Committee on Corporations, where it took up about half of the 90-minute meeting. Cotter expressed interest in retooling the bill to protect certain smaller businesses from the new law. The legislation was prompted by Cotter’s time spent volunteering at Foster Parrots, which is home to around 400 permanent residents considered unadoptable. The sanctuary also houses birds from owners who surrender them, and the birds can be adopted by new owners if the right match is found.
“There’s a little room for the particular birds that like the company, so you can go and sing to them, or hang out with them, read a story. It’s pretty neat,” Cotter said.
But she noted that there are distressed birds who will self-harm by pulling out their own feathers.
Amanda Coleman, the sanctuary director at Foster Parrots, said in an email Monday that the approximately 400 birds now living permanently at the sanctuary need lifelong care outside a home environment because of medical issues, aggression, or a history of having been abused.
But people continue to surrender their parrots, Coleman wrote: “Parrot rescue organizations across the country are inundated with requests and almost if not all are at capacity. We are NOT the only parrot rescue organization facing these untenable numbers for surrender, we simply can not keep up.”
The Foster sanctuary receives around 700 to 1,000 surrender requests annually, with 1,032 requests received last year. Not all of these birds are from Rhode Islanders, but Coleman noted that roughly half of surrendered birds annually come from “species commonly sold in big box pet stores,” such as parakeets, conures and cockatiels.
The bill could be crucial for lessening the burden sanctuaries face by reducing the number of parrots that need to be rehomed, Corrie Butler, the Parrot Rescue’s director, said via email on Monday
“One of the primary goals of the bill is to end the sale of pet birds, which, in our experience, would significantly decrease the number of parrots being impulsively purchased without the proper education on their care,” Butler said. “Too often, we see parrots rehomed or surrendered within just a year or two of being bought, primarily because owners lack the understanding of their complex needs.”
Attachment issues
The bill defines parrots as any bird from the order Psittaciformes, which encompasses about 410 species both wild and domesticated. The order includes conures, budgies and lovebirds, as well as big birds like cockatoos. These are high-end birds that aren’t sold in big box stores, Coleman said, and they can cost thousands of dollars.
Cockatoos “will choose a member of the household as their ‘mate,’” Coleman said, and will often scream horrendously” if separated from their favorite person in the home. An inability to fulfill a cockatoo’s social needs leads to frustrating behavior from the bird. Birds can also mimic human speech, and some birds that are relinquished have a habit of repeating foul language.
That can create buyer’s remorse for owners, who then give the birds to a sanctuary. On average, it takes over a year for the sanctuary to find a new, appropriate home for a surrendered cockatoo, Coleman said.
Even smaller parrots like parakeets can lead to big problems. In big box stores, parakeets are often sold as an inexpensive, impulse purchase, Coleman said, but owners may not be adequately educated on the birds’ proper care. Owners may use too-small cages or a fatty seed diet, neither of which fulfill a parakeet’s needs.
Parakeets can also breed quickly and profusely. Coleman recounted an incident when she and a sanctuary colleague were asked to assist in a parakeet hoarding situation in New Hampshire. A family purchased two birds, who soon multiplied to over 100. Coleman wrote that dead birds were found in the seed that littered the floor of the room where the parakeets were kept.
“When the family reached out to a petstore for advice they were told to ‘tape up the boxes and let the birds die.’ The family at that point was so afraid to contact anyone after given that advice, further worsening the situation,” Coleman wrote.
‘They were like my best friends growing up.’
The parrot bill was held by the Corporations Committee for further study Tuesday, as is standard procedure. When introducing her bill before the committee, Cotter said she intends to craft and submit an amended version of the bill that would allow for small businesses to continue selling parrots.
One of those small business owners testified against the bill at Tuesday’s hearing, with her husband and daughter in tow to also criticize the proposed ban.
“I kind of was blindsided by this,” Renee Ducharme, owner of Jungle Junction in Cumberland told the committee. “I had no idea this was even happening. I just happened to have a bird food representative that emailed me on Thursday, so we really didn’t even get a chance to get a lot of things together.”
Ducharme’s pet shop opened in 1989 and specializes in birds. She testified to committee members that she was concerned about the bill’s potential effect on businesses like hers, and that she already “vets” customers.
“If people come in and they want to buy a bird for their child, and their child is afraid of birds, they’re not going to leave there with a bird,” Ducharme said.
But Ducharme was also concerned that rescue birds might not be good for beginners. “I would hate to see that a child could never get a baby parakeet again,” she said. Later, she added, “I had birds when I was 10 years old, and they were like my best friends growing up.”
Rep. Patricia Serpa, a committee member and West Warwick Democrat, asked Ducharme if she dissuades people from buying bigger birds. Almost every day, Ducharme said, people will come into her store and ask for “a bird that talks” or “a big bird.”
“And I tell them they should go to the rescue, honestly,” Ducharme said.
“Or get a dog,” Serpa replied.
Butler of the Parrot Rescue also testified at the hearing, in support of the bill but also Ducharme.
“Renee and I are very friendly with one another. She is an exception when it comes to trying to ensure that the people who are taking these birds home are set up for success,” Butler said.
Still, Butler said, “I am not an advocate for thinking birds make great pets. I don’t personally think they belong in our homes, but we do have to start somewhere.”
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