Priya Raju is a big animal lover. Dogs and cats and other animals literally take to her. She has the knack for petting them and befriending them. I am mostly in observation mode unless its a really friendly one. Check out her thoughts on parrots and please try to answer her questions, if you can.

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I absolutely love Parrots. The Parrots (Parrots, Budgerigars, Macaws, Lorikeets etc) are amongst the most intelligent birds in the world. Most of them are as intelligent as a human child.

Of all the birds in the world, Keas fascinate me the most. They belong to the Parrot family & are endemic to New Zealand. Their curiosity is lamentable. Completely unafraid of humans, keas routinely break wind-shield wipers off cars to “investigate”. They drop stones on the roof tops of houses, just to see people running out in panic. Nothing is too strong for their powerful beaks. A handful of rogue keas may systematically dismantle your car: and a big bunch of “spectator” keas will sit around, gleefully watching the “fun”.

Keas are reportedly as intelligent as chimpanzees. No wonder there’s much monkey-business when they are around.

Recently, I visited a relative. She had a cage in her balcony, with a bunch of budgerigars (love-birds in India). They looked sad & forlorn. Budgies, as they are commonly called, roam around the length & breadth of Australia. It was terrible to see these parrots in a 4 X 10 wire-mesh cage. There were about 10 of them, huddling together for comfort, hardly uttering a squawk.

When a bird has been in captivity, you can’t just release it back to the wild. They won’t last for a day. Eagles or rooks might tear them to pieces in no time. Not to mention the neighborhood cats.

I’m always pleased to see an animal lover. If ever you get the urge to raise birds, please don’t raise exotic or intelligent birds. If you do, please don’t cage them. Better still: please think about contributing to a well-established Wildlife Society.

Here are my questions.

Question 1:Most religions (including Hinduism) attribute special qualities to human beings. Now that we know birds and animals possess a level of intelligence our ancients may not have contemplated: How special is a human being?

Question 2: What do you think about holding such intelligent animals in captivity – zoo, or otherwise?

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Flashback:

1. I had written a while ago about bird intelligence.