By Sally Blanchard

In the wild, most parrot species have flock traditions that they have been following for thousands of years. This is one of the major reasons so many parrots (and other birds) have sadly become endangered, on the edge of extinction, and even extinct in the wild. Changes in the land made by humans have forced parrots to try to adapt, and such ingrained flock traditions may take too long for the species to succeed. The point is that for their survival, parrot flocks live a generally routine life with occasional small daily or seasonal changes that are easy to adjust to because of their intelligence.

So, how does this apply to our Companion Parrots? We all know that our parrots are quite intelligent, but they are a fascinating combination of ‘nature versus nurture’ or instinct and learning. So, like many humans, parrots are creatures of patterned behaviours, which become habits that can be difficult to change. If, through our behaviours, we create absolute acceptable behaviours, our parrots can become very rigid in what they will accept.

Over the years I have read frequent advice that states which developing routines are important for companion parrots. I may have written this myself in the past but, I think the concept needs to be explained more thoroughly. These routines include putting our parrots to bed at the same time, taking them out at the same time, feeding the same thing at the same time and many more scheduled routines.

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