Hand-rearing or Co-parenting:
Does it Matter?
By Rebecca Fox

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Recently, it seems that decisions about raising parrots have become as controversial as decisions about raising children. Do hand-raised baby parrots have problems later in life because they were separated from their mothers? Will co-parented parrots be less neurotic in captivity? Does it really matter how parrot chicks are raised? The answer is both yes and no. Although a great deal of research suggests that an animal can be "doomed" (behaviorally speaking) by negative experiences early in life, the reality is more complex, at least for parrots: although early experience matters, the benefits of a positive early experience can be undone by poor welfare later in life. On a positive note, parrots' behavioral flexibility also means that positive experiences later in life can go a long way toward improving the welfare of companion birds.

The Benefits of Hand-rearing

Why are so many of the parrots available for sale as companion animals hand-raised? Probably because hand-raised parrots make desirable pets. Most young hand-raised parrots are extremely tame, and many even enjoy cuddling with humans. Hand-raised juvenile parrots also tend to be bold and inquisitive, a trait that many pet owners find endearing. For example, hand-raised orange-winged Amazons show very little fear of new objects until they are at least six months old - many of the birds, in fact, readily play with any new toy that is placed in their cage (Fox, unpublished observation). Hand-raised parrots are also more likely to talk than parent-raised birds, even those birds that have had contact with human handlers (Fox, unpublished observation). This behavioral "package" (tameness, boldness, and talking) stands in stark contrast to the wariness that characterizes parent-raised or wild caught parrots.

The Problems with Hand-rearing

Although hand-raised parrots are tame and arguably well-adapted for life as companion animals (Millam 2000), hand-rearing is not without its problems. From a practical standpoint, hand-rearing parrots is time consuming (very young parrots must be fed as many as six times per day!) and technically demanding. Inexperienced hand-feeders can easily kill or injure parrot chicks (crop burns, which occur when the chicks are fed formula that is too hot, and aspiration pneumonia, which occurs when a chick is improperly fed and inhales formula, are common injuries). In terms of later behavioral outcomes, hand-rearing may produce birds that have problems with reproductive behavior (such as failure to use a nestbox), at least in cockatiels (Myers et al. 1988). Hand-reared orange-winged Amazons exhibit a much greater preference for the company of human handlers than for the company of other birds (Fox, unpublished observation), and anecdotally, many hand-reared birds show abnormal sexual behavior and aggression towards humans. These behavioral issues are thought to be related to early separation from parents and siblings (c.f. Millam 2000).

Co-parenting as a Compromise Solution

Given the problems with hand-rearing and the wariness typically associated with parent-reared parrots, it would be desirable to find a compromise solution that produces tame parrots without the behavioral abnormalities and welfare issues associated with hand-rearing. Research with Orange-winged Amazons suggests that co-parenting, also known as "neonatal handling," which involves handling parent-raised nestlings for short (30 minute) periods each day and then returning them to the nest, may be that compromise solution. Aengus and Millam (1999) showed that these short periods of handling were indeed effective in taming the birds. Because co-parented Orange-winged Amazons need only be handled for 30 minutes per day, and handling need not begin until the birds are approximately five weeks of age, co-parenting is far less time consuming than hand-rearing. Co-parenting also carries less risk of injury to the chicks than hand-rearing, except as noted below.

Co-parenting is an Imperfect Compromise

Co-parenting is not the perfect solution to the issue of hand-rearing. First, the difficulty of the handling procedure is non-trivial. Parrots are typically extremely defensive of their nests, so the parents must be excluded from the nestbox during handling in order to prevent injury to the chicks or the handler. Removing the parents from the nest is not always easy, and if improperly done can expose the chicks to redirected aggression from the parents. There is also the problem of fledging. Millam (2000) stresses that continuing human interaction is necessary to maintain tameness in parrots that have been tamed by neonatal handling - in other words, handlers must keep working with the birds after they fledge and leave the nest. Capturing fledglings for handling can be extremely difficult, especially in the large flight cages in which breeding pairs of parrots are often housed.

Co-parented Orange-winged Amazons that do not receive continuing interaction with humans after fledging do not remain tame, and must be re-tamed after they are separated from their parents (Fox, unpublished observation). Although these birds can be re-tamed effectively and many become quite friendly, taming a large parrot is an intimidating task for many people. Even young Orange-winged Amazons can deliver a painful bite when frightened!

Co-parenting also does not seem reduce wariness in co-parented birds. Young co-parented birds (under 5-6 months of age) exhibit comparable levels of fear as non-handled parent-raised birds when exposed to an unfamiliar object, while hand-raised birds are much less fearful (Fox and Millam, in preparation).

Early Experience is Not the Whole Story

What many people seem to ignore in this hand-rearing versus co-parenting debate is that parrots are long-lived, and that the nestling period is only a very small fraction of their total life-span. As such, it seems logical to expect that the conditions that parrots experience later in life are at least as important to their welfare as their early-life experiences.

At least with regard to fearfulness, the differential effects of hand-rearing and parent-rearing seem to be quite transient: after hand-raised parrots are 6 months old, they become fearful of new objects, and by 12 months of age, their behavior towards new objects is indistinguishable from that of parent-raised birds (Fox and Millam, in preparation). This evidence suggests that the environment in which parrots are kept after they are weaned may also influence their behavior.

Recent work by Meehan et al. (2002, 2003) certainly supports the idea that experiences later in life are important determinants of welfare for Orange-winged Amazons. Older juvenile parrots (4-16 months of age) that are given toys that provide opportunities for foraging behavior and increase the complexity of their physical environment show much lower levels of fearfulness than do parrots that are housed under barren conditions (Meehan and Mench. 2002). Parrots housed under barren conditions are also more likely to featherpick than those housed under enriched conditions (i.e., with toys) (Meehan et al. 2003a). Furthermore, the provision of toys to birds that were already featherpicking significantly reduces featherpicking in Orange-winged Amazons (Meehan et al. 2003a).

Since the nestling stage comprises such a small percentage of a parrot's total lifespan, and experiences later in life can have a potent effect on behavior and welfare, encouraging better education of parrot owners and prospective buyers would go far towards improving welfare.

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Rebecca Fox was a volunteer for The Oasis Sanctuary while she was pursuing her B.S. in Biology at Arizona State University. She received her Master's Degree in Avian Science in 2002 and is currently a Ph.D candidate in Animal Behavior at the University of California, Davis. (And yes, she's the daughter of Charlotte Fox, The Oasis' Business Manager/Treasurer!)

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References

Aengus, W. L., Millam, J.R. 1999. Taming parent-reared orange-winged Amazon parrots by neonatal handling. Zoo Biology, 18, 177-187.

Fox, R.A., Millam, J.R. 2003. Parental care, novelty, and neophobia in Orange-winged Amazon parrots (Amazona amazonica). Manuscript in preparation.

Meehan, C. L., Mench, J.A. 2002. Environmental enrichment affects the fear and exploratory responses to novelty of young Amazon parrots. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 79, 75-88.

Meehan, C. L., Millam, J.R., Mench, J.A. 2003. Foraging opportunity and increased physical complexity both prevent and reduce psychogenic feather picking by young Amazon parrots. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 80, 71-85.

Millam, J. R. 2000. Neonatal handling, behaviour, and reproduction in Orange-winged Amazons and Cockatiels Amazona amazonica and Nymphicus hollandicus at the Department of Animal Science, University of California, Davis. International Zoo Yearbook, 37, 220-231.

Myers, S. A., Millam, J.R., Roudybush, T.E., Grau, C.R. 1988. Reproductive success of hand-reared vs. parent-reared cockatiels (Nymphicus hollandicus). The Auk, 105, 536-542.