Dear Parrots magazine,
Escaped Parrots
It is quite sad to see that most of the news stories in Parrots magazine relate to escaped parrots. In the September magazine a Grey escaped after it was taken into a field, a conure flew off as the owner took out the rubbish, a Blue and Yellow Macaw escaped when the door was opened, a Blue-fronted Amazon flew out of an open window, and a Grey flew away when the cage door was opened. Come on owners! Please be more security conscious! Your carelessness leads to death in the worst case scenario and only a lot of stress if the bird is lucky.
Just think about a Sparrowhawk carrying off your parrot, or imagine it being run over in the street, or chased and bitten by crows.
Get into the habit of closing all doors and windows before the parrot exits its cage, locking all doors so that no one can enter and, if you have children, padlock the cage! These are not extreme measures. They are common sense actions to save parrot lives.
Rosemary Low, by email