The Quaker Parrot's Reputation

by Heike Ewing Ott Some say Quaker Parrots are mean, noisy birds that don't make good pets. Others describe Quakers as sweet and loving. Have you ever wondered about these differences in opinion? This article suggests one possible explanation.

Some common bird myths that persist:

• Patagonian conures are disease carriers and dangerous to buy or keep.
• Timneh Greys are nervous, shy, high-strung birds and don't make good pets.
• "Brotogeris" are naturally tame and require less "work" than any other bird.
• Scarlet Macaws are vicious and prone to biting.
• Cockatoos can't learn to talk.
• Fig parrots are fragile, prone to stress death, and extremely difficult to keep.
• Quaker parakeets are extremely noisy and quite mean.

(I'm sure there are some I missed…)

Does anyone recognize the source of these myths?

That's right, wild-caught, imported birds out of quarantine stations. Stop and think how few years ago it was that most parrots available to the public WERE wild caught imports. AAMOF, my Jazz is a wild caught! And, all of the above myths have =some= grain of truth in them, when applied to wild-caughts. I've had a pair of imported Quakers, and they -were- incredibly noisy. Plus, I had to wear gloves to even change their food and water because they tried to attack me any time I even got NEAR their cage, let alone in it!

Domestic-bred, hand-fed baby birds, such as are now commonly available in larger numbers than ever, are an entirely different ball game. Domestic TAGS don't differ noticeably in temperament from CAGS, domestic cockatoos can most certainly talk, domestic Patis are less prone to many diseases than other conures, and domestic Quakers are NOT mean and no more noisy than many other birds, and quite a bit LESS noisy than some (cockatoos, amazons, big macaws, etc.)

So in the future, you might point out to those who bad-mouth quakers that they are repeating information that is based on experiences with wild-caught imported birds, and has no validity for domestic hand-babies, and then suggest that they be open-minded enough to meet a few domestic quakers and see if their opinion doesn't change. :-)