7 comments

  • canada_dry21 days ago
    Absolutely gorgeous and extremely smart creatures. They generally bond with one care giver and when that person dies it really is a traumatic event for the bird.<p>Birds that are traumatized pick out their feathers and look terrible. You can tell from the videos of their birds that they are well looked after.<p>This organization (and those like it) are fantastic!
  • amatecha21 days ago
    Parrots and similar birds are awesome, and crazy intelligent. Seriously, watch this lil guy straight-up browsing YouTube: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=D_b8kWYvGkI" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=D_b8kWYvGkI</a> , or this one, so awesome haha <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=cZSNhJcKFf4" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=cZSNhJcKFf4</a> , probably my favorite video ever of a bird
    • cbluth21 days ago
      Im realizing that those birds are more focused and disciplined than most children Ive observed browsing youtube
    • MPSimmons21 days ago
      That&#x27;s really cool! I&#x27;ve never seen those before.<p>Has anyone ever set up the parrot equivalent of Chatroulette so parrots can interact with each other remotely?
      • pipmac20 days ago
        Yes: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.smithsonianmag.com&#x2F;smart-news&#x2F;scientists-taught-pet-parrots-to-video-call-each-other-and-the-birds-loved-it-180982041&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.smithsonianmag.com&#x2F;smart-news&#x2F;scientists-taught-...</a>
        • MPSimmons19 days ago
          I love this so much! Thank you!
  • seasongs21 days ago
    Oh yes, finally something I can comment on! I’m a wildlife veterinarian, parrots were always my favourite animals and growing up I wanted to become a “parrot vet”. Throughout my studies and work experience I discovered so many heartbreaking things about these animals that instead I chose to dedicate myself to the wild. The parrot crisis is much bigger than what the article says. We are living a period where parrots are struggling to survive in their native range, we are getting more knowledge on how sick they get in captivity (some parrots literally self-mutilate for lack of stimulation) and we are getting bigger and bigger colonies of invasive species (mostly monk and ring neck parakeet) throughout the US and the EU. I’ve actually been working on a documentary on this topic for the past two years, if you are interested I can share it when I’m done. In the meantime I suggest you reaching out to<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.allianceforparrots.org&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.allianceforparrots.org&#x2F;</a>
    • smusamashah21 days ago
      Why does it advise to buy from a sanctuary instead of a shop?
      • seasongs20 days ago
        It is recommended: a) because you are rehoming an animal that probably went trough a lot and, hopefully, giving them the love they deserve. b) taking care of a parrot properly is very difficult, hence a lot of people give them to sanctuaries that are full to the brim c) decreasing the demand of these species. Both their decrease in their native range and their presence in non native ranges is, even now, caused by the demand of them as pets. Poaching in the Central and Southern America is incredibly high (in certain areas of Honduras is 100% for example) and they are poached to be sold to middlemen that will import them to the rest of the world. Now, since CITES, it’s difficult to find poached animals in NA and EU, but definitely not impossible. The main market is Asia, where they can be sold locally or then transferred to the west. At the same time, aviaries or “parrot mills” (some people call them like that) are the only reason why we have invasive parrots. If a couple of non native species get released by a distracted owners, the couple just ends up dying because they are not used to the environment. If a stock of hundreds or even thousands of animals of the same species escape an aviary they will first become a colony, then an invasive species. This phenomenon is called propagule pressure. Invasive species destabilise the natural balance, and invasive species of parrots are stealing nesting sites of owls and bats already. This is why we should at all cost, decrease the demand of them.
      • vfclists20 days ago
        Because shops either breed then unnecessarily or they are wild parrots captured from abroad?
        • seasongs20 days ago
          Both, if you live in NA you’ll probably struggle to find a poached one. But your theoretical demand puts a price tag on the few remaining wild ones and increases the presence of breeders that most of the time don’t care about the health of the individual they are raising and definitely don’t care about their local environment. Even from a sanitary perspective, oh gosh, I could go on for hours. Psittacosis, pbfd, avian influenza… Just please, if you want a pet and you want to buy it “brand new”, buy a dog or a cat
  • SoftTalker21 days ago
    Cue the Monty Python jokes
    • dostick21 days ago
      European parrot or African parrot?
      • snovv_crash21 days ago
        More like &quot;THIS IS AN EX - PET - PARROT!&quot;
      • evanb21 days ago
        “Pining for the fjords?”
  • lupefiasko21 days ago
    [dead]
  • glimshe21 days ago
    No offense, but lately I&#x27;ve had somewhat more pressing things to worry about...
    • ornornor21 days ago
      They’re living things, just like you are. And they’re paying the price of our poor decisions without any agency in the matter.
    • AngryData21 days ago
      I mean to a lot of people a parrot isn&#x27;t much of a step below human due to their extraordinary intelligence. There are a considerable number of people that if they were trolley problemed against a parrot I would likely save the parrot.<p>We captured them against their will and put them into an artificial environment where they can&#x27;t even survive without direct constant human help and they live for many decades and have a high emotional intelligence, the least we can do is care for them half decently.
    • androiddrew21 days ago
      [flagged]
      • mhurron21 days ago
        Ya, that&#x27;s what it&#x27;s like living in a country that hasn&#x27;t been trying to destroy itself for some time now.
        • steve_adams_8621 days ago
          We&#x27;re able to buy electric cars from China, too. It&#x27;s a whole civilization here. Of parrots and people
    • tamimio21 days ago
      Exactly, I think articles like that are just a mockery.. there are 10s of things that can be considered a crisis than a this.
      • koiueo21 days ago
        I find no mockery or mean spirit in this article. FWIW I&#x27;m Ukrainian, having quite a lot to worry about.
        • defrost21 days ago
          Ngarritj, a Yolngu speaking corella (small parrot) from Elcho Island in Northern Territory Australia, cannot change a thing happening to Ukranians, but might spark up your day: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=ZbSxc6Y1aVA" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=ZbSxc6Y1aVA</a>
      • logjinhu21 days ago
        Crises, suffering, and people trying to help are no less valid just because they are juxtaposed with greater crises, suffering, and people trying to help.<p>Consider that enough users of this site voted for this article to get it on the front page. Clearly the story resonates with enough of them. No need to say basically “what you care about is worthless”, it’s easy just to go on your way if you are not interested.
      • MattGaiser21 days ago
        Articles are hardly scarce. The barrier to addressing problems in society is not a shortage of people to write about them.
      • matkoniecz21 days ago
        Then why you spend time on HN and posting comments here?
      • rsynnott21 days ago
        Look, what&#x27;s one more crisis, in 2026?
  • hristov21 days ago
    In the northeastern towns of la county there entire flocks of wild parrots flying around, that are escaped or freed pet parrots or descendants from such pet parrots.<p>I guess parrots would not survive in the wild in canada, but if you have parrot you can no longer care for, maybe you could consider releasing it in the la foothills. He will have friends there.<p>Maybe is the key word here. I am not a parrot expert.
    • unsnap_biceps21 days ago
      No, the vast majority of parrots released into the wild will just die a terrible death. They don&#x27;t have a flock to live with and don&#x27;t know how to survive. It&#x27;s like if you took a bunch of TikTok influencers and threw them into a random forest completely without any support or help. Some will figure it out, but most would not, even if the weather won&#x27;t kill them right away, they&#x27;ll eat the wrong thing, drink the wrong thing, or not know how to protect themselves from other animals.
      • adityaathalye21 days ago
        Apparently, they actually have a whole hit &quot;reality&quot; show that does it without fatalities; &quot;Naked and Afraid&quot;. But they get training, and have an &quot;out&quot; back into civilisation.<p>So I can completely imagine they---the poor hapless tiktok influencers---meeting the unfortunate captive parrot&#x27;s fate, if suddenly sent out into the maw of the wild, without any warning, preparation, or way back to second dibs at a home.
      • rurban20 days ago
        Never been to San Francisco, Telegraph Hill apparently. Huge flocks are living there for decades already.
      • throwup23821 days ago
        Oh you sweet summer child, you have clearly never lived in Southern California.<p>I can identify the flock by the sound they make in the morning.
        • vidarh21 days ago
          Entirely missing the point, which is not that they in general <i>can&#x27;t</i> survive, but that large proportions of animals who have grown up in captivity <i>won&#x27;t</i> survive if just dumped out in the wild.
      • shevy-java21 days ago
        Except that there are:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Feral_parrot#Other" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Feral_parrot#Other</a><p>How many there are in absolute numbers I don&#x27;t know, but your depiction of all parrots being too stupid to live in the wild is also incorrect. And other animals die too all of the time, so that is not a good assessment.
        • squigz21 days ago
          GP didn&#x27;t say all parrots wouldn&#x27;t survive - they said a majority wouldn&#x27;t without a flock, which your link seems to at least partially agree with.
        • nkrisc21 days ago
          &gt; And other animals die too all of the time<p>That’s exactly their point, the parrots are no different. The majority will die, which is what they said.
    • walthamstow21 days ago
      London has a massive population of feral parakeets, they can survive quite far north of the weather is mild. London is basically an urban forest so that does help.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Feral_parakeets_in_Great_Britain?wprov=sfla1" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Feral_parakeets_in_Great_Brita...</a>
      • vidarh21 days ago
        I have lots of them showing up outside my office window... E.g. [1]<p>But the occasional survival eventually leading to a breeding population doesn&#x27;t mean the odds of survival for released&#x2F;escaped birds who have grown up in captivity isn&#x27;t really low.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;m.galaxybound.com&#x2F;@vidar&#x2F;115909920534715199" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;m.galaxybound.com&#x2F;@vidar&#x2F;115909920534715199</a>
        • echelon_musk21 days ago
          <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theguardian.com&#x2F;environment&#x2F;2026&#x2F;jan&#x2F;02&#x2F;rapid-expansion-of-ring-necked-parakeets-in-uk-sparks-concern" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theguardian.com&#x2F;environment&#x2F;2026&#x2F;jan&#x2F;02&#x2F;rapid-ex...</a>
          • vidarh20 days ago
            Yeah, the explosion in numbers has been rapid, and they hang out in groups and can be real bullies to other birds so they&#x27;ll definitely have an impact.<p>On the upside, they&#x27;re also increasingly supplementing the food supply for peregrine falcons in London (they&#x27;re apparently easier targets than the pigeons...
      • gizajob21 days ago
        Liverpool too. Big flock of them in Sefton park in the south of the city. Pretty nice to see actually!
        • 2b3a5121 days ago
          The parakeets have reached Birmingham as well. Often seen in Canon Hill park, Highbury park or Yardley Old Village around the church. Always brightens my day.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.paradiseroad.co.uk&#x2F;the-parakeeting-of-london-an-adventure-in-gonzo-ornithology" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.paradiseroad.co.uk&#x2F;the-parakeeting-of-london-an-...</a>
    • NewJazz21 days ago
      Lol please don&#x27;t release random parrots. Even if they happen to be the species common in LA, if they aren&#x27;t members of the wild flock they might get bullied.
    • bauruine21 days ago
      You never release exotic pets to the wild. Isn&#x27;t that common knowledge by now? If you can no longer care for an animal bring it to the vet to get it euthanized.
      • shevy-java21 days ago
        Did you ask the bird whether it wants to be nuked by you - or, by proxy, the vet - here? I don&#x27;t call murder &quot;euthanization&quot; - that is just propaganda to sell to yourself that you have the right to decide who lives and who does not.
        • bauruine21 days ago
          Releasing it is just murder by neglect so people don&#x27;t feel bad about themself that they actually killed their pet just because &quot;they can&#x27;t care&quot; for it anymore aka they don&#x27;t want to deal with the minor inconvenience of caring for a pet anymore. Or worse they become a pest that wipes out whole local ecosystems.
        • nkrisc21 days ago
          Right has nothing to do with it. It’s about power and responsibility.<p>It would be irresponsible to release parrot into an environment that is not its natural habitat.
    • nkrisc21 days ago
      &gt; I am not a parrot expert.<p>Then why are you giving advice on parrots?
      • bregma21 days ago
        They&#x27;re parroting what they read on the internet.
    • matkoniecz21 days ago
      No, we do not need more invasive species. Please stop giving terrible advise.