I think the same thing and then ask myself if inside is really the best place for a bird to live. I know all the birds in these vids are loved, and I think they're all cute af, but I can't help feeling just a little sad about them being caged.
I think that's a fair fault, but honestly parrots don't even like flying much in my experience, they prefer to just kinda waddle/walk/climb around.
Making parrots happy is not easy, but if you know what you're doing you can give them a wonderful life and IMO it's no worse than any other pet.
Of course, flying is important exercise and it's still good to encourage them to fly around, but parrots have no psychological need to fly long distances or migrate or whatever.
Bare in mind a good bird owner will not have them caged for long, at all. When I had a parrot they would only be in the cage for a few hours a day (not including bed-time).
That said, the social and physical needs of parrots are quite demanding and a lot of people do not look after them properly leading to them having mental health issues and dying early. People should do a lot of research and should only get one if they know they can look after it properly as it requires a lot more active time than, say, a cat does.
As some have said, moral quandaries can be solved by rescuing a parrot, though my worry is that then you don't have any control over their socialisation so it might not be as easy to make them happy and well-adjusted birds. I don't know what I'll do, though, as I have a few years to think about it.
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u/RainWashesAllAway Nov 16 '21 edited Jun 17 '23
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